Chapter 4 QUality Control

8/9/2019 Chapter 4 QUality Control

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Chapter 4

Defining andDocumenting a

Process


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Chapter 4

Defining and Documenting a Process

You will understand how to:

y Define and document a process in an analytic studyy Discuss the concept of feedback in a process

y Discuss the construction and use of a flowchart forcommunication and process improvement

y Discuss the importance of operational definitions indefining and documenting a process


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Empowerment Revisited

Empowerment provides an employee with:y The opportunity to define and document processes,

y The opportunity to learn about processes through training and

development,

y The opportunity to improve and innovate best practice methods

that make up processes

y The latitude to use her own judgment to make decisions within

the context of best practice methods

y An environment of trust in which superiors will not react

negatively to the latitude taken by people making decisions

within the context of best practice methods.


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The operational definition of empowerment

has two parts:y In the first part, employees are empowered

to develop and document best practice

methods using the SDSA Cycle.

y In the second part, employees are

empowered to improve or innovate best

practice methods using the PDSA cycle.


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Analytic Studies Revisited

yAnalytic studies are statistical investigations that

lead to action on a dynamic process.

y They are the vehicle for using the SDSA cycle in

the context of the first level of empowerment todefine and document a process.


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y

Process Basicsy Aprocess is the transformation of inputs into

outputs.

Personnel/Services

Equipment

Materials/GoodsEnvironment

Transformation of

inputs, value

(time, place form)

is added orcreated

Personnel/Services

Equipment

Materials/Goods

MethodsEnvironment

Inputs Process Outputs


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y Process Basics

y

Processes exist in all aspects of organizations, andour understanding of them is crucial.

yAdministration, sales, service, human resources,

training, maintenance, paper flows,

interdepartmental communication, and vendor

relations are all processes.

y These processes can all be studied, documented,

defined, improved, and innovated.


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y The Feedback Loop

yA feedback loop relates information about outputsback to the input stage and/or process stage.

y This information can be studied to help identifypotential improvements and innovations to aprocess.

y

A major purpose of analytic studies is to provide theinformation (flowing through feedback loops)needed to take action with respect to a process.


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y Introductiony Considering the following questions will help you

define and document a process:y Who owns the process? Who's responsible for the

process's improvement?

y What are the boundaries of the process?

y What is the flow of the process?

y What are the process's objectives? What measurementsare being taken on the process with respect to itsobjectives?

y Are process data valid?


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y Who Owns the Process? Every process must have an owner (an individual or

team) who is responsible for the process. Process owners may have responsibilities

extending beyond their departments, called cross-functional responsibilities; they must be highenough in the organization to influence theresources necessary to take action on a cross-functional process.

A process owner is the coach and counsel of herprocess in an organization.


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y What Are the Boundaries of the Process?

y Boundaries must be established for processes.y These boundaries make it easier to establish

process ownership and highlight the process's key

interfaces with other (customer/vendor) processes.

y Process inter

faces frequently are the source ofprocess problems, which result from a failure to

understand downstream requirements.


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y What Is the Flow of the Process?y A flowchart is a pictorial summary of the flows and

decisions that comprise a process.y

It is used for defining and documenting the process.y A flowchart can help a manager, designer, analyst, or

anyone else understand, define, document, study,improve, or innovate a process.

Start Design of trial prototype

specifications

Evaluation

of

prototype

Bad

Trial of

production units

Good

Overall

evaluation or

trial production

units

Bad

GoodProduction

design

accepted

Stop


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y What Is the Flow of the Process?

y

Constructive Opportunities to Change a Process.When using a flowchart, changing a process is

facilitated by:

y Finding the sections of the process that are weak (for

example, parts of the process that generate a high defect

rate),y Determining the parts of the process that are within the

process owner's control, and

y Isolating the elements in the process that affect

customers.


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y What Is the Flow of the Process?y If these three conditions exist simultaneously, an

excellent opportunity to constructively modify aprocess has been found. Further, processimprovements have a greater chance of success ifthey are non-political (or have the appropriate

political support) and do not require capitalinvestment (or have the necessary financialresources).


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y What Are the Process's Objectives?yA key responsibility of a process owner is to clearly

state process objectives that are consistent withorganizational objectives.

yAn example of an organizational objective is "Striveto continually provide our customers with higher-quality products/services at an attractive price that

will meet their needs.


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y What Are the Process's Objectives?y

A process owner in the Purchasing Departmentcould translate the preceding organizationalobjective into the following subset of objectives:y Continuously monitor the Purchasing Department's

customers (e.g., Maintenance Department, AdministrationDepartment) to determine their needs with respect to:

y Number of days from purchase request to item/servicedelivery.

y Ease of filling out purchasing forms.

y Satisfaction with purchased material.


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y Continuously train and develop Purchasing personnel with

respect to job requirements. For example, takemeasurements on the following as a basis for process

improvement:

y Number of errors per purchase order.

y Number of minutes to complete a purchase order.

y Whatever the objectives of a process are, allpersons involved with that process must understand

its objectives and devote their efforts toward those

objectives, rather than toward some other

objectives.


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yAre Process Data Valid?

y Management's (process owners') attempts to

define and document a process must include

precise definitions of process objectives and sub-

objectives, and specifications of products and

services, and processes.

y Operational definitions used to collect data must

have the same meaning to everyone so that thedata can be used as a basis for action.


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y It is useful to illustrate the confusion which can becaused by the absence of operational definitions.y The label on a shirt reads "75% cotton." What does this

mean? Three quarters cotton, on the average, over thisshirt, or three quarter cotton over a month's production?

y What is three quarters cotton?

y Three quarters by weight? If so, at what humidity? By whatmethod of chemical analysis? How many analyses?

y Does 75 percent cotton mean that there must be somecotton in any random cross-section the size of a silverdollar?

y If so, how many cuts should be tested?

y How do you select them?

y

What criterion must the average satisfy?y And how much variation between cuts is permissible?

y Obviously, the meaning of 75% cotton must be stated inoperational terms, otherwise confusion results.


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yAs another example, one operation in a production

process is a deburring operation. Clearly, it is

reasonable to ask for the definition of a burr.


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y Although inspectors B and C always agree, they alwaysdisagree with inspectorE.

y Inspector A agrees with inspectors B and C 40 percent of

the time, with inspectorE 60 percent of the time, and withinspector D 50 percent of the time.y Inspector D also agrees with inspectors B, C, and E 50

percent of the time.

y This information does not paint a pretty picture.y Absence of an operational definition of a burr creates

mayhem. The Deburring Department manager (theprocess owner) and inspectors have no consistent conceptof their jobs. This creates fear (Deming's Point 8) andsteals their pride of workmanship (Deming's Point 12).


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More on Operational Definitions

yAn operational definition consists of:

y A criterion to be applied to an object or to a group

y A test of the object or group

y A decision as to whether the object or group did or did not

meet the criterion


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A firm produces washers. One of the critical quality

characteristics is roundness. The following

procedure is one way to arrive at an operational

definition of roundness, as long as a buyer and

seller agree on it.


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y Step 1: Criterion for roundness.y Buyer: "Use calipers that are in reasonably good order." (You

perceive at once the need to question every word.)y Seller: "What is `reasonably good order'?" (We settle the question

by letting you use your calipers.)

y Seller: "But how should I use them?"

y Buyer: "We'll be satisfied if you just use them in the usual way."

y Seller: "At what temperature?"

y Buyer: "The temperature of this room."y Buyer: "Take six measures of the diameter about 30 degrees

apart. Record the results."

y Seller: "But what is `about 30 degrees apart'? Don't you meanexactly 30 degrees?"

y Buyer: "No, there's no such thing as exactly 30 degrees in the

physical world. So try for 30 degrees. We'll be satisfied."y Buyer: "If the range between the six diameters doesn't exceed

.007 centimeters, we'll declare the washer to be round." (Theyhave determined the criterion for roundness.)


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y

Step 2: Test of roundness.y Select a particular washer.

y Take the six measurements and record the results in

centimeters: 3.365, 3.363, 3.368, 3.366, 3.366, and 3.369.

y The range is 3.369 to 3.363, or a 0.006 difference. They test

for conformance by comparing the range of 0.006 with thecriterion range of 0.007 (Step 1).


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y Step 3: Decision on roundness.

y Because the washer passed the prescribed test for

roundness, they declare it to be round.


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y If a seller has employees who understand what

round means and a buyer who agrees, many of

the problems the company may have had

satisfying the customer will disappear.

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Chapter 4 QUality Control