Process Mapping: Creating Business Success

Posted on28. Apr, 2009 by carolesf.

Process Mapping

as a tool for creating business success has been around in one form or another for quite a long time.  The earliest forms of flowcharts were developed in the 1920′s and 1930′s as part of industrial engineering.  Since then, highly sophisticated Process Mapping tools and techniques have been developed.  Helping to drive the development of these tools was the certification standards of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 in the early to mid 1990′s and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the early 2000′s. 

But perhaps even more important a driver is that old standby of capitalism:  Competition. 

If your competition has a shorter, less costly, and more effective process, they’ll eat your lunch.  Why would any customer pay more to wait longer for a less reliable product?  Of course, they won’t.  But under pricing pressures you can’t just price on a “cost-plus” basis.   Result?  Your prices are the same as the competition’s prices, but your costs are higher, so what suffers?  Your profitability.  Under such competitive pressures, businesses have come to scrutinize their processes in ever more detail, seeking waste that can be cut out.

Tools of Lean Manufacturing such as Value Stream Mapping have come to be used in every type of business process.  Lean Manufacturing was pioneered by Toyota and has since spread to every corner of the globe.  But Process Mapping is also a key part of Total Quality Management (TQM) and Six Sigma as well, plus combined methods such as Lean Six Sigma.

What is Process Mapping?  Simply put, it is a chart which shows every activity that must be completed in order to deliver a product or service to the end customer.  Modern versions typically include not just materials flow, but paper flow and information flow as well.  Put that way, it does sound simple.  But it’s harder than you might think, and requires an experienced business analyst and leader to do it effectively.

Here are some key areas to consider when beginning a project of Process Mapping:

(1) For one thing, you’ll need to set the boundaries of your process map.  Are you mapping a process at the macro or micro level?  Are you looking at an entire factory, or only one workcell within the factory?  How much of the upstream and downstream sub-processes do you need to show, to help inform your understanding of the area under study? 

(2) You’ll also need to identify the product, and maybe even the customer.  It’s not always as easy as you might think!  This is especially true in the case of service industries, or internal departments where the “customer” is another department of the same company.     

(3)  How much detail should your map show?  Too much detail and you risk losing the forest for the trees.  Too little detail and you may miss some important factors.

(4)  Who should be on your team?  It should be a multifunctional team from many levels, yet if it is too large the team becomes unwieldy.  Often only the workers know what really goes on, but you must be sure that these team members will not be intimidated by the views of higher-level members who have a different vision of what “should” be happening.  And when all of these people have their own “real” jobs to do (as of course they will in a multifunctional team), getting them to focus on the Process Mapping project is an art in itself.

Despite all these challenges, Process Mapping is a crucial part of business process improvement.  Just remember, your competition is monitoring their processes.  Literally, you can’t afford not to.

Welcome back to Lean Six Sigma Source! Thanks for your continued support.

Continue Reading

Lean Six Sigma: What Is It?

Posted on24. Apr, 2009 by carolesf.

Lean and Six Sigma

Most people in business today have heard the term “Six Sigma.”  Over the past few years, though, we’ve also begun to see the term “Lean Six Sigma.”  You may be wondering, “What exactly is Lean Six Sigma?  Is it different from “regular” Six Sigma?”

Originally, Lean and Six Sigma were seen as competing methods.  The Lean approach focused on minimizing lead time for a given process, seeking speed and efficiency.  Six Sigma focused on minimizing variability in a given process, seeking to minimize minimizing defects in output.  Followers of each approach were quick to point out the shortcomings of the other method.  A Lean process could still produce poor-quality outputs; and a Six Sigma process may not necessarily have been faster or more efficient than the process it replaced.

But why should you have to choose between quality and speed?  Shouldn’t the ideal business process result in both quality and speed?

This realization led business leaders to see Lean and Six Sigma as the complementary tools that they are.  Using the integrated Lean Six Sigma approach, a company can improve both efficiency and quality — at the same time.

Sound good?  Broadly speaking, here’s how Lean Six Sigma works.

The basic problem-solving framework is known as DMAIC:  Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. 

Define & Measure: 

Identify the process and problem we want to work on.  Then, measure the extent of the problem. 

For the target process, the Black Belt leading the project will produce a an As-Is map.  The idea here is to capture the process as it currently exists.  Not as it was designed to be.  Not as we wish it could be.  But as it is.  (This is typically quite an eye-opening exercise.)  The value stream map identifies costs in the process. 

Analyze

Next, the Black Belt will want to capture the voice of the customer, to identify issues that are critical to quality — in the customer’s eyes.  Remember, the customer is the key stakeholder in any business process.  If the business doesn’t keep its customers happy, none of the other stakeholders will be around for long.  Therefore, the costs in the value stream map can be put into one of two bins from the customer’s perspective:  Either value-add or non-value-add costs.  In other words, ask yourself this question about any of the identified process costs:  “Will the customer be willing to pay for this?”  If YES, it’s a value-add cost.  If NO — get rid of it; it’s a non-value-add cost. 

Here I want to remind you of something I said in an earlier post:  Defects are a waste that the customer does not want to pay for.  This fact illustrates why the Lean and Six Sigma methods of process improvement, in reality, work so well together:  Both approaches zero in on this point. 

Improve:

Now that the Lean Six Sigma team has identified areas of wasted cost, wasted time, and/or sources of defect-producing variability, we can revisit the process map.  Now we define what the process should look like. 

Control:

The team’s work doesn’t end with a new and improved process map.  We must also consider how to avoid a similar problem in the future, and how to recognize it more quickly if it does occur.  In other words, we must ensure that we can maintain control over this new process as it is moved from the Powerpoint slide into the real world.  This is the Control phase of the DMAIC framework. 

If the Lean Six Sigma team has done its job well, the new process should be shorter, faster, less costly, and more effective than the old process.

Continue Reading

Reduce Cycle Time in Your Process Map with Concurrent Activites

Posted on07. Jan, 2009 by Monique.

Yesterday, I was traveling on the highway, listening to my favorite CD when I made an observation.  I took note of the tractor trailers on the road and noticed the majority had tractors with single trailers.  Interestingly, the UPS and FedEx tractors had double trailers.  I thought to myself, “Why are UPS and FedEx using double trailers?” 

I had to put on my Lean Six Sigma goggles and observe that this was a deliberate business strategy.  I thought about a single large trailer sitting at the  dock with one crew of people to load items.  Imagine how much time that would take.  Now, picture the scenario where you have two crews on two separate dock doors loading the smaller trailers.  If loading a trailer is my process, I have tapped into the opportunity to reduce my overall cycle time by implementing concurrent process steps.  Concurrent engineering or process mapping is not a new concept to Lean Six Sigma practitioners, but I think it is often overlooked.  When reviewing the As-Is process map, it’s natural and expected to immediately focus on the non-value added steps, such as delays and loop backs.  Cutting non-value added steps will ultimately reduce your cycle time, but it is also important to take advantage of opportunities to turn sequential steps, into simultaneous process steps. 

The pit crew model is often implemented for setup reduction projects in manufacturing facilities and operating rooms.  This team divides the work and helps prepare the tools, die, equipment, or surgical instruments for the next job, while the current job is in process.  The pit crew is a wonderful application of implementing a process with concurrent activities to overlap setup and processing time.   Cut your cycle time by multi-tasking.

Continue Reading

Voice of the Customer: Do you have super Sonic hearing?

Posted on01. Jan, 2009 by Monique.

The Voice of the Customer is the primary reason for engaging in continuous improvement efforts. Happy customers are critical to long term growth and profitability.  As Lean Six Sigma practitioners we must always make sure the Voice of the Customer (VOC) remains paramount in the evaluation of existing processes and the design of new processes.  Challenge yourself to listen to the customer.  Does the customer have any frequently asked questions or challenges?  What can be done to improve the customer’s experience?

During my last visit to Sonic America’s Drive-In, I noticed some really great things about the new menu design.

Healthy Meal Selections

As a parent of a pre-schooler, I really appreciated the new side options for the kid’s meal.  The kid’s meal now includes a choice of a fresh banana, string cheese, or milk.  Fresh fruit and dairy sides for kid’s meal is a trend that has been adopted by other fast food restaurants such as MacDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Subway.   This new menu selection will enable Sonic to compete with other chains that market to health conscious parents.  In addition, Sonic now offers fresh bananas on the Dollar Menu for customers who may want a quick snack with a beverage.

Happy Hour Drink Specials

During my visits to Sonic’s happy hour, I have often asked myself, “Which drinks are half-price?”  In response to a frequently asked question, Sonic has an answer in it’s new menu layout.  Beside each happy hour drink there is an icon on a clock.  The icon represents that this is a happy hour drink.  I no longer have to ask or wonder.  This is a great example of how we can use lean and visual displays to improve customer experience. 

Placement of the Treat Menu 

The treat menu is now located above the main menu on the driver’s side.  The treat menu used to be on the bottom right-hand side with a darker blue background.  Now, it has a lighter blue background and is easier to see than the passenger side menu board.   I used to have a difficult time seeing the passenger side menu when I was sitting in the driver’s seat.  This simple placement change is most likely the result of visual display research with the goal of drawing attention to the meal options because the meal options take up most of the menu board.

So, are you listening? 

The changes implemented on Sonic’s new menu are responses to customer frequently asked questions and business metrics.  I can’t help, but recognize how much putting bananas on the dollar menu will help Sonic reduce costs related to perishable good storage.  From a business prospective, people feel good about making healthy food choices and it would not hurt to reduce your perishable good waste.  The more people that order bananas as a side that’s fewer bananas to trash because they go bad.  It’s a win-win for the customer and Sonic.  So the next time, you go to Sonic think about all the hard work and effort Lean Six Sigma practitioners make to keep customers happy and want to come back.  It’s simple, listen to the voice of the customer.

Continue Reading

Generate multiple Pareto charts – It’s EASY with SigmaXL!

Posted on30. Dec, 2008 by Monique.

Why use the Advanced Pareto chart function?

To help prioritize your efforts to reduce/eliminate defects. The Pareto principle indicates that approximately 80% of process defects are caused by 20% of the problems. Separate the vital few from the useful many.   The SigmaXL function helps draw comparisons between similiar categories.

Used in DMAIC Phase(s). . . .

• Measure
• Analyze

Type of Measure

• Input
• Process
• Output

Type of Data

• Discrete

To learn more about Six Sigma certification or to view a course demo, visit the Six Sigma Training page.

Continue Reading

How to Create a Basic Pareto chart using SigmaXL

Posted on30. Dec, 2008 by Monique.

Why use a Pareto chart?

To help prioritize your efforts to reduce/eliminate defects.  The Pareto principle indicates that approximately 80% of process defects are caused by 20% of the problems.  Separate the vital few from the useful many.

Used in DMAIC Phase(s). . . .

• Measure
• Analyze

Type of Measure

• Input
• Process
• Output

Type of Data

• Discrete

To learn more about Six Sigma certification or to view a course demo, visit the Six Sigma Training page.

Continue Reading

What is Lean Six Sigma?

Posted on25. Dec, 2008 by Monique.

Lean Six Sigma is the merger of two methods that aim to improve and maintain customer satisfaction. 

Lean is a system that uses visual tools and data to identify waste in a process.  Lean projects are often called kaizen (continuous improvement) events.  Any process has steps in it that either add value or do not add value from the customer’s prospective.  So you have to follow the money and think, “Is the customer willing to pay for this?”  If not, then we can call that waste.  We want to make what the customer wants using the fewest number of resources and effort to increase the profit on the product or service.  The acronym commonly used to put waste into categories is TOM-D-WIP.

• Transportation

Imagine. . . Ordering a Big Mac, the sandwich is prepared,  the cashier takes the sandwich and runs outside around the MacDonald’s parking lot twice before handing you your burger.  Are you willing to pay for that?  NO!

• Overproduction

Imagine. . . Gas prices are through the roof, consumers are desperate to find ways to reduce their fuel consumption, the demand for SUVs has dropped dramatically, but an auto manufacturer continues to build SUVs. . . ”Just In Case”.    Alternative:  Make items when needed

• Motion

This mainly refers to ergonomics.  Design work processes to use a minimal amount  of energy to complete the task.  This can apply to designs for humans and animals.

• Defects

Anything that is not supposed to happen in the process.  Imagine. . .You go to the video store to rent “Dark Knight” and you get home and find a Beyonce CD inside the case.  That’s a defect!

• Waiting

Nothing is happening in the process.  Are you willing to pay for that? NO!

• Inventory

Imagine. . .An inbox full of service requests to be processed or the number of 2- liter bottles of Coke on the shelves at Wal-Mart.  Inventory ties up cash for storage space and prohibits process flow.

• overProcessing

Doing more processing than the customer requires.  Example: Overcooking a rare steak or duplicate process steps

Six Sigma is a method of using math to determine how much variation is in your process.  Variation is considered a waste that the customer is not willing to pay for.  You want to provide a product or service as consistently as possible.  Six Sigma projects can be broken broken down into distinct phases called the DMAIC (duh-may-ic) process.  DMAIC is normally used for existing processes and DMADV is for DFSS (Design for Six Sigma) projects that are creating a new process, product or service.  DMADV stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify.

Define – What is the problem? Why is this important?  Who will be involved in the project? When will the project start and end?

Measure – What is the current process? Collect data to describe the process.

Analyze – What is the real source of the problem?  Use data to identify root causes.

Improve – How can we make the process better? Use data to prioritize solutions with immediate results.

Control – How can we prevent the problems from re-occuring or detect the undesirable changes in the process sooner? 

The six sigma method uses an wide number of tools for each phase, but the important thing to realize is that this is cycle of steps that you follow every time. 

Lean and Six Sigma go hand in hand because variation is a waste that should be eliminated in a process.  Six Sigma helps you close the loop to keep the process in control by continuous monitoring of the process after the proposed changes are implemented.   Lean Six Sigma is the bridging of two very powerful methods to improve customer satisfaction and design processes that result in long term growth and profitability.   I also feel that that tools are relevant to ANY process, so you will see more examples of what I mean on later posts.

Continue Reading