Chapter 7 Classroom Process Management
What are the three elements of “process management”?
Design Control Improvement (never ending)
(inputs) (such as reduce variation)
- Design
ensuring that the inputs to the process, such as materials, technology, work methods, and people are adequate, and that the process steps are well-defined, mistake-proofed, sequenced properly, lean, and understood for consistent and effective execution.
- Control
assessing whether the process performed as planned and the process output is on target.
- Improvement
continually seeking to achieve higher levels of performance in the process, such as reduced variation, higher yields, fewer defects and errors, and so on.
- Processes must be repeatable
- Process must be measurable
Meeting these two conditions ensures that sufficient data can be collected to reveal useful information for evaluation and control, as well as learning that leads to improvement and maturity.
What is our impact on designing work processes?
Cost
Agility
Quality
What is “agility”?
Agility refers to flexibility and short cycle times.
Enablers of agility include
- close relationships with customers to understand their emerging needs and requirements,
- effective manufacturing and information technology,
- close supplier and partner relationships
Specifically, how do we approach “process design”?
1. Identify the product or service: What work do I do?
2. Identify the customer: Who is the work for?
3. Identify the supplier: What do I need and from whom do I get it?
4. Identify the process: What steps or tasks are performed? What are the inputs and outputs for each step?
5. Mistake-proof the process: How can I eliminate or simplify tasks?
6. Develop measurements, controls, and improvement goals: How do I evaluate the process? How can I improve further?
Design Control Improve
Product or service
What is to be done
Who is customer
Who is supplier/what do I need
What is the process
How can I mistake proof
How do I measure
More on mistake-proofing?
- Mistake-Proofing Processes
Typical reasons for mistakes and errors:
Forgetfulness due to lack of concentration
Misunderstanding because of the lack of familiarity with a process or procedures
Poor identification associated with lack of proper attention
Lack of experience
Absentmindedness
Delays in judgment when a process is automated
Equipment malfunctions
- Poka-Yoke
Poka-yoke is based on:
Prediction, or recognizing that a defect is about to occur and providing a warning
Detection, or recognizing that a defect has occurred and stopping the process.
Three levels:
- Designing potential errors out of the process.
- Identifying potential defects
- stopping a process before the defect is produced.
What are service errors?
- Treatment errors in the contact between the server and the customer, such as lack of courteous behavior, and failure to acknowledge, listen, or react appropriately to the customer.
- Tangible errors, such as unclean facilities, dirty uniforms, inappropriate temperature, and document errors.
- Customer errors in preparation such as the failure to bring necessary materials to the encounter, to understand their role in the service transaction, and to engage the correct service.
- Customer errors during an encounter such as inattention, misunderstanding, or simply a memory lapse, and include failure to remember steps in the process or to follow instructions.
- Customer errors at the resolution stage of a service encounter include failure to signal service inadequacies, to learn from experience, to adjust expectations, and to execute appropriate post-encounter actions.
Design Control Improve
Product or service standard or goal
What is to be done how to measure
Who is customer actual vs. standard
Who is supplier/what do I need
What is the process
How can I mistake proof
How do I measure
What does the term “process control” mean?
the activity of ensuring conformance to requirements and taking corrective action when necessary to correct problems and maintain stable performance
What are the elements of process control?
- a standard or goal,
- a means of measuring accomplishment, and
- comparison of actual results with the standard, along with feedback to form the basis for corrective action.
Why is “control” important?
It is the basis for organizational learning and lead to improvement and prevention of defects and errors.
After-action review
What was supposed to happen?
What actually happened?
Why was there a difference?
What can we learn?
What is an effective control system?
- Documented procedures for all key processes;
- A clear understanding of the appropriate equipment and working environment;
- Methods for monitoring and controlling critical quality characteristics;
- Approval processes for equipment;
- Criteria for workmanship, such as written standards, samples, or illustrations; and
Maintenance activities.
Design Control Improve
Product or service standard or goal Kaizen
What is to be done how to measure Cycle time reduction
Who is customer actual vs. standard Use methodology
Who is supplier/what do I need analyze prob.
What is the process organize info
How can I mistake proof reanalyze
How do I measure implement
PDC
Kaizan
Benchmarking
What are the obvious reasons for process improvement?
- Customer loyalty is driven by delivered value.
- Delivered value is created by business processes.
- Sustained success in competitive markets requires a business to continuously improve delivered value.
What is Kaizen?
a Japanese word that means gradual and orderly continuous improvement.
Focus on small, gradual, and frequent improvements over the long term with minimum financial investment, and participation by everyone in the organization.
What is cycle time?
the time it takes to accomplish one cycle of a process
Reductions in cycle time serve two purposes
- First, they speed up work processes so that customer response is improved.
- Second, reductions in cycle time can only be accomplished by streamlining and simplifying processes to eliminate non-value-added steps such as rework.
There is a methodology for process improvement:
- Redefining and analyzing the problem:
- Collect and organize information,
- analyze the data and underlying assumptions, and
- reexamine the problem for new perspectives, with
the goal of achieving a workable problem definition.
- Generating ideas: “Brainstorm” to develop potential solutions.
- Evaluating and selecting ideas: Determine whether the ideas have merit and will achieve the problem solver’s goal.
Implementing
The Deming cycle:
- Plan
- Act
- Do
Some terms:
- Breakthrough Improvement
Discontinuous change resulting from innovative and creative thinking, motivated by stretch goals, and facilitated by benchmarking and reengineering
- Benchmarking
“the search of industry best practices that lead to superior performance.”
- Best practices – approaches that produce exceptional results, are usually innovative in terms of the use of technology or human resources, and are recognized by customers or industry experts.
What are some of the types of benchmarking?
- Competitive benchmarking - studying products, processes, or business performance of competitors in the same industry to compare pricing, technical quality, features, and other quality or performance characteristics of products and services.
- Process benchmarking – focus on key work processes
- Strategic benchmarking – focus on how companies compete and strategies that lead to competitive advantage
What is reengineering?
the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed.
Summary
What are the three elements of “process management”?
Design Control Improvement (never ending)
(inputs) (such as reduce variation)
- Design
- ensuring that the inputs to the process, such as materials, technology, work methods, and people are adequate, and that the process steps are well-defined, mistake-proofed, sequenced properly, lean, and understood for consistent and effective execution.
- Control
- assessing whether the process performed as planned and the process output is on target.
- Improvement
- continually seeking to achieve higher levels of performance in the process, such as reduced variation, higher yields, fewer defects and errors, and so on.
- Processes must be repeatable
- Process must be measurable
Meeting these two conditions ensures that sufficient data can be collected to reveal useful information for evaluation and control, as well as learning that leads to improvement and maturity.
What is our impact on designing work processes?
Cost
Agility
Quality
Design Control Improve
Product or service
What is to be done
Who is customer
Who is supplier/what do I need
What is the process
How can I mistake proof
How do I measure
Design Control Improve
Product or service standard or goal
What is to be done how to measure
Who is customer actual vs. standard
Who is supplier/what do I need
What is the process
How can I mistake proof
How do I measure
Design Control Improve
Product or service standard or goal Kaizen
What is to be done how to measure Cycle time reduction
Who is customer actual vs. standard Use methodology
Who is supplier/what do I need analyze prob.
What is the process organize info
How can I mistake proof reanalyze
How do I measure implement
PDC
Kaizan
Benchmarking
What is Kaizen?
a Japanese word that means gradual and orderly continuous improvement.
Focus on small, gradual, and frequent improvements over the long term with minimum financial investment, and participation by everyone in the organization.
What is cycle time?
the time it takes to accomplish one cycle of a process
The Deming cycle:
- Plan
- Act
- Do
Some terms:
- Breakthrough Improvement
- Discontinuous change resulting from innovative and creative thinking, motivated by stretch goals, and facilitated by benchmarking and reengineering
- Benchmarking
- “the search of industry best practices that lead to superior performance.”
- Best practices – approaches that produce exceptional results, are usually innovative in terms of the use of technology or human resources, and are recognized by customers or industry experts.
- What is reengineering?
the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed.
