House of Improvement Model to Enhance Prioritisation of Solutions in Decision Making: a Case Study

Abstract

The decision making on selection of improvement solutions was one of the obstacles hampering the success of process improvement. This paper presents the House of Improvement (HOI) model as a guideline to link decision criteria for the prioritisation of improvement solutions. Three phases in the HOI are applied to facilitate selection and to ensure that suitable and value-added solutions are chosen. Each phase includes procedures for identifying, evaluating, and analysing the elements by establishing a relationship matrix. The reliability of each relationship matrix will be tested in order to proceed to the next phase. The adopted matrices in the HOI serve as decision-making tools for analysing potential and critical problems in the production line, evaluating possible effects of the critical problems, and innovating on the necessary actions for the solution. Using a real-life case study, this paper demonstrates the applicability and suitability of the HOI model in providing prioritised solutions for production problems experienced by small and medium enterprises.