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Striving for Perfection in an Imperfect World
Today, quality control is equally important in the service sector and quality control measures can be used effectively by applying lessons learned in manufacturing industries. A quality control program that seeks better results without involving the employee in the larger corporate idea can only be of limited value.
The Meaning of Six Sigma
2. Sponsor. The individual in the sponsor role acts as a problem solver for the ongoing Six Sigma project. The team leader. The day-to-day work of the Six Sigma team is managed by the team leader.
The Customer’s Point of View
But we must also remember the caveat “The optimist declares that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears that this is true.”2. As long as management adheres to the traditional view—that the department must fix the problems themselves—the more complex mistakes do go all the way to the top.
Outside-In Thinking
One of the chronic problems in customer service is an unawareness of the problem itself. Consider the example problem: "The shipping and receiving department is not filling orders within three days as promised by our sales representatives." At first it appears to be a problem isolated within one department, but upon further investigation we discover that many departments contribute to a much larger problem. It's those intangibles—the way customers perceive a company's customer service—that ultimately take away.
Expectations: What changes in the process would you expect as a result of the proposed changes. Asking the question – the answer to which may seem obvious – can help many people reconsider their basic assumptions about how to deal with that customer. Management – all the way to the top – must be part of the Six Sigma culture, not only by supporting the concepts, but also through active participation.
What you do with the information you get from the Six Sigma process will largely depend on the dedication of the company's management to the whole concept. The primary problem with the approach was a "service vacuum", the series of problems that arose due to a lack of communication. Efficiency across processes. The problems of duplication of effort, conflicts of responsibility and uncertainty about the task contribute to the chaos that is so often experienced in internal processing.
The Nature of Quality
The entire process begins when management identifies the top priorities of the entire Six Sigma program. Six Sigma tactics are process-oriented, so it's easy to lose sight of the end goal of the work itself. In the analysis phase, the team may also discover that it is necessary to return to the defining phase and reformulate some of the original assumptions of the project.
Some Six Sigma definition phases are necessarily more heavily involved in documenting and discussing details of the project. FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis). The last segment of the measurement phase is called FMEA. The data may also be flawed, further adding to the complexity of the problem.
Why don't you let the air out of the tires?" The solution, so obvious and so easy, no one else thought of. So in designing the work flow diagram (the horizontal flow chart described in Chapter 6) it is important to recognize that several points must be incorporated in the process improvement.These include (1) flexibility for increased workload, (2) recognition that assumed deadline pressure points may be worse in the future, (3) adjusting for increased defect incidence at identified weak points, and (4) designing the project itself to continuous review and revision.
Product and Service Defects
During a Six Sigma project, it would not be sufficient to say, "The shift manager needs to make the employees pay more attention" and then simply assume that this will solve the problem. Key Point Like all other artists, the Six Sigma team starts with its rough sketch – the CTQ tree – and from. The purpose is to give the Six Sigma team a broad overview and an overview of the areas that need attention.
Finally, the end user is probably aware of the relationship between the customer and the sales representative, who in the customer's mind is the "company" with all its internal processes. A sales representative is an individual who promises that "your purchase will be shipped within three days." The customer doesn't care what's included internally; the only question is whether or not that promise is kept. This is a reactive approach. A reactive approach is suitable for certain types of problems, especially those that cannot be predicted.
By design, it cannot solve the underlying problems. The customer service department, operating in isolation from the internal process, is specifically designed not to solve the real problem. You cannot understand the reasons for customer complaints if you do not investigate how they arose. The entire premise of customer service will be based on one of two broad assumptions. Key Point One thing we can learn from the team's approach to Six Sigma: Everyone is in the customer service business.
Improving
Process Systems
One of the primary tasks for the team is to identify workflows in the process. It is useful in the same way as CTQ trees because it allows the Six Sigma team to visually identify all the process elements that need to be addressed. This type of loop can and should be inserted anywhere in the process where authentication is required.
If the verification loop is used in the critical steps of the process, you will be able to prevent variances (thereby stopping their growth, defects) within the process. In the narrative, each segment of the process (area of responsibility, flow of process steps, description of procedures, timeline, documents and internal verification steps) can be described in as much detail as required. So the Six Sigma team can also propose interim steps to reduce variances and defects in the system.
The first step in the flowchart showing how the system works today involves order receipt and routing to the marketing department. Stock orders. The weak links in this phase occur at virtually every step along the way. Accounting process. The accounting process is naturally slowed down by the need for methodical matching, coding and approval procedures for paperwork.
Striving for Consistency
Key points Forecasting, communication, quality standards and delivery - the main priorities for improving system processes - are the main elements of customer service at all levels. Given this problem, we need to set specific performance standards and make those standards part of the process itself. Since we look for variances as a tool for identifying problems, we also need to identify what actions need to be taken to reduce the occurrence and prevent defects from growing out of the process.
These defining elements of the process – related to time, effort and cost – should be used as defining elements for all internal actions. We don't have to simply accept flaws as bugs in the system; with effective communication we can reduce the impact of the variance on the customer. That process should also include action steps, communicating the problem to the customer if the deadline or other specific requirements are not met.
The process itself, once outlined on a horizontal flow chart, should serve as a working model of the process. This format makes it easy to refer from the large view of the horizontal flowchart to the detailed instructions found in the narrative description of the process. Key point It is essential that team members, managers and employees are exposed to the wider picture of the process.
Exceptions and Rules
Once the entire organization understands this premise – the cultural philosophy of Six Sigma and the underlying service ethic of the quality program – everything changes. Just as the efficiency expert may have added a level of validity to the analysis of process behavior, the Feng Shui consultant can provide valuable insights into the design of homes or offices. The efficiency expert who tries to determine down to the minute and second how long a specific function took is unable to appreciate the variables of service delivery as an intrinsic part of that service.
As a form of trying to quantify the process—much like the one-minute management school of thought—the idea just didn't work. When the efficiency expert of the 1970s reported to management, the decision often came down to judgments about time. So when management took the efficiency expert's advice and downsized, the message to everyone else was: "Work harder and faster, shorten process times, and be more efficient, or you too could lose your job."
The efficiency expert did not know how to explain the value of improved service, the universal customer, or the competitive advantage of improved processes. If the efficiency expert could convince Management to cut $6,000 a month from payroll, for example, the one-time consultant fee of $3,500 is more than justified. The efficiency expert was a type of expert witness who, tragically, had no real expertise other than the ability to manipulate numbers.
