Process Improvement
A Quick Primer
by
Chester L. Kruegar Jr.
Just about any process can be improved in some way. All you need to do is put
together the right people, review past performance, and view the process with
an open mind. To get started you need to determine which process you want to
improve. A great way to decide which process to improve is to review any data
you may have and determine what will provide you the greatest return.
Plan
Once you have decided on the process, you need to determine the beginning and
end points of that process. Knowing the beginning and end points will help to
determine what people are needed to improve the process and keep you from
getting off track during the process.
Now is the time to pick your team, try to get as many people who are involved
with the process as possible. Ideal team size is 5 to 8 members, more than that
and you have problems with the improvement process. Less than that and you may
not get enough good ideas. Remember to include people and interfaces that are
affected by the process. Sometimes they can be extremely valuable in presenting
problems encountered and with possible solutions. Many people make the error of
not including these people or interfaces and end up having to redo the process
because of unintended results.
Do
Once you have your team selected it is time to begin analyzing the process.
Start by mapping the process as is. Here is where a well selected team can be
very useful. The way a process is documented may not be what is happening in
reality. Map what is happening, try to include as much detail as possible.
Include processing times, waiting and movement times in your process maps. This
will allow you to see failures of the process and places that may be improved.
If you take your time with this step, your map will be more accurate and will
allow you to make better decisions later on.
With the as is process documented, you can now begin brainstorming ideas to
improve the process. Use standard brainstorming techniques to develop as many
ideas as possible for improvement. One failure that some teams make is to
eliminate a step because they believe that it is not value added. Be careful
here! Sometimes a step may not add value but must be included because it
preserves the product or is needed for a later step to be completed properly.
An example of this is a drying process added after wet grinding. It does not
appear to add value but must be done or the product will rust and be destroyed.
Also consider the use technology to improve your process. Sometimes you are
using forms and the form is filled out by one person then copied into a
computer by another person. Can you eliminate the duplication by setting up an
on-line form that would feed directly into a database or spreadsheet, thereby
eliminating one step and one chance for error?
Check
If you feel you have collected all the ideas needed now, you should use group
techniques to determine which changes the team feels are the most beneficial.
Now make the changes you have decided on and test your proposed solutions. If
you find that the solutions worked, great! If not, go back and review to see
where you went wrong.
Act
Now that you feel you have improved the process as much as possible, map and
document the new process. Make sure that all members who are involved with the
process are trained in the revised process and agree with it. Review process as
necessary and make any changes needed. Make sure you document any changes and
provide training needed.
Remember process improvement is part of the PDCA cycle and can be repeated as
necessary. Have fun improving your processes as you improve your company.
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