Five Steps For Continuous Improvement of a South Carolina Business Process

(C) Quality Minds Inc. July 2009

Five Simple Steps for Continuous Improvement of South Carolina

Business Processes


South Carolina Business Processes

• A process is a collection of activities that convert inputs into outputs. Each output has a customer and every input has a supplier.

• Arguably, every South Carolina organization uses processes to produce and deliver products and services to customers.

• The South Carolina industries where continuous improvement of business processes is needed include manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, municipal government, and education.


Step One: Define the South Carolina Business Opportunity for Improvement

• What are your customers saying about your product or service?• Complete a Project Charter:

– Project information: Pick a team leader, a team mentor, and a start and end date for the project

– Team Members: Pick five to six team members making sure the membership is cross functional

– Process Start/Stop: Where does the business process (to be improved) start and stop?

– Process Importance: Why is this business process important to your business?– Process Improvement Opportunities: What needs to improve? This may come

from your customer or from within your organization– Process Goals: What are your goals for this business process? What do you

want to achieve in the project?– Process Measurements: How will you know if you reached the goals? How will

you track progress?– Project time frame: List the key steps of your project with dates. Make sure the

dates fit within the start and end dates for the project.


Project:

Project InformationLeader:

Mentor:

Project Start:

Project End:

Cost of Poor Quality:

Process Importance

Process Improvement OpportunitiesTeam MembersMentor:

Leader:

Team Members:

Process Start/StopStart Point:

Stop Point:

Project Goals

Process Measurements

Project Time-FrameMilestone:

Date:


Step Two: Measure the South Carolina Business Process

• Understand the process as it exists today. You are painting a “before picture”

• Basic Techniques for Measuring a Process:– Time the business process at work– Videotape the business process at work– Talk to the people that work within the business process

• Create a SIPOC Diagram of the Process:– S (Suppliers): Who supplies each input?– I (Inputs): What are the key inputs for this process? These are the ingredients

needed to make the process happen.– P(Process): Write out the general steps of the process. Look at the process

from a satellite view. This is the recipe for the output– O (Output): What are the key outputs of the process? These are what the

customer is paying for– C (Customer): List your customers. You have external customers (those that

pay you for your product and/or service) and internal customers (internal departments that receive output from this process)

• Collect performance data for the different areas of the SIPOC diagram: Supplier, Inputs, Process, Output, Customers


SIPOC Diagram of Process and Information to Collect in the Measure Phase

Supplier Inputs Process Output Customer

Supplier Quality

Supplier Delivery

Quality System Audit

Process Audits

Incoming Inspection

Process Audits

Process Audits

Scrap

First Time Quality

Changeover

Cycle Time

SPC

Inspection and Testing

Process Capability

Customer Satisfaction

Customer Complaints

Returned product

On time delivery

Met

rics


Step Three: Analyze the South Carolina Business Process

• Once you have measured the process and understand how it is performing, analyze the process to understand the specific areas that need to be improved

• Basic Techniques for Analyzing a Process:– Fishbone Diagram– Brainstorming– Nominal Technique

• Issue a root cause statement for the process opportunity for improvement


Root Cause Statement for the Process Opportunity for Improvement

• Be specific on what must improve in the process

• The statement of improvement should be simple and concise but worded such that the call to improvement is obvious.


Step Four: Improve the South Carolina Business Process

• Using the root cause statement and the results of the analysis, take actions to improve the process

• Use the plan/do/check/act approach to implement improvement actions for the process:– PLAN Plan the action: List the action along with a

responsibility and due date– DO Carry out or do the action– CHECK Verify or check that the action worked– ACT Take action based on what you learned from

your check


Change in the ProcessBefore After

What was the state of the process before the improvement?

Try to make an objective statement

What is the state of the process after the improvement?

Try to make an objective statement


Step Five: Control the South Carolina Business Process

• Implement controls to sustain the process improvement

• Develop a control plan to document the process controls

• Basic Techniques for Controlling a Process:– Statistical Process Control– Process Audits– 5s Audits– Standard Operating Procedures– Work Instructions


Contact Quality Minds Inc for a Free Initial Consultation for South Carolina

Business Process Improvement• Stephen Deas President Quality Minds Inc

Charleston SC– Stephen is a certified six sigma black belt with a

Bachelors of Industrial Engineering (Georgia Tech) and a Masters of Industrial Statistics (University of South Carolina)

• [email protected]– Business email

• (843) 814 3864– My cell phone

• www.qualitymindsinc.com– Overview of Quality Minds Inc.

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