Lean for Competitive Advantage and Customer Delight

© 2012 WIPRO LTD | WWW.WIPRO.COM | CONFIDENTIAL1

Using Lean in Application Development to achieve competitive advantage and customer delight

Balaji Ganesh

Senior Manager - LEAN

http://present.agileindia.org/proposal/76/using-lean-in-application-development-to-achieve-competitive-advantage-and-customer-delight





Agenda

Project Context

LEAN Tenets / Techniques used

Implementation Details - Visual Controls, Mistake

Proofing, DSM, OA

Benefits Summary

Conclusion5


Project Context

Team size: 40 (Peak)

Add-on Development project, executed in a release based model, spanning requirement gathering to UAT/Warranty support

Functionality rollout to 5 states spanning 2 releases

Project Brief

Project executed under risk-reward model with stringent timelines and quality parameters.

Team performed Requirements Gathering for the first time

High interlocking and dependencies between modules in scope for development

High ratio of fresh / new developers

Huge number of data combinations for testing.

High ratio of defect slippage (25-30%) to ST and UAT phases from previous similar releases.

Shortened test cycles for IT/ ST / UAT which also included regression testing for states already in production.

Probable accommodation of CRs at the fag end due to business criticality or regulations.

Business and Technical Challenges


Lean Tenets/Techniques Used

SL # Lean Tenet/Tool/Procedure

1 Mistake Proofing

2 Visual Controls

3 Competency Management

4 Design Structure Matrix

5 Orthogonal Arrays


What is a Visual Control

“Any communication

mechanism used in the

work place that tells us at

a glance how work flows

(visual aids) and / or

whether it is deviating

from the standard

metrics or expectation

(visual controls)”

“A powerful technique that

uses charts, diagrams,

signs, labels, color-coded

markings to clearly define

the normal (or desired)

conditions and to expose

the undesired conditions in

the day to day project

execution”

“Visual controls are like

traffic signals; follow them

throughout your project -

intervene for correction

when you see a problem, a

waste or a process failure”


Visual Control

Method:

Feature backlogs and WIP across phases displayed on Kanban board for daily updates.

Real time status flashed as video

Synchronization of onsite and offshore VCs once every day

Daily team huddles to discuss progress

Process and work flow diagrams as Visual Aids

Benefits:

Team aware of the big picture. Ownership and transparency.

Streamlined communication

Availability of real-time work status

Improved team morale, collaboration and work load levelling.

Team members picked up next task automatically (pull system)

Challenge

Ad-hoc task allocation. No work load levelling.

Student syndrome.

Team dependent on leads to understand task backlogs and prioritization

Considerable effort and time for status collation from leads and managers

Lack of big picture – No idea of overall performance with respect to the goal


Mistake Proofing

• Reusing software modules does not guarantee safety in the new system to which they are transferred

• Flight control software and software for medical equipment are some examples of mission critical

applications that simply cannot be allowed to fail due to programming errors.

• Software bugs cost the U.S. economy an estimated $59.5 billion per year, or 0.6 percent of the gross

domestic product


Mistake Proofing

Method:

Identify, explore and implement detective and preventive mechanisms

Causal analysis to identify top 3-4 root causes of defects

Usage of checklist, design templates and automation / simulation.

Identification of skill gaps to address through appropriate training and cross skilling

Task allocation based on module complexity (output of DSM) and skill level

Wall charts of process and life cycle diagrams

Sanity regression suite and pre-IT of critical deployment scenarios post UT.

Show –Tell phase added for early feedback. Appropriate gating and exit criteria.

Benefits:

Higher implementation productivity (enhanced by 33%) due to:

Doing right the first time (effective prevention and detection)

Effective Task Allocation

System Testing completed 1 week ahead of schedule

Zero critical or high defects in the UAT / Warranty phases

Challenge:

High number of defects identified in previous similar releases across phases

Defect slippage of 25- 30% to IT / ST / UAT phases. Delays in final delivery due to high rework.

High ratio of fresh / new developers. Code re-use from previous releases without impact to quality.


What is a DSM

DSM is a mathematical and visual representation of the forward and reverse dependencies between the various elements in the system grouped according to the increased order of dependency.

Elements could be components / modules, features, use case scenarios, Agile stories.

Pair wise dependencies between these elements are marked in the DSM.

Dependency marks can be either binary (0 or 1) or indicate the relative strength of the dependencies (High, Medium, Low, None etc..).

DSM Output

Optimal sequence of module execution

Bands / levels for the modules

Value Threads – A chain of elements that constitutes a unit of value to the customer.

Module or feature level complexity factors

http://www.dsmweb/org -> DSM Tools

http://www.dsmweb/org


Design Structure Matrix– Identify Functional Dependency for Optimized Planning and Impact Analysis

Method:

Created module level DSM grid based on workshop that included

SMEs, leads, team members and managers

Processed DSM output through in-house tools to arrive at

Concurrencies, dependency blocks, complexity and value threads

Benefits:

Optimal planning and team ramp-up. Implemented and tested components with more complexity early,

Value threads used for iteration planning, prioritization and alignment across the team .

Streamlined work allocation and distribution - Identifying collocation and distribution, task assignment as per complexity

Faster turnaround for design, change requests analysis and implementation

Enhanced review effectiveness

Improved quality delivered to down stream phases.

No major defects identified during UAT / Warranty phases

Challenges:

High degree of dependency between the modules

Anticipated Schedule crunch in integration and system testing

Defect fix turn around time high for similar past releases

Poor downstream quality in previous releases.


What is OA

• Identify the feature under test (FUT)/system under test (SUT)

• Identify the outputs / behavior of the FUT/SUT

• Identify the inputs conditions / system parameters (Factors) that influence these outputs

• Use equivalence class partitioning/boundary value analysis to identify the multiple input/parameter values to be tested (Levels)

• Feed the factors and levels in a full factorial or a fractional factorial experiment tool and you have the test cases required for the FUT/SUT


Application of Orthogonal Arrays

Method:

System level approach -Identification of factors and levels for key scenarios / functionalities.

Identified and optimize all possible test combinations.

Reviewed the combinations and eliminated the infeasible combinations

Benefits:

System based testing instead of navigation based.

Reduced number of regression test cases by 64%, without impact to quality .

Improved test Coverage and traceability for add-on features.

Team developed better understanding of the scenarios associated with the business requirement

Challenge:

High number of data combinations to be tested for each functionality

Only 4 weeks of testing window for Integration Testing and Complete Regression Testing.

High degree of Dependencies between functionalities to be tested


Benefits - Summary

Overall 10% effort under run and absorption of 9% additional effort as CRs within schedule.

Number of defects reduced by 69% with comparable previous release

Development productivity enhanced by 33.39%

Team got “High Achieves” award and bonus from customer for exceeding quality

and schedule parameters.

Zero critical and high defects. Product delivered one week ahead of schedule.

Enhanced team morale, effective tracking and pull.

Increase in Per Person Revenue (PPR) from CRs absorbed within schedule and effort.

Improved team competency and overall understanding of system level scenarios and business cases

Effort

Schedule

Quality


Conclusion

LEAN levers can be deployed effectively for

• Standardizing processes to Do Right First Time (DRFT)

• Creating a culture of collaboration and problem solving

• Streamlining communication.

• Maximizing “people” potential.

• It is all about

• Managing complexity,

• Making tacit knowledge explicit

• Maximizing business outcomes through waste elimination

• Striking the right balance between standardization and expert

knowledge.


Closing thoughts

Managing Complexity:

“The Checklist Manifesto” by Atul Gawande

Talks about managing complexity effectively through checklists in fields as

diverse as medicine, sky scraper construction, investment banking, disaster

response and business

“What a powerful insight this is: In an age of unremitting technological

complexity…….something as primitive as writing down a to-do list “to get the

stupid stuff right” can make a profound difference.” – The New York Times

Learn, UnLearn and Relearn:

“In the future, illiteracy will not be defined by those who cannot read and

write, but by those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” - Alvin Toffler


Q&A


Balaji Ganesh

[email protected]

Sr Manager- LEAN