Process Improvement
Part 2 of a 2 part series
Warning Signs: SIGNS A PROCESS NEEDS IMPROVEMENT
- Falling profits with stable or growing sales, stable prices and costs.
- Net sales to total assets out of line with industry averages.
- Unnecessary duplication.
- Bottlenecks.
- Missing information.
- Missing resources.
- Poor morale.
- Rejects.
- Customer complaints.
- Absenteeism.
Steps to Improve: THE PROCESS
- Eliminate unneeded steps.
- Add value as the customer sees it.
- Eliminate error.
- Combine steps.
- Reduce hand offs.
- Eliminate bottlenecks.
- Reduce cycle time.
- Perform steps in parallel, not serial order.
- Study causes of rejects.
- Better match resources, information and employees.
- Improve use of technology.
- Improve internal communications.
- Improve morale.
Steps to Improve: RESULTS
- Study consumer complaints.
- Study customer feedback.
- Establish performance measurements.