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I and a few others fought valiantly to ensure that the voice of the customer was injected into the process, and that the design capability was measured and reported through Six Sigma scorecards. This was all deemed to be unimportant in the rush to get the product to market. Eckes' book reveals why this was so. Early on, he had counseled Jack Welch that Six Sigma rests on two pillars: Thus you both increase revenue through customer loyalty and product quality and decrease costs by eliminating the hidden factory and focusing only on customer CTQs.
Welch being Welch, he completely ignored the former and focused on the latter, to great effect. In , Welch realized that this was a mistake, as customer after customer inquired why they didn't notice a change in GE's products and services after the Six Sigma introduction. While shareholders realized double-digit growth year after year, customers saw the same old mixed bag of products and services.
Welch immediately launched a major initiative to reduce customer span and inject the voice of the customer into GE processes. Eckes, to his credit, indulges in a bit of well-deserved "I told you so. This is an excellent book covering the whys and wherefores of a Six Sigma introduction. For those of us in the trenches trying to effect lasting change in our companies, this is an indispensable resource. If you're looking for an in-depth guide to the tools employed in Six Sigma project execution, grab "Implementing Six Sigma" by Forrest Breyfogle instead.
I read the Six Sigma Revolution because of my facination with exploring ways to improve the quality of life, both as it relates to business as well as to relationships and life generally. Every now and then an author comes along who not only has technical expertise but also has both feet on the ground.
George Eckes has painted a picture that illustrates not only mastery of Six Sigma content, he also exemplifies giftedness by communicating profoundly detailed concepts and principles with clarity and simplicity. And he paints his picture with splashes of fun and humor. I believe that anyone who is committed to improving effectiveness and efficiency in their world, whether in their business or in their personal lives, can benefit significantly by reading the Six Sigma Revolution.
I'm looking forward to getting a copy of his next book, Making Six Sigma Last. Excellent layperson's introduction to six sigma project management. The author leads you through the process in a very easy to understand way that, by the end of the book, has you ready to start tackling your projects in a systematic way. One person found this helpful. This booh is more appropriate for managers who want to know what Six Sigma is. The main merit of the author is that he gives two examples: For a first reading into the theme that is ok.
Yes it is good. The six sigma benefits are process management, improvement, and measurement implemented daily. Top company leaders recognize the six sigma is synonymous with constant reinvention of their business and gain success through sustained customer satisfication both internally and externally. Six Sigma business are held the highest standards of 3. The belief that tool usage used for measuring results should be easy and simple. The silo-breaking effort produces strong communication and collaboration throughout the company.
Core competence is improved as the company makes a strong commitment to learning and training as the standard. The six sigma way involves increase expense for training, resource, and employee time allocation; but numerous case studies suggest the end result is increase productivity. Increased productivity can apply effectively to both service and manufacturing businesses.
What is six sigma? A focus on the customer 2. Fact based management style 3. Process focus and improvement 4. The drive for perfection but tolerance of failure 7. What is the improvement Cycle? DMAIC define,measure, analyze, improve, and control 1. Identify the problem and define requirements 2.
Redefine the problem and measure key steps 3.
Analyze the root causes of the problem 4. Develop improvement ideas to remove root causes and create standards of performance measurement. Establish control measures to maintain performance and correct problems as needed. How does a company determine whether six sigma is right for them? The authors expand that six sigma is a company cultural change. Case studies indicate the change can be profitable but requires tremendous commitment, resources, and time to implement effectively.
The authors assess readiness with three questions: Is change a critical business need now 2. Can the company come up with a strong rationale for applying six sigma to their business 3. Will the existing improving systems be capable of achieving the change needed. A deeper understanding of what six sigma can do for the organization is requested.
Scope analysis answers the question of what is feasible in terms of resources, attention, and acceptance. A timeframe analysis answers the question of how long will management be willing to wait for results. Where to go from here. This item is not eligible for international shipping. See questions and answers. Share your thoughts with other customers. Write a customer review. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. I left GE some months ago quite frustrated with the company's application of Six Sigma.
Even though all salaried employees were trained as Green Belts, even though all managers took great care to spout the proper nostrums at the proper times, nothing really changed much in how we operated. I worked on a new product program which served more as salve to the egos of engineers than to improve our product for our customer.
I and a few others fought valiantly to ensure that the voice of the customer was injected into the process, and that the design capability was measured and reported through Six Sigma scorecards. This was all deemed to be unimportant in the rush to get the product to market. Eckes' book reveals why this was so.
Early on, he had counseled Jack Welch that Six Sigma rests on two pillars: Thus you both increase revenue through customer loyalty and product quality and decrease costs by eliminating the hidden factory and focusing only on customer CTQs. Welch being Welch, he completely ignored the former and focused on the latter, to great effect. In , Welch realized that this was a mistake, as customer after customer inquired why they didn't notice a change in GE's products and services after the Six Sigma introduction. While shareholders realized double-digit growth year after year, customers saw the same old mixed bag of products and services.
Welch immediately launched a major initiative to reduce customer span and inject the voice of the customer into GE processes. Eckes, to his credit, indulges in a bit of well-deserved "I told you so. This is an excellent book covering the whys and wherefores of a Six Sigma introduction.
For those of us in the trenches trying to effect lasting change in our companies, this is an indispensable resource. If you're looking for an in-depth guide to the tools employed in Six Sigma project execution, grab "Implementing Six Sigma" by Forrest Breyfogle instead. I read the Six Sigma Revolution because of my facination with exploring ways to improve the quality of life, both as it relates to business as well as to relationships and life generally. Every now and then an author comes along who not only has technical expertise but also has both feet on the ground.
George Eckes has painted a picture that illustrates not only mastery of Six Sigma content, he also exemplifies giftedness by communicating profoundly detailed concepts and principles with clarity and simplicity. And he paints his picture with splashes of fun and humor. I believe that anyone who is committed to improving effectiveness and efficiency in their world, whether in their business or in their personal lives, can benefit significantly by reading the Six Sigma Revolution. I'm looking forward to getting a copy of his next book, Making Six Sigma Last.
Excellent layperson's introduction to six sigma project management. The author leads you through the process in a very easy to understand way that, by the end of the book, has you ready to start tackling your projects in a systematic way. One person found this helpful. This booh is more appropriate for managers who want to know what Six Sigma is.
The main merit of the author is that he gives two examples: For a first reading into the theme that is ok. Yes it is good. The six sigma benefits are process management, improvement, and measurement implemented daily. Top company leaders recognize the six sigma is synonymous with constant reinvention of their business and gain success through sustained customer satisfication both internally and externally.
Six Sigma business are held the highest standards of 3. The belief that tool usage used for measuring results should be easy and simple. The silo-breaking effort produces strong communication and collaboration throughout the company. Core competence is improved as the company makes a strong commitment to learning and training as the standard. Which of the following would you have put inside the scope of putting a man on the moon and which would you have put outside the scope?
It is important for the team to set Goals and Objectives that are achievable within a to day period. A typical rule of thumb is for teams to reduce the problem by 50 percent in the to day window. For example, in the invoice payment project we mentioned earlier, a reasonable but powerful goal would be for invoice payment lateness to go from Milestones While each project varies in terms of completion, first projects should be scoped to be completed in to days.
First projects that last longer than days encounter a precipitious decline in the likelihood of goal obtainment. Approximately half of the days should be devoted to the Define-and-Measure portion of the improve methodology with the remainder of the time devoted to analysis and improvement the bulk of control being implemented after the project team has disbanded.
A good champion should provide the project team with project management resources to ensure that the team is on track to meet the day window. Subsequent projects can last longer than days and be successful dependent on factors such as degree of cross-functional impact, business complexity, current performance, and desired improvement. These roles must be carefully chosen, not with those people available and interested in the team but with the individuals most qualified to carry out the assignment—those people who most directly impact the strategic goals of the process in question.
Many project teams make the mistake of filling positions with those individuals who have interest in improvement. The most qualified people must be on the team, particularly team members who have the expertise that will eventually lead to sigma improvement. Once the team charter has been validated, the second function of the team is to identify the customer or customers of the project.
Many teams make the mistake of assuming that the customer is the external entity that pays the bill. While this could be the case, the customer is the recipient of the product or service. It is plausible that a customer of the project could easily be sitting in the cubicle next to you. In addition, once the team starts brainstorming who the customer or customers of the project are, it is important to stratify or segment the customers, ranking them as primary or secondary or even tertiary at times. Segmentation is usually based on market segment, revenue impact, geography, business importance, or some other criteria.
Segmentation of customers is important for one simple reason: In any process, there is a high probability of multiple customers. In some cases, multiple customers will have complementary needs and requirements. But in other cases, different customers will have different needs and requirements. Segmenting customers into primary, secondary, or even tertiary categories allows the team to make decisions about which customers deserve priority in the case of conflicting needs and requirements.
For example, people are always inquiring how I can live with the uncertainty of being a consultant. If the business takes a downturn and has to downsize, he could be unemployed. Meanwhile, a consultant usually has five or six clients at any one time. I also segment my clients.
At any one time, I usually have one client I consider my primary client, invariably based on percent of revenue my most important strategic business objective. While I have been fortunate to have General Electric as a client since , it has only been since that I would consider them my primary client. Once a month, we have a consultant conference call. If GE was a secondary or tertiary client, I might not make myself available, but I or someone from my staff will be part of the conference call because of their importance to our business.
Once the project team has established who their customers are and has done some segmentation using appropriate criteria, the team must then move toward determining the customers Needs and Requirements. There are those who believe that I am being redundant by saying needs and requirements. While as a consultant I am guilty of saying too much versus too little, it is not redundant to separate out needs and requirements.
The need of a customer is the output or outputs of a process that establishes the relationship between the supplier and customer. Requirements are the characteristics that determine whether the customer is happy with the output provided. For example, in my business, I often must travel from the happy confines of my Denver home, often back to the East Coast or increasingly overseas, primarily to Europe. There are times when this coffee drinking need turns out to be highly pleasurable and others when I am disappointed. Whether this experience is pleasurable or disappointing is dependent on my requirements.
If you are a coffee drinker, what are your requirements that determine if you are happy or not? For me, early in the morning, my requirements include the following: Taste Yes, I love Starbucks. Additives real cream and raw sugar. The Critical-to-Quality Tree While there are a variety of tools to use to help a team reach requirements, one of my favorites is the critical-to-quality CTQ tree.
This simple tool helps the team move from general needs of the customer to the more specific, behavioral requirements of the customer. The steps of creating the CTQ tree are: First, the team does a CTQ tree to determine whether the identified customers need to be segmented, since, in some cases, different customers have different requirements. Thus, the customer of room service is the hotel guest requesting a meal. There is no need to segment this customer—the hotel guest requesting room service. Identify the first set of requirements for the need. As we saw in the identification of the process dashboards in Chapter 2, each process should identify 1 to 3 measures of effectiveness and efficiency that help drive the process.
We mentioned whether these requirements of the need determine whether the customer of that process is satisfied or not. Thus, it is critical to validate these requirements with the customer. In our Westin case study, we indicated that data brought back by the process owner indicated that speed of delivery, food quality, and menu variety were the three most important requirements of those who were using room service. We see how these elements are placed on the Level 2 area of the CTQ tree.
Drill down to level 3 if necessary. In our example, we want to examine if each level 2 element of the CTQ tree can be taken to another level of specificity. At this point, if the additional level produces what we would consider a measurement, we should stop at the second level of the CTQ tree. For example, if the team considers the next level of speed of delivery to be minutes, they have gone too far because minutes is how speed is to be measured and that will be covered in our next chapter Chapter 5. Thus, our work for speed is complete with the level 2 entry.
However, if you asked what about food quality would make the experience enjoyable as we did in this example , we were told three things. First, the temperature of the food was important. The soup is hot and the ice tea is cold. Note we are not specifying how temperature of the food is measured, thus, this is an area that will go forward. Second, the food service customer indicated to us that the taste of the food was a determinant of food quality: Medium rare or well done, meat lean, fish fresh, and so on.
Finally, the third major component of food quality was presentation of the food.
These three areas are located on the third level of the CTQ tree as seen in Exhibit 4. These are listed in Exhibit 4. Many project teams fall into the trap of having the tool use them rather than vice versa. The most common problem with the CTQ tree is attempting to create the third level when two levels will suffice.
There is no science to this determination, simply common sense. One consideration in determining if you have gone far enough in the CTQ tree is to see if any third level requirement is really how the requirement will be measured. For example, in the case of speed of delivery, if a team tried to create the third level, invariably they would talk about elapsed time measured in minutes to deliver the meal. Minutes is a type of measure. How something is measured should not be a part of a CTQ tree. Validate the requirements with the customer.
While valuable, it needs to be validated with the customer. In many cases, what the team considers important, the customer will see in a different way. There are many ways to validate what the customer considers important. Customer one-on-one interviews involve taking a customer through a series of questions that will validate the CTQ tree. The disadvantages includes the cost of interviewing and the need to have the interview be conducted by someone who can supplement prepared questions with spontaneous questions when the need arises.
A survey is a set of written questions that is sent to selected customers to obtain standardized answers that will enable determination of which requirements are most important to the customer. A survey one client uses to evaluate my effectiveness and efficiency after teaching one of their quality classes, is: How would you rate this course in terms of: Practical value New ideas Clarity of how to apply concepts Understandability of materials Meeting your expectations Effectiveness of instructor 5 5 5 5 5 5 Fair 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 Poor 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 This type of response is called a Likert Scale, so named after the University of Michigan statistician who created it.
Likert showed that a scale of 1 to 5 is far better because people given larger scales 1 to 10 rarely use the whole range of choices, instead opting for extremely low numbers 1 or 2 or extremely high numbers 9 or Among the advantages to surveys are the data created, which leads to little if any need for interpretation in answers, and the ability to prioritize needs and requirements from direct, no nonsense answers.
There are two major disadvantages to surveys: First, response rates to surveys are relatively small, thus calling into question what motivates the respondent. Usually, people respond to surveys if they are highly satisfied or highly dissatisfied. Survey return rates that are greater than 10 percent without some incentive are rare.
The second disadvantage to surveys is that there is no opportunity for follow-up and the surveyor is at the mercy of how well the questions are created. Significantly different answers can be expected dependent on how a question is asked. A focus group is a selected group of customers who are gathered together to answer a set of prepared questions.
When in the hands of an able facilitator, focus groups have many advantages: There are several disadvantages with focus groups: Often, if there is a dominant personality among those in the focus group, he or she may influence others in the group. Focus groups also can be expensive because bringing people together in one physical location involves a great deal of coordination.
There is also the problem of focus groups being run by less than experienced facilitators. Finally, there is the problem of asking the right questions. The latter problem is not unique to novice organizations. In the mids, a prominent U. Among other strategies, a focus group was called together to test a new product that more closely paralleled the competition. During the focus group, they concentrated on how the new product compared to the competition and were elated when they found not only similarities between the two, but that the new product was even better than their competitor.
With this information in hand, Coca-Cola introduced what many have called the worst new product of the decade. Among the many mistakes associated with this product was the focus group, which isolated taste as a customer requirement. While taste is a requirement for the need for a cola, it actually is not that high on the list. Instead of letting the focus group bring out what the requirements of the customer are for a cola, Coca-Cola spent the majority of its time with the mistaken impression that taste was a far more important requirement than it really was. They found out the taste of New Coke was very close to Pepsi-Cola but did not inquire about how the image of the cola was a stronger requirement.
During the s, Pepsi did an outstanding job of selling their cola as a youth product, having hired then popular Michael Jackson to sell its wares. Thus, the misuse of focus groups led Coca-Cola into a very expensive marketing error. Several years ago, a well-known restaurant chain TGIF was experiencing a sales drop in one of their Midwestern restaurants. While this was probably a contributing factor, a regional sales manager came up with an interesting idea.
He had staff sit at each table over the course of several weeks and make observations about what it was like to be a customer of that restaurant. While there was no single reason why sales had dropped, taking this approach of being the customer dramatically generated a set of requirements that led to improved sales.
Spending time observing the customer can also be of tremendous benefit in helping an organization determine the requirements of the customer. One European GE Capital business that does this quite well takes the time to have a field engineer spend the entire day after installing the computers at a new site to see how the product is used. As a result, it has been determined that several preconceived notions of what was not important to the customer really are quite important.
My friend Bill Dougherty at the Westin has shared many interesting stories with me of the demanding nature of some hotel guests. The focus of some of these demands comes in the package of a complaint. Complaints have the advantage of providing the supplier with an immediate opportunity to right a wrong. In terms of our discussion here, complaints assist in providing specific information about what the customer requires.
Unfortunately, there is one major drawback to complaints as a way to learn about customer requirements. I run a simple test in my classes to show what this drawback is: I ask every participant to think of the number of times in the past two weeks they have been dissatisfied when they have been a customer. Amazingly, people raise four or five fingers. Thus, in an averagesized class, I have 50 to 75 opportunities for complaints. Then I ask how many times they formally complained.
Universally, less than 10 fingers pop up. Even when a customer complains, you may not be able to right a wrong. Bill Dougherty amused me once with the story of a rock star who stayed at his facility where in the middle of the night he complained that the wind outside was too loud in his high-rise suite. I never did find out how they rectified this problem to entice the rock star to return to the Westin. In this last step, we create a high-level Map of the process that most directly affects the project we are working on.
In earlier chapters, we defined a process as a series of steps or activities that take inputs provided by supplier s , add value, and produce outputs for customers. What we are trying to accomplish in this last area of Define is to create a high-level picture of how the affected process currently operates.
By seeing how the affected process operates, we may be able to determine what in the process in not operating as it should. When you see how valuable the concepts of Six Sigma are, they come to be a part of your everyday life. The example I have chosen to show the tool of Process Mapping comes from my personal life. Like so many of the tools of Six Sigma there are a series of easy-toimplement steps involved, including: Define the process to be mapped.
Establish the start and stop points of the process boundaries. Determine the output of the process. Determine the customers of the process. Determine the requirements of the customers. Identify the suppliers to the process and obtain agreement on the inputs to the process.
Agree on the 5 to 7 high-level steps that occur between the start and stop points of the process. Define the Process to Be Mapped Long ago I had promised myself that once I had established my consulting business, I would splurge and buy myself an expensive sports car. Long after I could afford to buy one, I was hesitant. Finally, after my fortieth birthday, I decided to buy the car but I wanted to be as effective and efficient as I could. I soon realized that to be effective and efficient in my car-buying process, I could utilize the same tools that had helped me earn the car.
First step, define the process to be mapped.
The Six Sigma Revolution: How General Electric and Others Turned Process Into Profits - ProQuest
As we discussed in the team chartering section, teams will always be challenged to avoid scope creep. Here we have one of several decisions that could impact scope creep. The process name should include some action verb and, in my case, I defined the process to be mapped: What if I had named it the Car-Leasing Process? The latter would have been a lengthier process since the process does not end until I return the vehicle.
While there is no right or wrong answer to defining the process to be mapped, the team should spend conscious time discussing the impact of their decision. How you define what the process is has impact on the scope of work to be done. Establish the Start and Stop Points of the Process Boundaries Like our preceding step, there is no right or wrong answer to establishing the start and stop points of the process.
However, like the preceding step, the decision made here has impact on our project scope. In my car buying example, I decided that the start point for buying my car was turning I made the determination that driving the car off the lot was the stop point for the process. Think of the implications for project scope if I had made the decision that the last payment for the car was the stop point.
If I had decided the latter, the scope of the process would have been much larger. Again, there is no right or wrong answer. Many times, the team will make the decision that the stop point is much later. This is fine as long as the team makes a conscious decision. Determine the Output of the Process Our next step was to determine the output of the process.
The output of the process should be stated in simple unqualified nouns. Teams often make their work more difficult by getting ahead of themselves by adding adjectives to the output that is the work of later parts of the Process Map. In our car-buying example, the output of the car-buying process is simply a car. The answer is yes. I strongly recommend, however, that the team keep things simple.
While any process can have multiple outputs, if the team focuses on the project at hand, they will usually find there is one output.
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Determine the Customers of the Process In the next two steps of Process Mapping, our work should have already been completed. That is, determining our customers and requirements should have taken place earlier in Define. Look back to the CTQ tree. From the tree, we should be able to identify the customers and as we shall see, we should also have their requirements. In the car-buying example, we have an opportunity to segment our customer base.
First, who is the primary customer of the output? Remember that primary customers should have the highest impact on the output, be the most important consideration of the process, and have the greatest interest in the output. Of course, you are probably indicating that the primary customer of this car is me. The primary customer is my wife. Always know who your primary customer is. Making such a purchase without naming my wife the primary customer would have been a serious mistake. If my wife is the primary customer, then is it safe to say I am the secondary customer?
When you live in a home with two preteenage boys and you are getting an expensive sports car, you would be foolish not to see the two boys, Joe and Temo, as at least the secondary customers. Can there be tertiary customers? Yes, in this case, it is me. Determine the Requirements of the Customers Again, we should already have this work completed. Simply, cut and paste on the Process Map the details of the CTQ tree, either level 2 or level 3 requirements. Fortunately, when I first approached my wife about buying this expensive sports car, she was highly supportive.
She said that if I bought this shallow superficial automobile, she would still love me. She would miss me, but she would still love me. Actually, her only requirement was the color of the car. Easy enough, now on to my secondary customers. Speed of the car and back seats. The tertiary customer, having just experienced his fortieth birthday, had one simple requirement, status. You will note in Exhibit 4. While not mandatory, at this point we want to ease you into the concept of measurement.
Think for a moment how, in this case, the requirements of each of the three major customers could be measured. If you met my wife, you would quickly note that her favorite color is black. The most important requirement for my two boys was speed. I quickly learned not to assume how the requirement was to be measured. Just a half hour north of Denver on the way to Wyoming, the speed limit is As I increased my speed significantly past the 75 limit, I expected to hear the ohhs and ahhs of my two boys.
Finally, in the absence of hearing anything from my boys, I inquired if they were happy with the speed. A polite response followed. Ah, boys, I thought to myself, I thought speed was your first requirement of the car? Where did I go wrong? I found out on the way home. After exiting from the highway and within a mile of our home, I stopped at a light. As the light turned green, I accelerated in what could only be described as a jackrabbit start.
As I went through second, third, and fourth gears, I suddenly started to hear the ohhs and ahhs from my boys that I had expected earlier. Suddenly, I realized I had not been practicing what I have preached to so many of my clients. Speed was really acceleration as measured by the time in seconds from 0 to 60 mph. At first it may seem that measuring something subjective is foolhardy. However, subjective measurements are a daily part of life.
In this case, I had many options that would be viable Inputs Car Info. Choose Dealer Test Drive Exhibit 4. While the car was handcrafted, any fool could certainly see it was overpriced. However, this type of measure is one data point. How could I determine if the car was losing its status? An ongoing measure that would allow for frequent data collection and tell me if the car was losing status was the number of stares I get at stoplights. Since they certainly are not looking at me, this measure would allow me to determine the amount of appeal the car has and when it would wane.
An often overlooked part of becoming more effective and efficient is recognizing the management of suppliers who provide the inputs to your process. In this case, we first identify the suppliers to the carbuying process. First, we identify the car dealer. What input does the car dealer provide? A car, of course. But wait, how can an output also be an input? Simply put, the process is the steps and activities that take inputs i. The value add in this case is the transfer of ownership from the dealer to me. The input from this supplier is information. Each March, Money magazine has an article on new cars.
In this issue, they state the dealer price, the suggested retail price, and your target price when you negotiate the price of your car for over types of cars. This input was used later in the process when I negotiated the price of the vehicle. In my seminars, some suggest that I should list the car manufacturer as a supplier. Of course, this also applies to customers and outputs. Another problem area when creating the suppliers and their inputs is limiting yourself to only those inputs that occur before the process start point.
This is incorrect as shown through the carbuying example. At this point in creating the map, I encourage the project team to simply brainstorm the higher level steps in buying a car. At a later point, we then will put them in chronological order. As the adage says, there are two uses for a tissue, cleaning your glasses and blowing your nose, but you have to get the order right.
However, at this point we just brainstorm the higher level steps in buying the car. When I use this example in the class, the typical responses for the steps in buying a car are as follows: Selecting the option package. Test driving the vehicle. In each of the above, the team did a good job with brainstorming the list of high-level process steps.
A key to good brainstorming of process steps is making sure that the process step has some action verb associated with it. Note the steps brainstormed above do that. We polish them up and then put them in chronological order: Choosing a dealer the assumption is that I already know what type of car I want. The last step of this section of Define is to validate the process to ensure that the 5 to 7 steps of the process really occur as the team thinks they exist. This is because there are four levels of a process. The first level is what we think the process is.
This is the process we create among the team. Last, be wary of a common mistake that teams make when creating this high-level Process Map. Invariably, teams like to create on paper the map they desire the process to look like. Thus, the team should be on guard that during this brainstorming process and during the later validation activity, they will be tempted to create the map as they want it to appear.
First, we discussed the team charter and the five key elements. The team should clearly have the Business Case for the project, which will state the strategic importance of the project. The second major element of the team charter is the preliminary problem statement, which should be a specific measurable statement about the gap between the current state and the desired state, also including the impact of the problem to the business stated in neutral terms.
From the problem statement, a goal statement should be created, one which the first project teams of an organization can achieve in days. While a dynamic element of the project, scope must be managed closely. A set of milestones for completion of the steps of the project must be established. Finally, roles and responsibilities for the project team must be set.
In this chapter, we discussed the various roles and responsibilities of the project team. They include the team leader, the internal consultant who assists the team with the technical elements of the project, and the team members. Supervising the team from afar is the sponsor or champion. The second of the three elements of the Define step of improvement was determining the customers of the project. We discussed whether it was necessary to segment the customers based on considerations such as market impact, geography, revenue, or some other factor.
Once completed, the team must determine the needs and requirements of the customer or customers of the process in question. Reviewed was a popular method to structure the brainstorming of what the needs and requirements of the customer are—the CTQ tree. Discussed were methods to obtain these needs and requirements from one-on-one interviews to focus groups and customer complaints. Using a mnemonic tool called the SIPOC, we created a map of the current process that in later steps in the improvement model we will analyze and improve. Decision making based on gut feel or anecdotal information is not how organizations become more effective or efficient.
There are many issues associated with measurement. In my years of consulting I have noticed two major problems. The first major problem I see in organizations is a total lack of measurement. The other problem with measurement is measuring too much and not using what is measured.
In the former case, I have observed businesses who have never measured anything going to the other extreme and if it moves, it gets measured. Think of measurement as an investment. Like any investment, measurement costs time and money. This time and money can produce significant returns but only if the investment is done right.
This chapter teaches you how to make a return on your measurement investment. If you have no data, you are just another person with an opinion. I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about and express it in numbers, you know something about it, but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind.
Edwards Deming made to me in the early s. This is the same Deming who ridiculed me in my first months of consulting. However, almost two years after my first, unpleasant experience with the quality guru, I was in Detroit waiting to put on a seminar at the then Metro Airport Hilton. An early riser, I came down to have breakfast, finding the restaurant nearly vacant.
Taking my copy of the newspaper, I began to read the sports section when I heard the sonorous voice of the only other person eating that early. I became aware that the voice ordering breakfast was Deming himself. Both of us were putting on seminars that week. At that first breakfast I was too timid to approach Deming. On the second day, however, I sheepishly approached Deming as once again, we were the only two eating breakfast. Unlike my first contact with Deming when he unceremoniously walked off after telling me to read some of his books, he was gracious and kind.
This same Deming who had seemed so rude the first time I had met him was now gracious, kind, and considerate.
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We went on to have breakfast the next four mornings and I only wish in hindsight I could have documented more of what he told me. There were several gems Deming shared around the topic of measurement. Later in this chapter we will discuss several other Deming comments on measurement. Thus, what you measure is also focused on these key elements. I often talk to my associates about the three levels of mastery of any subject.
First, there is memorization. But memorization is only the beginning. The second level of subject mastery is interpretation of what is memorized. Anyone can memorize the sigma formula, but do you know its importance? The final and most important level of subject mastery is assimilation, the ability to tie two or more important subjects together and make sense out of the concepts. What quality tool from Define does this resemble? If you answered the Process Map, you have just exhibited assimilation. Measurement begins by taking your Process Map and identifying the measures of your effectiveness output measures of your customer requirements.
Then identify the measures of your efficiency measures of the amount of time, or cost or labor or value steps between the start and stop points in your map. Input Measures Supplier Effectiveness The key quality measures placed on your suppliers. Process Measures Your Efficiency Measures of your process efficiency: Think of the Data Collection Plan as the who, what, where, when, and how of data collection. Before data is collected, this plan needs to be filled out in detail. The majority of the rest of this chapter is devoted to creating the Data Collection Plan.
Since we have already introduced the Westin Hotel improvement effort, we will use room service as our example. Brainstorm with your team to come up with a list of questions you expect to answer with the data you collect.