Definition Continuous Improvement and Continual Improvement - Differences

R

rcm_mech

Hello friends:D

Is there any difference between Continuous and continual Improvements ? Is there any logic behind it?

Thanks in advance.
 
B

brahmaiah

Re: Is there any difference between Continuous and continual Improvements ?

Hello friends:D

Is there any difference between Continuous and continual Improvements ? Is there any logic behind it?

Thanks in advance.
'Continuous improvement' means improving every movement without stop.Continual improvement means showing a trend of periodic improvement.Continuous improvement is very difficult if not impossible. But Continual improvement is practicable & realistic to expect.
A dictionary will also give you the difference between them.
V.J.Brahmaiah
 

AndyN

Moved On
Hello friends:D

Is there any difference between Continuous and continual Improvements ? Is there any logic behind it?

Thanks in advance.

People spend hours debating this. If you are going to explain this to management, there is no real difference. The issue lies purely in whether you make small step improvements (like Kaizen) or use large projects (6 Sigma style) to make those improvements....

You will dig a big hole for yourself if you try to explain the differences to people who haven't any experience of either type of improvement!
 

somashekar

Leader
Admin
People spend hours debating this. If you are going to explain this to management, there is no real difference. The issue lies purely in whether you make small step improvements (like Kaizen) or use large projects (6 Sigma style) to make those improvements....

You will dig a big hole for yourself if you try to explain the differences to people who haven't any experience of either type of improvement!
Yaaa... just be on track with the PDCA with all sincerity and worry not on the english meaning or difference between these words .....
 

Manix

Get Involved!!!
Trusted Information Resource
IMO it's semantics and a debate on the true meaning of one versus the other is pointless and adds no value to anything. I hate to jump to the ISO standard but in this instance it actually gives you the answer, 8.5 of ISO9001:2008 uses "Continual Improvement". End your thought there and concentrate on the essence of what it is for: Always seek improvement across your organisation and it's processes using the systems outputs to highlight areas that may need attention or that may show potential for improvement.

Just my :2cents: pence!
 

Jen Kirley

Quality and Auditing Expert
Leader
Admin
I agree there is little point in getting hung up over the differences, which for most of us amount to semantics of language and dialect. Let's suffice to differentiate it from a defined, single project that budges a process, then "walks away" and moves on to the next thing. That said, even that approach can be defended as continuous improvement to a system, since it can be argued that there's limited value in constant tinkering in a single process.
:2cents:
 
S

samsung

Re: Is there any difference between Continuous and continual Improvements ?

'Continuous improvement' means improving every movement without stop.Continual improvement means showing a trend of periodic improvement.Continuous improvement is very difficult if not impossible. But Continual improvement is practicable & realistic to expect.
A dictionary will also give you the difference between them.
V.J.Brahmaiah

From Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary
CONTINUAL
1 : continuing indefinitely in time without interruption <continual fear>
2 : recurring in steady usually rapid succession <a history of continual invasions>
–con·tin·u·al·ly adverb
synonyms: CONTINUAL, CONTINUOUS, CONSTANT, INCESSANT, PERPETUAL, PERENNIAL mean characterized by continued occurrence or recurrence. CONTINUAL often implies a close prolonged succession or recurrence <continual showers the whole weekend>. CONTINUOUS usually implies an uninterrupted flow or spatial extension <football's oldest continuous rivalry>.

CONTINUOUS
Synonyms: CONTINUAL, ceaseless, constant, endless, everlasting, interminable, perpetual, timeless, unceasing, unending
1 : marked by uninterrupted extension in space, time, or sequence
2 of a function : having the property that the absolute value of the numerical difference between the value at a given point and the value at any point in a neighborhood of the given point can be made as close to zero as desired by choosing the neighborhood small enough
synonyms see CONTINUAL

Hence NO DIFFERENCE.
 
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