DCE5131 QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IN HUMAN RESOURCE

DEVELOPMENT

PROCESS
IMPROVEMENT

OBJECTIVES

1. Process and process focused strategy

2. Process characteristics
3. Concepts of process management
4. Six ingredients that are essential for
managing any type of process
5. Identify and manage key processes
6. Strategies for process improvement?
7. Flow chart

INTRODUCTION

An input-output phenomenon
Input = resources; output = products & by products
OUTPUT

INPUT
Knowledge
Skill
Experience
Information
Facilities
Mechine
Tools
Materials
Supplies
Energies

PROCESS

Product
By-products
Service

Figure 1: Fundamental Product Process Relationship

INTRODUCTION

Two general types of strategies exist for creating

products that meet or exceed customer needs and
expectations: (1) process focused or (2) product
focused.
Process focus : how we design and build our products
(i.e., how we combine inputs and processes).
Product focus : what we design and build.
Concern and formulate strategies for both process
and product.
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PROCESS

PROCESS: A bound set of interrelated work activities,

each having prescribed inputs and outputs.
Can be material, equipment, other tangible objects,
or various kinds of information, are converted by a
series of activities into an output provided to a
recipient.
RECIPIENT:
-> can be either an external or internal customer.
-> An external customer is a person or organization
that pays for the service or products received. An
internal customer can be a department, a group (in
case of an internal operation), or some other
processing equipment and machinery.
-> can be a location where the process's outputs are
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stored for future use (e.g, a warehouse).

PROCESS
Process
(A chain of related and
sequential activities)
Input

Output

Figure 2: A simple process

Processes typically cut across functional

boundaries in an organization
This simplified definition of a process needs
expansion

PROCESS

According to Melan (1993), a process can be

defined by its four key functions:
1. Endpoints
2. Transformations
3. Feedback
4. Repeatability
1.Endpoints
defined as its inputs and outputs.
endpoints categories:
a. Inputs
b. Outputs
c. Customers
d. Catalyst event
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PROCESS

INPUTS
can be equipment, materials, methods, or the
environment.
OUTPUTS
products or services.
CUSTOMERS
users of the products or services.
can be either internal or external to the organization.
the ultimate judges of the quality of the process outputs.
the primary customer is the most important customer for
any product or service.
CATALYST EVENT
can be classified as an input as well as an independent
endpoint.
the single event that signals the beginning of the process.
it establishes the initial boundary of the process.
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PROCESS

2. Transformations
Can be classified into three categories.
a. Physical
b. Locational
c. Transactional
Physical transformation
changes some tangible item, such as raw or semifinished material, into another state. E.g. act of
melting down pellets and injecting the melted
plastic into a mold.
Locational transformation
also changes physical items.
it changes the location of objects or materials and
does not change the materials in any other physical
manner. E.g.the movement of plastic pellets from
the warehouse to the shop floor or the movement of
the final product from the shop floor into the
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storage or shipping area.

PROCESS

Transactional transformation
involves the modification of nontangible items.
these items include the electronic movement of
money in banks, the sales of stock by stockbrokers,
or the assembly of marketing research data by
advertisers.
the primary input item is information or data.
the transformation process could involve the
modification of data.

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PROCESS

3. Feedback
involve communication and evaluation channels by
which the transformation activities are modified, or
corrected, to maintain the desired attributes of the
output.
every process requires feedback to regulate its
output.
feedback can take many forms.
it can occur as information from the output side of
the process or from check - points inside the
conversion processes. Feedback can also take the
form of economic information, such as gross sales
revenue, which is used to evaluate the operation.

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PROCESS

Feedback ensures that the process is effective,

efficient, and achieving its desired output.
Feedback can be divided into five categories.
a. Customer needs and expectations*
b. Specific customer targets*
c. The voice of the customer*
d. Specific process targets#
e. The voice of the process#
* involve information from the output of the
process.
# involve information from within the process.

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PROCESS

4. Repeatability
a process is or can be executed regularly in the same
manner with the same output.
Some processes are continuous, while others
operate cyclically or intermittently.
The process of assembling cars on a production line
is a continuous process.
Building custom cabinets for new houses is an
intermittent process.
But, whether a process is continuous or
intermittent, it must be repeatable.

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PROCESS CHARACTERISTICS

Whether a process involves transformations of a

physical, locational, or transactional nature, it has
10 common characteristics.
1. Clearly defined ownership
2. Boundaries
3. Capacity
4. Documentation
5. Control points
6. Effectiveness
7. Efficiency
8. Adaptability
9. Measurements
10. Corrective action-An input-output phenomenon
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PROCESS CHARACTERISTICS

1. Clearly defined ownership

Traditionally, the ownership of physical and
locational processes has been clear and explicit.
The process owner was the departmental manager.
Understood the organizational mission and the
process's output & had personal responsibility and
accountability for the process and its output.
The manager's performance was judged by
quantifiable standards, such as cost, schedule, and
quality.
Recently, process ownership has gradually shifted
toward empowered work groups and self-directed
work teams.

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PROCESS CHARACTERISTICS

and in these teams, employees are assuming some

traditional roles of management.
the basic ideas remain the same.
the process owner, whether an individual or a
team, is responsible for yield, cost, quality, and
schedule.
the process owner must manage the process to the
targets set on this standard.
the process owner has the authority to change the
process to maintain its desired outputs.
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PROCESS CHARACTERISTICS

2. Boundaries
Boundaries are the beginning and end of a process.
Physical and locational processes have clearly defined
boundaries.
The final output from and the input(s) required by
these processes are clear and unambiguous.
However, the boundaries of transactional processes are
harder to identify.
Further, output specifications for transactional
processes may not truly reflect customer requirements,
and input specifications may not achieve the desired
output specifications with the existing processes.

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PROCESS CHARACTERISTICS

A lack of understanding about the input specifications

and the output specifications is common in many
business processes.
But in a well-managed transactional process,
specification problems are minimized through
conscious effort aimed at classifying the work product
as it proceeds from one operation to another.
Thus, the boundaries of a well-managed process are
well-defined and controlled.

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PROCESS CHARACTERISTICS

3. Capacity
Capacity is the output rate of the process.
Capacity is usually expressed in terms of design, or
theoretical, capacity and effective capacity.
Thus, design capacity is stated without
consideration for such matters as equipment
reliability, maintenance, or personnel factors such
as learning curves, absenteeism, illness, and so on.
These considerations, when allowed for, enable
effective capacity to be calculated.

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PROCESS CHARACTERISTICS

4. Documentation
A detailed record of work flow in processes.
Can be written in great detail, or it can be a collection
of various bits of data.
Provides a permanent record of the physical
transformation taking place in a production process.
Provides a reference point from which the
repeatability of a process can be measured, and it
provides a baseline from which any changes can be
measured.

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PROCESS CHARACTERISTICS

Serves as both a training and reference aid for the

personnel involved in the process.
Typical documents include process flowcharts,
assembly drawings, and routings.
Process flowcharts graphically describe the
sequence of operations in the process.
Assembly drawings show how a product is
constructed.
Routings describe operational steps that accompany
the process flowchart.
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PROCESS CHARACTERISTICS

5. Control points
Regulate the quality of work or provide feedback.
Established to manage the natural variation that
occurs in physical processes.
6. Effectiveness
It measures feedback against process goals.
Effectiveness is best assessed by measurement,
both internal and external.
External effectiveness measures must reflect
customer requirements.
Internal effectiveness measurements must reflect
both external and internal customer requirements.
It should proceed from the external boundary to the
starting boundary of the process.
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PROCESS CHARACTERISTICS

Integrated flow diagrams that reflect established

requirements are useful for measuring effectiveness.
Ineffectiveness is often easier to identify than
effectiveness.
These are some symptoms that suggest an ineffective
process.
- Customer complaints
- Inconsistent output quality
- Lack of awareness of output quality
- Absence of a corrective-action system
- Lack of interest in the customer
- Long response times in correcting problems
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PROCESS CHARACTERISTICS

7. Efficiency
A measure of the output against the resources required to
achieve that output.
It reflects how productive the internal operations are and
how effectively resources are used in the process.
A traditional measure of efficiency is the ratio of output to
the capacity of a process.
Inefficiency is easier to identify than efficiency.
These are some symptoms of inefficiency.
- Multiple off-line inspections
- Redundant, unnecessary, or nonvalue-added activities
- Corrective actions such as rework and reconciliation
- Supplier problems (e.g: poor quality or late deliveries)
- Excessive costs of value-added activities (E.g: high
production costs)

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PROCESS CHARACTERISTICS

8. Adaptability
The ability of the process to adjust to change - either
technological or output changes.
A process responses to changing conditions such as output
requirements, internal constraints, and input quality.
A process is adaptable if it can be changed to meet new
requirements without significant modifications.
May require some work flow, personnel, and equipment
changes when a process change is needed, but the process
should remain largely intact.
Processes that lack adaptability tend to be limited in
nature [equipment capability (capacity, throughput, &
cycle times) or human aspects (skills, flexibility,
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resistance to change & other human factors)].

PROCESS CHARACTERISTICS

9. Measurements
A statistical basis for controlling the flow of work and
managing variation @ provide a basis for feedback.
Continuous measurements are inherent in any wellmanaged process (meet specifications).
Process adapt to the natural variations that occur.
Relied only on end-of-line measurements, or final quality
controls approach costly in terms of scrap and rework.
Statistical techniques e.g Pareto analysis and variation
charts, are useful for managing repetitive operations.
Need to measure products against the requirements of the
process without removing the product from the process.
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PROCESS CHARACTERISTICS

action required
to correct
for natural variations
10 The
COMMON
PROCESS
CHARACTERISTICS
in a process.

1. In
Clearly
defined ownership
a well-designed
and -managed process, internal
2.feedback
Boundaries
from measurements at one or more control
3.points
Capacity
identifies the need for corrective action before
4.sub-quality
Documentation
products are produced.
5. Control points
process is quickly adjusted to correct for the
6. The
Effectiveness
and the process's effectiveness and
7.variations,
Efficiency
do not suffer despite the natural variations.
8.efficiency
Adaptability
9. Measurements
and corrective actions are the heart of
10.Feedback
Corrective
action-An input-output phenomenon
process control; without them, the process loses its
repeatability, quality, and consistency.

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PROCESS CHARACTERISTICS
Table 1: Differences between service and manufacturing processes
Characteristic

Service

Manufacturing

Ownership

Tends to be ambiguous or Usually clearly defined

has multiple owners

Boundaries

Often unclear, fuzzy

Clearly defined

Control points

Often nonexistent

Clearly established and

defined

Measurement

Often nonexistent, hard

to define

Easy to define and

manage

Corrective
action

Usually done reactively

Performed during and

external to the process

Both manufacturing and service processes contain the

10 characteristics outlined.
Thoroughness and attention paid to these 10
characteristics vary depending on the environment.

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PROCESS MANAGEMENT

Pall (1987) identifies six ingredients that are essential for

process management:
1. Ownership: Assign responsibility for the design,
operation, and improvement of the process.
2. Planning: Establish a structured and disciplined
approach to understand, define, and document all
major components in the process and their
interrelationships.
3. Control: Assure effectiveness; all outputs are predictable
and consistent with the customers' expectations.
4. Measurement: Map performance attributes to
customers'
requirements, and establish criteria for the accuracy,
precision, and frequency of data acquisition.
5. Improvement: Increase effectiveness of the process by
permanently embedding identified improvements.
6. Optimization: Increase efficiency and productivity by
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permanently embedding identified improvements.

PROCESS MANAGEMENT

Table 2: Process Management Model

(Tenner and De Torro, 1994)
1

Identify key processes impacting on success (core

business processes)

Assign ownership

Plan approach to define and document process

(with the aid of a flow chart)

Measure performance against customers

expectations (feedbacks)

Control process to assure predictable

performance

Improve capability of the processes to meet

customers expectations

Optimize efficiency and productivity

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PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

People involved in the operation and improvement of

processes
1. Customers: the people (or person) for whom the
output (product or service) is being produced. The
people who will use the output directly or who will
take it as input into their work process.
2. Work group: the people (or person) who work in the
process to produce and deliver the desired output.
3. Supplier: the people (or person) who provide input to
the work process. The people in the process are in
fact the customers of the supplier.
4. Owner: the person who is responsible for the
operation of the process and for its improvement.

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PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

IDENTIFYING KEY PROCESSES FOR IMPROVEMENT

Six questions by Geary Rummler & Alan Brache (1988):

Which products and services are most important to

the customers?

What are the processes that produce these

products and services?

What are the key ingredients that stimulate action

in the organization, and what are the processes
that convert these stimuli to outputs?

Which processes have the highest visibility with

customers?

Which processes have the greatest impact on

customer-driven performance standards?

Which processes do performance data or common

sense suggest have the greatest potential for
improvement?
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PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

PROCESS IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES

Three different approaches for improving the
efficiency or effectiveness of a process:
Continuous improvement -a ladder, step by step
approach, also known as Kaizen.
Benchmarking - search for and emulate the best
available practices and processes.
Reengineering - the fundamental rethinking and
radical redesign of business processes to achieve
dramatic improvements

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PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

Expected Impact

Breakthrough

Incremental
Ongoing

Periodic

Occasional

Application Frequency

Process Improvement Strategies.

Source: Adapted from T. McCabe, The Quality Network, 1993.

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TECHNIQUES FOR PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

Process Improvement Analysis Hierarchy

Improvement Potential

Quantum of
Improvement

Breakthrough
improvement

1. Elimination
2. Combination
3. Sequence
4. Simplification
5. Addition

Breakthrough
or
Incremental
improvement

Incremental
improvement

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TECHNIQUES FOR PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

1. Elimination - eliminate non-value-added activities. Instead

of totally eliminate, replace the functional essence of the
activity with a superior technology.
2. Combination - combine activities in order to extract process
improvement.
3. Change of sequence - examine the sequence to see if a
reordering will provide improvement.
4. Simplification - examine activities with the expectation of
improvement through simplifying the activities themselves.
5. Addition If processes are clearly ineffective, need to add a
process step; but additions are our last resort.
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SIX STEPS TO PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

Process Improvement Model

1

Define problem

Identify and
document process

Measure performance

Understand why

Develop and test ideas

Implement solutions and

evalaute

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SIX STEPS TO PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

Step 1: Define the problem

1. Identify the output.
2. Identify the customers.
3. Define the customers' requirements.
4. Identify the processes producing these
outputs.
5. Identify the owner(s) of the processes.

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SIX STEPS TO PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

Step 2: Identify and document the

process
Flowchart

commonly used tool for describing processes.

enables to perform four following improvement

activities:

Identify the participants in the process, either by

name, by position, or by organization.
Provide all participants in the process with a common
understanding both of all steps in the process and of
their individual roles.
Identify inefficient, wasteful, and redundant steps.
Offer a framework for defining process measurements.

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SIX STEPS TO PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

Step 3: Measure Performance

The process must be objective and can be
done by evaluating these parameter:

Customer satisfaction.

Customers need and demand.

Output which actually delivered by the

processes (capability).

Cost of quality (the cost for correcting

or repairing error or damage caused by
variation process )
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SIX STEPS TO PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

Step 4: Understand Why

why the classic tools of statistical analysis

and quality (Pareto analysis, cause-andeffect analysis, histogram, and control
charts) can be applied to understand the
root causes of the performance gap and
process effectiveness.
What are the sources of variation?
What are the root causes?
What are the process effectiveness.
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SIX STEPS TO PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

Step 5: Develop and Test Ideas

Developing ideas for improvement

begins with this step.
These steps led to identify causes of the
principal problem.
Ideas for improvement must address the
root causes of the problem before it can
be implemented immensely in order to
evaluate the effectiveness in solving the
identified problems.
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SIX STEPS TO PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

Step 6:Implement Solutions and Evaluate

This sixth step begins by planning and

implementing the improvements
identified and verified in the step 5.
Step 6 continues to measure and
evaluate the effectiveness of the
improved process.
Finally, return to step 1 to begin the
next increment in the ongoing process
of continuous improvement.
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SIX STEPS TO PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

PDCA SEVEN-STEP METHOD

Standardizesolution
solution
6.6.Standardize
Reflecton
onprocess
process
7.7.Reflect
anddevelop
developfuture
future
and
plans
plans

Evaluateeffects
effects
5.5.Evaluate

Selectand
anddescribe
describe
1.1. Select
problem
problem
Studypresent
presentsystem
system
2.2. Study
Identifypossible
possiblecauses
causes
3.3. Identify

Planand
andimplement
implement
4.4.Plan
solution
solution

44

DEMING CYCLE

DEMING CYCLE

The Deming Cycle

(4)
Action

(1)
Plan

(3)
Check
(Study)

(2)
Do

Quality

45

DEMING CYCLE

Plan

Define the process: start, end, and what it does.

Describe the process: list the key tasks and sequence of steps,
people involved, equipment used, environmental conditions,
work methods and materials used.
Describe the players: external and internal customers and
suppliers, and process operators.
Define customers expectations: what, where and when.
Determine data: performance data and data for better
understanding of process.
Describe the perceive problems associated with process.
Identify the primary causes of problems.
Develop potential changes or solutions to the process and
evaluate changes.
Select the best solution(s).

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DEMING CYCLE

Do

Conduct a pilot study or experiment to

test the impact of the potential
solutions.

Identify measures to understand how

any changes or solutions are successful
in addressing the perceived problems.

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DEMING CYCLE

Study

Examine the results of the pilot study or

experiment.

Determine whether process performance

has improved.

Identify further necessary

experimentation.
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DEMING CYCLE

Act

Select the best change or solution.

Develop an implementation plan: what needs

to be done, who should be involved, and
when the plan should be accomplished.

Standardize the solution, e.g. by writing new

standard operating procedures.

Establish a process to monitor and control

process performance
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FLOW CHARTS

Flow Charts

Provides a clear view of how a process works.

A pictorial representation of the steps in a given

process.

Steps are presented graphically in sequence with

symbolic shapes, and the flow of the process is
indicated with arrows connecting the symbols.

Should include every activity in the process.

Should be the first step in identifying problems

and targeting areas for improvement.
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FLOW CHARTS

Purpose of flowcharting:

enable members to examine the order presented and

come to a common understanding of how the process
operates.

to describe an existing process or to present a

proposed change in the flow of a process.

help you see whether the steps of a process are

logical, uncover problems or miscommunications,
define the boundaries of a process, and develop a
common base of knowledge about a process.

brings to light redundancies, delays, dead ends, and

indirect paths that would otherwise remain unnoticed
or ignored.

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FLOW CHARTS

Steps in Flowcharting a Process

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

6.
7.

Decide on the process to flowchart.

Define the boundaries of the process: the
beginning and the end.
Describe the beginning step of the process in an
oval.
Ask yourself "what happens next?" and add the
step to the flowchart as a rectangle.
When a decision point is reached, write the
decision in the form of a question in a diamond
and develop the "yes" and "no" paths. .
Repeat steps 4 and 5 until the last step in the
process is reached.
Describe the ending boundary/step in an oval.
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FLOW CHARTS

Symbols in a Flowchart:
Defines the boundaries of a process; shows the start or
stop of a process.
Designates a single step in a process. Briefly describe
the step inside the box.
A diamond signifies a decision point in the process.
Write the type of decision made inside the diamond in
the form of a question. The question is answered by
two arrows--"yes" and "no"--which lead to two
different branches.
A small circle that surrounds a letter signifies where
you pick up a process on the same page; represents a
connection.

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FLOW CHARTS

Three main types of

flowcharts:

1. High-level flowcharts map shows only the

major steps in a process for a good overview.

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FLOW CHARTS

2. Detailed flowcharts show a step-by-step

mapping of all events and decisions in a process.

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FLOW CHARTS

3. Deployment flowcharts organize the flowchart by

columns, with each column representing a person or
department involved in a process.

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FLOW CHARTS

To construct an effective flowchart:

Define the process boundaries with starting and

ending points.

Complete the big picture before filling in the details.

Clearly define each step in the process. Be accurate

and honest.

Identify time lags and non-value-adding steps.

Circulate the flowchart to other people involved in

the process to get their comments.
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FLOW CHARTS

A completed flowchart enables you to:

Identify time lags and non-value-adding

steps.
Identify responsibility for each step.
Brainstorm for problems in the process.
Determine major and minor inputs into
the process with a cause & effect
diagram.
Choose the most likely trouble spots with
the consensus builder.
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THANK YOU

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