For decades, U.S. companies and organizations have desperately tried to reduce costs in order to stay competitive. This book reveals the secrets of Process Improvement (PI). For any organization, this book defines a process as the interaction of people, methods, materials, equipment, measurement and the environment to perform a task or produce an output. The authors show that in order to be successful, there must be a critical shift in the paradigm of management. The shift is to focus, measure, and redesign critical processes to achieve breakthrough improvements rather than just measuring results and reacting to them. They delineate the difference between measurement of results versus measurement of process. It is only by measuring the process that one can achieve a “live” picture of performance without waiting thirty days for the results.
This book presents a method on how to implement PI step-by-step, with simple realistic examples. It teaches how to:
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Define customer requirements and identify the gaps in your process to meet these requirements
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Define the critical process in your organization and establish goals for improvement
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Create a cross-functional team that includes internal/external customers and suppliers of the process under study
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Establish the “As-Is” baseline and define the future state of the process in terms of measures such as yield and throughput time
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Develop a plan to achieve the “future state”
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Develop a pilot to verify the re-designed process
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Institutionalize the new process
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Select the next critical process for improvement
An array of examples are presented where Process Improvement can be applied – from mundane processes for making breakfast to paving roads. Case histories included in the book are from real-world examples encountered during the authors’ professional careers that depict the breakthrough successes of PI.
List of Figures and Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 : Introduction
Chapter 2 : Troubled Processes in Real Life
Chapter 3 : Yield and Throughput
Chapter 4 : Who Is the Customer?
Chapter 5 : How to Begin Process Improvement
Chapter 6 : The Six Phases of PI
Chapter 7 : Mapping the Process
Chapter 8 : Voice of the Customer
Chapter 9 : Measuring the Process
Chapter 10 : Redesign, Test, and Institutionalize Phases
Chapter 11 : Real-World Throughput and Yield
Chapter 12 : PI Tools and Measures
Chapter 13 : Case Histories of PI Successes
Chapter 14 : Epilogue
Appendix A : Are Your "Doing PI"? (Ten Questions)
Appendix B : Medical Clinic
Appendix C : Process Capability (Cpk)
Glossary
Suggested Reading
About the Authors
About the Advisors
Index
