9. Process Analysis

Question 1

Why do we chart the flow of cust. through stages of conversion process

Answer 1

1. easier to understand
2. Helps identify improv. opportunities.

Question 2

Symbols to use & rep

Answer 2

• rectangle - task or operation
  -triangle (upside) - storage areas/ queues
  -diamond - decision points
  -arrow - flow of material/cust.

Question 3

Process Improvement

Answer 3

-Recognizing the need for change
-Research best practices (Bench marking)
-Determine how to change (tinker/tear down)

Question 4

Recognizing the need for change

Answer 4

Internal , External
Leading (immediate feedback): excessive delays, high rework/scrap, employee frustration, idle staff) Customer complaints, prod. returns, neg. media
Lagging (delayed feedback): Excessive overtime, employee turnover, declining KPI performance. ) Declining mkt share, declining fin. performance.

Question 5

Benchmarking

Answer 5

is the formal process of comparing an
organization’s processes and performance measures against top performers. (“How do they do it?”)

Question 6

The result of benchmarking can be used as?

Answer 6

targets for process improvement

Question 7

Categories of Benchmarking

Answer 7

-Internal: app for org. with multiple location.
-Competitive: difficult to get infomation
-Functional:

Question 8

Process Improvement Approaches

Answer 8

-Continuous process imp(CPI) :never ending process of achieving incremental imp.(tinker-repair)
-Business Process Reengineering (BPR): short-term radical process improvement. (Tear down)

Question 9

Reengineering

Answer 9

it is the process of
rethinking and restructuring. It
requires discontinuous thinking.

Question 10

What causes the need for BPR?

Answer 10

 Technological advancements (Disruptive Technologies)
 Drastic improvement at a competitor
 Changing customer desires

Question 11

Disruptive Technologies

Answer 11

a new technological innovation,
product, or service that eventually
overturns the existing dominant technology
in the market, despite the fact that the
disruptive technology is both radically
different than the leading technology and
that it often initially performs worse than the
leading technology according to existing
measures of performance.”

Question 12

Employment involvement - (CPI)

Answer 12

Collaborative, cross-functional teams
 Need for training in problem / opportunity identification and resolution
 Adequate time to be creative
 Company culture is key:
- Willingness to invest in employees
- Willingness to delegate decision-making
Disciplined approach to managing change
 Includes Just-In-Time (JIT) systems / Lean production

Question 13

6 SIGMA AT A UTILTY SERVICE

Question 14

Diff bet BPR & CPI

Answer 14

BPR(Dynamic mkt) CPI (Stable)
Mode: scrap& build, maintenance and imp.
Pace: 1 big step, many small steps
Effect: Dramatic, Gradual
Involvement: indiv. champions, collectivism, system approach.
Implementation: large inv. little effort to maintain, small invest. great effort to maintain