16 | July-August 2014

OUTSOURCING | ADVERTORIAL
VADS: DRIVING
CONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENT THROUGH
LEAN SIX SIGMA
L
EAN Six Sigma is a syner-
gised concept of Lean and
Six Sigma that results in
the elimination of waste
(classified as Defects, Over-
production, Transportation,
Waiting, Inventory, Motion
and Overprocessing) and long-term
defect level below 3.4 defects per million
opportunities.
It combines Six Sigma Quality with
Lean production speed to achieve major
cost, inventory and lead time reduction.
Lean Six Sigma methodology follows
the Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve,
Control (DMAIC) roadmap for process
improvement. It delivers sustained
defect-free performance and highly
competitive quality costs over the long
run.
In its contact centre, VADS Berhad
deploys a mix of Kaizen initiatives
and Green belt projects. So far, it has
managed to shift performance on
many areas of contact centre and ICT
operation such as procurement process,
service delivery complaint performance,
Sales processes and many other op-
Every year, VADS kicks
off a gap analysis across
the organisation to gather
key pain points from all
aspect of its operations.
portunities.
VADS is one of Malaysias leading
Integrated Managed ICT/BPO Service
providers. Its main activities are Man-
aged Networks Services, Contact Centre
Services (which has now evolved to
Business Process Outsourcing) and
Systems Integration Services.
PAIN POINTS
Every year, VADS kicks off a gap analysis
across the organisation to gather key
pain points from all aspect of its opera-
tions. These are carried out by analysing
key operational metric performances,
customer satisfaction data, leaders and
front-liners most talked about issues.
The key issues were then included
in a project selection matrix to help
identify the high priority projects. The
category with most concerns or issues
were the ones the company ranked as
the most important to change. Hence,
this year VADS have identified eight
major needle moving projects called
2014 BPO Turnaround Plan that were
kicked off.
The project ranges from improving
attrition, Customer satisfaction score,
Sales effectiveness, First Call resolution,
Workforce Utilisation, Average Handling
Time and improvement on training
processes.
IMPLEMENTING CHANGES
The companys project review com-
mittee will have constant engagement
with Lean Six Sigma project managers
to facilitate the training, coaching,
Solid learning platform VADS empowers employees to drive continuous improvement culture.
July-August 2014 | 17
The employee who was part of
this process excellence projects not
only learned new ways to implement
changes but they also received their
Kaizen expert (Yellow Belt) and Green
Belt certification. This encouraged other
employees to come forward with new
ideas and the desire to be part of future
projects and changes to help business
to be more successful.
Every year, VADS kicks
off a gap analysis across
the organisation to gather
key pain points from all
aspect of its operations.
providing support and Tollgate reviews
to ensure successful completion of all
projects in the pipeline. By utilising
the tools and techniques, the project
managers will be able to narrow down
to the most prominent root causes and
solutions that will turn the performance
around.
Once everything was finalised and
the changes was approved by the busi-
ness; it was time to embrace the new
culture. With any process changes, it is
important for the management team;
not only to be supportive, but to make
it visible.
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
CULTURE
After the new processes were in place
for six months, VADS conduct a sensing
session to gauge its impact on the busi-
ness. The Lean Six Sigma and Kaizen
event was a start of a new culture
to include all employees with major
changes in the company.
Kumaran Krishnen
VADS Master Black Belt