7 Steps to Process Improvement

It is well known that organizations of any setting undoubtedly deal with undesirable results and/or issues of various kinds on a daily basis. These include defective parts, low productivity, waste (such as the 8 wastes discussed in another posting within this blog),  and rework to name a few. As process improvement practitioners, we are also well aware that treating the symptom (and not the root cause of the problem) and using band aid solutions only work in the short term, in the best case scenario. Asking senior management for capital to procure a new machine or revamp a current process may not be the first option available either. So how can we go about tackling issues at our workplaces, while using facts and data as the basis of our study? One way is through the use of a low tech/low cost approach in which simple quality tools can be utilized to help solving the problems we face. We hereby offer a 7-step method to process improvement that requires basic and easy-to-learn quality tools that anyone at your organization can understand and utilize.

Step 1: Problem Identification. The first step to properly fix an issue is to identify what the issue really is. Be aware of assumptions, gut feelings, and non-factual data that may not point to the core issue at hand. Brainstorming activities and observation are simple tools that help the facilitator of a PIT (Process Improvement Team) in identifying the real problem to be worked on. In this step, we should also identify the goal(s) we are trying to achieve: higher throughput, less safety incidents, reduced maintenance costs, and so on. These performance indicators will then become our point-of-reference for evaluating the success of the improvement initiative later on (before and after evaluation).

Step 2: Data Collection. Once the problem has been properly identified (and written down as a formal statement), we can use basic quality tools to collect the data needed to investigate the issue. Some of the widely used tools include, but are not limited to, check sheets, run charts, survey, flow charts, cause and effect diagrams, VOC (voice of the customer), and process mapping.

Step 3: Data Analysis. The analysis of data (normally raw data) should aim at translating the critical points to be addressed - in a form that is easily understandable. For example, from a check sheet or a tally count, we can create Pareto charts and histograms to better understand the priorities to be addressed in a certain problem (Pareto chart) and how the data have been distributed over a certain period of time (histograms). Other tools to be used in this step include control charts and scatter diagrams.

Check point: Before moving on to Step 4, we should always stop to reflect on what we have done thus far: are the data collection and analysis satisfactory in addressing the issue? Have we explored all tools we have available to collect and analyze the data being studied? Do we have more time? Do we need more time? This is a critical point! Make sure that you have enough data to make decisions and create your action plans.

Step 4: Action Planning. Make it simple - through a 5W2H document (What, When, Who, Why, Where, How, and How Much) that can be easily created in an Excel or Word document, specify who is assigned to each task, when it is supposed to be completed, and so on. This can help your organization to hold people accountable and to monitor the statuses of the various actions being performed. The addition of the metric defined in Step 1, along with the 5W2H form, will help the team to calculate the pace of the targeted result.

Step 5: Execution. This is where the actions defined in Step 4 get implemented. Depending on the timeline of the entire 5W2H(s), these actions should be reported on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. The facilitator of the the improvement team should be in charge of keeping these documents updated.

Step 6: Follow up. What have we learned from the improvement initiative? Have we reached our goal(s)? What are the main outcomes? What are the best practices identified? What have been our roadblocks and how have we addressed them? Have we truly addressed the root cause of the problem and has the problem been effectively eliminated? Which actions have not been completed on time and why? The follow up step offers so much to learn from! We should always look at this step as the best benchmarking tool we have available for other similar issues we will tackle in the future.

Check point: Has the team effectively solved the problem? If so, move on to the final step, if not, go back to Step 4 and revisit your action plan. 

Step 7: Standardization. After we have completed a thorough analysis of the issue at hand, it is now time to lock in the best practices and achieved results. There are many different ways of doing this. From implementing control charts to monitor the process in a real time manner to developing procedures that will guarantee the rightful execution of tasks in the future, the process improvement practitioner should always seek for standardization that will ensure that this problem will not occur again due to the same root cause(s).

EZSigma Group can help your organization with process improvement initiatives in many different ways. Our organization offers courses (open enrolment and onsite) such as the 7 Quality Tools, Lean, and Six Sigma, as well as onsite consulting services to educate and mentor your staff in making your company a better one. Please contact us if you need to learn more about these programs.