High-Performance Process Improvement 9783642107832, 3642107834

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High-Performance Process Improvement

Markus Pastinen

High-Performance Process Improvement

Dr. Markus Pastinen Vistalize Oy Kaisaniemenkatu 1 Ba 77 FI-00100 Helsinki Finland [email protected]

ISBN 978-3-642-10783-2 e-ISBN 978-3-642-10784-9 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-10784-9 Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2009943994 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover illustration: Cover picture drawn by Jesperi Vara, Helsinki, Finland Cover design: WMXDesign GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)

To all devoted high-performance process improvement practitioners.

Preface

Why is it so hard to gear up for large-scale and sustainable process improvements? Why is there so little impact from all the advice and improvement methods available? How could our company really get the most out of its process improvement potential from a total perspective without spending too much time and money? Do we even know the quality of our process improvement methods? Why for instance will the Toyota approach and six sigma not do when you have to respond to ever-increasing performance needs? The questions above are admittedly crucial questions you might have posed when striving for a better company performance. Very few books provide you with a proper answer to these questions. This book does. After all, the world and thus the improvement needs have changed a lot since the days of the quality movement gurus and the origins of statistical control. The ultimate mission of the company processes is not to produce products or services as well as possible, but to continuously satisfy all company stakeholders in a sustainable way. How to lower the costs, increase the price of the products and services, and sell more, without constantly sacrificing the satisfaction of one or more stakeholders, is the equation modern process improvement methods solve.1 Trying to solve this fundamental business equation in today’s dynamic business environments shows clearly that the currently applied process improvement concepts, approaches, methods, and tools simply do not work. It is high time to improve process improvement itself to respond properly to more demanding improvement needs and more complex, dynamic, and fuzzy improvement settings. The currently applied process improvement methods provide only a modest process improvement impact in practice, considering the time and money spent. There are simply too many issues, constraints, and obstacles that affect both the process improvement effectiveness and efficiency, which should be targeted properly at the same time to gain a great and sustainable improvement momentum. The methods applied, offering only some leverage to raise the process improvement

1

This is the high-performance process improvement equation, shortened the HPPI equation.

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efficiency, are thus heavily restricted by nature realizing only a fraction of the true potential related to process improvement. The old slogan “if you have a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail” proves true. Although common sense would suggest the use of a toolbox with different tools to address this concern, the basic problem would remain. Eventually, this becomes evident when you try to raise the ambition level of the improvement work and the related output, albeit the slogan needs a slight modification to suit the case: “if you have a toolbox, everything starts to look like a bolt, nail, or screw”. It is not a complete surprise that the process improvement toolbox contains these days so many different tools that you are not even able to move it by a forklift. The overall objective of this book is to present a concept, the methods, and the solutions that take process improvement to the next ambition level. I call this level “high-performance process improvement” (HPPI) as opposite to traditional process improvement efforts using, for example, approaches such as hoshin kanri, six sigma, and lean, to mention just a few. The essence of the presented concept is a set of methods forming a generic HPPI process that is able to manage in a classy way all relevant process improvement activities under tight time and money constraints, even in complex and demanding settings. These process improvement activities include the required analyses and syntheses and the practical implementation. The analysis and synthesis parts cover the targeted value chain or network, the related companies or units, and the specific processes. The practical implementation, on the other hand, covers four distinct disciplines. These include the process improvement education and training (raise and maintenance of process improvement knowledge and skills), the realization of the improvement objects or improvement potential, and the follow-up. Besides, the book also targets briefly the issue of how to improve the strategy process and the related output to gain additional improvement momentum. Although primarily intended for companies and corporations, the book is almost as such suitable for persons working in the public sector. Changing terms such as “company,” “profits,” and “owners” to terms such as “organization,” “added-value,” and “the community,” respectively, helps a lot although certain substance issues may need a more profound interpretation to suit the case properly. Companies of emerging markets, especially high-tech companies, have a special interest and motivation of catching-up and even overtaking the best in a global perspective. In such a setting, and any setting for that matter, it is crucial to consider both the performance and the outcome of the applied improvement methods. For emerging market companies, there is additional good news. Companies applying low-performance process improvement methods are often subject to organizational inertia, locking the companies in the low-performance process improvement illusion at least for years and, in some cases, even forever. Such mental inertia may be lacking in emerging market companies. In fact, this mental inertia difference is an overlooked asset that companies with a low mental inertia level should cultivate properly.2 The methods and solutions presented in this book provide, in this regard,

2

Another type of mental inertia is observable when comparing the dynamics of small and large companies.

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a systematic and result-oriented approach on how to achieve and sustain a high improvement traction and thus also a high-performance business. In that sense, it is attractive to consider this new vista from a macro perspective. For example, a reasonably low number of properly educated and skilled experts running the HPPI process presented in this book, e.g. in the top-100 Chinese high-tech companies and their supplier and subcontractor networks, would work wonders in a country as great as China. Toyota has improved its quality and operations during the past 60 years in a disciplined way. Other companies have had difficult times replicating this success because of the application of end-results and the reliance on low-performance process improvement methods, potentially even imperfectly applied. The lack of long-term discipline and the use of process improvement approaches and methods that do not improve the company culture properly as a built-in feature are additional issues that make it hard to replicate success. Understanding how to run the required process improvement activities at a high performance level using dedicated HPPI methods, instead of relying on (selective) individual brilliance and lowperformance process improvement methods, is the critical key to get things on the right track for the benefit of all company stakeholders. With this in mind, the book targets a general and urgent concern with large and versatile implications. It contains three attractive features that realize the concept of high-performance process improvement in real-life: l

l

l

It is the first book to present and define the concepts of process improvement yield and total improvement yield, i.e. the yardsticks to evaluate the real-life process improvement traction that also provide an indication how well the company is able to solve the HPPI equation in practice It is the first book to present a verified and method based generic process improvement process that solves the major obstacles to high-performance process improvement from a total perspective (solving the HPPI equation) It is the first book to present a credible concept, including the methods and solutions, for catching-up and overtaking even the best companies in a systematic and result-oriented manner and for the best to remain at the top.

The separate terms “high-performance” and “process improvement” are common terms, but the total phrase is not. What matters in the end is the substance behind the term and the real-life implications for you as a company stakeholder. These implications may affect you in multiple ways as a customer, employee, owner, supplier/partner, or investor apart from the impact on you as a member of society. After all, prosperous companies, and well-functioning public organizations for that matter, are the basis for a prosperous society. The book is to-the-point, substance-rich, and non-trivial, providing you with both a solid theoretical and practical perspective in this novel substance area. It should resist the ravages of time well, providing you with a proper improvement stimulus for a long period. The book provides also a source to return to for guidance and well-motivated vitalizing vistas.

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One interesting feature of the book, which you may encounter, is that it tends to “grow” with each round of reading. For example, this “eye-opening” feature that is present in the analogies presented in Chap. 6, is an example of Pirsig’s transcendent quality definition (Pirsig 1974). “Quality is neither mind nor matter, but a third entity independent of the two ... even though quality cannot be defined, you know what it is”.

The book contains many opportunities for an aha experience. This exciting attribute is, of course, very individual and depends on many issues. Once you encounter and experience this, the reading and learning experience delivered by the book start to be self-feeding, taking you on an intellectual journey with a new level of understanding as the mental destination. For me, one of the breakthrough aha experiences occurred when I was driving a car back in 1994. At that time, I realized that both the “hard” and “soft” components related to driving have their corresponding issues in the theory and practice of process improvement. This helped me a lot to focus on the crucial substance issues for achieving a detailed total picture of what knowledge and skills the companies actually need to run the process improvement efforts successfully. Another breakthrough aha experience occurred some years ago when I realized that the old slogan “you get what you measure” could also be applied to define, even in advance, the quality output of the improvement approaches and methods from a (total) process improvement perspective. That was when the concept of the process improvement yield was born. Also, the notion that all relevant process improvement activities could be run as a systematic and result-oriented process in a total perspective in addition to the established and well-known problem solving process (the Deming circle), was a breakthrough aha experience that provided the R&D work with a lot of motivation and innovative energy. The genesis of the related R&D work behind this book traces back to 1993 when I wrote my M.Sc. Tech. Thesis at Siemens AG Zentralabteilung Produktion und Logistik3 in Munich, Germany. The findings and experience were that reaching a systematic and result-oriented mode of continuous improvement was hard to achieve in real-life despite of all the research and knowledge in the field. Back in 1993 and during the years until today, the approaches implemented by Toyota have been topical and considered state of the art. This led me to think that instead of trying to implement the methods used by Toyota, it would be more fruitful to consider how to design better process improvement approaches that would, in fact, provide momentum to catch-up and even overtake the best. The insight that lean management (lean production) was not an improvement method but the end-result of a set of improvement approaches utilized by Toyota changed my view totally. The kernel is consequently to create high-performance improvement methods, which increase the improvement performance (=the immediate output) that continuously improves the performance of the focus processes in terms of time, quality,

3

Central Department Production and Logistics.

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and costs (=the outcome). The issue is not to copy or implement end-results but to increase continuously the ambition levels of the improvement activities, the focus settings and the produced products and services. How to do this under (very) tight time, quality, and cost constraints has been unsolved so far. When I analyzed closer the methods used by Toyota and a broad variety of other approaches as well, I discovered severe shortages and deficits. Strangely enough, these shortages and deficits have received little attention during the years. I think many people have taken the Toyota approach, and in some cases six sigma, as the last word as very few, if any, have challenged this view properly. This book consists of seven chapters. I wanted deliberately to have seven chapters to acknowledge and honor the origins of quality and process improvement. Seven is, as you might now, the lucky or magic number in Japan, and it relates to process improvement via the seven-step problem solving process (the PDCA logic) that the seven quality tools support. Japan, and more specifically Toyota, has been the breeding ground of the development and application of the first generation structurized improvement methods that took the improvement activities to the first ambition level. It took me 15 years of “nana-korobi, ya-oki” 4 to create a decent set of HPPI methods and solutions. That is statistically one fall or rise per year! This is probably not a world record, but surely enough for me to understand the essence of that concept! The first chapter outlines in a compressed form the main thread of the book. The second chapter introduces the main concepts and definitions that provide the foundation of later chapters. The chapter functions also as a brief refresher course for those who have forgotten the basic concepts related to process improvement. The third chapter is for those devoted persons who would like to know why and how I designed certain issues the way they are. In that sense, I would like to stress the concept of T and V Values that I will reflect upon in practical terms at the end of the core chapters of this book, i.e., Chaps. 4–6. These chapters present the three main phases or sub-processes of the HPPI process. The presentation logic is to communicate the substance from a method point of view and support this presentation with cases. Specifically, Chap. 5 should be read with proper care and reflection, as this is probably the most important and mind-challenging chapter of the book. The presentation is more profound than the other chapters and includes many descriptive and versatile cases. For those of you especially interested in the quality and output of the due diligence process in company mergers and acquisitions or partner/ supplier/subcontractor selections, I would like to recommend reading Chaps. 4 and 5 with proper care and reflection. Chapter 5 may be especially interesting for those of you looking for a high-class method and output to define, analyze, and improve process based IT/ERP systems in the own company or client companies. Chapter 6 provides an interesting approach and method on how to deal with process improvement education and training besides the realization of the true improvement

4

Japanese meaning “seven falls, eight getting up”, i.e. if you fall down seven times, get up eight times. It is an encouragement to persevere.

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potential and the follow-up. The approach benefits from analogies and visualized stories and cases that boost considerably the learning and the learning experience. IT based solutions and innovative approaches to knowledge and skill transfer are becoming more important than ever, as they provide the means to realize the concept of mass customization for the benefit of meeting the education and training requirements related to HPPI. The final chapter presents two derivative solutions or special cases of the HPPI process. The first issue is the issue of how to improve the company strategy and the related strategy process, and the other issue considers two types of “acid tests” that complement the HPPI process presented in previous chapters. The book ends with some future outlines of HPPI, providing you with some insights related to future opportunities and challenges related to HPPI. The individual chapters of the book provide both a broad and deep insight into the areas considered. These areas form together a coherent and solid basis for truly understanding the essence of modern process improvement. Many company persons regard, mostly rightfully, process improvement efforts as tedious exercises lowering the share of “real work”. With the right methods applied in the right way, and results delivered promptly, process improvement efforts become interesting and even enjoyable. The world is not what it used to be, and the process improvement efforts truly need to contribute to keeping the companies on the right track – despite turbulence, global competition, more demanding stakeholder needs, and networks and processes that are more complex. Distinguishing the vital few improvement objects (problems) from the trivial many and implementing the improvement objects properly have never been this hard. If you think process improvement is hard these days, wait until the Next Generation (the Millennial Generation) starts to enter the corporate scene in larger masses. The time is now to get a solid perspective on modern process improvement and to consider how to organize and run the process improvement activities properly. Helsinki, January, 2010

Markus Pastinen

Acknowledgment

First of all, I would like to thank collectively all those parties that have contributed to the sizable research, development, verification, and application efforts behind this book, either by providing knowledge and insights or financial support or simply just by being a demanding customer with a demanding improvement setting. Although it is not possible to thank every contributor specifically, I would like to express my gratitude to those parties that provided crucial support and advice, especially in the early years. These parties include the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, the Walter Ahlstro¨m Foundation, Prof. Hans Andersin, Prof. Paul Lillrank, Prof. Martti Ma¨ntyla¨, Mr. Ha˚kan Weckstro¨m, Mr. Fred Bach, Mr. Michael Zeman, Mr. Yrjo¨ Halttunen, Mr. Veijo Karppinen, and Mr. Jari Koskinen. Thanks! I am thankful to the Vistalize R&D team, in all its guises, for all the efforts. Mr. Harri Pakarinen and Mr. Jesperi Vara, external members of the Vistalize R&D team, deserve a special mention for the professional attitude and skilled visualizations some of which you may enjoy in this book. The verification and practical application of the high-performance process improvement methods presented in this book are interesting issues that benefit from the real-life understanding of the interaction between the method and solution provider, the external or internal consultant and the (prospective) customer. What works and what not are equally important aspects. In this regard, I am grateful to the input and efforts of Mr. Jan-Henrik Jane´r, Mr. Markku Koivisto, Mr. Paavo Helin, Dr. Henry Sivusuo, Mr. Carl-Axel Rudd, and Mr. Lars-Go¨ran Stenberg. I take a great delight in the seamless co-operation with the team of Dr. Werner A. Mu¨ller at Springer-Verlag (Springer Science + Business Media). I am especially thankful to Mr. Christian Rauscher, the editor of this book, for the high-class and dedicated support and advice in all stages of this project. Finally, I express my warmest thanks to my friends, parents, and family for always being there for me. My wife Petra has supported me, during all the years, more than words can properly describe. As you have inspired me, let this book inspire you!

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Contents

1

High-Performance Process Improvement Fundamentals . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.1 Why is Process Improvement an Enormous Waste of Resources and Opportunities? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1.2 Why are the Process Improvement Methods Outdated? . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1.3 The Critical Questions the Business Books Missed to Ask and Answer: Until Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1.4 The Current and Prospective State of Process Improvement Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 1.5 The Research and Development Work and its Result . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 1.6 The Size of the Improvement Momentum Toyota Loses Every Day and the Momentum Your Company Could Gain Every Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 1.7 Designing High-Performance Process Improvement Methods. . . . . . . 18 1.8 Defining the Performance Requirements of High-Performance Process Improvement Efforts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 1.9 Summary and Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

2

High-Performance Process Improvement Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 Key Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Delivery of Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.1 Delivery of Value from a Holistic Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.2 Delivery of Value from a Key Stakeholder Perspective . . . . . . . 2.3 The Kernel of High-Performance Process Improvement . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4 The Process and Total Improvement Yield. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.1 The Process Improvement Yield Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.2 The Total Improvement Yield Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5 Summary and Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

25 25 27 27 31 40 43 44 46 47

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Contents

Design Concepts of the High-Performance Process Improvement Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 Standardization and Manageability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Optimizing the Interaction of the Process Components. . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.1 People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.2 Technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.3 Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 Applying the Concept of Reverse Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4 The Total Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5 Assuring the Quality of the Experts in Charge of the High-Performance Process Improvement Process . . . . . . . . . . . 3.6 Summary and Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

49 50 51 52 55 56 56 61 63 64

4

Network and Company Analysis and Synthesis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 4.2 The Process Flow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 4.3 The Data Collection and Analysis Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 4.3.1 The Functional Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 4.3.2 The Operational Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 4.3.3 The Time Space Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 4.3.4 Data Collection Criteria Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 4.3.5 Data Collection Concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 4.4 The Synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 4.5 The T and V Values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 4.6 Summary and Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

5

Process Analysis and Synthesis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 5.2 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 5.2.1 The VISTALIZER1 for Consultants Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 5.2.2 The VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 5.3 Phase 1: Initiation and Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 5.3.1 Initiation of the Analysis (Phase 1.1). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 5.3.2 Modeling of the Focus Process (Phase 1.2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 5.3.3 Scope Definition and Data Collection Planning (Phase 1.3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 5.4 Phase 2: Data Collection and Basic Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 5.4.1 Determination of the Process Performance Parameters (Phase 2.1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 5.4.2 Creation of the Impact Field (Phase 2.2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 5.4.3 Giving Priority to the Analysis Parameters (Phase 2.3) . . . . . . 125 5.4.4 Calculation of Criterion 1 and the Reliability Index of the Impact Field (Phase 2.4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Contents

5.5

5.6

5.7 5.8

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5.4.5 Planning for the External Analysis (Phase 2.5) . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4.6 Setting the Objectives and Evaluation of the Preliminary Monetary Gains (Phase 2.6). . . . . . . . . . . . Phase 3: Sub-process Specific Improvement Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5.1 Analysis of the Specific Sub-processes (Phase 3.1) . . . . . . . . . 5.5.2 Complementing the Sub-process Specific Analysis (Phase 3.2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5.3 The Optional External Analysis (Phase 3.3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Phase 4: The Synthesis and Creation of the VISTALIZER1 Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6.1 Processing the Analysis Information and Calibrating Management Expectations (Phase 4.1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6.2 Presynthesis (Phase 4.2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6.3 Creation of the VISTALIZER1 Report (Phase 4.3) . . . . . . . . 5.6.4 Delivery, Presentation and Confirmation of the VISTALIZER1 Report (Phase 4.4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The T and V Values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summary and Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

130 133 138 138 144 147 149 150 163 163 166 166 168

6

The Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1 Increasing and Maintaining the Knowledge and Skill Base. . . . . . . . 6.1.1 Increasing and Maintaining the Knowledge Base . . . . . . . . . . 6.1.2 Increasing and Maintaining the Skill Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 The Realization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3 The Follow-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4 The T and V Values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5 Summary and Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

171 173 174 182 192 192 195 196

7

Derivative Concepts and Future Outlines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1 Strategy and Strategy Process Improvement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1.1 The Strategy Improvement Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1.2 Strategy Process Analysis and Synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2 Acid Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3 Future Outlines of High-Performance Process Improvement. . . . . . . 7.4 Summary and Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

199 200 201 202 205 206 209

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 The generic HPPI process powered by VISTALIZER1 . . . . . . . . . Fig. 1.2 The projected difference between different process improvement approaches and methods (corporate or company level; like-for-like comparison) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fig. 1.3 The basic relationships between the different concepts . . . . . . . . . . Fig. 2.1 The core process and the support processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fig. 2.2 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fig. 2.3 The principle of improving the processes of the company (cost aspect) in a scenario where the company does not currently deliver an output at a competitive price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fig. 3.1 The impact of standardized components on the manageability of a construction for process improvement and the impact of customized outputs on the level of change resistance (Pastinen 1998) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fig. 3.2 Schein’s three approaches to consultation and the general logic for selecting the appropriate consultation approach (Pastinen 1998) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fig. 3.3 The success of the improvement efforts depends also on human and financial constraints (Pastinen 1998) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fig. 3.4 The total HPPI picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fig. 3.5 A visualization of the work distribution between sight and focus (“T”), i.e. analysis and synthesis at the network/company (unit), process and specific improvement object levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fig. 4.1 The general process flow of the network analysis and synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fig. 4.2 Phase 1 of the generic HPPI process (company or unit level) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

11

13 22 27 36

40

51

53 54 62

63 70 70

xix

xx

Fig. 4.3 Fig. 4.4 Fig. 4.5 Fig. 4.6 Fig. 4.7 Fig. 5.1 Fig. 5.2

Fig. 5.3 Fig. 5.4

Fig. 5.5 Fig. 5.6

Fig. 5.7

Fig. 5.8 Fig. 5.9

Fig. 5.10 Fig. 5.11 Fig. 5.12 Fig. 5.13 Fig. 5.14

Fig. 5.15

List of Figures

An example of the performance of Issue 1.1 in a network with 21 companies (cp. Table 4.1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 An example of the performance of Issue 1.2 in a network with 21 companies (cp. Table 4.1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 An example of a stress curve (case: see Sect. 4.3.4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 The current and estimated likely future score (company or unit level) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 The current and estimated likely future score (network level) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 The interface of the software VISTALIZER1 for Consultants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 The framework of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis method. The figure serves also as a memory booster for the person implementing the method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 The flow chart of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis Synthesis method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 The general structure and flow for adding value of a global corporation (mechanical engineering industry, the technical support process with 450 employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 The flow chart of the case presented in Figure 5.4 . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 The process model of the whole company (Precision plastic products, the tool manufacturing core process with 150 employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 The process model in its simplest form (HVAC equipment manufacturer, the export process with nine employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 A picture to visualize process orientation and the potential for improvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 The vital few parameters are chosen from the trivial many to form the spine of the (future) high-performance process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Examples of possible time parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 A simple example of the allocation of percentage points to the impact field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 The supplements of the impact field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 The calculation of Criterion 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 The Criterion 1 value of the example presented in Fig. 5.5 and Tables 5.4 and 5.5 (mechanical engineering industry, the technical support process with 450 employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 The realistic improvement potential as defined by the operative key persons for each sub-process and the

List of Figures

Fig. 5.16

Fig. 5.17 Fig. 5.18

Fig. 5.19

Fig. 5.20 Fig. 5.21

Fig. 5.22

Fig. 5.23 Fig. 5.24

Fig. 5.25

Fig. 6.1 Fig. 6.2 Fig. 6.3 Fig. 6.4 Fig. 6.5 Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig. Fig.

6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 6.10

contribution to the overall performance improvement of the focus process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining the realistic overall effect and comparing the result with the management objectives for calibrating management expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An example of how to calculate the absolute value of Criterion 2 for a sub-process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An example of Criterion 2 using absolute values (mechanical engineering industry, the technical support process with 450 employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An example of Criterion 2 using relative values (mechanical engineering industry, the technical support process with 450 employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The principle for calculating the value of Criterion 3 for the example phase (P3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An example of Criterion 3 (mechanical engineering industry, the technical support process with 450 employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An example of Criterion 4 (mechanical engineering industry, the technical support process with 450 employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The principle for conducting the risk/profit consistency check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The net present value of a support process with the main gain realized in another process (IT services business; the deployment and implementation process with 2,000 persons) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The net present values of a support process where process external gains are allocated to the support process (IT services business; the deployment and implementation process with 2,000 persons) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The interface of the VISTALIZER1 for Enterprises software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The three approaches to increase and maintain the process improvement knowledge base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Car Analogy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Linking the initial substance area of interest to a more detailed presentation of the selected subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . Linking the initial substance area of interest to a more detailed presentation of the selected subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Mountain Analogy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Mountain Analogy (Exploring Mode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Mountain Analogy (Self-tuition Mode) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The three training phases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Customizing the story to fit the purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

xxi

145

152 155

155

156 158

158

160 161

161

162 175 175 176 178 179 181 182 182 183 184

xxii

List of Figures

Fig. 6.11 The concept of story telling and customizing the training input and output by relating the tasks to the specific case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fig. 6.12 The PDCA cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fig. 6.13 The PDCA preparatory training phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fig. 6.14 An excerpt of the PDCA document related to the preparatory PDCA training module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fig. 6.15 The PDCA training phase (interactive case) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fig. 6.16 An example of one of the visualized cases (the flow chart) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fig. 6.17 An example of using the Pareto diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fig. 6.18 The logic defining the quality of the PDCA document (basic ambition level) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fig. 7.1 The general process flow of the VISTALIZER1 for Businesses solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fig. 7.2 An example of a strategy process (HVAC equipment manufacturer; 70 employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

185 186 187 188 189 191 191 194 201 204

List of Tables

Table 4.1 An excerpt of the data collection criteria (subcontractor network, electronics industry, basic ambition level, “Company 5”) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Table 4.2 An excerpt of the data collection criteria (subcontractor network, electronics industry, basic ambition level, “Company 5”) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Table 4.3 An excerpt of the data collection criteria (subcontractor network, electronics industry, basic ambition level, “Company 5”) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Table 4.4 An excerpt of the data collection criteria (subcontractor network, electronics industry, basic ambition level, “Company 5”) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Table 4.5 An excerpt of the data collection criteria (subcontractor network, electronics industry, basic ambition level) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Table 4.6 The SWOT analysis (example; subcontractor, electronics industry) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Table 4.7 A summary of the scores according to the different perspectives (cp. example in Sect. 4.3.4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Table 4.8 The logic for producing the performance profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Table 4.9 An example of a performance profile (see case in Sect. 4.3.4, “Company 5”) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Table 5.1 The sub-phases of the first phase of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Table 5.2 The sub-phases of the second phase of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Table 5.3 Examples of chosen analysis parameters in different businesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

xxiii

xxiv

Table 5.4

Table 5.5 Table 5.6

Table 5.7 Table 5.8

Table 5.9

Table 5.10 Table 5.11

Table 5.12

Table 5.13

Table 5.14

Table 5.15

Table 5.16

Table 5.17

List of Tables

The impact field of the example in Figure 5.5 (mechanical engineering industry, the technical support process with 450 employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The supplements to the impact field in Table 5.4 . . . . . . . . . . . . The impact field of the example in Figure 5.6 (precision plastic products, the tool manufacturing core process with 150 employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The supplements to the impact field in Table 5.6 . . . . . . . . . . . . The impact field of the example in Figure 5.6 (HVAC equipment manufacturer, the export process with nine employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An example of the relative importance of the analysis parameters (mechanical engineering industry, the technical support process with 450 employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An example of the calculation of the reliability of the impact field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The objectives and the estimation of the related monetary gains regarding the example presented in Figure 5.5 and Table 5.4 (mechanical engineering industry, the technical support process with 450 employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The objectives and the estimation of the related monetary gains regarding the example presented in Figure 5.6 and Table 5.6 (precision plastic products, the tool manufacturing core process with 150 employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The objectives and the estimation of the related monetary gains regarding the example presented in Figure 5.7 and Table 5.8 (HVAC equipment manufacturer, the export process with nine employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The sub-phases of the third phase of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The external analysis of the case presented in Figure 5.5 and Table 5.6 (precision plastic products, the tool manufacturing core process with 150 employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The parameter priorities set by the management and customers regarding the case in Table 5.15 (precision plastic products, the tool manufacturing core process with 150 employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The parameter performance evaluation as perceived by the customers regarding the case in Table 5.15 and 5.16. Scale: 0 (poor), 1 (passable), 2 (satisfactory), 3 (good), 4 (very good) 5 (excellent) . . . . . . . .

124 124

125 125

126

127 130

136

137

137

139

148

149

149

List of Tables

Table 5.18 The sub-phases of the fourth phase of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Table 5.19 Summary of non-discounted, short-term gains (mechanical engineering industry, the technical support process with 450 employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Table 5.20 Summary of non-discounted, short-term gains (precision plastic products, the tool manufacturing core process with 150 employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Table 5.21 Summary of non-discounted, short-term gains (HVAC equipment manufacturer, the export process with nine employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Table 5.22 The voice of the employees. An example of the main problems or improvement objects related to the different phases of a focus process (IT services business; the deployment and implementation process with 2,000 persons) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Table 5.23 The general structure of a VISTALIZER1 Report (large corporation, complex global process) including case specific issues (Sect. 3.15, 5.1–5.3 and Encl. 2–3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Table 6.1 An example of how the realization is organized when running the implementation according to the principles of HPPI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Table 7.1 An example of the customized strategy criteria used to define a high-class strategy (HVAC equipment manufacturer; 70 employees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Table 7.2 The concept of the VISTALIZER1 Acid Test focused on the company strategy (cp. Table 7.1) . . . . . . . . . . . .

xxv

150

152

153

154

164

165

193

203 204

Abbreviations

CC CEO DMAIC DNA DPMO EBIT EDM ERP FPY GSC HPPI HVAC IT LPPI MI NC NPV PDA PDCA PDSA PIY PV QFD R&D RE SC SE SPC SWOT

Contact Center Chief Executive Officer Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control Deoxyribonucleic acid Defect per million opportunities Earnings before interest and taxes Electrical discharge machining Enterprise resource planning First pass yield Global solution center High-performance process improvement Heating, ventilating, and air conditioning Information technology Low-performance process improvement Measured information Network company Net present value Personal digital assistant Plan, do, check, act Plan, do, study, act Process improvement yield Present value Quality function deployment Research and development Reliable estimation Solution center Subjective estimation Statistical process control Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats

xxvii

xxviii

T Value T Value (HPPI)

TIY TQM TS V Value

V Value (HPPI)

WEDM

Abbreviations

Theoretical value; the theoretical quality level of an improvement method Theoretical value; the theoretical quality level of an improvement method reached within the general limits of the requirements of high-performance process improvement Total improvement yield Total quality management Technical support Versatility value; the practical performance of an improvement method in terms of satisfying the needs of the generic process improvement process Versatility value; the practical performance of an improvement method in terms of satisfying the needs of the generic highperformance process improvement process Wire electrical discharge machining

Chapter 1

High-Performance Process Improvement Fundamentals

Lowering the costs, increasing the price of the products and services, and selling more – without constantly sacrificing the satisfaction of one or more stakeholders. This is the practical equation every company has to solve continuously – under tight money and time constraints. Sounds hard? Well, it has been, it still is, and will continue to be difficult, unless you start to consider how to run the process improvement activities fundamentally better than the rest – and the best. This chapter provides you with bags of insights towards this end. It delivers thus in a compressed form the essence of high-performance process improvement (HPPI). Section 1.1 deals with the reason or driver for writing this book, i.e. the dilemma of low-performance process improvement (LPPI). Section 1.2 continues to reflect on the main reason for low-performance process improvement presenting and discussing the process improvement paradox. The outcome of this reflection is the input for Sect. 1.3 that raises two simple questions that crystallize the essence of HPPI. The answer to these questions is the connecting thought throughout the book. Section 1.4 considers the current and prospective state of the currently used process improvement methods for the benefit of understanding the “big picture”. Section 1.5 presents the HPPI process and the related research and development work behind this book. Section 1.6 roughly outlines the basics of HPPI, whereas Sect. 1.7 expands this consideration further by presenting the essential design notes of the considered HPPI process. Section 1.8 brings to the table a brief specification of the performance requirements related to knowledge and the time aspect when aiming at HPPI. Section 1.9 contains a summary and concluding remarks. It explains also in a simple way the interrelations of the key concepts presented in the previous sections.

M. Pastinen, High-Performance Process Improvement, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-10784-9_1, # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010

1

2

1.1

1 High-Performance Process Improvement Fundamentals

Why is Process Improvement an Enormous Waste of Resources and Opportunities?

Companies in all sectors allocate plenty of resources to process improvement1 initiatives with the aim to increase their performance. The baseline for each company is to get a sound return on the investments. The targeted processes include both product and service related core processes2 besides crucial support processes.3 The set of key processes subject to improvement efforts include thus research and development (R&D), marketing, sales, order–delivery, after sales, and management and administration. The companies have paid much less attention to truly understanding, creating, running and improving the improvement process itself. It is understandably rather hard even to recognize this critical shortage, as the total picture is hard to obtain. Understanding the fundamentals of such a total picture would provide a means for defining measurement criteria to reveal how fragmented this picture is. From a practical perspective, this translates into creating a logic that is able to define the quality of the process improvement methods applied in the companies. Putting faith in process improvement methods commonly judged stateof-the-art could not be wrong, could it? Yes, it could
in a big way! What used to be state-of-the-art in a rather static and simple setting is surely not state-of-the-art in today’s dynamic and complex world. In fact, very few process improvement methods consider how to deal with this topical challenge at all. The old truth states that what you cannot measure, you cannot improve. How many companies can honestly answer what their improvement method quality is? This question is very different from the question how well the company applies the improvement method. The latter question is relevant and interesting only if the quality level of the applied method is sufficient. Different actors develop and apply improvement methods with an everincreasing pace because of a strong demand for getting more effective and efficient processes. The traditional process improvement approaches include an abundance of different concepts and solutions. These range from more loosely structurized approaches to strictly formalized methods. Examples include different approaches to improve leadership and coaching, the utilization of IT (re-engineering), six sigma, the balanced scorecard, process modeling and simulation, quality award criteria, quality standards, different kinds of maturity level tests, hoshin kanri and nichijo kanri (incl. the PDCA4 (plan, do, check, act) logic and quality tools), and

1

The term process improvement is defined in this text as a systematic approach for satisfying the organization’s stakeholders by enhancing the performance of the organization’s activities in terms of time, cost and quality (Pastinen 1998). 2 A logical arrangement of activities that produces cash (value) directly, in other words processes that influence the cash flow directly. 3 A logical arrangement of activities that produces cash (value) indirectly. 4 Often also referred to as PDSA (plan, do, study, and act). The abbreviation PDCA is used throughout the book.

1.1 Why is Process Improvement an Enormous Waste of Resources and Opportunities?

3

quality function deployment.5 However, both the companies and the research and development institutes (universities) lack the profound understanding and knowledge of modern process improvement concepts and dynamics, despite of all the research, development, education, training and consulting in the field of process improvement and total quality management. Process improvement using LPPI methods is an enormous waste of resources and opportunities that the company cannot retrieve. The companies waste resources due to a low improvement performance and a low improvement outcome in the focus processes. Moreover, valuable opportunities remain undisclosed and unrealized due to missing methods for assuring both improvement and focus process effectiveness from a total perspective. It is interesting that the techniques used to decrease waste omit these concerns – probably the largest waste of all.6 The vast majority of the process improvement efforts conducted in the world is currently based on LPPI methods. Traditionally, the companies have applied LPPI methods to increase the efficiency of the production process, or more rightfully the manufacturing function, although it is possible to utilize, at least to some extent, some of the LPPI methods in other processes as well. From a total perspective, the LPPI methods increase the efficiency of the improvement work and focus on improving the efficiency of the focus function. It is thus clear that LPPI methods contain many elements affecting productivity issues, but very few elements that would affect issues related to effectiveness. This becomes evident already in small settings where, for example, a wrong business model, a malfunctioning or even lacking strategy, inadequate technological support, lack of innovation, cultivation of the wrong data, an improper interaction with the customer remain undetected for years. In the meanwhile, the companies continue to be busy with targeting explicit customer complaints and obvious quality defects in the process. As the companies do not even realize that such deficits exist, it is of course hard to conduct any corrective actions at all. In fact, the majority of these issues could be, and many times they are, present in the same process – despite a durable application of LPPI methods. You may find these examples in any industry, but in the software industry, covering both in-house and outsourced software engineering, you do not probably even need to seek much. Using a metaphor related to that industry with a strong connection to all businesses and everyday life: it is like scanning your computer for viruses using virus definitions 10 years old and running an inadequate operative system at the same time. The HPPI methods, on the other hand, assure that the virus definitions and virus removal approach are up to date and that the operative system is fit for the purpose. Moreover, the HPPI methods are able to improve what you do and how you do with the computer from a business point of view besides considering the issue of what computer, if any, to use. This issue, i.e. the proper management of the ambition

5

Also known as the “House of Quality” and “Voice-Of-The-Customer”. Examples of these waste decreasing techniques include the “muda”, “muri” and “muri” concepts related to the Toyota Production System.

6

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1 High-Performance Process Improvement Fundamentals

levels7 regarding the improvement work, the focus setting8 and the produced output, is a feature lacking in the LPPI methods. All these deficits are process improvement issues that place the process and the process performance in a certain mould that is not beneficial from a total perspective. Prolonging the list with other cases and cases from your own company could be an interesting exercise, but to illustrate the effectiveness concern, I think you got the point. In larger settings, such as end-to-end processes and processes that utilize the output of several networks of companies or units located in different parts of the world, this shortcoming is a real pain, not to mention the improvement of whole value chains. If the LPPI methods are inadequate in smaller settings, how could they ever deal with larger settings? This, if anything, is a very serious concern the board of directors and management board of the company need to devote brainwork and resources to. A common solution the companies apply to address this critical shortcoming is individual brilliance – many times combined with brute force. This approach has, however, very little to do with systematic and result-oriented improvement efforts, as the application of dedicated methods fit for the purpose is the answer how to address this shortcoming in a sustainable way. How many companies can continuously attract genuinely brilliant people that remain both brilliant and in the company? This is not to say that individual brilliance and dedicated HPPI methods do not mix, quite the contrary. From a total perspective, the reliance on individual brilliance implies that large areas of the company value chain remain potentially unimproved to the disadvantage of the company stakeholders. This is true also in companies with apparent process improvement and innovation capabilities, as the requirements and expectations just need to be scaled-up to a more demanding ambition level. An excellent performance level may still be far away from the performance level envisaged by the Concept of Zero that is part of the HPPI concept: producing world-class outputs in zero seconds, with zero defects and zero costs.9 However, both a loose and a strict orthodox realization of this vision do more harm than good. Badly applied, this vision causes annoyance and obsessions that divert thinking from a total perspective. In addition, the application of the Concept of Zero, without complementing aspects, results likely in both great dissatisfaction and great satisfaction, depending on what stakeholder is concerned. Such a scenario is hardly sustainable and desirable. Harnessed in the right context, it provides a great support to solve the HPPI equation: how to lower the costs, increase the price of the products and services, and sell more, without constantly sacrificing the satisfaction of one or more stakeholders. In that sense, the Concept of Zero is a bad master, but a good mental challenger. As a mental challenger, the Concept of Zero helps to identify and decrease the obstacles that prevent the companies from realizing the true process improvement potential. This applies also to the development of HPPI methods.

7

Basic level (Level I), articulated level (Level II), exciting level (Level III). Company networks (value chains), companies, processes and individuals. 9 Section 5.5.1.2 discusses the Concept of Zero in more detail when addressing the issue how to apply that concept properly from a practical point of view. 8

1.1 Why is Process Improvement an Enormous Waste of Resources and Opportunities?

5

The first step required to solve the HPPI equation is to acknowledge that LPPI methods fall short on many crucial issues. The second step is to embrace a total perspective to process improvement. The third step is to apply duly designed dedicated methods, i.e. HPPI methods, to boost the process improvement performance. The fourth step is to expand the application of the HPPI methods to cover all activities. The fifth discipline is to keep up and improve the good work by solving more demanding HPPI equations. It would be too trivial to claim that the reason for the low improvement performance is that the academic researchers have slipped too far away from the company world and the companies, on the other hand, have been too busy thinking how to manage every-day issues. Such a claim does not contain any proposal or remedy for how to correct the situation. However, the fact is that the average company and even the top-tier companies conduct process improvement initiatives more or less randomly and without the true desire to achieve significant results on a large-scale basis. According to a study conducted by Vistalize Oy, covering some 30 companies in eight European countries in the very competitive electronics industry, the average score regarding the quality of the process improvement planning was 16%. Likewise, the implementation of the (almost non-existent) plan was on an equally low level (!). This is a clear indication that the root cause for low-performance process improvement is a fundamental issue that deserves attention. To embark on a more detailed analysis of the root cause it is beneficial to consider the evident process improvement paradox. People involved in process improvement in companies may rather easily see that the companies mostly struggle with the same problems year after year. These problems relate, for example, to a low information quality and malfunctioning information processes. Different “task forces” or projects address the issues from one year to the other, but in the end the problems remain, albeit in slightly different guises. Due to this, it is difficult to start solving problems at higher ambition levels because even the basic problems remain largely unsolved. As the customer requirements change, so do the four interacting process components of any process, i.e. people, technology (incl. machines, hardware, software, and methods), information and materials. The overall contribution of these four components affects directly the overall performance of the company in terms of the three fundamental performance parameters (time, quality and costs). How to stay in the game in this dynamic environment is not an easy task. For instance, in the automotive industry all three performance parameters play a major role in close to every process these days, as opposite to a more or less production oriented perspective a comparably short time ago with an uneven attention to time, quality and costs. The one that is able to improve operations most from a total perspective, bearing in mind the challenges of mastering these moving parts in real-life, catches inevitably up with the ones at the top of the game. The cumulative difference of the actual improvement pace, i.e. the process improvement yield, between the own company or value chain and the competitors is the key driver for playing the process improvement game successfully. To keep this difference as big as possible is a simple improvement strategy that goes far beyond the strategy of continuous improvement.

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The process improvement paradox presented in Sect. 1.2 provides an interesting perspective to consider this issue further.

1.2

Why are the Process Improvement Methods Outdated?

A fundamental understanding of the process improvement paradox is relevant when aiming at getting the process improvement efforts on the right track. The root problem causing the process improvement paradox is the fact that the improvement philosophy has been conceived as the strive for “making right things right” in the focus process. This statement recognizes that companies need to consider at the same time both issues related to effectiveness and efficiency. This should eventually translate into an improvement of the focus process performance in terms of time, quality and costs. These three parameters are the only ones that a company has to master in order to be a high-performance business. These criteria, modified to suit the specific need, can be adapted to all processes. These processes include, for instance, the strategy process, the product development process, the marketing process, the sales process, the order–delivery process and the after sales process. This demand is valid in all processes at the same time, regardless process type. Acting according to the statement above it is fully possible over time to improve the process performance to a good, but not excellent, level. Rapidly changing circumstances and demands influence the competitive situation of most companies. This will accordingly influence how the improvement efforts themselves are organized, implemented and improved. The main causes of the turbulence include new customer requirements and needs, increase or decline of knowledge, skills and motivation, financial issues, the counteractions of competitors and an everchanging legislation. The competitive situation may also change due to innovations and new technologies. Many executives, managers, developers, consultants and researchers have taken the “making right things right” mantra as the basis for designing and implementing approaches to process improvement. Both strategic (what) and operational issues (how) have been the focus of method design. Nevertheless, this has led to a bias when designing and implementing appropriate approaches and methods to manage the process improvement efforts, as the process improvement activities themselves have attracted no or little attention in terms of time, quality and costs. In addition, the improvement of already good or excellent processes is very hard, as the limitations of the methods restrict the possibility to reveal and realize the full potential of the selected focus process. Simply stated, the dilemma is that most improvement methods adopted are of low quality, consume much time and/or cost a lot to implement. Most companies do not recognize the dilemma due to the low process improvement knowledge throughout the organization and cultural aspects. These companies have a firm belief that they have the best people attached to the process improvement issues and their process improvement initiatives are state-of-the-art. Consequently, companies put much effort on, for example,

1.2 Why are the Process Improvement Methods Outdated?

7

flow charts, lean management six sigma, scorecards and a countless number of different types of assessments besides outsourcing initiatives and investments in IT systems. Occasionally one might find at a strategic level the adoption of a policy deployment method (such as hoshin kanri). Likewise, one might find at the operational level the adoption of the Deming circle or the PDCA logic, but the companies have mostly implemented these issues at a heading level or without a true understanding of the underlying logic. If the currently applied approaches and methods should be evaluated using the principle of “making right things right, in a fast and cost effective way” very few of them would pass the test.10 This statement is also the kernel of the high-performance process improvement philosophy. Comparing the former statement with the latter statement above may result in an analysis that the difference is not that big. However, in reality the difference is huge. The former statement requires “only” that the processes are effective (“making right things”) and efficient (“making things in the right way”) whereas the latter statement requires additionally that the improvement efforts themselves should be effective and efficient. This means that one should accomplish the (demanding) objectives with minimal risk, low costs and in the specified time. Such a demand requires a new way of thinking in terms of defining, implementing and updating management systems, how to organize everyday work, how to provide education and training as well as how to manage the organizational change. Analyzing closer the current set of methods used under the umbrella “process improvement” reveals that the most commonly used methods, such as the PDCA logic and six sigma, strive to raise the improvement productivity (efficiency). Those that strive to or contain the possibility to raise the improvement effectiveness will in this context, however, only at best provide an analysis (cp. measurement and improvement according to quality award criteria). This analysis does not provide the required input for producing a proper synthesis leading to an “ad hoc” synthesis that will likely contain severe or even fatal biases (cp. hoshin kanri). Very few methods contain any solid and robust logic for assuring the process improvement effectiveness from a method point of view. It is also important to consider how to maintain the achieved performance level and improve it further. This is an important issue, as the long-term cumulative momentum of running high-performance improvement methods is the answer to the question how to really capitalize on the improvement potential of a company in a big way. It is clear that it is very hard to measure, improve and manage process improvement efforts without a systematic and result-oriented process improvement process in place. Without such a process, companies achieve only sub-optimized results at best. Adopting the wrong methods, potentially in the wrong way, make companies 10

One practical way of testing a method’s suitability to process improvement is to implement the method to the process improvement process itself. If the process improvement process is improved in terms of time, quality and costs, then the method might prove useful. Applying the HPPI process (especially Phase 2) presented in this book to the HPPI process itself provides a practical way of assuring a high real-life performance of said process. This feature is an exciting attribute not present in most of the LPPI methods.

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lose considerable amounts of money each year. It is easy to see that the cumulative sum lost during a period of some years will be comparable to or even exceed the annual revenue of the company. This is the price of the process improvement paradox or the cost of low-performance process improvement. The price is considerably higher than the quality costs, as the quality costs “only” consider such costs related to not doing things correctly in the first place.11 The costs related to the process improvement paradox include also the costs of unrealized potential. A highperformance approach to process analysis and synthesis is able to make this total financial potential visual. Chapter 5 considers this aspect more thoroughly.

1.3

The Critical Questions the Business Books Missed to Ask and Answer: Until Now

A process is the interaction of people, technology (machines), information and materials to produce a certain output (Fromm 1992). Broadly speaking process improvement means in the business world that one should make more money by delivering more value to the stakeholders using less time and costs. How to satisfy continuously different stakeholders from a total perspective is a demanding task that one needs to consider more or less in all improvement activities. How to do this in a classy way under tight money and time constraints is the mission of HPPI. However, it is symptomatic that the available time for conducting improvement efforts has been cut down to increase the share of “real work”. In such a setting, where the pace of the race is constantly higher, and where improvement budgets are getting tighter and tighter, also the improvement methods need to adapt to the time and cost demand without sacrificing the quality aspect along the way. It is not interesting how some well-cited landmark company or organization has improved some part of its operations because only a small fraction of the companies truly improves their processes in a systematic and result-oriented way. Much more interesting is the main question, i.e. how to catch-up and overtake the best in a fast and cost-effective way, despite company unique prerequisites. This calls for both evolutionary and revolutionary thinking to take process improvement to the next ambition level, i.e. high-performance process improvement. The crucial following question is, consequently, how to implement the statement “making right things right, in a fast and cost effective way” in practice (cp. Sect. 1.2). Based on management literature it would be rather easy to come up with a reasonable answer if one was to consider the statement “making right things right”. When the requirements are based on this statement, one realizes, usually the hard way, that there will not perhaps be 4 months annually available to define the improvement plan or 5 years of calendar time available for the implementation to reach the next 11

Spending occurs usually in four areas: internal and external costs, appraisal costs and prevention costs.

1.4 The Current and Prospective State of Process Improvement Methods

9

ambition level. Furthermore, one will soon find out that it is not possible to hire an army of skilled consultants, educators and trainers to speed up the efforts. Besides, very few (key) persons have in real-life the time, patience or motivation to attend tens of meetings, seminars, etc. Due to not knowing anything better, the low-performance methods continue to be applied resulting in a great waste of resources and unrealized potential. This, if anything, will cost a lot and will therefore affect negatively all stakeholders (customers, employees, owners, suppliers, society, investors and the environment). The burning question from a company perspective is that for how long can the companies afford to apply low-performance process improvement approaches?

1.4

The Current and Prospective State of Process Improvement Methods

Due to a large-scale lack of understanding covering the companies themselves and their external advisors such as consulting companies and research institutions, it is no wonder that most of the companies stick to methods that are more or less isolated islands on the process improvement map. The use of fragmentary, inflexible and stiff improvement methods will lock the improvement work into a certain mould that restricts the possibility to reach an optimal solution in terms of time, quality and costs – both in the focus processes and the improvement process itself. Obsolete methods do not disclose the true potential of the processes leading to monumental cumulative losses. The executives might feel comfortable with the on-going process improvement efforts because of not knowing of anything better. A 20% increase of the performance level of a certain part of a process might be exciting and satisfy most executives. However, if the whole process could have been improved 40% using only half of the time required, and with only half of the costs, then the deed seems less impressive. The quality of the improvement methods becomes a concern when realizing that the company needs to replicate the deed continuously. The company needs to raise the ambition levels of both the process and the produced output once the company has reached a higher level. Few companies understand in practice the essence and consequences of this fundamental improvement issue from a total perspective. Another point is that a large corporation may have easily more than 100 key processes delivering value in a global perspective. This provides a clue that the cumulative gain of implementing highperformance process improvement solutions is very attractive even from the corporate perspective (board of directors, CEO). Even small companies have a fair amount of key processes that need to be highly competitive as a whole. In fact, it seems that companies are competitive not because of having high-quality processes throughout the organization, but because the competitors are potentially doing even worse in terms of process improvement. The processes are required to operate in a systematic and result-oriented way, but the activities for achieving this is not subject to such criteria. Very few companies, if

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1 High-Performance Process Improvement Fundamentals

any, have perceived the process improvement efforts as a process that can and should be improved just like any other process in terms of time, quality and costs. For instance, the much sited cases of the Japanese car manufacturers (cp. e.g. Toyota), and their successes in the field of process improvement field are impressive and provide a clear vision what is achievable for other companies as well. However, those production systems and practices have evolved over many decades. These end-results have been customized to fit the specific culture, case and world using improvement methods and concepts that may not provide adequate improvement momentum in today’s world. The achievements are less impressive from an improvement process perspective. This suggests that other companies in any industry can create as competitive or even better systems and practices with only a fraction of the time and money used by, for instance the Japanese car manufacturers, without copying the show-off cases. To do so the concept of high-performance process improvement should be fully understood and implemented. Whereas the company might continuously measure the core processes and most of the support processes in terms of quality, time and costs, at least to some degree, process improvement activities are usually not. In such a setting, the topmanagement never receives facts about the revitalization agility of the company resulting in an unnecessary exposure to making bad decisions that may be hard to discover before it is too late. By understanding the main concepts (the “DNA”) related to high-performance process improvement it is possible to create momentum and implement optimal improvement efforts with the best leverage on the object process despite the magnitude of change required, current performance level or line of business and process type. Additional benefits of these concepts include the ease of management, a high predictability level, and a systematic and resultoriented process improvement even in turbulent, complex and large settings. Could your company benefit from this?

1.5

The Research and Development Work and its Result

The R&D work behind the book has been focusing on the theory and practice behind high-performance process improvement. This includes the definition, creation, implementation, verification (testing), application and improvement of a generic HPPI process. In addition, the work included the design and verification of the related software technology to support the operation of the HPPI process. The core work began in 1993 and ended 12 years later. After this, the R&D work has been focusing on evolving further the theory and practice to form a coherent and solid whole embracing the HPPI concept from a total perspective. The practical test setting covered some 75 different companies of all sizes in nine European countries and six public sector organizations. Approximately 75% of the companies were in the electronics, metal and plastic industry. Other industries or sectors included telecom, food, transportation, waste management, defense, IT services and education.

1.5 The Research and Development Work and its Result

11

A team of four persons took part in the initial learning and specification phase of the R&D work at Helsinki University of Technology (Finland) 1994–1996. This phase derived advantage from the input of some additional 85 organizations, including 75 documented PDCA works made in 60 organizations in almost all sectors and industries including the public sector. The R&D team at Vistalize Oy, strengthened by two skilled external graphical artists, has been responsible for all R&D efforts since 1996. To support the verification phase and the creation of solutions supporting the management of the HPPI process from a total perspective the R&D work benefited from the input of fifteen external consultants. As there have been five theses and dissertations written at different academic levels targeting some specific area, nine professors of different research fields have contributed to the R&D work. These fields included industrial management, quality management, work and organizational psychology and computer science. The generic HPPI process contains of three key sub-processes or phases as seen in Fig. 1.1: 1. The network and company (unit) analysis and synthesis. 2. The process analysis and synthesis. 3. The implementation, including process improvement education and training, the realization of the improvement potential (improvement objects), and the follow-up.

Fig. 1.1 The generic HPPI process powered by VISTALIZER112

12

VISTALIZER is a registered trademark of Vistalize Oy.

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1 High-Performance Process Improvement Fundamentals

These phases take advantage of specific methods and solutions known as VISTALIZER1. The first two phases assure that the improvement work is effective whereas the third phase assures the productivity of the improvement work. The improvement process depicted in Fig. 1.1 meets the requirements related to HPPI thanks to highly productified methods that utilize a seamless integration into one another. This integration work, besides the development of the methods, is a rather demanding R&D task. A proper integration of the methods is necessary to prevent a loss of improvement momentum when gearing to the next improvement phase or next improvement round. The performance of the HPPI process is very competitive as indicated in Fig. 1.1 (yield level, time consumption). I present and discuss the terms, concepts and substance issues of Fig. 1.1 in detail in subsequent chapters. From a single company’s perspective, it is possible to run the HPPI process in a flexible manner. The process analysis and synthesis, i.e. Phase 2 in Fig. 1.1, would thus be the first phase to run. After this, the implementation and the potential network analysis and synthesis phases are run concurrently. In such a setting, the implementation phase targets internal improvement efforts, whereas the network analysis and synthesis phase targets the external improvement efforts. These external efforts may include, for example, the improvement of the subcontractor and supplier networks. Running the process analysis and synthesis phase with the suppliers’ key processes as the target processes, and running the implementation phase in succession, improves in turn the suppliers’ performance according to the requirements of HPPI. Of course, the supplier may also apply the same logic as its customer to the second level suppliers. A devoted supplier or subcontractor can even harmonize and adapt the network analysis criteria in line with the customer requirements and demands. Coupled this way, it is possible to design and implement a high-performance process to improve the performance of whole value chains or clusters of companies with a wealth of companies, i.e. high-performance value chain improvement. This setting provides an attractive concept to respond to performance and improvement needs regarding large wholes. How to achieve such an improvement momentum and pace using LPPI methods is a question that may not have any proper answer.

1.6

The Size of the Improvement Momentum Toyota Loses Every Day and the Momentum Your Company Could Gain Every Day

The term process improvement process could be defined as a logical set of activities that strives to improve the performance of the targeted value chain in terms of time, quality and costs. This set of activities includes the creation of an appropriate improvement plan on the network (suppliers, own units), company and/or process levels, deployment of the plan(s), educating and training people, realizing the

1.6 The Size of the Improvement Momentum Toyota Loses Every Day

13

solution (potential) and following-up the actions. The quality level of the core improvement activities can be defined by the process improvement yield (PIY). This quality parameter defines how well any set of improvement methods contributes to the process improvement work in real-life (Fig. 1.2). The process improvement yield, expressed as a percentage point, considers both the impact on increasing the process improvement effectiveness and the process improvement efficiency of any given set of improvement methods. A high process improvement yield assures that the focus processes are optimally improved in terms of time, quality and costs (¼the outcome) using as little resources as possible. Besides the company or corporate level, the concept may be enlarged to cover company networks of even whole value chains. In such a setting, the related quality parameter is called the total improvement yield (TIY). Chapter 2 presents the PIY and TIY concepts in detail. The PIY communicates thus a company’s level of internal improvement traction or improvement momentum, whereas the TIY communicates a company’s total improvement traction (momentum) level. Without any improvement traction, there is no controlled and sustainable performance increase

Fig. 1.2 The projected difference between different process improvement approaches and methods (corporate or company level; like-for-like comparison)

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1 High-Performance Process Improvement Fundamentals

at all. A higher improvement traction means that the improvement activities are more systematic and result-oriented providing thus a better input/output ratio, i.e. dollar per PIY percentage points, and a better process performance outcome in terms of time, quality and costs that translates into a single figure financial total gain. The dollar per PIY percentage point ratio and related financial outcome depend fully on the size and complexity of the process, the current and future performance levels, and the available time. The process analysis and synthesis method presented in Chap. 5 is able to define, process specifically, the issues A) to C) in Fig. 1.2 accurately enough in advance. This kind of business intelligence, i.e. how to solve the HPPI equation of a specific process, made visual before implementing a single issue, provides the company with a new level of planning quality and certainty. The terms hoshin kanri and nichijo kanri in Fig. 1.2 are loosely translated from the Japanese in the following way (Soin 1992): l

l

Hoshin kanri. Hoshin means objectives or directions, while kanri means control or management. So in essence hoshin kanri means policy management or management of objectives. Nichijo kanri. Nichijo means daily. Thus, nichijo kanri means daily management. In the Western corporate environment, a clearer definition could be business fundamentals.

The implementation plan focuses on the steps needed to accomplish the strategies or objectives in the hoshin plan. The implementation plan should cover the following elements (Soin 1992): l l

l

Object of improvement and performance measures. The structure of the implementation approach including the time schedules (the PDCA cycle þ schedule). Ownership of responsibility, which must be clearly defined to avoid misunderstandings and confusion.

In addition to the implementation plan, the achieved performance level must be maintained. To do this the company needs a daily management plan. Nichijo kanri (daily management) focuses on keeping the house in order, i.e. maintaining the performance of day-to-day, routine or repetitive processes (Soin 1992). No special efforts other than establishing goals, controlling limits and a monitoring system are required. The prerequisite is that these processes are well understood because there is a wealth of experience and knowledge, which need to be documented. Nichijo kanri requires effective management of routine processes, discovering abnormalities or deviations and preventing their recurrence (Soin 1992). For example, an educated estimate based on the methods hoshin kanri and nichijo kanri, applied by Toyota and others, suggests that the maximum PIY level of Toyota would be slightly below 50% (48%) reached in approximately 20 years. It is likely that the PIY score of Toyota is (much) lower than 48% in real-life because of probable shortages related to Toyota’s actual scores regarding the quality and scope parameters inherent in the PIY concept. The 48% PIY calculation is based on:

1.6 The Size of the Improvement Momentum Toyota Loses Every Day l

l

15

A comparable process improvement plan quality of 60% and a coverage of 100%. i.e. all operations are covered with a hoshin kanri based plan that targets process improvement at a 60% quality level An implementation quality of 100% and an implementation coverage of 80%.

The comparable quality output of the hoshin kanri approach in this context is more in the range of 30% than 60%. This cuts the process improvement yield by 50% to 24%.13 The figure should probably be lower because the hoshin kanri approach does not contain any actual logic or method support to assure the effectiveness of the improvement efforts at any level. To lower the likelihood of deploying garbage, and realizing thus the principle of “garbage in, garbage out”, it is necessary to rely on individual brilliance, although such an approach does not assure the improvement effectiveness in the long run. In addition, the scores related to the quality of the implementation and the related coverage are likely to provide a downgrade. A PIY level in the range of about 15% is probably a reasonable real-life output well in line with the achieved results and the time spent to achieve the results.14 Of course, if other sets of methods than the hoshin kanri/nichijo kanri have been applied, then the scores may be different. It should be noted that this level is very high compared to the average company or any company for that matter
especially when considering the cumulative effects of keeping that level for tens of subsequent years. Such a performance will inevitably also form the corporate culture in a way that supports continuous improvement in a real sense. In fact, a PIY of 15% in any larger setting shows a very good command of the applied methods and is probably the level that companies using LPPI methods can achieve at best given enough time. The conclusion in this regard is that the Toyota’s set of methods are the best LPPI methods available. Besides, Toyota has currently probably the largest cumulative PIY score of all companies (the area below the curves in Fig. 1.2). These methods contain many attractive features, especially the deployment logic (hoshin kanri) and the PDCA cycle supported by quality tools (nichijo kanri). How to assure the improvement effectiveness and how to run and ramp-up the improvement activities from a total perspective within a short period of time, in a cost-effective way, according to different ambition levels, are the critical shortages. Also the fundamental application environment (routine processes) and a heavy emphasis on discovering operative abnormalities or deviations (need for measured data) and preventing their recurrence lock the usability of these concepts into a certain mode that is insufficient from a HPPI perspective. The average company has a PIY level of below 3% given infinite time (2.6% to be precise). This score is the average value of 30 companies in the electronics business in eight European countries. Few companies will ever reach a level above 10% given infinite time, as the theoretical score of the most commonly used (set of) 13

Section 4.3.4 discusses this in more detail. Process improvement plan quality 30% * the process improvement plan coverage of 80% * the implementation quality of 80% * the implementation coverage of 80% ¼ 15.4% (0.3*0.8*0.8*0.8 *100%).

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1 High-Performance Process Improvement Fundamentals

methods will not exceed that level in practice even if implemented correctly, especially for any longer period of time. This performance level indicates that in terms of systematic and result-oriented process improvement efforts, which are the basis for a sustainable improvement effect, it is neither in theory nor in practice possible to catch-up with Toyota. It may be possible over time to be an industry benchmark and “best case”, if the competitors stick to the LPPI methods or continue to implement end-results of the Toyota approach. The high-performance process improvement approaches and methods presented in this book will provide a TIY and PIY level of above 75% reached in 6 years or sooner. This level is achieved in 2 years or sooner in smaller settings. The financial impact of this is for any company substantial. Such an improvement performance provides also a substantial momentum to not only catch-up with the best, but also even overtake the best. Of course, the best companies can benefit from these concepts and methods to assure that they stay ahead in the competition. History has shown that successfully companies may fall in the trap of their own success, as the companies start to believe that their own supremacy is self-evident and does not require any improved strategies or better improvement approaches. This is good news for open-minded companies looking for a better spot in the market place. After all, arrogant ignorance is the most precious gift any company can give to its competitors. The competitor should appreciate such a valuable contribution by harnessing it as well as possible, i.e. by adopting HPPI methods. The company may even increase the value of the gift by increasing its application of LPPI methods as a bonus. This LPPI swamp is real and once stuck in it, it may be impossible to get away due to rooted perceptions that take time to overcome. However, with the bad comes the good. The LPPI swamp provides almost limitless business opportunities for consulting companies to “help” the customer out of the swamp. This will understandably never happen, as this would make the current swamp based consulting offerings obsolete. Paradoxically, a change in this regard is very hard for many consulting companies advocating change and continuous improvement for their clients, as this would require a move out of the comfort zone. On the other hand, if the customers are happy with the current offerings, why change a winning formula? In the end, changed customer preferences and demands are the prime drivers of most change efforts. Companies and people do not move out of their comfort zones if the pain level forcing them to change is not high enough. Innovative start-up companies are another example where thinking may potentially deteriorate. These venture companies try to predict future market demands by creating solutions, often without an initial explicit need for that solution. If the timing is there and the market matures in favor of their visionary solutions they can really capitalize on their betting. Many times the timing is just not there (yet) and the business momentum is lost due to that. However, the business momentum is there more often than seldom, but the processes are performing so badly that the companies miss their opportunities due to this. In such a setting, where a lot of (own and venture) capital has been invested and the future of the entrepreneurs are at stake, the importance of HPPI is probably even more important than in more

1.6 The Size of the Improvement Momentum Toyota Loses Every Day

17

established businesses. Very few of the start-up companies think about a systematic and result-oriented process improvement that would decrease the burn-rate and increase the quality of the output for the benefit of keeping the company alive longer and making their value propositions more attractive15. This would provide substantial means for exploiting the business idea more properly. A good business plan, adequate funding and a capable management team are necessary, but not necessarily sufficient aspects needed to increase the likelihood of success. Gearing up the business with HPPI methods, preferably from day one, would be in the best interest of all start-up stakeholders and could provide a much-needed complement to utilize properly the energetic and youthful spirit of a start-up company. From a process improvement perspective, four issues form the basis for catchingup, and ultimately overtaking the best in terms of the improvement methods used: 1. 2. 3. 4.

The achievable and sustainable process improvement yield level. The ramp-up performance (time, total cost). The maintenance performance (time, total cost). The optimization of the ambition level regarding improvement plans and the implementation.

High-performance process improvement methods score highly in all four issues. The remarkable achievement of the construction presented in Fig. 1.1 is that it not only optimizes the interaction of people, technology (e.g. methods, software), information/knowledge and material needed in process improvement, but also improves, creates or compensates missing or malfunctioning issues. This provides the solution to run the HPPI process in almost any setting and even to deliver only the output of said process for the specified period, for instance, the desired PIY level for five subsequent years. In such a “turn key” set-up, the company has fully outsourced the operation of the HPPI process, including all human expert resources and software solutions, for the benefit of getting the HPPI process up and running on a short notice. It is also possible to specify a risk and reward scheme regarding to the output and related outcome. This provides a very attractive total offering and new business opportunities for all parties. Although the consideration of the HPPI process from a business point of view is not the objective of this book, I will briefly return to this fundamental matter at the end of the book when considering future outlines of HPPI (Sect. 7.3). After all, the question “What’s in it for me?” is the prime driver of any business and the one that makes people and things tick. How could HPPI be any different?

15

“Burn-rate”: for a company with negative cash flow, the size of that negative cash flow, usually per month. Venture capitalists use the term frequently to define how much time a (start-up) company has to reach positive cash flow before the company runs out of money or requires more funding.

18

1.7

1 High-Performance Process Improvement Fundamentals

Designing High-Performance Process Improvement Methods

To gain momentum in terms of increasing the process improvement yield in a systematic and result-oriented way it is clear that common sense will not do. This means that the companies need a construction (recall Fig. 1.1) to deal with the matter properly. To understand further the nature of the construction it is necessary to outline the general requirements the construction has to satisfy to be useful: 1. It should be scalable. The logic has to deal with any value chain despite the size. It has to be suitable for just one person or a cluster of several hundreds of companies or units. 2. It should be universal. The logic has to deal with any line of business and process, i.e. the solutions need to be fully customized to meet industry and company specific needs. 3. It has to deal with any starting level. The logic should adapt to the current knowledge base, current process performance or level of motivation and change resistance. It should be as useful to a seasoned company as to a company that is just starting with the systematic process improvement efforts. 4. It has to be manageable, copyable and measurable. It should consume as little time and money resources as possible. Despite the size of the target value chain, the first two requirements deal with the question what, whereas the requirements three and four deal with the question how. A what question is typically an indication of that a strategy or some kind of improvement plan needs to be considered or created. To tackle the what question it is beneficial to gain a basic understanding of how to derive an optimal plan. A high-class improvement plan can be created via an information process that contains three main phases: 1. The collection of data. 2. Cultivating the data into information, i.e. making an analysis. 3. Cultivating the information into knowledge, i.e. making a synthesis. These three phases are subject to general quality criteria related to information (Augustin and Oberhofer 1990). Firstly, the logic applied should assure that the collected data and information are correct and relevant. Otherwise, the rule “garbage in, garbage out” will apply. Most approaches and methods applied currently provide at best only an analysis or assessment of the current state. These methods include, for example, quality award criteria, the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and six sigma. What they do not provide is the synthesis, i.e. what would be the optimal actions to conduct, bearing in mind case specific and unique constraints and priorities that are due to both company external and internal issues. These methods leave the most crucial issue unsolved: as knowledge is the basis for making decisions, the quality of the decisions is subject to a great bias due to the personal constraints of the decision maker. There is thus no systematic and result-oriented

1.8 Defining the Performance Requirements of High-Performance Process

19

way of arriving at the answer. This results in a great loss of momentum at the very early stages of the process improvement efforts, as the company implements potentially the wrong issues. Secondly, it is very important to master the time dimension when creating an optimal improvement plan. There are two important aspects to consider in this regard. The first is that the selected method might be so time consuming that it is impossible to grab the dynamic time window that all companies and processes are subject to. The world and the specific and unique conditions might have altered too much before even the analysis is finalized – the wrong remedy is potentially proposed as a consequence. Another aspect is that many of the non-trivial methods applied today consume too much time and will make the people attached to the case too exhausted to implement anything after the analysis phase. As the process improvement plan gets out of date, a new one has to be prepared although the company has not necessarily implemented much, if anything. Additional requirements of the process improvement plan target the amount of information (“as much as necessary, as little as possible”), its form and place. Furthermore, the plan has to be designed so that it can be immediately deployed and implemented in practice. The first how issue (the third issue above) points out that the construction has to detect and adjust to the current ambition level of the focus process. In addition, it has to define the optimal path how to reach the next level within certain unique prerequisites. The second how issue (the fourth issue above) demands that the construction has to be manageable, copyable and measurable. All these requirements can be satisfied if the construction can be run as a process. It is possible to satisfy also the performance requirements, if the process is improved enough. The claims communicated via the design notes can be satisfied by a generic HPPI process that utilizes high-class information processes. To get a rough guidance related to the performance requirements of the construction it is necessary at this stage to outline briefly the general performance requirements, especially related to the time and knowledge aspects. Chapter 3 (Sect. 3.5) considers the knowledge aspect required to operate the HPPI process properly.

1.8

Defining the Performance Requirements of HighPerformance Process Improvement Efforts

The company should not allocate more than approximately 4% of the annual effective overall working time to process improvement efforts. Besides this rough time limit, also the use of the time allocated to process improvement efforts deserves attention. For instance, if the available process improvement time would annually be, let’s say roughly ten working days, some 8–9 days (80–90%) are typically allocated to planning (data collection, analysis and synthesis) whereas

20

1 High-Performance Process Improvement Fundamentals

only 1–2 days (10–20%) would be left to implementation – in an ideal case!16 This is especially true in large corporations, whereas the ratio might be quite the opposite in small companies, where process improvements are done “ad hoc” without any prior planning. If the process is still competitive in these cases, it is not necessarily due to a systematic and result-oriented improvement work but more thanks to pure luck and the fact that the competitors are performing even worse. With the LPPI methods commonly applied today, it is not possible to switch the ratio the other way around without sacrificing the quality of the planning considerably. Another practical rule of thumb is that at least 40% of the staff should understand in practice the process improvement philosophy, approaches and practical tools, before the company may realize large-scale gains. Usually this figure is (well) below 2% although the company may believe that this figure is much higher. This understanding is by no means a static state, as it has to be continuously maintained and updated according to which ambition level the improvement activities are run on. Reaching even a satisfactory overall level of understanding may be hard due to constraints subject to individual persons. These personal constraints include, among other issues, motivation, current starting level, the targeted ambition level and available resources. It is clear that these issues form a serious obstacle that has to be properly solved before it is possible to realize the full potential of the HPPI concept. Not mastering the time and knowledge requirements causes another problem that affects negatively the possibility to realize large-scale gains and the full potential. Many companies allocate most of the time to planning whereas the implementation phase usually receives much less attention. The improvement work is organized usually via some (internal) consultants/experts or improvement managers that represent only a fraction of the staff. Some of these improvement experts might even understand the improvement philosophy, approaches and practical tools, but these experts represent still only a fraction of the whole staff. Having external or internal experts (consultants) driving the improvement work tend to affect negatively the level of commitment among the people working in the process and could thus potentially cause unnecessary change resistance. This mode of operation is understandable, as the obstacles related to how to continuously maintain and increase the level of understanding on a large scale have not been properly solved, despite all the efforts related to education and training in the field of process improvement. The effectiveness and efficiency of education and training efforts, in combination with meeting the time and cost requirements, are crucial considerations that largely affect not only the realization of the improvement potential, but also what kind of improvement objects can be pursued and recommended in the preceding process improvement plan. A bad education and training performance lowers in other words the ambition level of the process improvement plan and affects likely in a negative way the practical realization of the improvement

16

If the company runs its improvement activities at a low PIY level, it does not matter that much from an improvement point of view, if the company halves or doubles the improvement resources.

1.9 Summary and Concluding Remarks

21

potential, albeit the implementation requirements have been adjusted downwards to suit the projected knowledge and skill base. Furthermore, every improvement activity needs to be customized, verified, prioritized and implemented optimally. The practical application of this simple “one line requirement” under the requirements of HPPI is a demanding matter that cannot be solved based on averages or by studying best practices/cases.

1.9

Summary and Concluding Remarks

Many companies, and in the end even countries, will find out that the conducted process improvement efforts, despite of all the bells and whistles, are of little help when responding to increased performance requirements. Low-performance process improvement methods communicate a false feeling of pleasure. This exposes the companies to options with a considerable risk level. Such options include out- or in-sourcing, change of IT systems, shutting down or moving operations to other countries. The government may even provide help in terms of governmental protectionism in some cases. It is worth noticing that such actions are not process improvements in a true sense, as external factors, such as lower wages or a penalty duty, constitute the basis for the relative productivity rise. Although the concept of high-performance process improvement may seem as an objective that is impossible to realize due to the demanding constraints and requirements attached to the subject, subsequent chapter will piece-by-piece open your eyes. Simply put there are only three core issues to understand and master in order to achieve the objective: 1. The process improvement yield, i.e. the measurable output of the improvement activities. 2. The generic HPPI process, i.e. the construction needed to realize HPPI activities in practice. 3. High-performance process improvement, i.e. the evolving theory and the knowledge base. These three issues are strongly interrelated and thanks to their mutual interplay they will provide a very solid platform for continuously improving both the performance of the improvement work itself (the output) and the focus processes (the outcome) as depicted in Fig. 1.3. The outcome, applied to all (key) processes, solves the HPPI equation for the company. These key processes include, where applicable, the R&D process, the pre sales process, order–delivery process, after sales process, and the strategy process. Applying the HPPI outcome to only one process, solves the HPPI equation for that process. Running Phase 2 of the HPPI process, i.e. the process analysis and synthesis (Chap. 5), and Phase 3, i.e. the implementation (Chap. 6), solves the HPPI equation in practice. In larger settings such as value chains, supplier and subcontractor networks and clusters, Phase 1 of the HPPI process, i.e. the network and company (unit) analysis and synthesis

22

1 High-Performance Process Improvement Fundamentals

Fig. 1.3 The basic relationships between the different concepts

(Chap. 4) tells, among other aspects, which issues and processes need improvement in the first place, and what the improvement potential of the setting is. The strategy process and its output, i.e. the company strategy, affect strongly the solving of the HPPI equation from a total perspective. This whole benefits from a derivative HPPI solution resembling Phase 1 of the HPPI process (Chap. 7, Sect. 7.1). Both the metrics for defining the process improvement yield and the HPPI process, including related skills to run said process, have to be updated accordingly, if the knowledge related to HPPI increases, i.e. the theory evolves. On the other hand, based on the practice of said process, it might be evident that the process improvement yield and the knowledge base related to HPPI have to be updated. In this way, the practice will be continuously considered besides the evolving theory and vice versa. Depending on the level of the process improvement yield it will, on the other hand, affect the generic HPPI process and the knowledge base in terms of adjusting and scaling up to the optimal ambition levels. This subject is a fairly

1.9 Summary and Concluding Remarks

23

advanced subject that I will consider later on more thoroughly. In addition, the improvement of the time, quality and cost parameters are strongly interrelated, which requires a proper consideration in all improvement activities.17 Until now, there has been no systematic and result-oriented process (construction) providing organizations with a solid but yet practical solution to realize in a classy way the concept of HPPI. Fortunately, times have changed, as the missing pieces have been identified and properly cultivated to form a coherent whole that does the job.

17

These activities include data collection, analysis, synthesis on the network, company and process levels, and the implementation, including education, training, realization of the potential and follow-up.

Chapter 2

High-Performance Process Improvement Concepts

The theoretical backbone of high-performance process improvement is by nature dynamic. It changes and improves over time to reflect the interaction between the continuous R&D work and the gained practical experience as depicted in the last section of the former chapter (Sect. 1.9, Fig. 1.3). These interactions, which also consider the performance requirements of the improvement efforts, guide the theoretical considerations and restrict the possibility that the theory would lose contact with practice. In this regard, the theory serves as a platform for assuring and raising the ambition level of the practice. Practice without a solid theoretical backbone is hazardous especially when adapting the concepts related to HPPI. Such a critical deficit cannot be fixed by “hands-on” case studies or by practical improvement work. There has to be a logical framework assuring the performance of all improvement activities. The purpose of this chapter is to outline the needed theoretical backbone related to HPPI. The chapter covers the following issues: l l l l

Key definitions Delivery of value The concept of high-performance process improvement The process and total improvement yield.

The key definitions provide the input for expanding the theoretical framework of HPPI (Sect. 2.1). The crucial issue to understand is the dynamics and complexity behind the delivery of value (Sect. 2.2). The concept of HPPI includes certain general performance demands (Sect. 2.3) that in essence boil down to the achievable and sustainable improvement yield levels (Sect. 2.4). The chapter ends with a summary and concluding remarks (Sect. 2.5).

2.1

Key Definitions

The basic building bricks of the HPPI theory are the definitions and their correct interpretation. Even a comparably small deviation in this regard may have devastating consequences when implementing the concepts and realizing the potential. M. Pastinen, High-Performance Process Improvement, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-10784-9_2, # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010

25

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2 High-Performance Process Improvement Concepts

An inadequate theoretical platform will not only affect negatively the quality level of the improvement actions. It may potentially cause an escalation of a bad improvement momentum, and thus divert the improvement of the corporate culture. This is an important issue, as process improvement without a corresponding improvement of the culture will not likely produce long-term effects. This problem is typically encountered when implementing end-results of improvement approaches (cp. lean management or lean production initiatives) or utilizing analysis approaches as an implementation tool (cp. e.g. quality award criteria). Although a prejudicial deviation is detected when defining the process improvement yield, the time and money wasted cannot be recovered any more. The basic definitions include the terms process and process improvement: l

l

A process is the interaction of people, technology (machines), materials and information to produce a certain service or product (Fromm 1992). Process improvement is a systematic approach for satisfying the organization’s stakeholders by enhancing the performance of the organization’s activities (processes) in terms of time, cost and quality (Pastinen 1998).

These two definitions result in an abundance of other related definitions and concepts needed to form a coherent theoretical backbone that provides the required stability when implementing the HPPI concept. The term “high-performance process improvement” could thus be defined as high-class process improvement conducted under tight money and time constraints. Having a coherent theoretical backbone means that the necessary and sufficient understanding of the underlying cause-and-effect chains has been achieved. Keeping the definitions simple, clear and without biasing noise provide the means to reach this understanding. For example, in the case of the process definition, such noise would include any additional element of structure, focus, measurement, ownership or customer. These are, among other issues, changeable aspects, which may provide means and leverage to improve the focus process. The two basic definitions above provide detailed clues what issues are relevant from a theoretical point of view besides the systematic logic and construction needed to implement the theory: l

l

l

Satisfying the stakeholders. This means that the essence of stakeholder satisfaction should be part of the theory. People, technology, information, material and their interaction to produce a certain output. This means that the essence of the four process components and the desired output need to be part of the theoretical backbone. Time, quality and costs. This means that the essence of these three fundamental performance parameters should be part of the theoretical backbone.

These three aspects are closely interrelated perspectives on the delivery of value. To understand the connections it is necessary to consider delivery of value from a holistic perspective (Sect. 2.2.1) and from the stakeholders’ perspective (Sect. 2.2.2). This rough guidance limits greatly the risk of focusing on irrelevant issues.

2.2 Delivery of Value

2.2

27

Delivery of Value

There are two issues to consider when discussing delivery of value from a process improvement perspective. The first is the delivery of value from a holistic point of view and the second is the delivery of value from the stakeholders’ perspective. The latter provides the requirements and needs that the value producing systems, i.e. the own operations and company external operations (supplier and partner networks), need to fulfill especially regarding the requirements and needs of the customers, employees and owners. As these needs never receive the level of complete fulfillment, there is always a need to raise the ambition levels and to improve the performance of the processes. The demands and needs of the three stakeholders are additionally contradictory by nature, which leads to an evident need to prioritize and customize more or less every improvement action.1

2.2.1

Delivery of Value from a Holistic Perspective

In essence, any company utilizes two types of processes to deliver value to its stakeholders. The two types are the core processes and support processes (Fig. 2.1). A core process produces value directly to its customer whereas a support process produces value indirectly (Pastinen 1995). From a company perspective, this means that a core process influences the cash flow directly whereas a support process influences the cash flow indirectly. In principle, the basis of definition could be some other aspect rather than the cash flow. However, it is hard to see what the basis could be in reality. This is because the definition needs to be clear, standardized and applicable in all enterprises despite size, sector and performance level. The very basic nature of an enterprise is to generate cash and profits. The cash flow generated

Fig. 2.1 The core process and the support processes

1

These activities include network, company (or unit) and process analysis and synthesis and the implementation (incl. education, training, realization of the potential, and follow-up).

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2 High-Performance Process Improvement Concepts

by the company is the ultimate consequence (the effect) of the measures taken (the causes). Consequently, if not basing the definition on the ultimate effect of the measures taken, it will be hard to justify why cause X and not cause Y would be the most appropriate basis of definition in a specific case. This dilemma could result in great confusion because human aspects (mood, background, interests, etc.), the present state and needs of the company would likely bias the modeling of the company. If it were possible to arrive at different results from time to time, about how the company fundamentally delivers value to its customers, then the focusing of improvement efforts would be much harder to do. With the presented definitions, it is possible to select the best focus processes for improvement depending on present and forthcoming performance needs in the short, medium and/or long term. The core and support processes and their current performance and realization of the improvement potential affect cash flows and profits differently in terms of the selected time span (short, medium and/or long term). It is worthwhile noticing that increasing the performance of one process causes also a need to increase the performance of other processes as well. Improving greatly, for instance, the order– delivery process without assuring that the performance of the marketing, sales and after sales processes are accordingly upgraded can potentially even reset the improvements achieved in the core process. To which process (core or support) a particular activity belongs can be easily tested by the following guideline. It is necessary only to cut off the output of the phase in question. Doing so, the activity cannot deliver the required input to the following phase. If the consequence is that the cash flow stops immediately, then the activity is part of the core process. If, on the other hand, the company is able to deliver value to its customers some time after the cut-off, i.e. the customer is still satisfied with the output and pays the invoice, then the function is a support process. However, after a while the cash flow will be affected negatively and eventually even cease. Examples of activities or functions, which belong to the core process, are offer and order management, production planning, production, packaging and delivery and invoice management. Often these functions are also referred to as processes (for example the production process and the delivery process) although they are from a total process perspective sub-processes. If the company offers customized products to the customers, there will be a configuration step necessary to produce the customized output. This configuration step has a direct influence on the cash flow and is therefore part of the core process. The configuration phase is unnecessary if the company offers mass products without any option for customization. In its simplest form, the core process starts with the receiving of the customer’s order and ends with the receiving of the payment. If continuous efforts are required to receive each order, then the core process contains also a sales phase that generates the orders. Many times, however, the customers may place an order without any actual sales efforts. In such a setting, the sales process is technically speaking a support process. The support processes deliver usually services, which the core process or another support process needs. Examples of support processes include research and

2.2 Delivery of Value

29

development, marketing, sales,2 administration (accounting, financing, management of human resources, etc.). In principle, the support process can also deliver an output to itself. For example, the administration process provides services related to payroll calculation, which the administration clerks themselves need. It is important to understand that the term “core process” is not the same as “core competence” or “key process”. For instance, the core competence of a company can be research and development, which is a support process.3 However, this process may be crucial to the company. The categorization of processes into core and support processes does not indicate that the core processes would be more important than the support processes. Any process (core or support process) may be a key process, i.e. a crucial process that needs to be highly competitive for the company to succeed in the market. Incidentally, the concept of the core process does not require that the process is world class. On the contrary, there may be many shortages, which are targets of improvement efforts. Every company has to have at least one core process. Otherwise, there will be no cash flow at all. A value chain from the raw materials to the final product consists of a variety of core processes connected together (supplier networks and own units). The amount of interrelated first line core processes in any larger setting (cp. e.g. shipbuilding, car or aircraft manufacturing) may easily exceed 500 and together with the related support processes the amount may exceed 2,500. In many cases, the amount is five to fifteen times higher if second and third line suppliers are considered. How to improve continuously such value chains in a fast and cost-effective way is utterly important, as whole value chains compete against each other, not necessarily single companies. In this regard, many companies need also to understand the needs of the end customer and the business customers closer to the end product and the end customer. The core and support processes provide the basic understanding how companies produce value. This picture has to be perfected by yet another process type to gain maximum momentum from a process improvement perspective. The missing process type is the information process that exists as an integrated part in almost every process regardless process type. Information processes are information related activities such as collection, preparation, storage and transformation of information. There are different types of information processes. To gain an understanding of what kind of information processes may exist in a company they can be categorized using two approaches, which are not mutually exclusive (Pastinen 1993): l

l

2

The actor-oriented approach, which can be divided into inter-organizational, inter-functional and interpersonal information processes The task-oriented approach, which can be classified based on the strategic relevance of the information processes (operational, tactical and strategic levels).

Technically speaking marketing and sales may be momentarily part of the core process, if the company is launching its products or services for the first time. 3 Research and development can also be a core process if the company is, for example, an engineering bureau offering such services to its customers.

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2 High-Performance Process Improvement Concepts

The inter-organizational information process takes place between the company (employees) and its external stakeholders (customers, owners, communities, governments, regulators, suppliers and partners). Examples include the reception of an order that is an information process between a customer and the company. Another example is product development that is an information process between the company and its suppliers and customers. The realization of these processes benefits greatly from IT. However, the information processes are not always married to technical applications. A “face-to-face” discussion between the employee of the company and a customer is also an information process. Likewise, a machineto-machine communication is also an information process that is custom in highly automated processes. An inter-functional information process takes place between different functions within the company. An example is the information process between departments or functions like marketing and production. One of the big challenges when improving the performance of the company is to get the different departments of a company to “talk” to each other. Hence, it is very hard to improve, for instance, the product development process, if there are great deficits in the inter-functional information processes. The interpersonal information process, on the other hand, takes place between persons who work within a team or a group. An example of an interpersonal information process is brainstorming. The information processes can also be categorized according to their competitive relevance (Zeman et al. 1993). The relevance may be divided into three levels, i.e. strategic (competitive relevance very high), tactical (competitive relevance high) and operational (necessary but not decisive). At the strategic level the possibility of computer support is low (cp. development of marketing concepts or corporate strategies), whereas it on the tactical level is high (cp. medium range capacity planning) and on the operational level very high (cp. order confirmation). The quality components of the output produced by the information processes can be summarized to include the following requirements (adapted from: Augustin and Oberhofer 1990): l l l l l l

Correct information (understood and needed by the receiver) Correct point of time (enough to make a decision) Correct amount (“as much as necessary, as little as possible”) Correct place (accessible to the receiver) Correct format (immediately useful) Correct price (paid by the user or receiver).

Improving the quality components above improves the productivity of the core or support processes utilizing the output. Assuring and improving the relevance of the requested information increase in turn the effectiveness. This task is primarily the responsibility of the process needing the information, not the information process delivering the output. One of the major shortages of the LPPI methods is that they strive to increase the improvement efficiency, not the improvement effectiveness in a true sense.

2.2 Delivery of Value

31

The possibilities of information technology (IT) influence largely both external and internal information processes of the company. IT lives in a symbiotic relationship with the different processes of the company (Davenport and Short 1990). Two questions formalize this symbiotic relationship: “How is the performance of the company’s processes influenced by IT” and “How do the processes influence the IT applications?”

2.2.2

Delivery of Value from a Key Stakeholder Perspective

The word “satisfaction” comes from the Latin words satis (enough) and facere (to do or make). These words communicate the essence of satisfaction, which is fulfillment. At a basic level, this translates into solving up-coming problems reactively. At a more advanced level, the concept of fulfillment or satisfaction involves doing more than just solving and eliminating problems. It involves besides preventive actions the concept of excitement and delight for all stakeholders. In the end companies have to satisfy each of their stakeholders to be successful. Stakeholders are all those interest groups, parties, actors, claimants and institutions – both internal and external to the corporation – who either affect or who are affected by a corporation’s actions, behavior and policies (Mitroff 1983). The company stakeholders include customers, employees, owners, investors, partners, communities, governments and regulators, suppliers and the environment. The most critical stakeholders are the three first mentioned in that specific order. If the companies cannot meet the needs of customers, employees and owners, they will not normally be able to meet the needs of the remaining stakeholders either. Deming developed what is known as “the Deming chain reaction” (Deming 1986). It states that when quality improves, cost will decrease and productivity will increase. The result is more jobs, greater market share and a long-term survival. The same kind of logic communicates how stakeholder satisfaction increases the competitiveness of companies. Satisfied customers lead to fewer customer defections, which in turn lead to higher profits and growth. This leads to owner satisfaction. Satisfied owners, on the other hand, are more likely to invest in a particular company in terms of human resources as well. Higher wages may be one way. Other attractive means include the provision of education, training, equipment and conditions that make the work more effective, productive and enjoyable. A dedicated work force is more likely to produce superior products and services, which in turn leads to a higher customer satisfaction. From a process improvement, perspective the focus should primarily be on the satisfaction of customers, employees and owners, as this provides the required leverage to satisfy other groups of stakeholders as well.

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2.2.2.1

Customer Satisfaction

It is difficult to improve customer satisfaction without identifying adequately distinct customer groups. A categorization scheme provides a rough outline to understand the diverse needs of different groups of customers. There are at least three different groups of customers: l l l

The end user (buyer, payer, user)4 Other parties (the public, neighbors, third parts)5 Internal customers (the next process).

From an end user’s (hereafter “customer”) point of view, a firm’s value to its customers may be seen as consisting of four components: the physical product, service, service environment and service delivery. The physical product is whatever the organization transfers to the customer that can be touched; it is tangible and physically real. Examples include television sets, cars and books. The service, on the other hand, can be planned and designed, but is not physical and tangible. For example, technical support, consultation and cleaning are services. The service environment is the physical backdrop of the service. For instance, the facilities of a restaurant, the show room of a car dealer and a soccer stadium are service environments. The service delivery is the way the company (organization) actually provides the service. Examples in this regard include the physical distance to the service, the possibility to use the service electronically (on-line) and how frequently it is possible to use the service (e.g. 24/7). Each of the components mentioned contributes to the overall company performance as perceived by customers in terms of quality, cost (price) and time. Juran’s user-based quality definition, “quality is fitness for use”, is probably the most established general definition of quality (Juran 1974). The quality of a physical product consists of different elements. Examples of such elements are performance, features, reliability, conformance, durability, serviceability, esthetics and perceived quality (Garvin 1988). In a similar way, one is able to list important quality aspects related to a service (e.g. friendliness and proficiency), the service environment (e.g. tidy and spacious) and the service delivery (e.g. conformance to specifications). Parasuraman et al. have measured quality as perceived by customers. They concluded that the following dimensions are valid indicators of customers’ overall evaluations of service quality (Parasuraman et al. 1990): (1) Tangibles, i.e. the appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel and written materials.

4

Consider for example medicaments. In many cases the physician is the buyer, society is the payer and the patient the user. The pharmaceutical industry has to focus its marketing efforts differently on diverse groups of customers, and of course according to market specific laws. 5 Consider for example a company providing its customers with nuclear plants. Such a company must also consider the opinion and satisfaction of the public, neighbors (other countries) and third parts.

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33

(2) Reliability, i.e. the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. (3) Responsiveness, i.e. the willingness to help customers and provide prompt service. (4) Assurance, i.e. knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence. (5) Empathy, i.e. caring and individualized attention given to customers. The cost (price) is rather straightforward. It is the amount of something valuable (cash, goods, work output, etc.) that customers must give to the company in order for an exchange (product or service) to take place. The customer bases the purchase decision not only on quality related issues, but also on what attributes the customer receives at an acceptable price. Although not optimally fitted for the intended use, the price factor may nevertheless make some product or service more attractive than other procurements. To make a proper analysis of the delivered value it is insufficient to rely exclusively on quality and price (cost). Hence, the consideration of the time factor is of importance. Time related concepts include the following parameters: l l l l

Time-to-market (need expressed ! ! product/service available) Delivery time (order received ! ! product/service delivered) Delivery certainty Total cycle time (need expressed ! ! payment received).

The value of a product or a service can be worthless, if the time aspect does not fulfill the requirements of the customers. This is especially true in technology intensive companies, where the life cycle of the products can be very short. Many project businesses face severe penalty terms if the company does not comply with time requirements. In many cases, the time expectations are met at the expense of the quality and costs. For example, one large telecom company passed systematically the offer material to the next phase when the deadline of the latter phase was due whether the material had been cultivated enough or not. The shortages were then corrected later on in the negotiation phase increasing substantially time, costs and dissatisfaction. In such a setting, there are no winners, but many losers. The fact that the four components and their underlying characteristics (quality, costs and time) are weighed differently increases the complexity of customer satisfaction. With this in mind, customers’ needs can be grouped into three categories, each of which has different strategic implications (Kano et al. 1986; Rust et al. 1994): l

l

Basic attributes are those assumed to be present in any service or product. For that reason, they may not always show up in customer discussions, even though they are essential. If customers do not get these, there will be extreme dissatisfaction. An example of this is a reliable, safe and easy to use product. Articulated attributes are those, which customers generally mention as desirable or decisive in their choice of a service or product. Poor performance on these attributes will lead to customer dissatisfaction and good performance will lead to

34

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2 High-Performance Process Improvement Concepts

satisfaction. An example of this is the auto repair shop that fixes the muffler on time and at the promised price. Exciting attributes are those, which would delight and surprise customers if they were present. Delivering these attributes is the key to building strong loyalty among customers, but they are also harder to identify. Customers do not expect them, so it requires a sense of innovativeness to realize them. Certain car features provide good examples. These features become in relatively fast way articulated attributes and later on basic attributes. Examples include the anti-lock braking system (ABS) and air bags in the 1980s’ (already basic attributes), electronic stability control in the 1990s (soon basic attribute) and currently, for instance, night vision and active cruise control.

An important lesson of the issues above is that customers, if asked, focus almost solely on communicating aspects related to the articulated attributes. Companies basing their improvement actions heavily on customer satisfaction surveys (measurements) may potentially fall in the trap of neglecting the improvement and proper management of the two other attributes. You may observe such an omission in cases where the company is running the processes at a pace not supported by the actual process capabilities, for example, when the growth is high or the processes are geared towards a strong growth mode in a short period of time. Examples regarding neglected basic attributes are the safety recalls in the automotive industry: a potentially dangerous floor mat,6 a faulty cruise control switch7 and a faulty brake light switch.8 Putting too much faith on customer satisfaction surveys may also cause the company to fall short of delivering high-class innovations for the delight of its customers. In such a case, the company has not put enough emphasis on creating and enhancing a culture, including high-performance processes, supporting the creation (design), marketing, sales, production, delivery and after sales of innovative offerings from the customers’ point of view. Companies with a strong technically oriented culture face an opposite problem by designing and producing outputs that neglect too much the basic and articulated attributes requiring thus another like-minded engineer to appreciate the exciting attributes of the output. Examples of such cases include cumbersome software applications and PDAs/ smartphones. The omission to deal with the basic and articulated attributes properly potentially spoils the positive effect of offering exciting attributes. A well-designed product or service should be based on basic and articulated attributes and have at least one exciting attribute. The gulf between satisfied

6

Toyota, 3.8 million cars recalled solely in the USA (September 2009). Source: http://www. businessweek.com. According to a Toyota press release (November, 2009), the recall is voluntary, as no defect exists in vehicles with properly installedfloor mats (source: http://pressroom.toyota. com/pr/tms/toyota/toyota-consumer-safety-advisory-102572.aspx). 7 Ford, altogether over 14 million vehicles recalled (1999–10/2009). Source: http://www.switchfires.com. 8 Volkswagen, 790,000 vehicles recalled solely in the USA (February 2007) expanding the recall for the same reason in 2006 (362,000 vehicles). Source: http://www.usatoday.com.

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customers and completely satisfied customers can swallow a business (Jones and Sasser 1995). Except in a few rare instances, complete customer satisfaction is the key to securing customer loyalty and generating superior long-term financial performance. Process improvement efforts should ultimately translate into profits. Fundamentally, there are only three ways of making more profits: lowering the costs, increasing the price, and selling more (increasing market shares and revenues). Very few companies are able to manage all these three issues properly without sacrificing (constantly) the satisfaction of one or more stakeholders along the way. For example, the hunt for more revenues may result in bad investments or bad acquisitions that do not increase the value adding capabilities of the company or value chain. Increasing the price without offering more articulated and exciting attributes may shoo away even the loyal customers. Lowering costs by saving on the wrong issues may affect employee satisfaction badly, leading to an abundance of negative effects, such as employee absence, bad attitudes and a bad atmosphere. This affects in the end also the satisfaction of other stakeholders. It is clear that proper process improvement is not an easy task these days, especially when the LPPI methods do not offer any substantial support to deal with the three ways of generating profits in a sustainable way. Without profits, there will eventually be no customer satisfaction at all, or any stakeholder satisfaction for that matter. That is the basic rule of business. Companies have to master both the process quality and the quality of the output. From the customers’ point of view, this means that companies must deliver to the customers a valuable product and/or service at a given time and at an acceptable price. This requires at a minimum that the R&D process (where applicable), the marketing process, the sales process, the order–delivery process (incl. invoicing) and the after sales process are competitive from a total perspective. Improving the manufacturing function represents usually only a fraction of the total improvement need in a company. The same logic used for categorizing customer needs may be applied in a total perspective providing thus the HPPI methods a suitable framework for managing the ambition levels9 regarding the improvement activities, the focus setting10 and the produced output.

2.2.2.2

Employee Satisfaction

To better understand the concept of employee satisfaction a review of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is helpful (Maslow 1954, see also: McGregor 1960). Maslow’s hierarchy of need consists of five levels of need: physical need, safety, social need or identity, appreciation and self-realization (Fig. 2.2):

9

Basic level (Level I), articulated level (Level II), exciting level (Level III). Company networks (value chains), companies, processes and individuals.

10

36

2 High-Performance Process Improvement Concepts Selfrealization Appreciation

Social Need Identity Safety Need Physical Need

Fig. 2.2 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs11

1. The physical need is the most important need of the individual. It includes rest, food, water and shelter. Although it is at the lowest level in the hierarchy, it becomes very important if it is not satisfied. 2. The safety need arises when physical well being is secured. Hence, the individual wants a safe place to live (neighborhood and country). The safety need includes also such things as fair terms of employment and a predictable income. 3. The social need includes the need for an identity, the need for acknowledgement and the need of being accepted. The satisfaction of the social need and higher levels of need do not have a significant impact unless the lower levels of need are satisfied. 4. The appreciation need has to do with self-esteem. The individual wishes to be able to appreciate and trust him- or herself and to be able to learn and achieve certain objectives. Compared with lower levels of need, the appreciation need (or ego) is more complex and harder to measure and satisfy. Furthermore, different people have a different appreciation need. 5. Self-realization concentrates on uncovering the potential skills of the individual. It relates to self-development, skill usage and creativeness. The need of a certain level emerges as the needs of the previous levels are sufficiently, but not necessarily fully, satisfied. The company should consider this principle when dealing with employee satisfaction. Employees’ physical needs are satisfied in terms of wages paid, which gives employees the possibility to buy goods and services. The safety need is satisfied by fair terms of employment and improved working conditions. The social need is satisfied in a company by belonging to a team or a group and by achieving a particular status within the team or group. Examples how to satisfy the appreciation need include positive feedback, opportunities to succeed, the satisfaction of having completed a task, and the possibility to

11

This picture was drawn by Harri Pakarinen. It is published with due permission of Vistalize Oy.

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37

function independently. A person may reach the level of self-realization, if the individual gets the opportunity to use all his or her skills at work.12 Individuals that are at this level of satisfaction strive to improve themselves on a continuous basis and believe that the work itself is satisfying. There are many approaches to alter, support or eliminate the way things are done in a company. Usually these approaches take the shape of step-by-step lists, which target the task of managing organizational change, decrease change resistance and increase motivation. To cover the design notes used regarding the subject of organizational change management would be too exhaustive for the purpose of this book. To make a long story short the used design notes may be summarized by the approach and thoughts presented by Schein. Schein suggests that the change process takes place in three steps (Schein 1987): 1. Creation of motivation and commitment to change. 2. Change through learning new ways of doing the work. 3. Putting theory into practice and getting measurable results. In the first phase, the emphasis is on creating awareness in the company that its performance could be better and something should be done to improve the situation. It is important that the employees and managers of the company feel psychologically safe. This means that it is important not to place blame on anyone without cause for not fulfilling the objectives and personal targets. Usually the inefficiencies are due to lack of knowledge and skills. Instead of finding a scapegoat, the focus should be on improving the culture, the processes and the supporting systems. In the second phase, new approaches of doing the work are learned. The managers and employees are encouraged to take advantage of new methods and new sources of information to facilitate the improvement efforts. In the last phase, the newly learned approaches should be put into practice. It is important that the employees or managers are able to use their recently acquired knowledge within a short period. Otherwise, the persons forget the knowledge, which results in minor or no results at all. Both higher and lower ranking employees should approve the new approach. Unless this is the case, the employees lack support and eventually return to the old way of doing the work. Ultimately, there should be measurable results from the efforts made. It is thus important that the companies monitor the success of their education and training efforts. Integrating the monitoring into the performance measurement system provides a way to manage this issue properly.

2.2.2.3

Owner Satisfaction

Improvement efforts have to translate into (more) profits. If companies cannot in the long run generate cash (rise of the company value and dividends) commensurate 12

The Merriam-Webster’s on-line dictionary (http://www.m-w.com) defines the term “skill” as “the ability to use one’s knowledge effectively and readily in execution or performance”.

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2 High-Performance Process Improvement Concepts

with the level of risk involved, owners and investors will lose interest in investing. Proper financial considerations related to efforts undertaken for product and process improvement are crucial keys to satisfying the owners. Establishing a sound balance between the price of the output and return-on-investment is crucial. This balance needs continuous maintenance like any ordinary machine. The price aspect of the product or service influences both customer and owner satisfaction. If the output is valuable to customers, it has a competitive price. From a profit perspective, the crucial issue is the difference between the total costs versus the price received and the volume of products or services sold. Process improvement initiatives may enhance all three issues in a sustainable way for the benefit of satisfying all stakeholders. Traditionally, the process improvement efforts focus only on production-oriented issues, and especially the issue of conforming to certain standards or specifications. This is the home turf of the LPPI methods that gain their momentum from statistical control. Relying on such an approach is, of course, too limited in today’s world where crucial processes such as the strategy process, the R&D process, marketing, sales, order–delivery (not merely manufacturing), and after sales, have to be improve in concert and with a perspective that goes far beyond statistical control. The company has to conduct this improvement work continuously and under strict performance requirements besides the improvement of the supplier and subcontractor network. It is easy to see that six sigma, lean and most of the other LPPI methods contribute only modestly to improving such a whole. These methods are not able to grasp to any significant extent the overall picture and assure the effectiveness of the improvement efforts from a total perspective. In fact, the manufacturing function is usually the one that requires least attention, but as you only have a toolbox, everything. . .you know what. The methods of HPPI harness the significant process improvement opportunities to capitalize on the true improvement potential related to the three profit issues above. Considering just a few examples of implications related to a poor performance provides insights into customers’ everyday decisions and behavior that sum up to a big cumulative negative effect related to owners’ satisfaction. There are many surveys conducted during the past decades focusing on company performance and customer satisfaction and behavior  and thus also owners’ satisfaction. For example, the United States Office of Consumer Affairs conducted already in 1986 a survey considering the implications of poor performance. It concluded that: l

l

l

l

Only one of four customers tells the company of deficits associated with products or services A satisfied customer tells five others about good performance, whereas an unsatisfied customer tells ten others about bad performance Ninety percent of unsatisfied customers will not buy again from the company, which provided unsatisfactory performance To get a new customer requires five times more resources than keeping an old one.

Keeping constantly the cost of quality and the loss of unrealized potential at a low level is the strategy that increases owner’s satisfaction best. The HPPI methods presented in this book provide a systematic and result-oriented way to assure that

2.2 Delivery of Value

39

the targeted value chains, companies, units and processes are both more attractive to the market and internally more effective and efficient. An increased market attraction increases the possibility to get new customers besides keeping the old customers and getting the customers to buy more. The LPPI methods can harness only a fraction of these different opportunities because of low improvement yield outputs. The PIY level communicates directly how well a single company harnesses these opportunities in reality. The TIY level communicates the same issue from a value chain or network perspective. With this in mind, it becomes clear that these two very crucial performance measurement criteria are missing from the executive dashboard. Establishing urgently such performance measurement criteria should be very high on the agenda of the board of directors and executive management teams. A 15% traction seems low, but if the others have a traction in the range of 0–5%, it is not that hard to understand why a certain car is moving while the others struggle to even move from the spot. As an owner, and company stakeholder in general for that matter, I would not tolerate this kind of play. Having a constant traction above 80% would make a great difference when taking part in any race. Discussing thoroughly pricing issues, price strategies and methods used to support these issues, goes clearly beyond the scope of this book. From a substance point of view, these considerations and outlines are part of the company strategy. The considerations are admittedly many times higher art. It is, however, purposeful to consider some interconnections to process improvement in this regard. One way of determining the price of a product or a service is to define the (total) costs needed to produce the specific output and add to that sum the particular company’s profit margin. This strategy pushes the product to the market. Ultimately, this is a “take-itor-leave-it-strategy” because the company has not priced the output according to how much the customers are willing to pay for it, or could pay. Using this strategy, this translates normally into an optimization between selling fewer products (services) at a higher price, or selling more products (services) at a lower price. In certain settings, the opposite logic may also be true, i.e. selling more products/ services at a higher price thanks to, for example, a premium status attracting more customers. A company may be tempted to dump its prices with the aim at cashing in once the competitors are out of the market. Selling at a loss, applying predatory pricing, or using cross subsidization price models, are in many countries prohibited by law as such actions are anti-competitive practices. Even if it would be a legal conduct, this affects negatively the market because such a company is robbing market shares aggressively without a sustainable basis. The result of such a conduct may be that the competitors have to respond to this strategy, which decreases the competitive advantage of the company that started the price war. Afterwards all companies will likely operate with lower margins, even negative ones, which will affect for instance the research and development budgets. The outcome of this exercise may be quite the opposite than the company initially expected. The policies described above do not result in any actual improvement efforts whatsoever. Those are passive approaches to owners’ satisfaction, which at best only results in short-term gains. An active approach advocates incremental and radical change of the way the company delivers value to its customers and its

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2 High-Performance Process Improvement Concepts

Fig. 2.3 The principle of improving the processes of the company (cost aspect) in a scenario where the company does not currently deliver an output at a competitive price

stakeholders, including the owners, at large. In such a setting, the company has to evaluate the competitive price by, for instance, asking its customers. The improvement potential is, generally speaking, the difference between the competitive price and the today’s price (Fig. 2.3). Improving the processes, instead of cutting the profit margin, is the way to reach the price objective. Additional benefits applying HPPI methods include lower total improvement costs as depicted in Fig. 2.3. This saving may be quite substantial over the years although this represents only one aspect when solving the HPPI equation. To reach a competitive price level, one of the key factors affecting customer satisfaction, and sustaining or increasing the profits, a key factor affecting strongly owner satisfaction, companies must look for opportunities to improve the performance of a selection of key processes such as R&D, marketing, sales, order–delivery and after sales. This approach is more difficult and requires more time to implement than, for instance, cutting the margins. On the other hand, it will result in a more competitive company in the end. It is seldom wrong to have high-performance processes operating in a sustainable way. In that sense, the improvement initiatives and related achievements live in a symbiotic relationship with the pricing strategies and options. After all, what to do with all the money should not be too big a problem for the board and the executives to figure out. I am sure the money will find a good home.

2.3

The Kernel of High-Performance Process Improvement

The kernel of high-performance process improvement includes two issues that are inseparable, imperative and continuous: l l

The theoretical backbone (outlined previously in Sect. 2.2) The performance requirements (outlined in this section).

2.3 The Kernel of High-Performance Process Improvement

41

From a process improvement perspective, this forms a set of exclusive requirements, which assures that the process improvement activities run under the umbrella of HPPI, are fit for the purpose.13 This means in practice that the quality, time and cost parameters related to the improvement activities have a quantifiable minimum level that the company or network needs to reach for the activity to be classified as a HPPI activity. Interesting enough, if you consider the specific pieces of requirements separately, you may conclude that there is nothing special about these requirements. Considered as a whole and with the appropriate reflection and understanding the conclusion is quite the opposite. Traditionally whatever piece of theory or theme is selected for whatever reactive reason and implemented in whatever way.14 In such a setting where anything goes it is impossible to define a sensible minimum performance level aiming at a systematic and result-oriented process improvement. Without a sensible requirement specification, it is impossible to conduct any sensible research and development work in this regard. The general performance requirements of HPPI can be summarized to cover three demands: 1. Approximately 40% of the staff needs to understand in practice the (a) process improvement philosophy, (b) approaches & (c) tools before large-scale improvement can be realized on a sustainable basis. 2. Every improvement activity needs to be customized, verified, prioritized and implemented optimally. 3. The improvement efforts should consume  4% of the total annual working time. No more than 10% of this time should be allocated to planning. The rest should be allocated to education, training and the implementation. The second point may potentially decrease the possibility to benefit from external cases, as profound background knowledge of the cases is required to see how the cases would contribute to the specific improvement object in real-life. The PDCA logic contains a good framework in this regard and boosts organizational learning and the improvement work in other parts of the organization. Usually, the failure, success or “how to do” cases presented in business journals and books contain only “nice to know” information, but no knowledge or perspective that could be applied to a specific case from a HPPI perspective. From a LPPI perspective, the cases may be very attractive, as the use of fragmented and ill-suited information is not a problem in such a setting. In fact, many improvement experts and their clients rely heavily on cases and some companies even try to use case based approaches as an improvement framework. Probably the best example is the use of lean 13

These improvement activities include: (1) data collection analysis and synthesis (network, company [unit] and process levels); (2) process improvement education and training; (3) the realization of the potential in practice (incl. follow-up). 14 Such initiatives are usually implemented as projects. They are furthermore seldom subject to any performance requirements more than a resource consideration (time [calendar, person-hours], money).

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management (lean production) cases. Mixing the lean philosophy and the related end-results to implement the lean concept is a never-ending story with little possibilities for the companies to really get the improvement momentum up. Toyota did not utilize such an approach for obvious reasons, nor should any company do. For consultants, educators and trainers this is probably the best way to earn money, as these parties can practically deliver the same things from year to year. The question “Then what?”, indicating that the improvement leverage gained via the lean initiatives have saturated and new approaches are needed to raise the ambition level further, will never be asked. If it would, there would be no proper answer how to improve operations beyond the lean concepts. The hoshin kanri method and the methods included in the nichijo kanri concept do not run into this problem, as they provide life after having implemented the lean concept fully. Not understanding the difference between applying end-results (incl. the effects of the end-results) and applying the methods that led to the end-results is like heating the air of a broken hot-air balloon. If the balloon suddenly would lift slowly, but anyway lift, you would not be able to steer it and gain enough height to overcome the nearby obstacles. In turbulent conditions, this is highly hazardous. The balloon should therefore be operated only in calm conditions where you might occasionally gain some height to see new perspectives before the balloon goes down again. In such a setting, it is understandable not to specify too detailed objectives or budgets, as it is hard to predict when you will reach your destination, if ever. It is worthwhile noticing that gaining new perspectives is not enough, as the distance from gaining a perspective to achieving large-scale, real-life results is long and bumpy. Fixing the balloon is hard, as there will be new holes besides a malfunctioning heater and expanding old holes. When you are fixing these problems, you are still not preparing for take-off, as the balloon is out of service due to maintenance and a possible upgrade of skills and equipment. Even in a perfect setting with no holes and a functioning heater, many challenges would remain, as a too heavy a load would hinder the balloon from lifting at all. In addition, the wind direction could be bad so that you would reach a destination that you did not desire. Maybe a change of transportation means would do the trick? After all, when it comes to process improvement many companies stick to the broken hot-air balloon, but they surely would not choose it as their preferred means of transportation in real-life, would they? This is one very interesting revelation that should be the main theme of any high-class process improvement conference. So far, the majority of the conferences have focused on discussing how to fix and improve the balloon as well as possible. Seriously speaking, how fun is that? If the applied methods meet the requirements presented in the three points above, then the output (i.e. the process improvement yield) of the (set of) methods can be measured and plotted as a function of time (cp. Fig. 1.2). Once the methods are at this ambition level, then it is purposeful to consider the performance curve of different methods to find the optimum combination of methods that would provide the optimal performance curve from a total perspective. The core solutions presented in Chaps. 4–6, complemented with the solutions presented in Chap. 7, provide for a high number of companies (by far) the best improvement output

2.4 The Process and Total Improvement Yield

43

and outcome, despite diverse process improvement settings, including IT system development projects. This conclusion is based on the R&D work conducted so far, including the conducted (scientific) verifications, and my own extensive practical experience. There are four performance criteria to consider in this regard: 1. 2. 3. 4.

The achievable and sustainable process improvement yield level. The ramp-up15 performance (time, total cost). The maintenance performance (time, total cost). Possibility to adapt/select the appropriate ambition levels regarding the improvement plans and the implementation.

This consideration assures that the interaction between theory and practice is bound to continuous improvement both in a relative and absolute sense. This means that from a method point of view there is neither any hidden roof nor any restriction regarding evolutionary or revolutionary improvement regarding the methods, the output and the outcome. This makes the methods by nature very durable against the ravages of time. Applying the same methods year after year provides additional benefits, as many of the initial hardships and efforts do not replicate later on. Such hardships and efforts include, for example, initial change resistance, management and key person buy-in, cultivation of the culture to an acceptable level, and process improvement education and training. The initial ramp-up phase is the hardest phase due to the organizational inertia. Once the momentum is there, things proceed smoothly.

2.4

The Process and Total Improvement Yield

The improvement yield concepts consist of the process improvement yield and the total improvement yield. The first is applicable at the process level whereas the latter is an extension of the former, as it broadens the concept to cover also the company and company network level, or depending on the case and the setting, unit and unit network level. The improvement yield is simply speaking the improvement effectiveness times the improvement efficiency specified in the following way16: l

l

15

Process improvement yield (%; PIY) = the quality (%) * the coverage of the process improvement plans (%) * quality (%) * the coverage (%) of the implementation Total improvement yield (%; TIY) = the quality (%) * coverage (%) of the plans for improving company networks * PIY.

The time in which a certain process improvement yield level is reached. The terms “coverage” and “scope” are used interchangeably in this book (as synonyms) when referring to the improvement yield calculation or formula.

16

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2 High-Performance Process Improvement Concepts

The sections below consider each of these concepts in turn. Do not worry if you think that these concepts and formulas seem at a glance cumbersome. In fact, they are logical and very down-to-earth. Subsequent chapters deal with these issues in more detail and from a practical view.

2.4.1

The Process Improvement Yield Concept

Based on the theoretical backbone discussed in Sect. 2.2 and the requirements specified in Sect. 2.3 it is possible to define the yardstick of a high-class process improvement plan. A 100% quality score contains the following issues: Stakeholder analysis (customers, personnel, owners) Analysis of capabilities (strategic and operative, quantitative and qualitative consideration of change resistance) Process modeling and process analysis in terms of time, quality and costs Identification of the most crucial improvement objects (problems), prioritizing, preliminary solutions (people, technology, information and material), consideration of ongoing and forthcoming efforts/projects Commitment and motivation of key persons, deployment of actions and performance measures Synthesis, the financial net effects on the bottom line and strategic weights, preliminary implementation schedule.

l l

l l

l

l

Besides these issues, the following three aspects are imperative when creating a high-class process improvement plan: The collection of data, the cultivation of data into information (analysis) and the cultivation of information into knowledge (synthesis) The quality criteria (correctness, time/timing, amount, place, format) related to information processes (cp. Sect. 2.2.1) The performance requirements related to HPPI.

l

l

l

How well any given process improvement plan deals with the contents can be defined by giving relative weights to the specified substance issues17 and by evaluating how well these issues have been considered according to the selected ambition level (0–100%). This score will be a percentage number (e.g. 15 points out of 50 or 30%). If the method used to create the process improvement plan is known, then the expected quality level of the output (the process improvement plan) can be defined with a reasonable good accuracy before the plan has even been created. The quality level of a process improvement plan produced according to the HPPI criteria

17

50 points are shared according to importance and relevance.

2.4 The Process and Total Improvement Yield

45

will not increase to any higher degree even if the available time would be doubled, tripled or even infinite. The output quality level is based primarily on the logic and construction operating under the specified constraints and secondarily on the knowledge and skills attributed to the expert in charge running this phase of the HPPI process (Phase 2). From a R&D perspective, this has meant that the R&D work could not be expanded to cover the implementation phase before this process analysis and synthesis method had been created and verified and the related output quality known. Quite on the contrary, there might even be an increased risk of getting lower quality improvement plans by increasing the available time, as this would potentially bias and distract thinking both when designing the construction and applying it. In addition, the scope needs to be considered as part of process improvement effectiveness, i.e. how many processes are covered/should be covered by a process improvement plan? If two processes out of five are covered with a quality of 30% (=15 points of 50 possible), then the result is 12% (0.4*30%) for the issue relating to the improvement effectiveness. How well the actual improvement work complies with the PDCA logic18 defines the quality of the implementation. The PDCA logic is spilt into smaller subphases that are evaluated how well they have been executed. At the lowest ambition level a score of 0 (poorly), 1 (satisfactory) or 2 (well) for each subphase is enough. The total score amounts to 200 points and a score of at least 170 points means that the person masters the basics of the PDCA logic and that the cycle has been finalized at least reasonably well. The coverage deals with how many persons master the PDCA cycle in a true sense. If, for example, the skill level is 70% (140 points out of 200 using the basic PDCA Quality Measurement Criteria) and the actual scope is 15% (e.g. 15 people out of 100) then the result is 10.5% (0.7*15%).19 The process improvement yield of the example above is thus 1.26% (0.12*0,105*100%). Section 4.3.4 (Table 4.1) presents another example in more detail. Chapter 6 presents due to the structure of the book the PDCA quality measurement logic at the most detailed level when considering in Sect. 6.3 (Fig. 6.18) the issue of following-up the improvement efforts and measuring the true improvement output.

18

Walter Shewhart developed originally the PDCA cycle, but Edward Deming popularized it. Hence, it is often also called the Deming cycle. The PDCA cycle is divided into four phases. The first phase is the Plan (P) phase. Important aspects concerning this phase are definition of the problem(s) and hypothesizing about possible causes and solution. The hypothesis is tested and the solution of the problem implemented in the Do (D) phase. The possible results of the test are observed and evaluated in the next phase, which is called the Check (C) phase. If the results are unsatisfactory, there will be a feedback loop going back to the Plan or Do phase to find the cause of the unsatisfactory results. When an acceptable solution is found, it is standardized and established in the Action (A) phase. The phase ends in a review of the whole procedure and suggestions about the next steps. 19 This score provides a good picture of the improvement culture in general. Often the companies are in a mode described as ”I believe that I know” leading to a false feeling of comfort.

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2.4.2

The Total Improvement Yield Concept

How to define the quality of the plans for improving company networks differs from the logic of defining the quality of the process improvement plan. The networks consist of a set of dependent and independent companies that together form the value chain. This means that the most interesting issue is the question of how competitive the specific units or companies are from the specific network perspective. Furthermore, the competitive state is interesting from two perspectives: the current and likely future competitive state. This makes it possible to define the main issues to focus on for each company (unit) in terms of the required data collection, analysis and synthesis: l

l

Past and current operational competitive state: the track record and current performance regarding time, quality and costs Future competitive state: the process improvement yield (or total improvement yield) and supporting issues (management, level of co-operation, technology, competence, innovativeness).

Based on these issues it is possible to create an operational cause-and-effect chain that will indicate the competitive state of both a single unit or company and the whole network. How well the contents are dealt with can be defined by giving relative weights to the specified contents issues and then by evaluating how well these issues have been considered according to the selected ambition level (0–100%). The criteria how to do this is based on a network vision that is made explicit. Based on this data collection and analysis the data and information are cultivated into knowledge. The synthesis that takes the shape of an improvement plan has to comply with the general requirements of high-performance process improvement, i.e. contents and the performance. It should be noted that the score (0–1,000 points) related to the competitive state is not the one that is utilized when defining the quality of the company and network level improvement plan. The quality is defined based on the improvement plan (i.e. the synthesis) and how well the plan at the network level complies with the required substance. If the method applied has been designed according to the criteria of high-performance process improvement, the quality level of the plan is 100% provided the method has been applied properly. If some other method is used or the plan is made “ad hoc” then the quality level is between 0 and 100%. Chapter 4 considers how to do this more thoroughly. The coverage, expressed in percent, considers the relative amount of companies (units) that have a network improvement plan in place. For instance, a network consists of ten key suppliers; three suppliers do not have any plan at all, one supplier has a plan with a quality level of 30%, two suppliers have a plan with a quality level of 60%, three suppliers have a plan with a quality level of 85% and one supplier has a quality level of 95%. The corresponding score for the network is thus 50%.20 20

(3*0%+1*30%+2*60%+3*85%+1*95%)/10. Seven suppliers (coverage 70%) have some kind of improvement plan in place.

2.5 Summary and Concluding Remarks

47

If the average process improvement yield for all these suppliers is 2%, then the total improvement yield is 1.0% for the network. Such a performance level is much better21 than the average score in the electronics industry that operate at about a 0.5% TIY level.22 In fact, not many networks or value chains operate at a higher level than a few percentage points.

2.5

Summary and Concluding Remarks

This chapter has introduced the basic concepts related to high-performance process improvement. The presented concepts are applicable in all industries despite the current performance level. The proper interpretation and application of the concepts provide also the substance backbone to manage the ambition levels from the customers’, employees’ and owner’s perspective. In the end, the improvement of the interaction between the four process components23 provides the means to satisfy these stakeholder needs in a sustainable way. This improved interaction improves directly the process performance in terms of time, quality and costs. The vast number of dynamic issues that the company needs to consider at the same time, and from different perspectives, results in an evident need for a high-class construction to deal with these issues properly. The concepts are also applicable, with some modifications, in the public sector although this book focuses on HPPI from a company (corporation) perspective. From a company perspective, the most important issue is to achieve and sustain a high process improvement yield level. In many companies, it is also important to contribute to the improvement of the value chain. The total improvement yield will provide a solid guidance in such a case. We all deserve to enjoy high-performance processes throughout our lives. In the end, someone always pays for low-performance processes both in a physical and mental sense. Unfortunately, that someone is you and I. The beating is taken not once but multiple times, as you might be a customer, employee and a stockholder of a company  not to mention the bad impact of low-performance processes on society and the environment realized through higher taxes, inadequate service levels, unnecessary pollution and use of energy. From a total perspective, this amounts to an incredible large improvement potential throughout the world. This potential needs to be realized bit by bit by applying evolving high-performance process improvement approaches. We need to get serious and improve considerably the traction of all improvement wheels instead of spinning around. Achieving and sustaining a high-performance mode is very hard if applying lowperformance process improvement methods. Applying LPPI methods works as long 21

Actually, 100% better. A network study conducted by Vistalize Oy. The network included 30 subcontractor companies located in Europe. 23 People, technology, information and materials. 22

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as the competitors also utilize LPPI methods although this mode requires plenty of resources. This creates a window of opportunity that is reasonably long thanks to comparably long penetration times associated with new process improvement methods. Hypothetically speaking, even if all the competitors would run the HPPI methods at the same ambition levels, then there would still be an upside of the HPPI methods compared to the LPPI methods, despite a vanishing direct competitive advantage of applying HPPI methods. The level of required resources targeting process improvement efforts would be considerably less besides the potentials realized along the way. In that sense, everybody wins. Catching-up with a company operating at a very high total improvement yield level is hard, especially if the company has succeeded to run the improvement efforts on a higher ambition level than the basic level. Such a situation fosters future R&D work of the HPPI methods and solutions, as the theory and practice need to be reviewed thoroughly to see if there would be any possibilities to upgrade the total HPPI concept to the next ambition level. From an R&D point of view, I am already looking forward to this situation although this will not happen tomorrow. How to apply the concepts and methods of HPPI properly in any business is a good question that deserves a good answer. Luckily, the preparation of the answer will start on the next page and the question will be fully answered by the end of the last chapter.

Chapter 3

Design Concepts of the High-Performance Process Improvement Process

Based on the previous chapter it is possible to lay down the general outlines for the generic HPPI process (the construction) besides those guidelines discussed already in Sect. 1.7.1 These additional outlines cover the following cornerstones: l

l

l

l

The maximum output is an 100% process improvement yield and an 100% total improvement yield despite the business and current performance level of the targeted value chain The real-life process improvement yield and total improvement yield can be defined at any given point of time allowing a company, for example, to define, improve and sustain the yield levels according to the potential and current ambition levels of the processes and the produced output (product and/or services) The output is produced according to the specified performance requirements (recall Sects. 1.8 and 2.3) The outcome is an improvement of the focus process(es) in terms of time, quality and costs that increases the overall competitive state of the target company and network.

These requirements boil down to creating a construction that: l

l

l

Manages the optimization of the four process components, i.e. people, technology (e.g. methods, software), information/knowledge and material needed in high-performance process improvement Improves or creates missing or malfunctioning process components needed in high-performance process improvement Provides follow-up information about the current and likely forthcoming improvement yield levels.

It is beneficial to consider these aspects in turn via three design concepts: l

Standardization and manageability

1

Figure 1.1 (Sect. 1.5) presents the flow chart of the total HPPI process.

M. Pastinen, High-Performance Process Improvement, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-10784-9_3, # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010

49

50 l l

3 Design Concepts of the High-Performance Process

Optimizing the interaction of the process components Applying the concept of reverse engineering.

The issue of standardization and manageability provides the general means for designing a generic process that meets the specified requirements despite unique company specific settings (Sect. 3.1). The issue of optimizing the interaction of the process components, i.e. people, technology, information and material, provides the general means for managing and improving the process performance in terms of time, quality and costs (Sect. 3.2). The concept of reverse engineering provides a suitable means for designing a logic that produces the requested output according to certain expressed performance requirements (Sect. 3.3). Section 3.4 presents the total HPPI picture. Section 3.5 considers how to assure the quality of the experts in charge of the HPPI Process. The chapter ends with a summary and concluding remarks (Sect. 3.6).

3.1

Standardization and Manageability

The generic HPPI process has to be operational despite of company specific circumstances and requirements. This calls for a robust logic that allows a mass customization of the improvement activities regardless of the focus company’s performance level, branch or size. This requirement is very different from an “one size fits all” logic. A logic based on averages and best practices is not fit for the job under the requirements of HPPI. This would be like calculating the average shoe size of a soccer team and order only one size for the whole team. Although the ordering is easy and the discount for buying such a batch may be attractive, the likely outcome is that the shoes would not fit anyone properly. If there would be a fit, it would only be thanks to pure luck. HPPI is not about luck or copying best practices and trying to fit bricks in holes, which do not match. The remedy cannot be to break the pieces to make them fit the puzzle, as the picture will look awkward once the work is finished. The essence of HPPI is to increase substantially the probability of great success in a systematic and result-oriented way, and to achieve this rapidly and cost-effectively. A robust logic is in this connection such a theory that produces in practice a unique and useful output based on the specific case. Without such a prerequisite, it is hard to construct an approach that would be independent from the performance level of the company and branch and that would not cause unnecessary change resistance. From a manageability point of view, this means that the specific components used in the construction have to be standardized.2 The different types of components result in different organizational implications as described in Fig. 3.1.

2

A “component” is here equal to a concept, logic or theory used to produce some specific output.

3.2 Optimizing the Interaction of the Process Components

51

Fig. 3.1 The impact of standardized components on the manageability of a construction for process improvement and the impact of customized outputs on the level of change resistance (Pastinen 1998)

The assumed logic is that as the degree of standardized components increases, the manageability of the construction increases. Likewise, it is assumed that as the level of customization increases, the change resistance will decrease. This assumption does not suggest that if the output is fully customized, then there will not be any change resistance at all. This is because the level of change resistance is due to many different factors. Customizing the output to fit the purposes of the specific company is only one way of decreasing the change resistance besides a certain level of change resistance included in almost any improvement effort. Other issues include, for instance, the quality of the substance and the way the substance is created, presented and utilized.

3.2

Optimizing the Interaction of the Process Components

The detailed design notes how to optimize the interaction of the four process components3 related to the generic HPPI process is a very complex question the answer of which is clearly out of the scope of this book. Therefore, it is sufficient and fruitful to consider some of the applied concepts to form a rough picture about

3

People, technology, information and material.

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3 Design Concepts of the High-Performance Process

the underlying fundamentals. Subsequent chapters present the end-result of the development in detail. The material component will not be considered below, as this issue is better covered in the information component (i.e. information based material). Optimizing the interaction of the process components related to the generic HPPI process improves the time, quality and costs parameters of the improvement work. This increased performance makes it possible to optimize the interaction of the process components of the focus process that in turn improves the time, quality and cost parameters of the focus process. Running the improvement activities permanently according to the requirements of HPPI generates the best impact towards creating and maintaining a high-performance business.

3.2.1

People

There are groups of people that have different roles and tasks when running the generic HPPI process. To run the process there has to be at least one person mastering the logic. This person may be either an internal or an external expert/ consultant. Depending on the culture and current ambition level of the company, there might also be a need for a change agent to co-ordinate and break ground for forthcoming improvement activities. The other required people are attached to the process on a need basis. These persons are the ones that are managing the focus process (the management) and the persons working in the focus process (the employees). As there is no massive organization needed to run the generic HPPI process, it is easy to integrate it into the corporate process chart. Another advantage from such a mode of operation is that the HPPI process is instantly operational. Due to this set-up, it is crucial how the expert in charge of mastering the HPPI process, or a part of it, acts and deals with the people attached to said process. This general logic is guided by three different approaches or models to consultation as presented by Schein (Schein 1987): l l l

The expert model The doctor–patient model The process consultation model.

The consultation approach is the logic used by the expert or consultant to intervene in the company. As a result, different substance knowledge is required depending on the nature of the problem (“do not know what to do” vs. “do not know how to do”) although the same consultation approach may be used. In the expert model, the customer buys the expertise needed to solve a certain problem. The task of the expert or consultant is to solve the problem, so that the customer (internal or external client) can focus on other issues in the meanwhile. The prerequisite of using the expert model is that the client has defined his or her problem correctly. Besides, the customer needs to know where to get the help wanted and what kind of help is needed. This mode is applied only for learning to

3.2 Optimizing the Interaction of the Process Components

53

run the HPPI process, not when interacting in the focus company or focus process. These are two different issues despite they are inseparably applied at the same time. The doctor–patient model gives the expert or consultant more freedom to carry out the diagnosis and decide what knowledge is needed and who would solve the problem best. The consultant is asked to inquire what the problem is and to suggest how to solve it. The process consultation model does not provide the customer with a ready solution. It provides the customer with the means necessary to come up with a solution. The role of the expert or consultant is to support the customer in his or her struggle to find a workable solution. The consultant is thus more of a coordinator than a “wizard”. In such a case, the customer has to do the main brainwork. The knowledge about how to basically analyze and solve problems stays with the customer, which is crucial when thinking about the “learning organization”. However, it is often beneficial to rely on the consultant to perform more demanding analyses and syntheses, as the ambition levels evolve. This is especially true regarding process analysis and synthesis, i.e. Phase 2 of the HPPI process, although the network and company (unit) analyses and syntheses also require some mental efforts to proceed smoothly. In terms of change resistance, the customer is more committed to the solution, if he or she has closely participated in the improvement process. This mode is the primary approach when interacting in the focus company or focus process. The logic of the doctor–patient model or the expert model provides occasional support to that main approach. The generic HPPI process deals with two issues, as there are two key processes to consider at the same time. These processes are the HPPI process itself and the focus process, or the focus company (unit) if running Phase 1 of the HPPI process. What consultation approach to use depends on the case and it changes due to changed ambition and knowledge levels. The default setting is that the generic HPPI process is run using the expert model and the intervention in the focus process is managed using the process consultation model (Fig. 3.2). Depending on upcoming issues in the focus process, the consultation model may be altered straight off.

Fig. 3.2 Schein’s three approaches to consultation and the general logic for selecting the appropriate consultation approach (Pastinen 1998)

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3 Design Concepts of the High-Performance Process

If the HPPI process is transferred to the company so that the company itself would be able to master the process, then the selected consultation approach is initially the expert model. After this, the applied approach alters to the doctor– patient model and eventually to the process consultation model (“teaching the teacher”) according to who is in charge of mastering the process (the external expert or the internal expert). Besides the two “what” and “how” dimensions depicted in Fig. 3.2, it is advantageous to consider two other dimensions when improving the focus process (Fig. 3.3). The first is the consideration of human aspects, which translates into “wants to do”. The human aspects are crucial for the success of the improvement efforts. Without the desire to change, there is not much to be done to improve the operational strength of the organization, except for efforts to increase the desire. A high-class process improvement plan provides as such a support to increase the desire. The other dimension depicted in Fig. 3.3 is the consideration of sufficient funding, which translates into “can afford to do”. This dimension has an interesting consequence. Without the consideration of that dimension, the improvement efforts would be a rather trivial task to conduct.4 For example, if the consultant masters process improvement related techniques and approaches he or she only needs to ask an employee or a manager “What’s the problem?” If the change resistance is at an

Fig. 3.3 The success of the improvement efforts depends also on human and financial constraints (Pastinen 1998)

4

One should under no circumstances underestimate the necessity of addressing the “knows what to do”, “knows how to do” and “wants to do” aspects, but to illustrate that it is not sufficient to master just these three dimensions let us assume that these three dimensions are taken care of.

3.2 Optimizing the Interaction of the Process Components

55

acceptable level, it is a rather straightforward task to put things in order once the problem is stated. Unfortunately, life is not that easy. The challenging part is the proper use of resources. If you have only 100 units of money, 100 units of “smartness” at the current ambition level, 100 units of time and 100 different problems, where should you deploy the money to make the most use? To succeed in the improvement effort all four dimensions (“what to do”, “how to do”, “wants to do”, and “can afford to do”) should be revised to find the optimal interaction between different process components and the best outcome. The consultant in charge of running the HPPI process should use a logic that revises these four dimensions when interacting in the company regardless of the consultation approach used. This is especially important in the initial phases of the improvement efforts because it is better to do things right firstly than correct problems afterwards.

3.2.2

Technology

The application of technology increases the performance of the generic HPPI process. Technology and machines are in a sense extensions of the human brain and muscles respectively. As the HPPI process as such only deals with data, information and knowledge, the focus is on technology that extends the human brain and thus provides leverage in terms of running the process according to the requirements. Basic (commodity) technologies used in process improvement work are not of interest in this case.5 The focus is on a technological support (software) that would: l

l

Help to assure that the expert in charge of mastering the HPPI process is able to run said process according to the requirements Help to assure that the persons of the focus process are able to take part in running the HPPI process according to the requirements, especially the implementation phase (Phase 3 of the HPPI process).

In essence, the question is about how to update the brainware so that the HPPI process runs as smoothly as possible. The challenge is, consequently, how to transfer and manage knowledge as opposite to traditional transfer and management of data and information. The increase of process improvement knowledge has been conducted by traditional education and training efforts that follow a predefined, usually chronologically organized path that, at least on the surface, may be interactive. The performance requirements related to high-performance process improvement make these approaches potentially obsolete. The knowledge level that has to be reached and sustained is one concern, and the available time to reach 5

E.g. communication solutions (telepresence, video conference, e-mail, phone), office applications (text editor, spread sheet application, slide editors, etc.), performance measurement systems, ERP systems, process modeling applications.

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3 Design Concepts of the High-Performance Process

that level is another. The question of sustaining the knowledge level is essential, as people tend to forget, way too fast, what they have learned. If the “forgetting pace” is higher than the “preserving pace” then the “learning pace” suffers, as old issues have to be repeatedly relearned. This affects in turn negatively the possibility to move on from the basic improvement ambition level in real-life. Traditional education and training efforts are potentially subject to both effectiveness and efficiency concerns. Such efforts cannot be applied to any higher degree when running HPPI efforts according to the specifications and requirements. This deficit becomes more evident as the size of the improvement effort grows. From a pure substance point of view, it does not make sense to put resources on approaches with a low process improvement yield output. In such a case, it does not help much to utilize technology to enhance the education and training efforts.

3.2.3

Information

The information related aspects considered so far include the information quality criteria, information process types, their competitive relevance, and the general cultivation logic of data and information into knowledge. Mastering the information processes of the HPPI process requires a proper understanding of these requirements. Due to this dynamic set of requirements and the risk for misunderstandings, it is not possible to gather hardly any of the required data and information by traditional predetermined questionnaires. To tackle this dilemma a logic that rules out irrelevant questions and not needed data should be applied so that only relevant and correct data is collected and relevant questions are asked and answered.6 Such a logic will not only increase the information quality and cut time, but will also increase motivation of the persons providing the data and information. The analysis phases does not benefit from collecting irrelevant and incorrect data, as this may even divert the focus from relevant data. In any case, this waste should be prevented from arising in the first place.

3.3

Applying the Concept of Reverse Engineering

The concept of reverse engineering is helpful when defining the rough process flow of the HPPI process. This means in this context that the output and performance requirements of said process should first be clearly understood and defined. After 6

Process audits and maturity tests (enterprise and/or process level) contain usually many questions the majority of which are not relevant for the specific case. The data collection and analysis should always be seen in the perspective of a useful and implementable synthesis. If this link is missing then the end-result is at best only “nice to know”. Implementing such an analysis and likely biased synthesis is not advisable.

3.3 Applying the Concept of Reverse Engineering

57

this, the question of how to meet or exceed these requirements and specifications is put in the development focus. This is by no means a novel design concept although such an approach has seldom been applied when designing process improvement methods. As the development work may last a long time, it is necessary not only to get information regarding how much time is available in real-life, for example, for creating a process improvement plan. It is also important to consider possible future performance demands once the solutions have been finalized. Surveys will in this regard only communicate articulated needs, not exciting needs. For instance, in the case of defining a process improvement plan the field study conducted in 1994 showed that this may take no more than 2 days of the key persons’ time. As the specific solution to produce the improvement plan would be ready much later, I reckoned that the time limit had to be 1 day per attending person. Such a performance reserve should by enough to cope with the ravages of time. As a rule of thumb, the improvement work should not in the long term exceed 4% of the annual working time (8–10 days per person). This figure is applicable on both the company and individual level. At most 10% of that time should be allocated to assuring that the improvement work is effective whereas 90% should be allocated to assuring that the improvement work is efficient. Five to about twenty carefully selected persons would provide the adequate knowledge base to conduct the required data collection and analysis for any given focus process. This amount of people would also usually be sufficient from an initial change management perspective. For example, if the man power of a process is 400 persons then the available resources for process improvement would be sixteen man years annually (220 working days/year; about 9 days/person). If the creation of a process improvement plan takes one working day for each of the twenty persons7 then this corresponds to 20 days that is about 0.6% of 16 man years. This figure is much lower than 10% and would leave 99.4% of the time left for the implementation. It is crucial to observe that the twenty persons will at an individual level also comply with the 4% rule, as they will have 8 days left for the implementation (the 380 other persons have a full 9 day resource pool left). The corresponding number in a process with twenty persons would allow eighteen persons to attend the data collection and analysis phase although five to eight persons would likely be enough. Applying the dynamics of HPPI to processes with a low complexity level and a conservative improvement potential may show that the needed resource allocation is not 4% of the working time, but in the range of 1 and 2% of the working time. This is because the improvement activities can be conducted at a lower process improvement yield level that still results in a reasonable and sufficient outcome. This optimization is made by lowering the requirements and specifications related to the coverage (scope) parameters, not the quality parameters related to the process improvement yield formula. The selection of the ambition level of the plans and the implementation is a different concept not related to this issue of customizing the utilization of resources by lowering the coverage level.

7

Theoretically, about 350 persons could be attached to the creation of the plan.

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3 Design Concepts of the High-Performance Process

The results of the initial survey made in 1994 to gain an understanding of the problems companies face when improving operations revealed one crucial issue that has to be taken into consideration when designing the generic HPPI process. This is the issue of increasing the performance of the expert or consultant in charge of mastering said process. Consider below my observations made in the early years (Pastinen 1998). Fifteen in-depth interviews were conducted in the fall 1994 to gain a deeper understanding of the problems related to improvement programs of Finnish smalland medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Seven of the companies were in the service sector and eight in the manufacturing sector. The size of the companies in terms of employees ranged from about five to sixty employees. The corresponding revenues ranged from approximately 0.5 MEUR to 5 MEUR. The companies’ domiciles were in the area of Tampere, Helsinki, Turku, Kuopio and Vaasa. Principally the interviewees were managers or directors and approximately half of the companies in both sectors had a quality assurance system in place. The survey provided the following guidelines: l

l

l

l

l

The experience of consultants is diverse and mostly negative. For example: the initiation of consultants lasts too long; the skills of consultants vary considerably; consultants are able to point to problems, but they are not able to solve them; and the experts are not necessarily able to adequately grasp companies’ general state of affairs. The major problem confronting companies in general, and various employees more specifically, is haste. The three most important training foci are the motivation and commitment of employees, general knowledge relating to quality issues and customer orientation and satisfaction. The main causes of dissatisfaction among company employees are attributed to not doing things right the first time, slow information flow (communication barriers) and poor organization of work. Bureaucracy and reworking consume most of the non-value adding time.

These observations provided me with additional guidelines to focus the research problem. According to my emerging hypothesis, there was a barrier between the consultant and the client company. This barrier was formalized according to the following points: l l l l

The initiation period of consultants lasts too long. Consultants’ skills vary considerably. Consultants are able to point to problems, but they are not able to solve them. Experts are not necessarily able to depict the overall view of the company. As a consequence, the improvement efforts may target irrelevant issues (suboptimization).

These aspects, among others discussed earlier, led me to conclude that a gap existed in the interaction between the consultant and the client company. The gap seemed to be related to the initial intervention in the company. An analogy may serve as

3.3 Applying the Concept of Reverse Engineering

59

clarification: consultants and client companies require a “communication interface” for effective communication in much the same way as one is required between humans and computers. In sum, I maintain that a “consultant–client company interface” should be a target of improvement and may serve as one means of eliminating the obstacles described above. To function properly the “interface” must consist of two components: 1. A component that makes an analysis of the existing processes in the company. 2. A component that provides clues as to how to improve the object of improvement. Without the first component, it is impossible to know what to improve. To get the best leverage the resources should be deployed where they make most use from a business perspective. Without the second, it is impossible to know how to remove the problem. Therefore, a dilemma ensues: there cannot be a universal solution fitting every need and every company. Hence, every solution has to be more or less customized. This is due to a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to: cultural aspects, the nature of the problems, the maturity level of the company, the type of business and the competitive context. The logic should therefore also consider this dilemma. In addition, I recognized that the analysis needed to be quantified and communicated physically in terms of an improvement plan. This is because having a mental view (in the head of the consultant) about what should be improved will not foster consensus in the client company. If the performance of the improvement experts or consultants cannot be assured, and if needed increased, it is hard to reach the requirement of at least 40% of the staff mastering the process improvement substance in real-life. The missing teachers would inevitably affect the implementation phase, as the required momentum would not be reached. Self-tuition may be plausible for a limited number of people, but the roll-out and continuous implementation of HPPI concepts cannot rely on such assumptions. To tackle the problems discussed above the HPPI process has to contain a process for educating and training the expert supposed to master the HPPI process. Such a setting would provide the optimal momentum to run and boost the improvement activities in any setting, as there would be, if needed, a built-in logic for producing skilled consultants or experts suitable for mastering said process. Based on the considerations above it is possible to outline the flowchart of the HPPI process (recall Fig. 1.1). It has to contain three main phases – two for assuring the improvement effectiveness, i.e. the network/company/unit level (Phase 1) and process level (Phase 2) and one for assuring the improvement productivity and the quality of the implementation (Phase 3). The annual time consumption of the phases should be on an individual level the following: l l l

Phase 1: approximately 1 day of effective working time. Phase 2: approximately 1 day of effective working time. Phase 3: 5–10 days of effective working time.

The lead time for the two first phases should be as short as possible because these phases do not actually improve anything, as these are planning phases. The sooner

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the implementation phase is begun the sooner results will show. It should be noted that the implementation phase contains also the education and training phases if the implementation knowledge base is on an inadequate level with respect to the requirements. The lead time of these subphases should also be kept short, as these phases are not actually improving the performance of the process although enhanced attitudes, culture, knowledge, skills and motivation may already improve the performance to some extent. The phases should detect the current performance level of the improvement activity in advance and if shortages are detected then the specific phase should fix the problems properly so that the specified output, i.e. the process improvement yield and total improvement yield, can be produced according to the specifications. These requirements are met by utilizing the criteria for defining the yield levels and applying the criteria on the existing documentation and by producing an output, the documentation of which is on an adequate level. It is most convenient to measure the quality of the produced output of the HPPI process by targeting four different measurement points: 1. The quality of the network improvement plan (at the end of Phase 1, see Fig. 1.1 for the flow chart). 2. The quality of the process improvement plan (at the end of Phase 2). 3. The quality of the process improvement education and training (in Phase 3). 4. The quality of the implementation, i.e. compliance to the PDCA logic (during the PDCA work, but no later than at the end of Phase 3). The concept of process improvement yield does not cover Issue 3 as such. However, the objective of the education and training is to assure that the quality of the implementation is in line with the process improvement ambition level. By utilizing the same criteria used when measuring the quality of the implementation it is possible to measure the quality of the training. Instead of a real-life setting, the test setting would provide some kind of simulation suitable for testing a person’s skills of implementing the PDCA logic at the specified ambition level. Such a test would be more important than testing the quality of the education, as the practical skills to run the PDCA logic would be the only significant aspect, as this issue is part of the process improvement yield concept. This is not to say that the quality of the education is unimportant, quite the contrary. Without adequate education, it is not possible to create the knowledge basis and scale up the ambition levels of the improvement process, the focus process and related outputs and outcomes in subsequent years. The difference is that the quality of the training has to be quantified for each individual by an expert whereas the education quality test can often be done using self-tests or tests based on conversation and reasoning without defining a quantified output. Measuring the implementation quality will also reflect the quality level of the education especially if the specified ambition level is higher than the basic level. Such a logic assures that the implementation quality required to run the improvement efforts for the next 12 months will at least be on the minimum level.

3.4 The Total Picture

3.4

61

The Total Picture

To run the HPPI process in compliance with the performance requirements two issues need to be known and understood: l

l

The quality of the substance the methods are transferring, cultivating or utilizing (the T Value) The practical ability of a method to realize the generic HPPI process or a phase of said process (the V Value).

How well these aspects play together in real-life, when also the scope of application is considered, is defined by the “watchdogs”, i.e. the improvement yield concepts. The most important improvement yield concepts in this regard are the total improvement yield and the process improvement yield (recall Sect. 2.4). The T and V Values, together with the total improvement yield concept, quantify the missing and crucial parameters needed to complete Fig. 1.3 (Fig. 3.4). The “T” in the term “T Value” symbolizes both sight/breadth (the “roof”) and focus (the base) of the process improvement substance that have to be properly dealt with in each of the phases related to the generic HPPI process (network, company [unit] and process levels and the implementation). Each phase has a related T Value that defines how well a certain method complies with the substance requirements of high-performance process improvement. The T Value equals the improvement yield level of the method except for the scope parameter. Another difference is that the T Value is a theoretical value whereas the improvement yield level or score is the practical, real-life quality output of a certain method (the scope parameter excluded). The yield level without the scope parameter is therefore at best the same as the T Value, but due to imperfections in the practical application of the specific method used, it is likely that it is lower. The roots keeping the “T” up are the time, quality and costs performance parameters that are the fundamentals of a competitive and prosperous business. If the roots of each company are not taken care of properly, they will start to fade one by one. Eventually the whole “T” may start to sway and this movement can cause it to drop. These parameters and related issues are subject to a detailed analysis (incl. data collection) and synthesis. How well a method is able to deal with this is defined by the “V” value. The letter looks like a funnel with data collection at the top, the analysis in the middle and at the point the synthesis. The V Value depicts the versatility of the method and communicates in other words what kind of performance a method is able to deliver to realize the generic HPPI process in practice. The questions answered by the V Value is: “What is the actual way of sorting out the trivial many issues from the vital few and how are these vital few issues taken care of (implemented)? The value can be stated as a “V Value” and a “V Value (HPPI)”. The first value denotes the contributing performance delivered without any time limitations. The second value denotes the performance if the performance has to be delivered within the limits of the time requirements of high-performance process improvement (HPPI).

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Fig. 3.4 The total HPPI picture

The key is to get grip on the time, quality and cost improvement objects that are below the surface before signs of decline appear above the surface as visualized in Fig. 3.5. The task of the network analysis and synthesis is to show where to dig. The task of the process analysis and synthesis, on the other hand, is to tell how to dig and what remedy to apply. The task of the analysis and synthesis at the improvement object level is to clean the root from biasing elements, specify the remedy in more detail and implement and follow-up the remedy properly. The implementation phase fine-tunes the planning, updates knowledge and skill deficits and realizes the planned actions in practice.

3.5 Assuring the Quality of the Experts in Charge of the High-Performance

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Fig. 3.5 A visualization of the work distribution between sight and focus (“T”), i.e. analysis and synthesis at the network/company (unit), process and specific improvement object levels8

3.5

Assuring the Quality of the Experts in Charge of the High-Performance Process Improvement Process

Two crucial issues or wholes form the fundamentals of the HPPI process. The first issue is the quality of the methods and substance behind the phases of the HPPI process (the T and V Values for each phase). The second issue is the quality of method transfer to the experts in charge of running the different phases related to the HPPI process. This aspect strives to achieve a mode where the T Value is the same as the corresponding improvement yield level (excluding the scope parameter). The focus of the book is primarily to present and discuss the first issue, but to understand the whole it is necessary also to consider the second issue. The education and training of the required experts or consultants are organized via a concept called VISTALIZER1 Center of Excellence that is closely attached to the research, development and beta testing activities of Vistalize Oy. The center is responsible for the transfer, ramp-up, maintenance and update of knowledge and skills of individual experts or consultants in a certain region, geographical area or corporation. The difference between the T Value and the corresponding improvement yield level (excluding the scope parameter) associated to a certain expert or all experts is the primary quality parameter of the VISTALIZER1 Center of Excellence. As a result, it produces authorized VISTALIZER1 experts or consultants in four areas: l

8

The network and company (unit) analysis and synthesis (VISTALIZER1 for Networks)

Image drawn by Harri Pakarinen and published with due permission of Vistalize Oy.

64 l

l

l

3 Design Concepts of the High-Performance Process

The process analysis and synthesis (VISTALIZER1 for Consultants; VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis) and the output, i.e. the process improvement plan VISTALIZER1 Report VISTALIZER1 Services for implementing the VISTALIZER1 Report, including among other issues (software based) process improvement education and training and definition of yield levels (VISTALIZER1 for Enterprises; VISTALIZER1 Acid Test) The concept and process for analyzing, creating deploying, implementing and monitoring a corporate strategy (VISTALIZER1 for Businesses).

The most important issue is in most cases, at least initially, the second one (VISTALIZER1 for Consultants), as this affects heavily in real-life the effectiveness of the process improvement activities. Chapter 5 considers the related method and its output more thoroughly. Besides the objective of continuously assuring the quality level of the experts or consultants, the center supports also the internal or external marketing, sales and testing/piloting of the solutions. The logic would not be complete if the VISTALIZER1 Center of Excellence would not contain an approach for replicating itself. As a result, it is possible to manage and improve all aspects of the HPPI process in a systematic and result-oriented way.

3.6

Summary and Concluding Remarks

There are many things to consider when designing a HPPI process. We have in previous chapters so far considered the concepts behind HPPI, the generic HPPI process, and the improvement yields. A proper mental orientation regarding these main issues is beneficial for understanding the solutions and methods presented in subsequent chapters. These issues need to be bundled together to form a coherent whole that can be implemented according to the requirements and specifications. There is a “critical mass” that has to be reached in terms of the substance much like assembling a car. If one piece of material or equipment is missing it will affect the whole negatively. If many parts are missing it is clear that the vehicle will not move according to specifications, if moving at all. In addition, the motion might be unsafe and uncontrollable leading to unexpected and unwanted situations that have to be dealt with somehow. Fixing problems the causes of which are essentially related to shortages of the selected improvement method (logic) is a never-ending story that is hard to end successfully. This will little by little alter the offering of the company so that eventually the company may end-up having the wrong products, produced with the wrong cost basis at the wrong time, and sold and delivered with the wrong approach. In such a setting the ostrich model (“out of sight, out of mind”), alternatively the fire fighting model, is often applied reactively and tool-oriented. This leads to treating effects and not causes although the identified problem may be target for a local root cause analysis. This biases thinking, as no one reflects on the possibility that the root cause could in fact be an effect from a holistic process

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perspective. Fixing such problems locally will not provide any real, longer lasting, advantage. This affects negatively the overall corporate culture, the process performance and overall competitive situation, as the company is not able to disclose and realize the most advantageous improvement objects and the true improvement potential (cp. Fig. 1.2, “Traditional approach”, i.e. going from C to B). Improving the absolute performance is a good thing if the relative performance has also improved although care should be taken not to compare the own performance to the best that did not pass the class.

Chapter 4

Network and Company Analysis and Synthesis

A network is in this context an interconnected system of companies or business units the processes of which produce a certain product or service. The produced product or service may be a sub-product or subservice to a larger whole. The reasons for conducting a network and company (unit) analysis and synthesis are manifold. Such an analysis shows the performance level of specific companies (units) and the related network. The synthesis, on the other hand, tells how to improve these performers. Besides the improvement of existing network companies, the presented method and the related output can be utilized to analyze prospective future partners, subcontractors or suppliers. Another area of application is company mergers and acquisitions, where this approach provides an attractive complement to the traditional due diligence process and the related output. For very demanding due diligence cases, for example, to define a proper market value of a company, it might be necessary to dig deeper into the concerns and conduct a process specific analysis and synthesis as presented in Chap. 5. The purpose of this chapter is to present the VISTALIZER1 for Networks method, i.e. the network and company (unit) analysis and synthesis method of the generic HPPI process. Sect. 4.1 provides a brief introductory to the subject and the concept. How this concept fits into the concept of the generic HPPI process is the subject of Sect. 4.2 where the process flow is considered. Sect. 4.3 presents the data collection and analysis criteria related to the matter whereas Sect. 4.4 considers the synthesis. Sect. 4.5 reflects on the T and V values. The chapter ends with a summary and concluding remarks.

4.1

Introduction

It is possible to define the term “network” in the same manner as the definition of a process. A network is thus the interaction of companies or business units, technology, information and material to produce a certain output. Such an interconnected system forms at least a partial value chain the performance of which is M. Pastinen, High-Performance Process Improvement, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-10784-9_4, # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010

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based on three fundamental performance parameters, i.e. time, quality and costs. The end-customer, who pays for all activities in the value chain, judges eventually the value of the outcome. This means that if the end-customer does not place any order or does not buy the product or service, no one is paid. This incentive is the prime driver why all companies of a value chain should be keen on utilizing a proper network and company analysis and synthesis for the benefit of the own company and the whole network. The motto of the famous Three Musketeers, “one for all, all for one”, suits well in this connection.1 The competitive state of the offering and the profitability of the companies belonging to the value chain are complex issues that are due to a fairly complicated cause-and-effect chain. These issues include at a heading level the total offering (incl. terms) and related issues starting from presales activities, going to order–delivery and ending with after sales activities. Subjective issues (feelings) of the end-customer that are due to historical reasons, present issues and future prospective issues affect these issues also. From a process improvement perspective this translates into three key areas that have to be mastered properly throughout the network or value chain: l

l

l

The research and development of products and services (assures that there is something valuable to sell) The cash generating value chain including (short term) enabling wholes, i.e. (pre)sales ! order–delivery ! after sales (assures that there is a continuous and preferably increasing cash flow that should result in profits) The strategy process producing and deploying the corporate strategy (assures that there is vision, direction and overall coordination of the activities).

By excelling in all these three areas, it is possible to affect positively the subjective issues of the customers. Running the generic HPPI process presented in this book improves these three key areas in line with the requirements of HPPI. There are many different approaches how to conduct a network analysis many of which take the shape of audits, maturity level tests, or quality system checks. Every company has some kind of metrics for evaluating the performance of the own units and the (prospective) suppliers, subcontractors or partners. Sometimes this may be in the head of one person, but if the operations are substantial, then there are usually a logic and written criteria to support the work. The metrics focuses typically on different issues such as quality, costs, time (delivery time and delivery certainty) and profitability. In many cases, the metrics is not only quantitative, but also qualitative, influenced by, for example, the metrics used by quality awards. It is out of the scope of this book to dig deeper into the metrics used by different companies. Such an analysis, even properly conducted, does not provide the required input to make a proper synthesis from a HPPI perspective. A proper network and company analysis and synthesis address in this regard the three key areas listed above. Furthermore, the metrics used in this context has to fit into the

1

The Three Musketeers, written by Alexandre Dumas (pe`re), is a serialized novel published in 1844.

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concepts of HPPI and the generic HPPI process as considered earlier (recall Sects. 1.7 and 2.3). Besides these requirements and guidelines, an additional issue needs to be emphasized. This issue is the time perspective of certain critical points of performance that have to be reasonable well covered in the past and present time as well as estimated in future time (12–24 months). These issues are not at this stage subject to a root analysis, but considered more from an end-result point of view, as a deeper understanding of causes and effects is gained in subsequent phases of the generic HPPI process. In this total process a data collection, the following analysis and the final synthesis are actually conducted four times, i.e. on the network level, company (unit) level, process level, and on the specific problem or improvement object level (within the PDCA framework).2

4.2

The Process Flow

The process flow of the network and company analysis and synthesis is twofold (Fig. 4.1). One part of the process flow is needed only when the analysis criteria (the metrics) are defined or updated. The other part of the process flow is needed repetitiously as many times as there are companies or units that have to be analyzed. As seen in Fig. 4.1, it may be necessary to consider also the corporate or company strategy and a possible update or creation of it. A high-quality strategy process provides additional momentum to the process improvement activities as such. Besides other crucial processes, it should therefore be a compulsory focus process of the generic HPPI process, especially when running the improvement efforts with a higher ambition level than the basic level. Chapter 7 (Sect. 7.1) considers this strategy related aspect more thoroughly. The process flow repeated according to the amount of companies or units is presented in more detail in Fig. 4.2. This part corresponds to the first phase of the generic HPPI process. As considered earlier in Sect. 1.5, this phase can also be run simultaneously with the implementation phase (Phase 3 of the HPPI process). The kernel of Phase 1 is the data collection and the used analysis criteria that form the basis for the synthesis at both the company (unit) and the whole network level. These issues are produced and cultivated based on the actions taken in the other boxes preceding and succeeding Phase 1 as seen in Fig. 4.1. The other activities depicted in Fig. 4.2 are more or less self-explanatory. Although the analysis criteria are customized to fit the specific need and network, it is possible to look at general issues and principles for conducting the data collection and analysis. This will also provide a good input for understanding the crucial activities related to the network and company (unit) analysis and synthesis. 2

The company (unit) level data collection and analysis provides as such the input to the network level analysis. Therefore, it could also be argued that there are only three different data collection phases, but four different analysis and synthesis phases.

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Fig. 4.1 The general process flow of the network analysis and synthesis

Fig. 4.2 Phase 1 of the generic HPPI process (company or unit level)

4.3 The Data Collection and Analysis Criteria

4.3

71

The Data Collection and Analysis Criteria

Defining the general analysis criteria is the key to designing the way the data collection should be executed. The criteria can then be easily customized to fit the specific case. The data collection approach, on the other hand, can be standardized to assure that the performance requirements are met in Phase 1 (Fig. 4.2). Reverse engineering, as considered earlier in Sect. 3.3, is the operational concept used to reach an adequate solution. Having the right data collected in the right way and managing properly also the other issues related to data and information quality (recall Sects. 1.7 and 3.2.3) provide a high-class input for the synthesis at the network and company (unit) levels. The criteria to guide the data collection can be classified according to three perspectives: – The functional perspective (according to logical themes) – The operational perspective (the cause-and-effect-chain) – The time space perspective (according to what time space the data reflects) The perspectives have to be mutually inclusive meaning that any criteria of any perspective should also fit into the two other perspectives. This approach will assure that the underlying logic for customizing the network specific criteria will be robust and fit for the purpose. How well the specific focus company or unit complies with that network criteria is graded by giving points. The specific issues have different maximum points. This makes it possible to put more weight on certain issues. An imperfect verification of the considered issues results at least in a halving of the maximum scores. The maximum total score is 1,000 points. Section 4.3.4 presents later on a data collection criteria case organized according to the functional perspective.

4.3.1

The Functional Perspective

The functional perspective includes the following criteria: l l l l l

Management quality and the level of co-operation Time Process and output quality (product/service quality) Price (costs) Technology and knowledge/skills.

The management quality is a complex theme. To deal with the issue it is necessary to restrict the evaluation criteria to such aspects, which are simple and useful enough to provide sufficient data and information without too much biasing noise. The criteria should provide the basis for increasing the level of systematic and result-oriented improvement actions. Three areas cover these considerations:

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The quality of the corporate or company strategy (considered in Sect. 7.1) The quality of the process improvement plan (recall Sect. 2.4.1) The quality of the implementation (recall Sect. 2.4.1).

The evaluation of the quality of the corporate or company strategy is not a compulsory issue when running the improvement activities at the basic ambition level. The two other criteria are compulsory issues even at the basic ambition level, as these two criteria form the basis for evaluating the process improvement yield. The level of co-operation is in this connection defined based on how well the company or unit contributes to developing new, enhanced or more cost-effective concepts, products or services. These development related issues form the core value proposition of the value chain and are thus a reflection of the effectiveness in this connection. Time, process and product/service quality, and costs are in this connection productivity related matters that boil down to defining how well the company (unit) complies with certain requirements. This restricts the amount of different parameters to a handful of parameters. These include the lead time, delivery time, delivery certainty, quality defects, and the cost level compared to average market prices. To get a better understanding of the main drivers for increasing competitiveness from a total perspective it is necessary to understand also the technological level of the company besides issues related to knowledge and skills. These aspects provide also an understanding of investment needs and the innovation capability.

4.3.2

The Operational Perspective

The operational perspective communicates the level of systematic actions, the results and supporting issues. The objective for having such a structure is to cover on a rough level the cause-and-effect chain of how to improve the performance. The systematic actions include the planning quality from both a product/ service development and process improvement point of view (the cause). The results are the effects of the planned actions and can be defined, for instance, based on the process performance of certain key processes such as the core process performance (time, quality, costs), response time to technical support requests and inquiries, flexibility of the core process (e.g. ramp-up time to double production volume), innovation capability and actual skills of employees. Supporting issues relates to, for example, the production technology, performance measures, functionality and level of the quality system, the pricing model (contents, transparency), and investments in education. The operational or cause-and-effect perspective reveals much about how the company achieved the results and what the likelihood is for copying and sustaining success. For example, having a high score in the cause issues, but a low score in the effect issues, will disclose potential areas of interest, if analyzed together with the

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time space perspective. A low score in the cause issues, but a high score in the effect issues, provide valuable clues what and how to improve the company or unit.

4.3.3

The Time Space Perspective

The time space perspective groups the criteria of the two other perspective in terms of what time frame the criteria reflect, i.e. past, present or future time. For instance, much of the criteria of the development issues reflect future time, as does the planning quality. Core process performance criteria (time, quality and costs/price level) usually reflect past time as an average performance of the past 6–12 months is usually considered. In some cases, it might be interesting to measure the real-time or even future performance level. This is especially the case regarding the price (note: not costs) where the historical trend, current and future (e.g. next 12 months) price level can be defined reasonably well. Having a time space perspective enhances the synthesis quality, as it will shed light on the real and realistic potential of the company. This provides also additional insights how well different parts of the organization function as a whole and in relation to the network (value chain). Such an internal and external view adds necessary relevance to the collected data and information especially when running the improvement efforts on a higher ambition level than the basic level.

4.3.4

Data Collection Criteria Case

A real-life example of the analysis criteria at the basic ambition level is presented below. The case criteria relate to a network of some 50 companies in three networks operating in the electronics industry. The considered subcontractor network with 21 companies, including the case company “Company 5”, provide their input to a publicly listed company with a strong desire to double its revenue organically on a global scale in three years and still sustain a sound profit level (12% EBIT). The criteria were also modified to suit the two remaining networks, i.e. the logistics network and the supplier network. The first excerpt presents Issues 1.1 and 1.2 that cover the process improvement yield (Table 4.1). The criteria were used both to improve the current networks and to analyze potential new subcontractors, suppliers and logistics partners. As seen in Table 4.1 (Criteria 1.1 and 1.2), the process improvement yield is about 0.7%. From a process improvement perspective, this means that the company is not able to conduct any systematic and result-oriented efforts. Such a mode produces at best only minor results. The performance of the company relies heavily on individual persons’ performance, intuition and motivation. This causes inevitably a situation where the company cannot improve the stakeholders’ satisfaction as a whole in a sustainable way. In Issue 1.2, the framework is the PDCA Quality Measurement Logic (200 points) that has been converted to suit the network data

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Table 4.1 An excerpt of the data collection criteria (subcontractor network, electronics industry, basic ambition level, “Company 5”) Criteria Max Score Comments 1. Management quality and level of 250 81 Improvement yield ¼ 0.67% co-operation (16%*4.2%) 1.1 The quality of the process improvement plan 50 12 Scope of the improvement Yield of the improvement plans ¼ 2 out of 3 !67% plans ¼ 16% (12/50*67%) 1.1.1 Stakeholder analysis (customers 2 p., 6 1 Customers OK 1 p. personnel 2 p., owners 2 p). 1.1.2 Analysis of capabilities (strategic 1 p. and 3 1 Operative capabilities operative 1 p., quantitative and qualitative OK !1 p. consideration of change resistance 1 p.). 1.1.3 Competitors analysis (2 p.) 2 0 1.1.4 Process model (1 p.) and analysis of time 7 0 (2 p.), quality (2 p.) and costs (2 p.) 1.1.5 Identifying the most crucial improvement 15 1 Improvement objects objects 3 p., prioritizing 3 p., preliminary considered roughly !1 p. solutions (people 2 p., technology 2 p., information 2 p., material 2 p.), consideration of ongoing and forthcoming efforts/projects 1 p. 1.1.6 Commitment and motivation of key 2 1 Selected key persons persons 2 p. committed to the plan 1.1.7 Deployment of actions 3 p. and aligned 6 3 Actions deployed to 2 levels performance measures 3 p. out of 3 !2 p., some relevant measures considered, but none that tracks the usage (fulfillment degree) of means !1 p. 1.1.8 Synthesis 2 p., the financial net effects 6 4 No synthesis, but a sound on the bottom line 2 p. and strategic financial consideration weights 2 p. together with strategic weights !4 p. 1.1.9 Preliminary implementation schedule 3 p. 3 1 A rough schedule defined without responsibilities & resources !1 p. 1.2 The quality of the implementation 50 14 (of the process improvement plan) Scope of the implementation using the Implementation Yield ¼ 4.2% PDCA logic ¼ 15% out of 100% (14/50*15%) 1.2.1 Plan Phase (78 p. max [PDCA measure] 19.5 4 Detailed analysis: see the !19.5 p.) PDCA measurement logic/ document presented on (Sect. 6.3, Fig. 6.18). 1.2.2 Do Phase (50 p. max [PDCA measure] 12.5 4 !12.5 p.) 1.2.3 Check Phase (16 p. max [PDCA measure] 4 3 !4 p. max) 1.2.4 Act Phase (46 p. max [PDCA measure] 11.5 2 !11.5 p.) 1.2.5 The technical implementation of the PDCA 2.5 1 work (10 p. max [PDCA measure] !2.5 p.) Part of the document D2 in Figs. 4.1 and 4.2

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collection framework (50 points). Chapter 6 (Sect. 6.3, Fig. 6.18) considers this measurement logic in more detail. If the criteria defined in Table 4.1 (Issue 1.1) would be applied, for example, to the hoshin kanri approach the score would be at most 30 points out of 50, i.e. the quality level would be 60%. However, this level is very hard to achieve in real-life, as it at this level boils heavily down to personal qualities of the persons concerned. This causes quality variations and biases. The hoshin kanri approach is not a good approach when dealing with multiple issues, as it is not able to prioritize and quality-check the improvement issues and concerns from a multi-dimensional perspective, not to mention the issue of raising the ambition level of the improvement work and the related output. The missing synthesis logic and the document quality are also major concerns in this context. After all, the hoshin kanri approach is not at all designed to assure the effectiveness of the improvement efforts although a skilled application of the approach may provide some minor support in this regard. This becomes even more evident in the process analysis and synthesis phase that is lacking in the hoshin kanri approach, as the objectives at the highest level (executive level) is based on a given task or an overall objective (decrease quality defects by 20%, raise profitability by 15%, etc.). The strengths of the hoshin kanri approach are the deployment and commitment logic, and the customization of the performance measurement criteria at different organization levels. Due to the practical shortages to deal with the required issues properly, the true output quality is approximately 15 points. A quality level of 30% achieved using the hoshin kanri approach is by all means a good score and shows that the company has digested that concept profoundly. The 60% quality level represents thus the T Value of the hoshin kanri approach. The comparable result of, for example, six sigma is much lower, as that approach does not address the issue of assuring the effectiveness of the improvement efforts as presented and understood in this book.3 The second excerpt (Issues 1.3 and 1.4) shown in Table 4.2 considers how well the company or unit supports the development work of new or modified products, services or concepts. Issue 1.3 considers the capability to take part in the R&D work (1.3.1), and what contribution the output of the subcontractor would provide to the buyer’s (the development project owner’s) own product (1.3.2). On what level a pricing model exists and is disclosed are considered in Issue 1.4. Having an open and transparent pricing model requires, of course, that the thrust is on an adequate level. It is easier to design a cost-effective and profitable product or service if the whole cost picture is clear. Later on, it will be much harder to reach cost-effectiveness. This is especially true, when the following issues are considered (Andersin 1992): l

l l

3

Eighty percent of the quality problems are related to activities of the product development Seventy percent of the costs are determined in the development phase A delay of 6 months in market introduction may result in 30% lower incomes from the product over its life.

The six sigma approach provides support to assure the efficiency of the improvement efforts.

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Table 4.2 An excerpt of the data collection criteria (subcontractor network, electronics industry, basic ambition level, “Company 5”) Criteria Max Score Comments 1.3 Common planning and action plans to 100 25 develop products 1.3.1 Several common planning projects, 50 10 Resources exist to realize common 50 p., one joint-planning project with projects (10 p.) a reasonably good outcome, 30 p., resources to realize common planning projects, 10 p. 1.3.2 World-class technological 50 15 Evident cost reduction (10 p.), ability þ evident cost somewhat improved quality (5 p.) reductions þ clear improvement of the product (service) quality (all three items, 50 p., 2 items, 30 p., 1 item 10 p.) 1.4 The pricing model. Works on “open” 50 30 A rough pricing model exists (25 p.), calculations (net price/gross price; net/gross price made explicit (5 p.) materials by component, phase by phase work, general costs, transportation fees) 50 p., a rough pricing model exists and is disclosed (25 p.), no pricing model, or the price model exists, but is not disclosed (0 p.) Part of the document D2 in Figs. 4.1 and 4.2

Preventing problems is far better than correcting them afterwards. This means that the activities relating to the development phase are crucial to the quality of the planned product the buyer intends to bring to the global market. Issues 1.3 and 1.4 provide a fast and simple way of gaining an adequate understanding in this regard. The third excerpt considers criteria related to process and product quality (Table 4.3). As seen in the table, the emphasis is on assuring increasing volumes and managing the time, quality and cost factors. These factors would provide the basis for gaining market shares. If the market is declining these issues are even more important. A growing market brings along other problems related to, for instance, the supply of components and higher prices that the company cannot necessarily pass on to the customers. The fourth excerpt considers criteria related to the time aspect (Table 4.4). Issue 3.5 considers the development time of the subcontractor by analyzing more thoroughly issues affecting the development time. The fifth excerpt considers criteria related to the price, technological expertise and production equipment (Table 4.5). The price and the price trend are important issues, as the price erosion is severe in the electronics business, in this specific case about 6% annually. The data collection ends with a SWOT analysis that provides complementary information about the subcontractor (Table 4.6). The network analysis uses the data collected of the specific companies as an input. Important analysis results include the average, minimum, maximum and

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Table 4.3 An excerpt of the data collection criteria (subcontractor network, electronics industry, basic ambition level, “Company 5”) Criteria Max Score Comments 2. Quality 300 62 2.1 Operational flexibility 40 14 2.1.1 A growth strategy exists (education 10 2 Financing OK plan, resource allocation, financing, time schedule) 2.1.2 The viewpoint of the customer 10 6 Regular discussion between the parties Company is considered (communicated to the board of directors) 2.1.3 Short term adaptability to the needs 20 6 30% increase is possible in 3 months of the Customer Company; capability to double volumes in 3 months 2.2 Analyzed lead time and trend 40 14 2.2.1 Analyzed order–delivery lead time 5 2 A rough analysis has been made (order handling 1 p., production planning 1 p., production 1 p., testing 1 p., shipping 1 p.) 2.2.2 The results of the analysis are 5 3 A (rough) action plan has been prepared integrated to the improvement plan (an action plan has been made based on the analysis) 2.2.3 The action plan has been realized 10 3 Some (minor) actions done 2.2.4 The trend of the lead time is 10 3 The trend varies, it is mainly neutral (1), positive sometimes positive (2) 2.2.5 Variation is (relatively) small 10 3 Variations exist, sometimes even big ones 2.3 Order procedure and means of 30 15 delivery 2.3.1 The supplier’s own order–delivery 15 9 No actual efforts to optimize the issues, process has been optimized in but the issues are handled better than regard to its suppliers (packages, the average (no big problems transportation, documentation) detected) 2.3.2 The order–delivery process 15 6 Transportation packages consume much between the Customer Company empty space and produce too much and its supplier has been optimized waste. Packages are robust (1) and (packages, transportation, weather proof (1), documentation is documentation) very good (4 p.) 2.4 The level and function of the 30 8 quality system 2.4.1 The company has a certified quality 10 3 According to the old ISO 9000 criteria (5) and/or environmental (2), the environmental management management system (5) system is not certified (1) 2.4.2 Scores according to quality award 20 5 Application submitted criteria, e.g. EQA (350–450 quality award points or application submitted ¼ 5 p., 451–600 quality award points ¼ 10 p., > 600 quality award points ¼ 20 p.) 2.5 Product defect rate. Ability to 100 4 Product defect rate very high produce quality to the customer (in products/services, where defects (continued)

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Table 4.3 (continued) Criteria Max per million opportunities [DPMO] calculations are not applicable) > 97.5–100% (25– 100, 15 p per 0.5%-units); 95– 97.5% (0–25, 5 p per 0.5%-units). DPMO (measured at the assembly line): 3.6–50 DPMO ¼ 100 points, 51–100 DPMO ¼ 90 p, 101–250 DPMO ¼ 70 p, 251–500 DPMO ¼ 50 p, 501–750 DPMO ¼ 30 p, 751–1,000 DPMO ¼ 10 p. DPMO > 1,000 ¼ 0 p. 2.6 Quality measurement and reporting 60 (measures have to be operational, the measured data has to be communicated widely and utilized in the improvement efforts) 2.6.1 Process quality: five points/ 30 measure (e.g. productivity, flexibility, lead time, costs, quality costs, customer satisfaction, speed, waste, knowledge and motivation) 2.6.2 Product/service quality: five points/ 30 measure (e.g. DPMO, FPY, Out of the Box Test, SPC) Part of the document D2 in Figs. 4.1 and 4.2

Score Comments

7

4

No measure is communicated widely or utilized in the improvement efforts

3

Almost non-existing.

mean score of each data collection criterion besides the graphical score spreads. A SWOT analysis at the network level, based on the SWOT analyses made at the company or unit levels, provides a complementary input to the network synthesis. Based on the data collection made at the company (unit) level, it is possible to draw different graphs of relevant and crucial issues from a network perspective (Fig. 4.3). Comparing the profile with the profile shown in Fig. 4.4 reveals that the companies are better “planners” than “doers”.

4.3.5

Data Collection Concerns

Besides defining the right network/company (unit) analysis criteria, it is necessary to collect the required data properly. Section 3.2.1 considered already the general guidelines and advice in this regard. However, the criteria contain a potential pitfall that should at least be considered to minimize negative effects such as a bad spirit and violated time limits. This pitfall is the order in which the data is collected. Such issues that are harder to grasp and where the company scores badly may cause a

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79

Table 4.4 An excerpt of the data collection criteria (subcontractor network, electronics industry, basic ambition level, “Company 5”) Criteria Max Score Comments 3. Time 150 49 3.1 Delivery certainty 30 5 3.1.1 Monthly delivery certainty to the 20 2 Monthly delivery certainty equals 95.5% Customer Company 95% ¼ 0 p., 96% ¼ 4 p., 97% ¼ 8 p., 98% ¼ 12 p., 99% ¼ 16 p., 100% ¼ 20 p. 3.1.2 Monitors delivery certainty in 10 3 Randomly and only reactively general 3.2 Delivery time. Agreed and realized 50 10 On average 10 days delivery time 1–3 days (50 p.), 4–6 days (30 p.), 7–14 days (10 p.), > 15 days (0 p.) 3.3 The ability to react to complaints 20 10 On average 2 weeks (response time). The response in 5 working days (20 p.), 2 weeks (10 p.), no response (0 p.) 3.4 The ability to react to technical 20 15 On average in 8 days inquiries and problems (response time). The response in 5 working days (20 p.), 2 weeks (10 p.), no response (0 p.) 3.5 Product development time (level of 30 9 the R&D activities) 3.5.1 World-class planning level 10 3 No process in place, IT solutions not adequate, test laboratory good (3 p) 3.5.2 Commitment and knowledge/skills 10 3 Modest investments, the people have a good educational background (3 p.) 3.5.3 Resourcing and time schedules 10 3 The management of the R&D work is obscure, some broad guidelines considered once a year (1 p.), project and portfolio management satisfactory (2 p.) Part of the document D2 in Figs. 4.1 and 4.2

reaction to influence the evaluation aggressively. This may potentially bias the data collection if the expert in charge is inexperienced. The concerned issues include especially the quality of the company strategy, the quality of the process improvement plans and the implementation quality. This is especially true if the company is a potential new supplier or is potentially subject to a refusal of an agreement renewal. To tackle the potential pitfall a potential stress level curve is defined (Fig. 4.5; cp. also the case in Sect. 4.3.4 for the contents of Issues 1.1–5). This curve helps the expert to prepare the interviewees and manage the time dimension from a data collection point of view. Such a profile is roughly defined in advance. It is reviewed and refined based on the gathered experience achieved along the way.

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Table 4.5 An excerpt of the data collection criteria (subcontractor network, electronics industry, basic ambition level) Criteria Max Score Comments 4. Price (Costs) 150 54 4.1 Price competitiveness. Deviation from 100 33 Slightly above the market price the market mean price 15% (100 p.), 10% (75 p.), 0% (50 p.), + 10% (25 p.), + 15% (0 p.) 4.2 Price trend. Price decrease 10% 50 21 Price trend 5.2% (50 p.), 7%...10% (30–50 p.), 5%...7% (20–30 p.), 5. . .3% (0–10 p.) with consideration to occurrences elsewhere in the world 5. Technological/organizational know150 41 how and the technological level of the production equipment 5.1 Identification of education needs and 50 13 educational efforts 5.1.1 Identified education needs 10 1 Not conducted, only discussed 5.1.2 Effort: two points/education day 40 12 5.2 Production technology. Level of 50 15 Manual to semi-automatic (10 p.), automation of the production process 6 years on average (5 p.) (manual, semi-automatic, automatic, 25 p.) þ the age of the machinery (25 p., MT 0–3 years ¼ 25 p., 3–5 years ¼ 15 p., 5–7 years ¼ 5 p., > 7 years ¼ 0 p. With consideration to branch specific needs) 5.3 Technological level of the product. 50 13 Generally speaking average Average (copied technology) (10 p.), technology (10 p.), some better than average (20 p.), named components better than average innovation (30 p.), several innovations/ (3 p.) unique solutions (40–50 p.) Part of the document D2 in Figs. 4.1 and 4.2 Table 4.6 The SWOT analysis (example; subcontractor, electronics industry) 1. Strengths 2. Weaknesses – Many innovations – Many units – Skillful and versatile personnel (long – Change of personnel (on a high level), no experience), language reserve person system – Many units, Brazil/India/China (close to – The projects operate differently (due partly to the customer) the customers) – Demanding customers – Tool problems – Delivery certainty – Dependence on the staff – Continuity of customer projects – One big customer – Profitability – Low technical product knowledge – Management of project changes 3. Opportunities 4. Threats – New customers – New, more demanding customer requirements – Resource pools (focus on certain – New competitors specific issues) – The staff will be fed-up – Supplier network – (Changes in the customer’s purchase organization)

4.3 The Data Collection and Analysis Criteria

81

1.1 Quality of the Process Improvement Plan (Max 50 Points) 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Company 1

Company 7

Company 21

Company 16

Company 2

Company 5

Company 13

Company 4

Company 3

Company 6

Company 12

Company 18

Company 8

Company 19

Company 17

Company 15

Company 14

Company 11

Company 10

Company 9

Company 20

Maximum points

Fig. 4.3 An example of the performance of Issue 1.1 in a network with 21 companies (cp. Table 4.1) 1.2 Implementation Quality of the Process Improvement Plan (Max 50 Points) 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Company 2

Company 8

Company 1

Company 17

Company 5

Company 4

Company 10

Company 11

Company 12

Company 14

Company 15

Company 18

Company 19

Company 20

Company 9

Company 3

Company 13

Company 21

Company 7

Company 6

Company 16

Maximum points

Fig. 4.4 An example of the performance of Issue 1.2 in a network with 21 companies (cp. Table 4.1)

The stress curve has no aspiration of being scientific. It is a rough experience based estimate communicating potential time-consuming areas, which may need special attention. Issues 1.1 and 1.2 in Fig. 4.5 are potentially very hard cases especially in companies that have in real-life operated on a low process improvement yield level – despite of having the “best forces attached to the improvement efforts” and despite of major efforts that have cost a lot. This is by no means an indication that the possible achieved improvements have been bad as such. The issue here is that many important issues may have been overseen to the disadvantage of satisfying optimally all major stakeholders, i.e. customers, employees and owners using as little resources as possible. The “best forces” operating with lowperformance process improvement methods and a comparably big improvement budget cannot compete with the average Joes operating with high-performance process improvement methods and a comparably small improvement budget. It is

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Fig. 4.5 An example of a stress curve (case: see Sect. 4.3.4)

hard to level out method deficits with time and money. The thing is that the traditional improvement efforts such as lean, six sigma and hoshin kanri rely to a high degree on individual (process improvement) gurus, not so much on the quality and scope of the applied improvement methods. This fundamental issue does not change even if the expertise of the gurus is further mystified using analogies from martial arts. “The Emperor’s New Clothes” by the eminent H.C. Andersen provides an interesting analogy in this regard.4 This fairy tale is a descriptive complement to the discussion of LPPI and should be read with an open and humorous mind. The analogies to LPPI are largely self-exploratory and striking. After all, all networks companies or units need to shape-up for the benefit of the whole network and its stakeholders.

4.4

The Synthesis

Based on the data collection and the analysis of the criteria in terms of the three perspectives discussed above it is possible to create a high-class synthesis that directs and guides the improvement efforts in the network. The essence of the synthesis is to get traction to subsequent efforts so that the performance can be 4

“The Emperor’s New Clothes” (Kejserens Nye Klæder) is a fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen about an emperor who unwittingly hires two swindlers to create a new suit of clothes for him. The tale was first published in 1837 as part of Eventyr, Fortalte for Børn (Fairy Tales, Told for Children). Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor’s_New_ Clothes.

4.4 The Synthesis

83

improved process by process depending on the needs and focus areas. The single most important issue that can be seen based on the analysis is the process improvement yield score. This score can be expanded to cover also the quality level of the company strategy. This acid test, discussed further in Chap. 7 (Sect. 7.2), predicts accurately enough the real improvement momentum of the company or unit. This score is especially important in companies that rely on loose talk, quick fixes and cosmetic improvements. Operating in such an environment requires solid methods, as such a setting produces biasing noise that can potentially manipulate the data collection. The analysis points also out those processes, which need improvement most. This finding increases the quality of the synthesis considerably. The cumulative quality of specific companies’ intervention mechanism for achieving a systematic and result-oriented improvement mode is the fundamental basis for improving the performance of the whole value chain. A malfunctioning or even missing intervention mechanism is like having a car with a malfunctioning or missing drive shaft. The engine will run and consume fuel, but the vehicle will not move anywhere. Producing power that cannot be utilized properly costs a lot besides the time lost in the effort. This issue should not be confused with the specific issue of getting power to the wheels, but lacking traction and being unable to move because of this. This issue indicates that the improvement effectiveness is low due to targeting the wrong improvement objects or problems, not because of a poor implementation. This dilemma is detected, if the network analysis and synthesis phases are run on a higher ambition level than the basic level. Traditional audit methods cannot discover such an issue, as those will only, if in the criteria at all, assure that the issue has been considered. They will not analyze in a true sense the quality of the consideration to any necessary and sufficient degree. The company or unit specific synthesis is typically 15–20 pages. The network synthesis is somewhat longer. Both the company (unit) and network synthesis are designed for implementation, which means that they consider actively forthcoming phases of the generic HPPI process. Such a rough improvement plan can be utilized as a stand-alone solution and it can be implemented by the means considered appropriate by the management. However, without a solid framework for implementing the issues properly, it is likely that there will be too little traction for the improvement efforts, if conducted at all. This is especially true in supplier networks with many independent suppliers that serve a large customer base. Such a setting provides each customer only with little leverage for directing the improvement efforts to suit the vision and needs of a specific customer. This might be a problem only if the supplier is a key supplier. Having a written plan provides nevertheless a good basis for conducting constructive talks. The written synthesis covers the areas listed below. This structure is used in both a company (unit) and network context: l l

Summary of points (scores) and most crucial observations The competitive state/general state-of-affairs (incl. the process improvement yield)

84 l l

l l

4 Network and Company Analysis and Synthesis

The performance profile of specific criteria Detailed specifications and evaluation of the improvement potential (12 þ 12 months) SWOT analysis Synthesis and recommendations.

The summary of the scores communicates the total score and the allocation of the points regarding the different perspectives (Table 4.7). The chapter dealing with the competitive state and general state-of-affairs explains what the total score means from a financial, performance and improvement point of view. In addition, the current and likely future contribution to value-adding activities from a network point of view is considered. The chapter provides furthermore an estimate of the likely trend regarding the total score. This estimate covers the next 2 years (Fig. 4.6). “Company 5” is operating below the network average. Table 4.7 A summary of the scores according to the different perspectives (cp. example in Sect. 4.3.4) Functional perspective Management quality and level of co-operation Time Process and output quality Price (costs)

Points score (% of max) 81 of 250 (32)

Technology, knowledge & skills Total score

41 of 150 (27)

“Company 5” Operational Score (% of max) Perspective Causes 68 of 250 (27)

Time space perspective Past

Score (% of max) 24 of 200 (12)

49 of 150 (21) 62 of 300 (31)

Effects (results) 141 of 500 (28) Supporting 78 of 250 (31) issues

Present Future

134 of 400 (34) 129 of 400 (32)

54 of 150 (36)

Total score

Total score

287 of 1,000 (29)

287 of 1,000 (29)

287 of 1,000 (29)

Current and Future Total Score

600

502

500 442

430

400 316 300

374

287

200 Total Score 2009

Total Score 2010e Total Score 2011e

Fig. 4.6 The current and estimated likely future score (company or unit level)

Company 5 Network

4.4 The Synthesis

85

In the future, it is likely that the company will operate at a higher level than the network average. Based on the estimates of specific companies it is possible to predict the future performance of the whole network (Fig. 4.7). This information can be passed to the specific company so that the company can compare its performance to the network performance. The names of the other companies can naturally be kept anonymous. The performance profile of specific criteria is based on a classification logic that depends on the current and desired ambition level of the network (Table 4.8). The purpose of the performance profile is to provide the management with an easy and fast way of getting the total picture of the competitive state. Table 4.9 presents an example of a performance profile. The profile is based on different colors, i.e. red for “Critical”, yellow for “Important”, white for “”Needs attention” (not included in Table 4.9), and green for “OK”. The purpose is to visualize the relative performance with no figures, but with meaningful statements attached to a color to strengthen the message. This relative performance is due to the selected ambition level. A company receiving only “OK” and “Important” marks when applying the criteria of the basic ambition level could get only “Critical” marks when applying the evaluation criteria of a higher ambition level. Consequently, this performance profile communicates how well the specific company complies with the network vision behind the utilized analysis criteria. The performance profile guides also which criteria will be considered further and how much effort will be put on creating an improvement proposal for the issue. The detailed specification and evaluation of the improvement potential for each analysis issue provide a motivated recommendation how to deal with the specific issue. Those issues targeted in this road map are primarily those criteria, which have a “Critical” mark in the performance profile. The criteria marked “Important” and even “Needs attention” may also be considered if the amount of “Critical” marks is

Score 2009 (Lower Curve) and the Improvement Potential for 2010 800 745

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100

1 pa 9 n om y 1 pa 1 ny C om 18 pa n C om y 7 pa C om ny pa 4 n C om y 1 pa 6 n C om y 1 pa 7 n C om y 1 pa 2 C ny 1 om 5 pa n C om y 3 pa n C om y 1 pa n C om y 2 pa n C om y 9 pa C om ny pa 5 n C om y 2 pa 1 ny C om 20 pa C om ny pa 6 ny 13

10

om

C

ny

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pa

C

pa

om

om

C

8 ny

ny pa C

om pa

om

C

C

14

0

Fig. 4.7 The current and estimated likely future score (network level)

687

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4 Network and Company Analysis and Synthesis

Table 4.8 The logic for producing the performance profile Critical An issue gets this “red” status if it scores in the range of 0–40% of the maximum points. If so, the issue requires immediate attention and commitment of the top-management (understanding the issue, showing interest, allocation of resources, monitoring). If the issue is neglected or executed half-hearted, then the consequences might be of serious nature, such as a remarkable deterioration of the competitive state. The corrective actions should commence immediately (0–3 months), assuring, however, an adequate knowledge base for identifying and implementing the correct actions.

Important

As a rule of thumb, if an issue gets 41–60% of the maximum score it will be

marked with this yellow label. The issue requires the attention and commitment of the managers in charge (understanding the issue, showing interest, allocation of resources, monitoring). If the issue is neglected or executed half-hearted, then the effect might show up as time, quality and/or cost problems or potentially loosing opportunities. The corrective actions should begin within a reasonable time frame (6 months) so that the shortages will not affect everyday business.

Needs attention

An improvement object has been identified regarding the issue despite

potentially high points (61–70%). Hence, the problem should be considered in the improvement work and should also be potentially fixed (as a preventive action). The corrective actions should begin within 1 or 2 years to avoid future problems.

OK

The issue, marked with a green color, does not require any actions at the moment.

It should be noted that the priorities are always set in relation to the other improvement objects. An “OK” mark does not assure that the issue will be in order also next year. Hence, it could even be critical if the circumstances have changed accordingly (e.g. customer requirements, rising the evaluation “toughness” or due to the fact that all issues below 70% will be objects for improvement).

low. Based on the proposed improvement actions there is also an estimate of the impact on the score, if the company targets the improvement issue properly. The estimate will also consider the actual means and commitment of achieving a sustainable improvement mode. Considering the three perspectives (functional, operational, time space) from a holistic point of view provides hints in this regard. The SWOT analysis lists the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the company or unit. These aspects, which are usually not ranked, provide complementary information to support the making of a synthesis and recommendation. It is conducted as a brain storming session at the end of the data collection phase (recall Table 4.6, Sect. 4.3.4).

4.5

The T and V Values

The basic concept of defining the T value at the network/company (unit) level or Phase 1 of the generic HPPI process was considered in Sects. 2.4.2 and 3.4. The only issue to omit from the consideration is to restrict the consideration to the

4.5 The T and V Values

87

Table 4.9 An example of a performance profile (see case in Sect. 4.3.4, “Company 5”) Issue/item Priority Issue/item Priority 2.6 Quality measurement The competitive state Critical Critical and reporting as a whole/the general picture 1.1

Quality of the process improvement plans

Critical

3.1.1 Monthly delivery certainty

Critical

1.2

Quality of the implementation

Critical

3.1.2 Monitoring delivery certainty

Critical

1.3.1 Common projects and action plans to develop products

Critical

1.3.2 Technological contribution

Critical

1.4

Pricing model

OK

3.2

Delivery time

3.3

The ability to react to complaints (response time)

3.4

The ability to react to technical inquiries and problems (response time)

3.5

Product development time

Critical

4.1

Price competitiveness

Critical

4.2

Price trend

Critical Important

OK

Important 2.1

Operational flexibility

2.2

Analyzed lead time and trend

2.3.1 Order procedure and means of delivery regarding the own supplier network 2.3.2 Order procedure and means of delivery regarding the customer (s) 2.4.1 Quality/environmental management system 2.4.2 Quality award criteria

2.5

Product defect rate

Critical Critical Important

Critical

Critical Critical Critical

5.1.1 Identified education needs

5.1.2 Educational effort

Important

Critical

Critical

5.2

Production technology

Critical

5.3

Technological level of the product

Critical

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network/company (unit) level and not consider the scope (coverage) parameter. The corresponding T value of the VISTALIZER1 for Networks method is 100%. The V value is defined based on how well the method deals with the network analysis and synthesis in terms of running Phase 1 of the generic HPPI process. The critical performance parameters in this regard are (format of the value: p þ s þ t/n/T [n]): l

l

l

The number of functions or processes covered in one run according to the level of consideration (primary [p], secondary [s] and tertiary [t]) The number (n) of organizational levels from which the input is collected (topmanagement, middle-management, employees) The achievable T value; in brackets the number of ambition levels where the method’s approach to data collection, analysis and synthesis is still operational (T [n]).

The V value of the VISTALIZER1 for Networks method, applied at the individual company or unit level (on-site), is 1/3/100% (3). The corresponding V value (HPPI) is 1 þ 1 þ 1/3/100% (3). Given infinite time, it is possible to make a network analysis and synthesis of the whole company or unit covering all functions or processes. When time is a limiting factor this amount is reduced considerably. The notification “1 þ 1 þ 1” means that one process is considered thoroughly (e.g. the core process; p = 1), another process reasonably well (e.g. the R&D process; s = 1) and a third process only superficially (e.g. after sales process; t = 1) when the method is applied in a HPPI context. This means that when the network data collection and analysis criteria are defined, the focus network should be clearly defined and understood so that one run covers the most interesting and crucial considerations. In fact, most networks such as R&D networks, sales networks, production unit networks and subcontractor/supplier networks can be covered with this performance, as the units deliver usually a certain type of output based on one or a very limited number of key processes. Of course, doubling the available time from one on-site day to two would also double the “1 þ 1 þ 1” performance to a “2 þ 2 þ 2” or a “3 þ 1 þ 1” performance. Naturally, in such a setting it would also possible to conduct two fully separate runs if the unit or company belongs to two different networks, for example, an internal sales network and a production network.

4.6

Summary and Concluding Remarks

The quality of the synthesis related to a specific company (unit) and the related network is assured thanks to three issues: l l

l

The data collection criteria are correct and relevant (minimizing bias) The logic how to decide the score of the criteria is based on facts and real-life evidence The data collected can be analyzed according to different relevant perspectives.

4.6 Summary and Concluding Remarks

89

Based on these three issues it is possible to: l l l

Reveal critical focus areas for improvement Define the quality level of the mechanism to influence the cause-and-effect chain Define the likely future performance level and the contribution to the current and future competitive state of the value chain (network).

The essence is to create and improve the mechanism that increases both the ambition level of the operations and the produced output throughout the network. If this cannot be reached then the improvement efforts will be ad hoc and reactive. As a result, considerable amounts of money and stakeholder satisfaction will be lost each year. Running improvement efforts with an ad hoc and reactive logic cost probably much more than operating the efforts in a systematic and result-oriented way. It is usually advisable to present the results and findings and plan for future actions when all the key partners are gathered. At this occasion it is also possible to hear comments and dig deeper into cases to promote motivation and learning in the network. It is especially important that the management of the partner/subcontractor/ supplier companies attend the sessions, as these persons are the key persons for getting real improvement under work and done. These sessions should also target the change resistance aspect, as a number of the partner companies will not in real-life be willing to improve their operations sufficiently, if at all. Increasing the performance of a whole value chain requires hard work and without solid concepts and methods, it is not even worthwhile trying. After all, the improvement efforts need to generate more money than placing the money in low-risk bonds. The great thing about process improvement is not only the internal perspective (cost-effectiveness), but also the external perspective making it possible to increase sales and market share without sacrificing the profit levels. This, if anything, increases the value of the company and the satisfaction of the owners. Prosperous companies with happy customers and employees are the backbone of our standard of living enabling also a functioning society and a secured pension. Therefore, I like to think that HPPI is not only about improving the processes as well as possible with the available means, but also a concrete way of contributing to society in a sustainable way. After all, we all have obligations to ourselves and the generations before and after us.

Chapter 5

Process Analysis and Synthesis

A high-class process analysis and synthesis is required to assure that the improvement efforts are effective and that the company targets the right issues when aiming at a proper solution of the HPPI equation at the process level. How to decide which focus process to go for is in an ideal case based on considering the profit level of the company, the attractiveness of current offerings and the growth rate. Naturally, the output of Phase 1 of the generic HPPI process provides also the necessary input to this end. However, in many cases the management selects the focus process based on the gut feeling. This gut feeling factor, although largely used throughout the world, is a very serious biasing factor that needs to be properly taken care of. The real improvement objects do not necessarily coincide with this gut feeling even at the process level. In any case, it is necessary to communicate and discuss the process analysis and synthesis output properly between the concerned stakeholders. It is a necessity to formalize the output into a written document the quality of which is quantifiable. To qualify as a sub-process or phase of the HPPI process the related activities, i.e. the data collection, analysis and synthesis and creation of the required document, have to match the performance requirements both in terms of quality and resource utilization (time, costs). In addition, the output has to fit in the process improvement flow in totally four directions. This means that it has to be seamlessly integrated upstream (network analysis and synthesis), downstream (the implementation) and sideways (another process). The output should also be able to target the need of moving upwards if necessary (the strategy process and the corporate or company strategy). Chap. 5 is probably the most important chapter of the book, as it deals with the issue how to assure the effectiveness of the improvement work where it really counts, i.e. on the process level. The presentation is thus detailed which may require, at least initially, a higher concentration level compared with the previous chapters. A too hasty run-through of the first three chapters may also cause problems when digesting the contents and message of this chapter in detail. Chapter 5 starts with an introduction (Sect. 5.1) and an overview (Sect. 5.2) the purpose of which is to prepare you with the big picture and the outline of the concepts related to this phase of the HPPI process. Reading these two sections with adequate time and reflection paves the way for understanding the subsequent M. Pastinen, High-Performance Process Improvement, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-10784-9_5, # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010

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sections. The essence of Chap. 5 is the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis method presented in Sects. 5.3–5.6. The output of the method is the highclass process improvement plan called VISTALIZER1 Report. This output is one of the key issues when raising the PIY level according to the requirements of HPPI. The presentation contains also several cases to illustrate a certain functionality or feature of the method. Section 5.7 defines and discusses the T and V values from a process analysis and synthesis perspective and defines the related performance of the considered method. The chapter ends with a summary and concluding remarks.

5.1

Introduction

The commonly used analysis approaches1 used to improve the performance of a company and the related processes are not necessarily bad as such. The situation changes dramatically when aiming at HPPI conducted at the adequate ambition level. Most approaches fall short of providing any substantial means or leverage for detecting, improving and managing the ambition levels of both the focus process and the improvement work itself. Another crucial shortage is that the time and cost performance requirements of the improvement activities are neither met. The fundamental deficit from a process analysis perspective is that these approaches provide information that is either too general or too narrow. The collection of irrelevant and biased data is also a problem. Such an inadequate input restricts the possibility of producing a high-quality synthesis from the outset. A high-class method for process analysis is applicable in a variety of companies without losing perspective and focus in terms of the data collected and the information cultivated. Another critical shortage is that almost every analysis approach aiming at improving the company and process performance is diagnostic-only by nature and does not offer much of a synthesis and treatment. The diagnosis is derived from criteria, which are more or less fixed. This means that you obtain a diagnosis in terms of some rather narrow problem area. For instance, if you apply a customer satisfaction survey, you will probably get some conclusions regarding the purchasing decision of your customers, for instance, “the product is 30% too expensive” or “delivery time should be cut by 40% to be competitive”. On the other hand, if you go for an employee satisfaction survey, you will probably receive some insights what the employees feel and think, for example, “the working conditions are bad” or “motivation could be improved”. Furthermore, if you utilize quality award criteria your award is a broad indicator of the general state-of-affairs of your company. These single statements suggest some areas of improvement. If different tools or approaches are used, different improvement areas are identified. Which of 1

These approaches include e.g. quality award criteria, performance measurement based approaches (incl. concepts such as scorecards, six sigma and different kinds of satisfaction surveys) and the “House of Quality” and “Voice-Of-The-Customer” (Quality Function Deployment).

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these areas are most important to improve and why? Were all areas properly considered or were some areas omitted? If you only have a hammer or a toolbox, everything. . . It is clear that this is a very crucial issue, as the proper selection of the improvement objects has a remarkable effect when realizing the improvement potential. This includes also the way the selection is made, not only the end-result of picking the improvement objects. It could be argued that any diagnostic tool could be used, and once the diagnosis is known application of improvement tools such as the seven quality tools and the seven management tools should follow, maybe in the context of the PDCA logic. This approach is not entirely advisable because the result of the analysis is to some extent already decided by the selection of the analysis approach. Of course, supporting tools should be utilized where appropriate when the problem is known. After the problem has been isolated, it is rather easy to choose which improvement tool to use. Another consideration is to know if the problem is relevant from a total perspective. Fundamentally, there are two approaches to picking a problem to solve or an improvement object to cultivate. The first argues that some structure or approach should be applied to select the relevant few from the trivial many. The second says “ad hoc” selection of a problem or improvement object is possible, after which a solution is sought and implemented. The first approach is more commonly used in large organizations whereas the second approach is applied in small companies. In large companies, formal structures are important, but this is not necessarily the case in small companies. In the ad hoc or “anarchistic” approach, there is no need to “waste” resources by analyzing the situation. It is possible to pick any problem and start solving it, possibly with the help of some supporting logic.2 The activities may be coordinated at a strategic level by a common vision, which may be to some extent vague. This vision communicates the desired future state of the company. Therefore, there is no preceding method or formal approach stating that it is advisable to concentrate on some specific problem. The advantage of this approach is that it does not consume plenty of resources as far as the initial analysis is concerned. In any event, it will concentrate on problems, which the person in question believes to be relevant. The coordination of the activities relies on the close interaction between key players, which is possible in small companies. The fact that no formal approach is used to analyze the initial situation may be due to lack of knowledge and experience as far as the improvement of processes is concerned.3 Many times contributing factors include also a restless nature of the key persons and a company culture that tend to fix problems reactively once they have escalated enough (admiration of “fire fighters”). 2

E.g. the PDCA logic and related improvement tools (Pareto analysis, scatter diagram, check sheets, etc.). 3 Compare with the principle “anything goes”. If you do not know about anything better, something in the right direction will suffice. This will improve the absolute performance level of the company, but not necessarily the relative performance level.

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A general problem when analyzing processes is the bias of the collected data. A person who has the strongest will (or voice) can affect the coordination, which relies heavily on the close interaction between key players. For instance, one key player may have to some extent an “aggressive” nature, which the other key players are afraid of. This aggressive person may also be the opinion leader, which means that this domineering person dictates the improvement efforts. After all, these efforts may not be the best because there can be some problems that are more crucial, but do not get any attention. Examples of possible causes include4: l l

The other key players hesitate to adduce the problem The “aggressive” key player does not think that the problem in question is crucial (because he or she did not come up with it).

It may be argued that solving any problem is better that not solving even one problem. In addition, it may be argued that the focus is to learn how to use different improvement tools, and therefore any problem will do. The argument to this is that, would it not be better to focus on a relevant problem in the first place? By doing so, one could “kill two birds with one stone”. George Steiner puts it nicely when considering the issue of formal strategic planning. The reflection below is also applicable in the context of process analysis and synthesis. “If an organization is managed by intuitive geniuses, there is no need for formal strategic planning. But how many organizations are so blessed? And if they are, how many times are intuitives correct in their judgments?” (Steiner 1979).

From a method point of view, the problem is not to find a problem and solve it. The problem is to find a relevant problem and solve it properly. Such an objective brings the improvement efforts to a higher ambition level that also increases the impact on the business results. Considering also the time and cost requirements related to the improvement work increases the ambition level further. It is not an easy task to achieve a sound balance between sight and focus without having some structured approach to getting things right. In the short run, success through good luck without using a structured approach is possible, but this will probably not be the case in the long run. The anarchistic approach concentrates on “making things right”, but it does not consider to any larger extent how to “make right things”. If the aim is to “make right things right” it seems that the anarchistic approach overlooks one important component without which improvement efforts are likely to fail. Besides, the performance requirements of the improvement activities have to be considered. What is missing is a method that integrates different views and, based on this knowledge, derives a result that is directly useful in terms of solving problems. It is crucial that the link from the diagnosis to treatment is not too long. Statements like “the product is 30% too expensive” and “motivation could be improved” should be translated into more operational terms to be useful. This requires a proper balance

4

This is also true for the structured approach.

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between sight and focus. It is obvious that most of the structured approaches used today do not properly address these aspects. Therefore, the anarchistic approach is in many cases a good choice when improving the processes of the company. This does not necessarily mean that this approach is effective. Thus, “anything goes” as far as it improves the processes in some way.

5.2

Overview

This chapter focuses on the presentation of a high-performance approach to process analysis and synthesis that complies with the requirements considered in Chaps. 1–3. The name of the method is “VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis”.5 The objective of the method is to create a high-class improvement plan under tight time and cost constraints. The method produces a fully customized output, the VISTALIZER1 Report, using a standardized production process. Ideally, it utilizes measured data and information, but if this is not possible, it relies on estimations made by those persons that know the focus process best. The analysis and synthesis are ideally done by a highly qualified expert because the method and the produced output, i.e. the process improvement plan VISTALIZER1 Report, require a thorough understanding of the theory and practice of HPPI. Whether the consultant needs to be an internal or external change agent depends on the specific situation. To capitalize on the advantages and avoid the disadvantages of being an internal change agent internal consultants can work together with outsiders as a team. External consultants possess, generally speaking, several advantages such as being independent and having new perspectives. As insiders, people are intimately involved with the well-being of the organization and themselves, which gives them a different motivation than the financial compensation for initiating and running change processes. Advantages of internal consultants include the following (Hunsaker 1985): l

l

l

l

5

They know the system: where the power is, who the opinion leaders are, where the strategic leverage points are. They understand and speak the language of the organization: the special ways members refer to things; the tone and style of discussing things. They understand the norms: the commonly held beliefs, attitudes and behaviors; they probably follow and behave in accordance with them. They identify with the organization’s needs and aspirations: if the organization prospers, it will also probably help them, so they have a personal incentive for helping.

The scientific verification of the method considered in this chapter is presented in the doctoral dissertation (Helsinki University of Technology, Finland) “Process Improvement Essentials: A Framework for Creating and Implementing Operational Improvement Plans” written by me and published by Vistalize in 1998 (second edition in 2000). ISBN 951-97912-0-5.

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They are familiar figures: what they are trying to do is understandable as “member” behavior; they do not represent the threat of an unfamiliar outside force.

Naturally, being an internal consultant brings along also some disadvantages (Hunsaker 1985): l

l

l

l

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l

They may lack an “objective” perspective: because of their involvement and history with the organization, they may be biased or not able to see the organization as a whole system. They may not have the special knowledge or skill required: since consulting is not their primary vocation, they may not have had enough training to be a true expert in the change situation. They may not have an adequate power base: unless being at the top of the organization, their plans may be confronted by superiors or competing peers. They may be hindered by past images: they may have to lie down past failures or hostility generated by past successes. They may not have independence of movement required to be effective: the obligations of their job may severely limit the time and energy that they can invest in a change agent role. It may be difficult to refine their on-going relationships with other members of the organization: when taking on the change agent role they must be able to change the expectations that their associates have about how they will behave and how the associates will relate to them.

The quality and performance requirements related to this sub-process or phase of the generic HPPI process are demanding as considered earlier. It is not sufficient only to consider the process analysis and synthesis approach as such. It is equally important to understand the importance of designing and implementing a concept, approach and the supporting means for producing duly educated and trained persons capable of mastering both the related production process and the final output. A high-class solution in this regard will not only comply with the requirements of HPPI, but will also make it an interesting business case. The question how to raise and maintain the quality level of the consultants (method experts) in a fast and cost-effective way deserves also attention. If the consultants are able to produce valuable solutions to their clients in a fast and cost-effective way, this provides a way for all parties to make more money. This means that the measured quality of any VISTALIZER1 Report is close to the specified requirements and the quality variation is low. The solution for producing a VISTALIZER1 Report according to the specifications is called VISTALIZER1 for Consultants. It assures the appropriate knowledge and skills of the person in charge of implementing the related method and producing the final output. The VISTALIZER1 for Consultants solution contains education, training and supporting software. The whole is managed by a concept named VISTALIZER1 Center of Excellence as mentioned earlier in Sect. 3.5. The center could be seen as a support process of the generic HPPI process. This support process is activated and run once a need for educating and training an expert arises.

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The final part of this overview considers the supporting whole assuring the quality of the expert or consultant implementing the method (Sect. 5.2.1) and the framework of said method (Sect. 5.2.2). Sections 5.3–5.6 present and discuss the method in detail.

5.2.1

The VISTALIZER1 for Consultants Concept

The VISTALIZER1 for Consultants solution contains the required means of assuring the knowledge and skills of the internal or external expert/consultant implementing the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis Synthesis method. This technology supports considerably the production of VISTALIZER1 Reports that meet the requirements of HPPI. The main means of assuring this are: l l l l

A thorough education of the related theory and practice A thorough real-life training The software VISTALIZER1 for Consultants Feedback and additional education and training (if needed).

The education contains six half-day modules covering the substance needed to grasp the whole from a process improvement and commercial point of view. The training contains at least four VISTALIZER1 Reports produced under the supervision of a senior authorized expert assigned by the VISTALIZER1 Center of Excellence. In the first two reports, the master is the principal consultant of the assignment whereas the apprentice makes observations and notes. Both produce a report. If the masters evaluates that the second report is of sufficient quality, then the master and apprentice change roles so that the apprentice will act as the principal consultant and the master makes observations and notes. The master will assure that the process will proceed smoothly. In any case, there will be a high-class process improvement plan that is subject to invoicing according to the agreement with the client. The software VISTALIZER1 for Consultants provides extensive support for attaining and maintaining the knowledge and skills related to the method, and the production of the report (Fig. 5.1). It is worthwhile noticing that the most important issue is a good command of the method. The software provides only a support to understand the method and to enhance the creation of the report.

5.2.2

The VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis Framework

Different persons participate in the data collection and initial analysis phase to get the information needed for the analysis. These people include people representing

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Fig. 5.1 The interface of the software VISTALIZER1 for Consultants6

the owners (the management or the process owner), employees (key operative persons or the sub-process owners) and customers. These three groups of people correspond to the three most important stakeholders of the company and have to be case specific defined. The VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis Synthesis method is divided into four distinct phases (Fig. 5.2). The first phase is a coordinating phase where the focus is on analyzing and modeling the environment in the extent required. The second phase collects the basic data and information regarding the performance of the focus process. In addition, the preliminary performance objectives of the process are stated, from which the monetary gain basis is evaluated and calibrated. The third phase cultivates the data of the second phase into information that takes the shape of sub-process specific analyses that define improvement initiatives for each subprocess. This analysis includes an estimate of the improvement potential from both a performance (time, quality and costs) and monetary point of view (outcome). The fourth phase includes an extended analysis covering both internal (supporting efforts and systems) and external issues (customers’ considerations) besides the main issue of the Phase 4, i.e. the cultivation of all analysis results into a synthesis that also contains motivated recommendations. Figure 5.3 presents the flow chart and average time allocation of said method. The time consumed by the approach is in the range of 5–7 h for each of the attending persons. The number of attending key persons is usually eight to fifteen persons.

6

Graphics and picture drawn by Jesperi Vara. Published with due permission of Vistalize Oy.

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Fig. 5.2 The framework of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis method. The figure serves also as a memory booster for the person implementing the method

Fig. 5.3 The flow chart of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis Synthesis method

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Example Agenda/Day 1 08:00–08:10 Introductory words by the Process Owner (director in charge) 08:10–08:30 Introduction, objectives, roles, the agenda of the day (the consultant) 08:30–09:20 Module 1: Definition of the rough process model of the focus process The objective of this module is to create a common understanding how the required output is produced today. The main driver is to define what phases or activities are currently utilized to cultivate the input to the desired output. Geographical or organizational issues will not affect the definition because of the applied process perspective. Please note that possible shortcomings or improvement opportunities (e.g. re-engineering possibilities) are not considered at all in this module, as these issues will be addressed later on. 09:20–09:50 Module 2: Defining the most crucial performance parameters The objective of this module is to define three to five (at most six) process performance parameters that will form the backbone of the process performance. The selected parameters need to relate to time, quality and/or costs. 09:50–11:50 Module 3: Creating an impact field The impact field is a matrix that depicts the performance of the focus process in terms of the selected performance parameters. To do this the attending persons will first individually and then together consider how the performance parameters are consumed or are generated in relation to the process model (expressed as %). It is not necessary to have measured data regarding the absolute performance regarding the selected performance parameters, as the method is able to utilize the experience of the attending persons. 11:50–12:10 Support Module: Planning for Module 5 and consideration of gaining customer opinions This support module defines the attending persons (interviewees) of Module 5 (sub-process or phase specific sessions) and schedules (roughly) the forthcoming sessions on an individual level. In addition, the issue how to gain an understanding of customer opinions may be considered in this connection. 12:10–12:40 Module 4: Management’s module In this module, the management of the process will, among other issues, set parameter specific priorities and objectives that are compared to the confirmed improvement potential. How to gain an understanding of customer opinions is considered in this connection (if needed). 12:40–14:00 Break/Lunch ***Option Starts*** 14:00–18:00 Module 5: Identification of possibilities of improvement (sub-process specifically)7 The Module 5 (the basic analysis) considers, among other issues, (on a rough level) the possibilities to re-engineer and/or utilize more evolutionary approaches to improve the total process performance. It will also consider how people, technology, information and material interact to produce the desired output. This understanding provides also an input for the advanced analysis that is conducted on behalf of the consultant. The estimated time to deal with one sub-process is 45–90 min. depending on the nature of the sub-process. The required time consumption can be to some extent predicted based on the outcome of Module 3. ***Option Ends*** Day 2 08:00–12:00 Module 5: Identification of possibilities of improvement (sub-process specifically) 12:00–13:00 Break/Lunch 13:00–16:00 Module 5 continues 7

Usually Module 5 is run on Day 2. In complex and large settings, it can also be run on Day 1 in addition to on Day 2.

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The end-result is an improvement plan that contains typically 50–70 pages (A4) providing a process specific improvement yield of 100% (T Value). The plan covers the following aspects or areas: l

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The needs/demands of three crucial stakeholders (customers, employees, owners) The process capability (strategic and operational, incl. possible change resistance) The process model and the related process performance (time, quality, costs) Identification of improvement objects (problems), prioritizing, creation of preliminary improvement suggestions (incl. consideration of possible other ongoing actions) Level of the management and improvement system and related improvement proposals Commitment and motivation of key persons (! active contribution), a real deployment of actions (! implementation using mainly the PDCA logic), performance measures Synthesis, the net financial value of the actions (e.g.  , £ or $), effect on the process performance, strategic weights and the roll-out plan (12 months).

It is important that the method contains built-in features that activate and motivate the key persons. One of the cornerstones of the presented method is that the persons running and managing the focus process have an active role when carrying out the data collection and basic analysis. The role of the consultant is to keep the data collection, analysis and synthesis phases on the right track and based on the findings compose the improvement plan that includes qualified recommendations and conclusions. Besides increasing the substance quality, this contributes to implementing the suggested improvement objects successfully. The data collection and analysis approach utilizes a top-down and bottom-up approach that makes active selections between sight and focus to assure the correct input for the synthesis phase. Seasoned experts or consultants should be aware that even apparently similar cases are in essence unique and do not provide any opportunity for making short cuts. The actual improvement objects identified and the proposed solutions and their impact on the business result can vary greatly even if the quality handbook or process model says that the processes are identical. A process analysis and synthesis approach based on averages or best practices does not provide any real leverage in terms of achieving and maintaining a continuous mode of high-performance process improvement. As the answer or definition of a preceding question/consideration provides the basis for the next question/consideration, it is not possible to leave out a sub-phase or change the process flow. The proper management and implementation of the method depend on how well the consultant in charge masters the required knowledge base to process improvement (briefly discussed in Chap. 2) and the process analysis and synthesis approach (discussed in this chapter) as discussed in Sect. 1.9 (Fig. 1.3). The benefits of applying such a logic in this connection are manifold. Firstly, it directs continuously the data collection and the related discussions in the

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correct direction and finishes the collection and discussion at the right time. Secondly, it adapts the data collection and discussion to the appropriate ambition level. Conducting the data collection at the wrong ambition level decreases the quality of the output and lowers the possibility to create a high-class process improvement plan that targets the correct ambition levels (the focus process and the produced output). Thirdly, it makes a substance quality control possible from the beginning, decreasing substantially the possibility for applying (unconsciously) the logic “garbage in, garbage out”. These issues, although fundamental, are very seldom considered, as the traditionally applied methods (e.g. hoshin kanri) do not contain any logic for addressing these issues in a systematic and result-oriented way. The implication of these considerations is that it is not sufficient as such to cover the issues listed in the criteria of a high-class process improvement plan (cp. e.g. Sect. 2.4.1 or this section), as the cause-and-effect chains between the different pieces of data, information and knowledge presented in the process improvement plan may be wrong, obscure or missing. The real contribution to the process improvement yield level may be zero or very low even though all issues are formally presented in the process improvement plan.

5.3

Phase 1: Initiation and Modeling

The first phase consists of three sub-phases: the initiation, modeling of the focus process and limitation of the data collection and process analysis (Table 5.1).8 Prior to Phase 1.1 there may be a preceding phase (Phase 0) where the approach is presented more thoroughly to the key persons attending the data collection (on Day 1) and basic process analysis (on Day 2). These persons should have the best or at least an adequate understanding of how the focus process operates and functions, from both a total process and sub-process perspective. The key persons should therefore represent three organizational levels, i.e. the management of the process Table 5.1 The sub-phases of the first phase of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis approach Phase Main objective Participants Phase 1.1 Initiation to facilitate the analysis All (management and operative key persons) Phase 1.2 Definition of an adequate process model All (management and operative key persons) Phase 1.3 Scope definition; limitation of the data collection All (management and and process analysis (if needed) operative key persons)

8

Strictly speaking the phases should have a numbering starting with “2” (e.g. Phase 1.1 should be Phase 2.1.1), as these activities relate to Phase 2 of the generic process improvement process. However, the shorter notification is used throughout the chapter.

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(process owner; executives or directors), the sub-process owners (managers) and team leaders or team members. Preferably, this group of people attending Day 1 should not exceed twenty persons, as the dynamics of a larger group is inferior to a smaller one. In addition, practical obstacles related to, for example, individual schedules, the means of conveyance, hotels and the venue emerge. Applying teleconference systems may decrease some of the obstacles, but experience has shown that the quality of the phases may potentially decrease in such a case. However, modern telepresence technologies have decreased this concern substantially. Usually it is fully adequate to identify eight to fifteen persons, as this number of people is likely to provide the data collection and process analysis with the adequate input. On Day 2, the dynamics is different, as the process analysis normally utilizes a smaller and targeted group of people for each sub-process or phase.

5.3.1

Initiation of the Analysis (Phase 1.1)

To facilitate the analysis the consultant or expert in charge has to make sure that the participants understand the objectives, roles and the agenda of the day. The same information has normally also been sent to all participants in advance. An example of such an agenda is presented on page 100. The case example depicts a complex and large global process. As seen in the agenda, the practical work is divided into five modules (or sub-phases) and one supporting module corresponding to Phases 1.1–3.2 in the related process flow chart (cp. Fig. 5.3). It is worthwhile noticing that the attending persons do not have to be aware of how the method operates. From a practical point of view, this time frame is flexible and resource-efficient. It allows running Phases 1–3 in two subsequent days and makes it possible to plan the schedules of the attending people at a reasonable accuracy level. From the consultant’s point of view, these time requirements are equally attractive. This set-up makes it possible for a single consultant to deliver VISTALIZER1 Reports in a reasonably large geographical area, for example most of Europe, and stay only one night, at most two nights, in a hotel per each delivery. For those that travel a lot this is an exciting attribute and a real boon that probably has to be experienced personally to appreciate fully. The feeling of utilizing such an advanced approach to process analysis and synthesis and creating a high-class output within the time limits set is professionally a rewarding experience that is hard to beat. This provides the consultant with a substantial support to reach Maslow’s Level 5 (recall Sect. 2.2.2.2).

5.3.2

Modeling of the Focus Process (Phase 1.2)

The modeling is not done for the sake of modeling. The output of Phase 1.2 makes it possible to plan for forthcoming data collection and analysis phases. Besides, it provides a rough picture of the cash (value) generating logic the company applies.

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This means that any process model will not do. Fundamental issues when defining the appropriate process model are the chronological order, meaning/focus and the relevance of the value adding or cash generating activities. Briefly put the process model provides the outlines of the cause-and-effect chain that is at this point yet to be revealed (and improved). The VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis method utilizes the principles presented in Sect. 2.2.1 to divide the company or organizational unit into comprehensive parts. Using the definition based on the impact of the process on the direct (core process) or indirect (support process) cash flow provides a straightforward way to divide the company into appropriate process categories. Principally it is also possible to model only the focus process. This is done, for instance, when analyzing a large process operating in different countries utilizing resources from different companies or units (Figs. 5.4 and 5.5).

Fig. 5.4 The general structure and flow for adding value of a global corporation (mechanical engineering industry, the technical support process with 450 employees)

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Fig. 5.5 The flow chart of the case presented in Fig. 5.4

Figure 5.4 depicts the hierarchical structure of the contributing parts regarding that specific case. Within these parts, there is furthermore an organizational hierarchy that takes the shape of a matrix organization. From a process analysis perspective this structure contains at most four organizational levels, i.e. the Vice President (the process owner) and for each contributing part (GSC, SC TS, CC, NC TS) the managers (sub-process owners), team leaders (where applicable) and team members or employees. Above the Vice President are a Group Vice President and the President & CEO. These levels are not crucial from a process analysis perspective, as the significant organizational levels are the ones ranging from the process owner to the level where the actual work is conducted. Figure 5.5 shows the corresponding process model of the case presented in Fig. 5.4. As seen in Fig. 5.5, the hierarchical structure of the contributing parts is transferred into process phases, whereas the organizational hierarchy remains. Principally, it would be possible within the time limit to list other processes (e.g. all end-to-end processes), but this should be done only if the extended modeling would likely provide benefits (relevance check). An extended process model or a more detailed model should not be done just in case or for the case of perfection. In any case, the modeling should not take more time than 1 h, preferably less than 40 min. Therefore, it is crucial to create a model that serves the purpose, not to model every aspect in detail. In complex settings, a rough process model may be predefined in Phase 0. In simpler settings, it is possible to model the whole company as shown in Fig. 5.6. The number of the sub-processes or phases of a process depends naturally on the case, but a good span is six to fourteen sub-processes. In large settings, the number of sub-processes may be in the range of 20 even if the total end-to-end process is not considered (cp. Fig. 5.5 omitting the GSC part). If the amount is five or less then it is likely that at least one or two of the sub-processes should be split

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Fig. 5.6 The process model of the whole company (precision plastic products, the tool manufacturing core process with 150 employees)

Fig. 5.7 The process model in its simplest form (HVAC equipment manufacturer, the export process with nine employees)

into phases that are more detailed. If the amount of sub-processes exceeds fourteen then it is likely that the modeling has been too detailed and some sub-processes may be grouped together without loosing sight or focus. A core process consists typically of phases or functions dealing with order management, production planning, production, shipping and invoice management. The support processes are typically processes dealing with product development, sales (may also be part of the core process), marketing, management (human resources, finance, etc.). The focus process is always divided into smaller phases, functions or sub-processes. A support process will be broken down to the subprocess level only if it is chosen to be the focus process. Figure 5.7 presents in its simplest form an example of such a case. As the modeling phase is subject to a certain time limit (30–60 min) that needs to be honored, it is important that the available time is used effectively. In some cases, the process thinking in the company may be so undeveloped that the process modeling would benefit from an increased level of understanding in this regard. Consider the case below (Pastinen 1998). Because the client company was rather unfamiliar with the various process improvement concepts, the consultant thought that he had to communicate thoroughly what process orientation is all about. To facilitate this objective he turned to his set of transparencies (Fig. 5.8).

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Fig. 5.8 A picture to visualize process orientation and the potential for improvement9

Using the transparency depicted in Fig. 5.8, the consultant showed examples of activities belonging to the core process10 (numbers 2 [order management], 4 [production planning], 5 [production] and 7[packaging]). Additionally, he could visualize what a support process is (numbers 3 [marketing and sales] and 6 [management]). The picture also shows some improvement potential that may be revealed in the process analysis. Thinking in terms of processes was a new approach for the client company. Hence, the consultant made an effort to communicate the difference between a core process and a support process. He stressed that the customer may receive a high-quality product even though the processes are not that good. This may be done by inspecting the final assembly and rejecting products not meeting the requirements. The employees and managers started to discuss what different processes belonged to the company. At first, there was a clear production orientation in the discussion. Remembering the definition of a core process (direct influence on the company’s cash flow) and the support process (indirect influence on the company’s cash flow), the attending persons all agreed that the core process had to be something more than production related functions. After a discussion lasting 15 min, the managers and employees had reached an agreement about how to depict the company in a core process and support processes. The different subprocesses belonging to the core process were labeled P1–P4 (P1 ¼ Order Management, P2 ¼ Production, P3 ¼ Packaging and Delivery, P4 ¼ Mailing of Invoice). The different support processes were labeled S1–S3 (S1 ¼ Management, such as Financial Management, Human Resource Management, etc., S2 ¼ Product Development, S3 ¼ Maintenance).11

9

This picture, a visualization of Fig. 2.1 except of the suppliers, was drawn by Harri Pakarinen and is part of the VISTALIZER1 for Consultants software. It is published with due permission of Vistalize Oy. 10 #1 ¼ the customer. 11 The number of sub-processes is usually larger. To simplify the presentation the number of different sub-processes was restricted to four. The correct sequence would have been P1 Order Management, P2 Production Planning, P3 Preparation of Production, P4 Production, P5 Packaging, P6 Delivery, and P7 Sending of the Invoice (Invoice Management). The finer a classification, the more accurate is the analysis. A too fine a classification can potentially result in a loss of sight.

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5 Process Analysis and Synthesis

Scope Definition and Data Collection Planning (Phase 1.3)

The scope definition and the related data collection planning are done in two mutually non-exclusive areas: l l

Selection of the process to analyze Limitation of the selected process; sight (length) and focus (depth).

If the process has not been selected before and a process model containing several processes has been created, then the focus process has to be formally selected. Usually this issue relates more to smaller companies with 50 employees or less, but it can also be a sign of insufficient preparations, a changed point of view, or new information. As the current and forthcoming revenues and profits relate to the current and forthcoming performance of specific processes, it is possible to emphasize a certain part of that cash generating mechanism. Ideally, all essential processes should be subject to a high-class process analysis and synthesis on a regular basis (12–18 months). Such an approach contributes substantially to increasing and maintaining the PIY level. The research and development, marketing, sales, order-delivery and after sales processes have all their unique impact on the overall performance of the company. One possibility is to focus on the processes belonging to the core process category first because these processes affect the cash flow directly. If the core processes are functioning well, then the emphasis is moved to the support processes. The analysis of a certain process reveals in many cases weak points in other processes, even external ones, which spurs the analysis of these processes. Once the focus process has been chosen, the scope of the data collection and analysis has to be defined. The sight or length limitation deals with how many subprocesses can be covered in one run. There is no definite limitation in this regard, but practice has shown that this figure should not exceed 14. To increase this figure to 20 would require approximately one additional day (Day 3). For example, the case in Fig. 5.5 was limited to cover the sub-processes P1.1.1–P2.3 (totally fourteen sub-processes). The delivery time could potentially be increased by a few days if the number of the sub-processes exceeds the standard upper limit. A figure above fifteen sub-processes is in most cases unlikely and is probably due to an imperfect process model although large and complex processes may even have up to 30 subprocesses. The VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis approach covers up to three significant organizational levels with unaffected capabilities to cover required details in the data collection, analysis and synthesis phases.12 This coverage is the focus or depth of the approach. In cases where the significant organizational levels amount to four it is usually possible to adjust the number to three significant levels by, for instance, treating the team leader level and team member level as one 12

The significant organizational levels are the ones ranging from the process owner to the level where the actual work is conducted.

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level. If the significant organizational levels amount to five, it is still feasible to group the levels from a process analysis perspective to three levels, for example, top-management (Vice President and directors), middle management (managers) and employees (team leaders and team members).13 The main restriction comes from that the key persons involved in the data collection on Day 1 should not exceed 20 as considered earlier. The core process includes everything between order receipt and reception of payment. It is possible to analyze a narrower part of this chain, but it has to be clearly articulated. One example is the analysis of the chain from order receipt to the point of shipment/delivery, but this analysis is not as customer-oriented as the former. Consider the following case description for example (Pastinen 1998). The selection of the process for analysis was done in minutes. The Managing Director of the small manufacturing company claimed that the most urgent process to improve was the core process. The employees agreed. The consultant pointed out that it was most important to concentrate on basic things first. After that, it would be possible to consider other processes. Besides, the analysis could reveal some deficits in the core process that were due to a malfunctioning support process. In such a case, the improvement efforts would naturally also consider the support process. The Managing Director argued that the mailing of the invoice (invoice management) at the end of the core process could be omitted. He said the mailing of invoices was working very well and he had not heard of any troubles regarding this matter. However, some of the employees thought that this would affect the balance of the core process. One of the employees had the feeling that there could be an improvement potential for this activity as well. This was because of the fact that approximately five customers called the company each month because of some questions about the invoice. The person receiving the calls was not the one writing the invoice. She did, however, deliver the invoice personally to the customers when delivering the things produced on a daily basis. Hence, it was natural to get “face-to-face” feedback from unsatisfied customers. However, this information never made its way to the attention of the Managing Director or to the person who wrote the invoice. One employee said that it was a waste of time and money both for the customer and the company if things were not done right in the first place. The Managing Director reconsidered his statement and found that the employees were right. Therefore, the object of the analysis was the whole core process.

5.4

Phase 2: Data Collection and Basic Definitions

The second phase, conducted on Day 1, examines the focus process with respect to the process performance parameters chosen. It forms the basis for decision-making and defines crucial aspects such as the process improvement demands (objectives) and the related monetary gain. Table 5.2 describes the structure of the second phase.

13

Top-management, middle management and team leaders attend the specific sessions on Day 1 and the team leaders and team members attend the related sessions on Day 2.

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Table 5.2 The sub-phases of the second phase of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis approach Phase Main objective Participants Phase 2.1 Determination of the process performance All (management and parameters (analysis parameters) operative key persons) Phase 2.2 Creation of the impact field All (management and Definition of the impact field supplements operative key persons) The Support Module End of Day 1 (operative key persons) Phase 2.3 Giving priority to the analysis parameters Management Phase 2.4 Calculation of Criterion 1 The consultant/expert Calculation of the reliability of the impact field Phase 2.5 Definition of the customers taking part in the Management satisfaction inquiry (option) and planning for the inquiry, if not conducted in the Support Module (the inquiry is conducted in Phase 3.3) Phase 2.6 Objectives of the parameters Management Evaluation of the monetary gains with respect to the set objectives Derivation of performance criteria End of Day 1 (management)

5.4.1

Determination of the Process Performance Parameters (Phase 2.1)

The definition of the term “process performance parameter”, or from a process analysis point of view “analysis parameter”, is presented below. An analysis parameter (shortened parameter) is a quantity or a derivative of it, which depicts the performance of a process (Pastinen 1998).

To depict the performance of the processes versatile and appropriate parameters should be chosen. The chosen parameters should be by nature cause parameters of desired effect parameters related to increasing the satisfaction of customers, employees and owners. These cause parameters are, of course, effect parameters if the parameters are considered from a root cause perspective. From an end-result perspective, they can be seen as cause parameters in this connection. A necessary and sufficient parameter spread is achieved by choosing at least one parameter from each main category, i.e. time, quality and costs (money). Success in terms of these three parameters is the basis for success in the market. The main issue when choosing the parameters is to concretize the very essence of the process performance in three to five essential parameters (Fig. 5.9). The question posed in this connection is: “What are the vital few process performance parameters the process has to excel in?”.

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Fig. 5.9 The vital few parameters are chosen from the trivial many to form the spine of the (future) high-performance process14

The difference between performance measurement criteria15 and analysis parameters is that the performance measurement criteria generate measured facts (performance measures), whereas the analysis parameters can be based on, and generate, measured facts, estimates, and even future performance. Understanding this key difference is crucial to comprehending the potential and the quality of the method in a larger context.16 Of course, in certain settings and in certain phases of the considered process analysis and synthesis method, the analysis parameters may be equivalent to the performance measurement criteria. This is the case, if the company applies a high-class process-oriented performance measurement system, and the analysis parameters or the related values are not used in a future context. A differentiation in terms of time, quality and costs is no longer the key to success. Nowadays companies have to master all three aspects. The formula for success would be, roughly speaking, high-quality products (services) produced by high-performance processes, which produce the desired output using considerably less money and time than before. As the improvement activities are supposed to increase in a systematic and result-oriented way both the ambition level of the processes and the produced output, a specially designed dynamics is required to deal with this issue from a total process improvement perspective. One major part of this dynamics is the selection of the appropriate analysis parameters or process performance parameters. The parameters used for the analysis are case specific although a fairly limited set of parameters are suitable and crucial for cases operating at the same ambition level. The parameters reflect the current areas of importance, which are derived from the management’s and key persons’ intuition, the competitive situation, future performance needs and customer demands. The analysis is executable even if only one parameter is chosen although this solution is not optimal. In such a setting, it is much harder to detect contradictory 14

This picture was drawn by Harri Pakarinen. It is published with due permission of Vistalize Oy. Performance measures are the actual values of the performance measurement criteria. 16 Most (all) of the LPPI analysis methods require measured facts to be operational. 15

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measures, essential improvement objects and define the total financial outcome. The optimal solution includes one to two parameters from all three main parameter groups. For example, it is possible to choose one parameter relating to quality, two parameters relating to time and one parameter relating to costs. The three types of main parameters closely influence one another. Usually the improvement of two parameters results in an improvement of the third. It is therefore hard to exclude more than one parameter group. For example, if a process produces many defects, it will increase costs and the time required to redo the work. In the same way, decreasing costs and time by finding better (simpler) ways of doing the work, for instance, by eliminating unnecessary phases may increase quality, as the opportunities for failures to occur may have decreased. A faster process affects positively also the inventory levels and the response ability. These issues translate into cost savings and possibilities to earn more money. In companies with a rather undeveloped improvement culture Phase 2.1 may cause some discussions. It is important to reach a common understanding of what constitutes a parameter and what it means in practice. Because the focus process usually cuts across different functions and sub-processes, people may comprehend the meaning of a parameter in different ways. This makes the analysis somewhat more difficult, as the communication between the attending parties suffers. Such a miscommunication causes unnecessary troubles and time losses in future phases of the data collection and analysis, as issues need to be repeated and checked more than otherwise required. Basing the perceptions on inadequate initial data may potentially result in a biased data collection that is detected and corrected no sooner than in the analysis phase (Day 2). The VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis approach has a built-in logic for detecting intentionally or unintentionally biased data and information. The creation of a high-class process improvement plan is constantly subject to the dilemma of “garbage in, garbage out”. It is always better to prevent problems from arising in the first place than correcting problems afterwards, as no substance quality control can be fully foolproof in this respect. The good news is that the bias detecting capability of the method is reasonably high. It is based on a crosscheck between the impact field (Phase 2.2.) and the issues considered in Phase 3 of the method, i.e. where the data of the impact field is cultivated into information. The impact field allocation has to be verified to a reasonable degree, i.e. the %-allocations have to be assigned a meaning in correspondence with the weight (made in Phase 3.1). If the mismatch between these issues is too big then the difference has to be analyzed. The options in such a case are to make the required corrections or accept the difference with a motivation. Unintentional bias due to misunderstanding is detected even if all attending persons (management and the operative key persons) would have misunderstood some issue. This is a potential pitfall especially in cases where the focus process is new or still at the planning phase. The choice of parameters directs the analysis heavily and provides the expert or consultant in charge with important hints how to proceed with the phases and what to consider more thoroughly. Attention should be paid to choosing parameters that are crucial for the business. Another selection criterion is that the analysis parameters should be relatively easy to quantify in monetary terms. The ambition levels of the

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focus process and the produced output determine the ambition level of the process analysis and synthesis and the related output (VISTALIZER1 Report). It is therefore not possible at this stage to determine what the appropriate ambition levels are. 5.4.1.1

Time Analysis Parameters

The analysis parameters are, as stated before, case specific. Because of their process-orientation, they are adaptable to a wide range of processes and different cases. The time parameter can have different implications. In terms of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis method, the focus is on the time consumed by the different sub-processes. Possible parameters include: The delivery time The lead time Non value-adding time The delivery certainty Time-to-market time Design-develop time The total cycle time.

l l l l l l l

Certain time parameters related to the core process whereas others relate to a support process (Fig. 5.10). For instance, the design-develop cycle tracks the performance of a support process (the R&D process), but the delivery time depicts the performance of the core process (order-delivery process). Furthermore, the total cycle time and non value-adding time track the performance of both types of processes, albeit in a different manner. The total cycle time tracks both types of processes in a “support process þ core process” setting whereas non value-adding time may track either process type or both types of processes.

Need Expressed

Solution Prepared

Time-To-Market

Product Available

Order Received

Order Handled

Product Invoice Delivered Written

Payment Received

Delivery Time Total Cycle Time

Fig. 5.10 Examples of possible time parameters17

17

This picture was drawn by Harri Pakarinen. It is published with due permission of Vistalize Oy.

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The analysis parameters should be chosen according to the time criteria considered most crucial for the success of the process and in the end the company. If a parameter reflects an end-result, then such a parameter has to be converted to a process parameter that can be allocated throughout the focus process in a consistent and easily understandable way. For instance, to convert the delivery certainty parameter into a process parameter it has to be defined as “the problems affecting the delivery certainty”. The selection of an appropriate time parameter is rather easy although there may be some difficulties, as the following case description will point out (Pastinen 1998). The Managing Director of the small manufacturing company said it would be important to consider delivery certainty as the time factor. A manager argued that it would also be important to consider the delivery time. An employee suggested the use of non-valueadding time. The consultant said that because of the fact that no measured information existed of any of the three alternatives, it would be wise to pick one parameter that reflected the other two parameters as well. The employees and managers discussed which time parameter to choose for approximately 10 min. However, they could not make up their minds, so they asked the consultant for advice. The consultant said he would willingly provide the group with advice, but stressed that it was the responsibility of the group to arrive at a common decision. Therefore, the advice should be interpreted more as a clue. The consultant said that a good choice would be delivery time because its definition would be rather clear. Additional advantages included the possibility to quantify the parameter in an easy manner and the possibility to integrate the two other parameters in the delivery time. The integration meant that non-value-adding time was already included in the delivery time. Hence, the non-value-adding time would be revealed when considering the improvement potential of specific sub-processes or functions. Delivery certainty is indirectly related to the delivery time, but it may be hard to quantify it later on. This is because no measured information was available in this respect and a sub-process specific deployment of it would not be an easy task to do. Decreasing the delivery time by removing obstacles and continuous problems would also decrease variation and improve predictability. In addition, the issue of how to define delivery certainty in practical terms may not be straightforward. Some employees argued that it is not easy to define what delivery certainty is. There was no problem understanding that a 100% delivery certainty meant that every product was sent on time to the customer. What about when the product was actually received and accepted by the customer? Such a perspective would be more customer oriented than basing the definition on the point of time when the product has been dispatched. Additionally, what does an 80% certainty level mean? Does it mean that 20% of the products did not arrive on time? If so, how should the delivery certainty be treated if the product arrived 1 min, 1 h, 1 day, 1 week or 1 month too late? If an 1-h slip was allowed, the dilemma would still exist. In some cases, the measure would not be fair. There was a good understanding about the delivery time in the company. Furthermore, the employees had an accurate view about the time spent in different sub-processes. The employees and the management considered the different views. The Managing Director proposed the use of delivery time as the time related analysis parameter. The rest of the attendants agreed.

5.4.1.2

Quality Analysis Parameters

The quality parameters track the performance of the focus process implying that no product oriented quality criterion qualifies as an analysis parameter. Possible quality-oriented analysis parameters include:

5.4 Phase 2: Data Collection and Basic Definitions l l l

l l l l

l l l

115

Non-conformance to standards (defects, not doing things right the first time) Cost of quality18 Environmental influence (use of energy, use of toxic substances, formation of exhausts, etc.) Customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction Safety hazards Level of innovation Level of (information) technology (the level of the ERP/IT system, level of automation) Level of change resistance Level of bureaucracy (functional barriers) Level of stress.

Non-conformance to standards is a good parameter for which obtaining measured data may be difficult in many cases, as the defects of the total focus process are seldom measured. The measurement is usually restricted to some part of the process, for example, the manufacturing phases. As it turns out in the next section, it is possible to utilize subjective evaluations of the parameters. For instance, when a core process is considered different sub-processes may have different kinds of defects. The order management sub-process has different kinds of standards than the manufacturing sub-process, but both can be evaluated with the same parameter and can even be weighed accordingly. This parameter can also be utilized in the context of non-conformance to the current or future ambition level. The cost of quality is a powerful measure, which is perfectly suited to a process oriented analysis approach like the one presented in this chapter. Using this parameter, however, requires some preparatory work and a thorough understanding of the concept in order to be applicable. The parameter is better suited for application if the process analysis and synthesis phases are conducted on a higher ambition level than the basic level (Level I). The environmental influence of the company’s processes is becoming increasingly important due to customer requirements, new legislation and global awareness. In many businesses, the “green” values are a factor affecting competitiveness in a global perspective. From a process improvement perspective, this translates into lowering the energy consumed by the processes and minimizing their polluting effects. Customer evaluations of the process performance are in principle appropriate in all sectors although care should be taken when utilizing this parameter in this connection. The customer satisfaction is, generally speaking, the end-result of the process performance and replacing a cause parameter with an effect parameter results in a closed loop that requires careful attention. The use of this parameter may potentially increase considerably the length of the root cause analysis, which in turn calls for more time and effort to find the real root causes. Considering the voice of 18

This is actually a cost parameter and could be grouped under that main parameter as well. It reflects the monetary implications of not making things right the first time.

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the customers at the duly designed place later on provides a better result. Benefits of doing so include far less work and pitfalls that increase risks. Many organizations in the service sector build the service quality as the delivery of the service progresses. In these cases, the potential problem may not be that big. Keeping the causeand-effect chains as “clean” as possible is nevertheless an issue that needs constant attention. It is also possible to evaluate the quality of the focus process in terms of employee satisfaction and safety hazards. Whether these are good parameters is questionable. In my opinion, I would consider using these parameters in cases with an evident low level of employee satisfaction or many safety hazard issues that need special attention. Otherwise, I would prefer another quality parameter that is more directly linked to the produced output. The regarded method considers these issues anyway, as the people and their well-being, among other people related issues, are one of the four process components that are considered in the analysis phase (Phase 3) when identifying improvement objects affecting positively the focus process performance. By targeting the level of innovation, technology, change resistance, bureaucracy (functional barriers) and stress, it is possible to select a fast track to an ambition level upgrade. These options provide a very powerful set of analysis parameters that targets special issues that may hinder the company or process from flourishing. A selection of one of these parameters will put that issue in the focus in the analysis phase. This provides further insights how the interaction of people, technology, information and material could be improved for the benefit of getting the best improvement leverage to that specific process analysis quality parameter and the other parameters as well. In case of planning, for instance, an ERP system or an upgrade of the current system, this approach is very attractive. It reveals mission critical issues not targeted by traditional process models and analysis approaches used to plan ERP/IT system implementations (“as-is, to-be” models). In demanding change initiatives the selection of one to three quality parameters focusing on the level of change resistance, bureaucracy or stress, puts major negative process performance parameters in the spotlight for the benefit of being able later on to focus on positive process performance parameters such as, for example, innovativeness. The choice of an appropriate analysis parameter with respect to the quality dimension depends on the company’s performance level and possibility to use measured information. The case description below illustrates this (Pastinen 1998). The Managing Director of the small manufacturing company said that it would be appropriate to choose the cost of quality as a parameter. The managers and employees agreed. The consultant knew that there was no measured information to rely on so he asked the group how they perceived the cost of quality. The group answered unanimously that the cost of quality is the reclamation cost. The company had calculated this figure and it was approximately 0.5% of the revenue. The consultant agreed that cost of quality is reclamation cost as well, but that the concept contained other aspects too. He argued that the cost of quality contains: l

The internal failure cost: the cost to redo a defective product before it is delivered to the customer

5.4 Phase 2: Data Collection and Basic Definitions l

l l

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The external failure cost: the cost to make good a defective product after it has been sent to the customer The appraisal cost: the cost incurred to discover the condition of the product or process The prevention cost: the cost necessary to keep failure and appraisal costs to a minimum.

The consultant argued that in the case of the client company a quality cost of 0.5% would be almost impossible. The group agreed and said that the cost of quality using a broader definition would cause the quality cost to be considerably higher. In addition, the deployment of the cost of quality based on reclamation costs would be a difficult task. Later on, the consultant said, it would be possible to measure the cost of quality. However, it would require some time and would go beyond the scope of this analysis. The group agreed to consider another alternative. After a while, one of the employees suggested the use of defects. A defect was something “not going as it should”. Hence, the failures of the manufacturing sub-process would be different from those of the order management, but all failures could be grouped under the same parameter. The other group members thought that it would be a reasonable parameter. The parameter “not going as it should” was renamed to “non-conformance to standards”. The Managing Director concluded that this parameter also contained some elements used in the definition of cost of quality. The consultant added that the use of “nonconformance to standards” would be appropriate because everyone agreed on its definition and that it could be utilized in an environment where no measured information was available. Furthermore, the parameter had a strong process orientation and could therefore be deployed with respect to the different sub-processes.

5.4.1.3

Cost Analysis Parameters

When cost related analysis parameters are concerned, there are basically three approaches to consider. Appropriate parameters regarding the data collection and the related process analysis are variable costs,19 fixed costs20 and total costs (variable costs þ fixed costs). Sometimes it is justifiable to consider both variable and fixed costs and to make a weighing to stress their relative importance (Sect. 5.5.3 considers this). This weighing is also used as a means of really choosing crucial parameters, as the case below reveals (Pastinen 1998). The opinion of the Managing Director was that the group should choose two cost-oriented analysis parameters: variable and fixed costs. To communicate the meaning of costs the consultant explained what the two types of costs included. In addition, the Managing Director provided the group with concrete examples from the own company. A common understanding was soon reached and both parameters were chosen. However, the fixed costs were later omitted (in Phase 2.3). When the Managing Director was to prioritize the different analysis parameters, the fixed costs received no attention at all. The company could do very little to influence the amount of fixed costs. The absolute amount was not so big compared to the variable costs. This reflection excluded fixed costs

19

Expenses that change in proportion to the activity of the process. Expenses that do not change in proportion to the activity of the process.

20

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from the list of crucial performance parameters. Consequently, the selected parameters were delivery time (time), non-conformance to standards (quality) and variable costs (money).

5.4.1.4

Examples of Chosen Analysis Parameters

Table 5.3 lists examples of chosen analysis parameters in different industries and companies. As seen in Table 5.3, the parameters chosen are relatively similar despite the industry sector or size of the company or process.

5.4.2

Creation of the Impact Field (Phase 2.2)

The impact field is defined in the following manner (Pastinen 1998). The impact field is a matrix that depicts the performance of the process in terms of the chosen analysis parameters. The size of the impact field depends on the number of subprocesses or phases (m) and the number of analysis parameters chosen (n). The impact field is consequently an m  n matrix.

The creation of the impact field is based on either measured performance or estimates made by the key persons familiar with the focus process. Usually the basis is a combination of both measured information and estimates. The main dilemma using measured data or information is that the data or information provided by the IT (ERP) systems is not useful or valuable enough from a process analysis point of view. One major pitfall when collecting process data is to utilize such data that is easily accessible, but not actually relevant (needed). This fundamental flaw may blur thinking and thus decrease the possibility to create a high-class process improvement plan, despite that the considered issues are formally correct and presented in the plan. There is no guarantee that the quality of the data or information received by the IT system would be sufficient. IT systems provide potentially a total illusion by providing data that can be seemingly accurately allocated. Such an illusory allocation implements the principle of having the wrong data allocated correctly. In such a case, it is far better to have the right data allocated approximately right (roughly right). Depending of the process analysis objective and the case, the data collection time frame can represent any time period, i.e. historic, present or future time. The norm is to utilize a historic time frame ranging 6–12 months backwards. The present time is used, for instance, if the focus process has recently change so much or is rather novel so that historical data is not available or it would provide a wrong picture of the process performance. Future time is utilized if the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis method is used for designing a non-existent process that has to operate under certain process performance requirements.

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Table 5.3 Examples of chosen analysis parameters in different businesses Industry sector Focus process Chosen analysis parameters Size category Process type Process size Output l Time: Lead time (calendar time); Telecom The purchase order process 50,000þ Part of the core process non-productive time l Quality: quality defects employees 50 employees l Costs: – Purchase orders (deals) l Time: response time to deliver an Mechanical The technical support process action plan; total delivery time; engineering Support process; see Figs. 5.4, unproductive time 20,000þ 5.5 l Quality: quality defects employees 450 employees l Costs: operations costs Advice (action) l Time: lead time, problems Mechanical The sales engineering process affecting the delivery certainty engineering Part of the core process l Quality: quality defects; 10,000þ 350 employees unproductive time (waste of employees Agreements time) l Costs: operations costs l Time: lead times of the first and IT services The deployment and second half of the process 10,000þ implementation process l Quality: quality defects employees Support process 2,000 employees (according to l Costs: man hours of the first and second half of the process need; the persons are working full-time in the core process) A process change l Time: lead times (the initial part of Telecom operator The customer support process the process and the total process) 5,000þ Support process l Quality: quality defects (such employees 500 employees things/issues that are not done Advice/Action right the first time) l Costs: total costs l Time: lead time; delivery certainty Precision plastic The tool manufacturing process (“the problems causing delays”); products Core process; see Fig. 5.6 unproductive time 1,000þ 150 employees l Quality: quality defects (frequency employees Tools of such things/issues that are not done right the first time) l Costs: variable costs l Time: lead time (calendar time); Technical The negotiation process non-productive time documentation Support process l Quality: quality defects services 10 employees l Costs: – 250þ employees Delivery agreements l Time: lead time (calendar time) HVAC21 equipment The export process manufacturer Support process; see Fig. 5.7 and working time l Quality: quality defects 50þ employees 9 employees l Costs: variable costs Partners and business deals

21

Heating, ventilating, and air conditioning.

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The analysis requires that the parameter value is allocated among the sub-processes with an accuracy of about five to ten percentage points depending on the number of included sub-processes. If, on the other hand, the company has access to high-quality measured data/information, then the allocated values will, naturally, be based on this data/information. The company is able to track changes in the impact field on a very short notice with a well-functioning performance measurement system. It also provides a good basis for comparing two analyses made in subsequent years. Consequently, the two analyses could provide the firm with complementary and valuable information about the success of the improvement efforts on the process level in addition to the follow-up provided in Phase 1 of the generic HPPI process (recall Chap. 4). As a result, the coordination of forthcoming efforts is facilitated. The values of the impact field are all expressed in percentage points. The percentage points (100%) relating to specific analysis parameters are allocated among the sub-processes (phases) based on how the sub-processes (phases) “consume” the percentage points in question. Sometimes it is necessary to conduct an even allocation of the parameter, i.e. all sub-processes receive the equal weight. This may happen in a situation where the considered parameter is hard to quantify and allocate, or there are no (concrete) observations regarding the issues. This issue relates almost completely to the quality analysis parameters, for example, if a nonautomated process is the object of automation initiatives (raise of a non-existing automation level) or if the innovativeness of a R&D process is to be improved. Figure 5.11 illustrates how the impact field is created in a simple case. The figure below depicts a simplified core process with four phases (P1–P4) that together with the three analysis parameters forms a 4  3 matrix. The time

Fig. 5.11 A simple example of the allocation of percentage points to the impact field22 22

This picture was drawn by Harri Pakarinen. It is published with due permission of Vistalize Oy.

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parameter in this example depicts the delivery time, which is ten working days. This time is then allocated between the phases. For example, Phase P3 consumes 40% of this time. The same kind of allocation is made for the rest of the parameters. It is important that the impact field reflects the relationships between the phases in a proper way. For instance, if Phase P4 would have been final inspection, where most of the defects are detected, then the percentage points should preferably be allocated to the phase that caused them. Of course, the performance of the final inspection may also be low, which means that a defective or malfunctioning output is delivered to the customers. When the final inspection is performing well then the attention is moved to the previous sub-processes. Eventually, when the “next (sub)process is my customer” principle is implemented, the final inspection can potentially be dismissed as unnecessary. The allocation is revised (verified) in Phase 3 of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis method. Any major shortages in this regard are detected and fixed before entering the synthesis phase (Phase 4). The old or incorrect value of a parameter allocation is placed in brackets and a new value is allocated to reflect the revised situation as shown in the impact field examples later on in Sect. 5.4.2.2. Sometimes it is possible that the process model, not only the parameter allocation, has to be revised and corrected to reflect the actual situation. Depending on the magnitude of changes required, it is possible that Phase 1 and Phase 2 have to be rerun. Such a case is very rare and amounts to below one percentage of the cases although minor reallocations of the parameter values occur in every second case. The technique of creating the impact field is also worth considering, as the approach chosen will increase the quality of the data collection and keep the allocation phase on the right track, also in terms of the time spent on the allocation. The creation of the impact field is by far the most time consuming phase on Day 1. The mere allocation enhances as such the process improvement culture, as it creates by nature a spirit of involving doing. Depending on the size of the process, the amount of people attending, and the focus process knowledge of the attending people, different techniques should be applied to assure a high-class output of this phase. The following two options are possible if there is no adequate measured data available: 1. The attending persons create an own impact field according to the best knowledge and insights. The results are presented to the group. After discussing pros and cons of having a certain allocation, the group agrees on the most suitable allocation. 2. Small (cross-functional) teams of two to five persons are appointed. Each team creates in consensus an impact field presented to the other teams. The teams, as in the former approach, discuss the allocations and agree on the most suitable allocation. The first approach is used in smaller processes where the attending persons have a fairly good understanding of the whole process. Knowledge shortages are corrected in the joint discussions where different views are considered and harnessed to the point of reaching a reasonable level of consensus. In conflicting cases with two opposing views on a specific allocation, there is the possibility to use the average

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allocation as a tiebreaker. The process owner (director) has also the option to use his or her right to the final word. The second approach is used in larger settings where individual persons may not have a clear picture of the total focus process. This may be either due to a limited functional perspective or to a limited process perspective. The latter emerges in a situation where the overall performance of a larger process is analyzed, for instance, the total process consists of a number of parallel processes that cumulatively form the overall process performance. An example of such a case is a sales process that consists of segment specific sales processes. The total sales process performance is the cumulative performance of the segment specific sales processes that, in addition, may have a different impact on the overall performance.23 To overcome this situation it is beneficial to form cross-functional teams. With this set-up, the logic is the same as the one used in the first approach. The difference is that the knowledge base rests on the team’s cumulative knowledge instead of an individual’s knowledge. This set-up makes it possible to deal with very large processes without losing sight or focus.

5.4.2.1

The Supplements of the Impact Field

Phase 2.2 of the analysis includes also the supplements of the impact field. The supplements are the notification of the absolute values of the analysis parameters and the reliability evaluation (Fig. 5.12).

Fig. 5.12 The supplements of the impact field24

23

If this is the case then the influence of the segment specific impact field allocations is simply weighed according to the priority judged appropriate. 24 This picture was drawn by Harri Pakarinen. It is published with due permission of Vistalize Oy.

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The absolute values of the parameters are recorded at face value. If the company cannot provide the absolute value (e.g. number of defects detected), this field will be marked with a question mark. The reliability of the impact field is evaluated according to what the basis is for allocating the percentage points. The reliability can be categorized into three classes: 1. Allocation based on measured information (MI). 2. A reliable estimation (RE). 3. A subjective estimation (SE). The reliability of the impact field of a specific analysis parameter is at the MI level, if the absolute value of the parameter is known and at least 70% of the allocation is based on measured information. The value of the MI level lies in the range of 0.7–1.0 (70–100%) which depicts how many percentage points are actually allocated on a factual basis. The reliability of the impact field of a specific analysis parameter is at the RE level, if the absolute value of the parameter is known and at least 30% of the allocation is based on correctly measured information or a comparable factual basis. The value of the RE level lies in the range of 0.3–0.7 (30–70%). The reliability of the impact field of a specific analysis parameter is at the SE level, if the absolute value of the parameter is known and at least 10% of the allocation is based on correctly measured information or another comparable factual basis such as the attending persons’ profound practical knowledge of the focus process. If the absolute value is unknown, or the percentage points, which are allocated based on measurements, are below 10%, then the value of the SE index is zero. The value of the SE level lies in the range of 0.0–0.3 (0–30%). Using these criteria, it is possible to evaluate the overall reliability of the impact field. In order to do this, the relative importance of the analysis parameters must be known (defined in the next sub-phase). The calculation of the reliability of the impact field is made formally in Phase 2.4. Based on the reliability index it is possible to calculate the level of tacit knowledge used in the allocation field (100% minus the reliability index). This score does not reveal the quality of the tacit knowledge although a rough categorization can be made based on the experience of the attending persons (low, medium, high).

5.4.2.2

Examples of Impact Fields

The tables below present examples of impact fields. The examples correspond to the cases presented in Figs. 5.5–5.7. The impact field in Table 5.4 is the final consensus result of five teams each of which constituted of three to six cross-functional team members representing also different geographical areas. The Table 5.5 presents the supplements of the impact field. Table 5.5 reveals that the level of measured data is low. Despite this every second, defect and cent will be in the matrix, as the allocation requires that 100% of

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Table 5.4 The impact field of the example in Figure 5.5 (mechanical technical support process with 450 employees)25 Parameter P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P1 P2 P2 P2 1.1 1.2 1.3 2.1 2.2 2.3 3 1.1 1.2 1.3 Response time 14 20 12 – – – – 9 28 17 Total delivery time 2 5 2 5 6 2 3 2 5 3 Unproductive time 2 10 1 8 4 2 1 3 9 1 Quality defects 8 10 5 8 7 3 4 4 5 1 Operations costs 3 7 4 5 2 1 3 1 6 2

Table 5.5 The supplements to the impact field in Table 5.4 Parameter Value Response time ? Total delivery time ? Unproductive time ? Quality defects ? Operations costs 34 MEUR Reliability index: 12% Tacit knowledge: 88% (quality level P1: low; P2: medium)

engineering industry, the P2 2.1 – 12 21 18 15

P2 2.2 – 25 21(11) 15(9) 24

P2 2.3 – 18 10(20) 6(12) 21

P2 3 – 11 7 4 8

Reliability26 (%) 15 10 5 10 20

the parameters are allocated throughout the process. This allocation utilizes in any case the best available knowledge and insights. It might in some cases even be so that the real-life usability of this allocation, despite the fact that the reliability of the parameters is low, is better than the allocation made base on measured data, as the quality of the measurement can be low (incomplete, biased, or even wrong). A low reliability index does not as such communicate a low usability level of the collected data. It only communicates the nature of the allocation. It indicates that the company should improve its performance measurement system to obtain measured high-quality data in this respect. One valuable aspect is in any case the fact that both the management and the operative key persons have committed themselves to the result of the allocation, as this is a group decision that has been reached via discussions, pondering and the support of the performance measurement system (if applicable). The impact field presented in Table 5.6 represents a typical case where the performance of business critical performance criteria, such as the lead time, delivery certainty and variable costs, are known to some degree even on the sub-process level. However, the parameters affecting strongly these issues, such as the problems causing delays or unproductive time are not measured or known at the sub-process level. Table 5.7 presents the supplements of the impact field presented in Table 5.6. Smaller companies and processes tend to have a considerably better reliability level than larger ones as seen in Table 5.8. One reason for this is that in larger settings it is in most cases not possible for an individual to master or have detailed insights of 25

The values are percentage points. The values in the brackets are the initial values allocated that have been changed according to the verification (substance quality control) conducted in Phase 3. 26 The reliability score was not zero because the key persons possessed an extensive practical understanding of the critical parts of the process.

5.4 Phase 2: Data Collection and Basic Definitions Table 5.6 The impact field of the example in Figure 5.6 manufacturing core process with 150 employees) Parameter P1 P2 P3.1 P3.2 P3.3 P3.4 Lead time (%) 30 0 5 0 5 20 Delivery certainty (“the 20 0 10 0 0 25 problems causing delays”) (%) Unproductive time (%) 20 0 15 0 5 20 Quality defects (%) 30 5 10 0 0 20 Variable costs (%) 20 0 20 0 5 15

125 (precision plastic products, the tool P3.5 P3.6 P3.7 P3.8 P4 P5 P6 0 3 20 7 0 10 0 0 5 20 10 5 5 0

0 0 5

0 5 5

30 20 10

Table 5.7 The supplements to the impact field in Table 5.6 Parameter Value Lead time 10 weeks Delivery certainty (“the problems causing delays”) Delivery certainty 78% Unproductive time ? Quality defects ? Variable costs MEUR 7,2 Reliability Index: 27% Tacit knowledge: 73% (quality level: medium)

0 5 5

0 0 5

10 0 5 0 10 0

Reliability (%) 30 20 20 20 40

the whole process, whereas this is more or less the norm in smaller companies. The IT or ERP system cannot usually compensate this deficit. In addition, the informal coffee break discussions in smaller companies promote the informal information flow and learning. In larger companies, it may even be so that Phase 1 of the process analysis and synthesis is the first occasion where people meet face-to-face. The temptation to base the analysis on what data and information are readily available, instead of what is actually needed, is an imminent pitfall that is easily avoided. The percentage point allocation, the techniques used to do the allocation, the utilization of the best or at least a sufficient (tacit) knowledge base to conduct the allocation, and the attainment of a widespread consensus of the correctness of the allocations, assure that the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis approach is up to the task even in demanding settings.

5.4.3

Giving Priority to the Analysis Parameters (Phase 2.3)

The main task of assigning priority to the analysis parameters is that it coordinates the improvement efforts. The relative importance of the analysis parameters is defined based on the allocation of 100 percentage points between the analysis parameters. This offers an attractive way to earmark such improvement objects that have the best leverage and effect on a specific analysis parameter. As a result, such an improvement object receives more weight in the synthesis phase and is therefore more likely to be implemented. Criterion 3, which we will consider more thoroughly in Phase 4, communicates this explicitly.

50 25 50

Reliability (%) 50

28

Heating, ventilating, and air conditioning. The values are percentage points. The values in the brackets are the initial values allocated that have been changed according to the substance quality control conducted in Phase 3.

27

Table 5.8 The impact field of the example in Figure 5.6 (HVAC27 equipment manufacturer, the export process with nine employees)28 Parameter P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 Value 20 7 8 7 2 5 10 16 10 15 6–12 months Lead time (calendar time) Working time 9(11) 6(8) 9 5 9 5 4(8) 19(15) 12(10) 22(20) 9 person years Quality defects 18(20) 10 5 3 5 7 7(10) 18(15) 9(7) 18 ? Variable costs 7 5 5 5 14(13) 4(5) 10 30 10 10 2 MEUR (0.6 MEUR marketing budget) Reliability index: 46% Tacit knowledge: 54% (quality level: high)

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Table 5.9 An example of the relative importance of the analysis parameters (mechanical engineering industry, the technical support process with 450 employees) Parameter Priority Priority Parameter Priority (internal (external (management)29 (customers) customers) (%) customers) (%) Response time 30% (40%) Response time 39 36 Total delivery time 20% (27%) Unproductive time 15% Total delivery time 29 41 Quality defects 25% (33%) Operations costs 10% Quality defects 32 23 The customer input presented in the table is received in Phase 3.3

To give priority to the analysis parameters both the voice of the customer and the voice of the management (the process owner) are considered. The customers’ comprehension of the relative importance of the related parameters provides support for the management when deciding the relative importance of the analysis parameters. The management is free to make any allocation despite the voice of the customers. This distinction is important because the customers do not manage the company. It is the duty of the management to make an appropriate judgment regarding important success factors, now and in the future. It is worth noticing that the customer satisfaction inquiry is optional. In some cases, it is not possible or even worthwhile conducting one. Phase 3.3 collects formally this input. The process owner (management) then makes his or her own judgments in the light of this information. As seen in the Table 5.9, it is also possible to conduct an internal customer satisfaction inquiry, if such information is relevant. The use of a customer satisfaction inquiry may reveal interesting aspects relating to the importance of different analysis criteria. Consider the case below (Pastinen 1998). The Managing Director of the small manufacturing company emphasized the importance of being cost effective (60%). Hence, the cost parameter received much attention whereas the quality (20%) and time factors (20%) received considerably less attention. However, the customers stressed the parameters in a different way (time 30%, quality 50% and price [costs] 20%). This was because the Managing Director negotiated the deals with the customers. When negotiating, everyone expected the product to be 100% defect free and that it would be delivered on time.30 Consequently, the only object of discussion was the price. The MD concluded that this was a main issue because the customers always demanded lower prices, not better products or deliveries that are more accurate. However, the customers were highly satisfied with the cost effectiveness of the company, but less

29

The value in brackets communicates the share, if the unproductive time and operations costs are cleared from the allocation. In so doing, it is possible to conduct a like-for-like comparison with the allocation made by the customers. 30 Of course, the Managing Director would not say that for your money “you get a defective product and it is only delivered on occasion.”

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satisfied with the delivery certainty and the quality of the output. In fact, the company had the lowest prices, but only mediocre quality and delivery certainty. This caused difficulties on the part of the customers because their quality level and delivery certainty sank due to defective products and uncertain deliveries. After considering the voice of the customers, the MD reconsidered his statements and adjusted the weighing to be more in accordance with the customers’ assumptions.

5.4.4

Calculation of Criterion 1 and the Reliability Index of the Impact Field (Phase 2.4)

Criterion 1 tells which sub-process contains most likely the greatest improvement potential. It does not indicate which sub-process to focus on, but provides insight into which it could be. The reliability index of the impact field, on the other hand, indicates how big a share of the percentage points relating the impact field is derived quantitatively based on measured information. Figure 5.13 describes how to calculate Criterion 1. The calculation, the logic of which resembles that used by the QFD approach, is a simple cross-calculation between the analysis parameters and the relative importance of the parameters. There is, however, a fundamental difference compared with the QFD approach. The QFD approach uses points, not percentages, which makes it much harder to give priorities in a true sense to the aspects of choice. The logic of the QFD approach makes it possible in theory and practice to assign the highest or lowest value to all considered aspects. Changing the score from 9 points to 3 points does not affect the interdependencies of other issues at all. Changing a value from 30% to 20% results in ten percentage points that have to be allocated somewhere else.

Fig. 5.13 The calculation of Criterion 1

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Criterion 1 16 % 14 % 12 % 10 % 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% P1.1.1 P1.1.2 P1.1.3 P1.2.1 P1.2.2 P1.2.3

P1.3

P2.1.1 P2.1.2 P2.1.3 P2.2.1 P2.2.2 P2.2.3

P2.3

Fig. 5.14 The Criterion 1 value of the example presented in Fig. 5.5 and Tables 5.4 and 5.5 (mechanical engineering industry, the technical support process with 450 employees)

In the example of Fig. 5.13, the Phase P3 has the greatest influence on the performance of the company in terms of the chosen analysis parameters. This, however, does not imply that this sub-process is the one that requires most attention. Criterion 1 does not recognize the factual improvement potential, which is the key to focusing the improvement efforts. This improvement potential is identified in the third phase of the analysis and synthesis. Figure 5.14 presents an example of Criterion 1. Criterion 1 provides a useful help when the expert or consultant is planning for Day 2 (Phases 3.1 and 3.2). The result is already available in the Support Module that is placed between Phase 2.2 and Phase 2.3. This means that it is possible to evaluate likely time consumptions of the different phases and align resources accordingly. Figure 5.14 shows that P1.2.3 and P1.3 will not likely consume more than 30 min whereas the three “tops” P1.1.1–P1.1.3, P2.1.1–P2.1.3 and P2.2.1–P2.2.3 require much time (2.5–3 h for each top of three sub-processes). This suggests also that due to the length of the focus process it will probably take 1.5 day to conduct Phase 3, not 1 day. Usually this information is available for the first time at this point. In such a case, it is usually possible to allocate the additional time need of half a day on Day 1 after finalizing Phase 2. Such a reserve should always be planned for because it provides the necessary flexibility to complete the Phases 1.1–3.2 in 2 days. In order to calculate the reliability of the impact field two pieces of information are needed: l l

MI, RE, SE values (recall Sect. 5.4.2.1) The relative importance of the analysis parameters (Sect. 5.4.3/Phase 2.3).

These two pieces of information are then factored according to the principle shown in Table 5.10. For instance, the reliability index of the time parameter is calculated by multiplying the value of the reliability class (MI = 1) with the relative importance of the time parameter (30%). Consequently, the sum is 30%. The other parameters can be calculated in a similar fashion. All these sums are then

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Table 5.10 An example of the calculation of the reliability of the impact field Parameter Reliability class Value Reliability (%) Reliability index contribution Time MI 1 30 30% (1 * 30%) Quality SE 0 40 0% (0 * 40%) Money (Costs) RE 0.5 30 15% (0.5 * 30%) Reliability index: 45% Tacit knowledge level: 55% (high)

added together and this total number indicates the reliability of the whole impact field, referred to as the Reliability Index of the impact field. The level of the tacit knowledge is then 100% minus the reliability index classified in three categories (low, medium, high) to depict the rough quality level of that knowledge. Sometimes it may be motivated to highlight the high or low ends of the tacit knowledge level. In such a case, it is possible to add a “very low” or “very high” notation to the classification categories. The reliability index provides information regarding the nature of the impact field. If the reliability index is zero, all percentage points of the impact field are fully based on pure evaluations and consequently they may not depict the actual situation, especially if the tacit knowledge level is low. Evaluations based on a profound empirical experience score reasonably low in terms of the reliability index, but high in terms of the tacit knowledge level. A low reliability index score in combination with a low tacit knowledge quality level indicates that there is no supporting performance measurement system in place, and that the key persons are not familiar with the focus process due to, for example, recent organizational changes prior to the analysis. The analysis is functioning perfectly well, even if the reliability index is zero, but the results are likely to be biased to some extent, especially if the quality level of the tacit knowledge is low. A situation where both scores are on a low level is, however, rare and indicates more likely a complete failure in selecting the right persons to attend the data collection phase. A missing or malfunctioning performance measurement system should therefore be compensated with experienced persons that would raise the tacit knowledge to a high quality level. The reliability index may be low and the tacit knowledge level low in the special case when the analysis and synthesis approach is used in future time, i.e. as a planning tool for designing a non-existent process. On many occasions when the analysis is done for the first time, the reliability index is low. However, after one year there may already be a performance measurement system in place, which increases the reliability index. Once again, it is worthwhile noticing that the reliability index is not the same as usability of the collected data. The reliability index only communicates the nature of the impact field allocation.

5.4.5

Planning for the External Analysis (Phase 2.5)

The optional external analysis takes the shape of a customer satisfaction inquiry that is in practical terms conducted in Phase 3.3, if it is decided that such an inquiry

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would provide added-value. The inquiry provides a possibility to consider the voice of the customers as an input to the synthesis phase. The customer input is not disclosed to the management before the management has made its initial definitions and allocations. The customer input must not bias the data collection and analysis, as all issues are considered from a total perspective in the synthesis phase. If this would be the case, then the synthesis phase could be selfbiased because some representatives belonging to the stakeholder group “customers” have potentially influenced one other stakeholder that should represent the owners. This could in principle result in a synthesis that is biased towards satisfying the customers on the expense of the owners. This will eventually lead to a negative spin for all stakeholders. If there are concerns that the customers and the management are going in different directions, then this issue will be sorted out in Phase 4.1. The output of the inquiry provides a rough understanding of the position of the process with respect to the absolute and relative performance of the process. The absolute performance of the process means that the customers evaluate how well the process is performing in terms of the analysis parameters (or their derivatives). The relative performance, on the other hand, tells where the process stands compared with the corresponding processes of the competitors. It is possible for the process (company) to be better than the competitors (relative performance good), but the customers may require even better performance (absolute performance worse than the relative performance) in order to be delighted (or more satisfied). Conversely, the process (company) may perform “well” (absolute performance good), but the competitors are performing at the same time “very well” or even “excellently” (relative performance of the own process is bad). This kind of information gives valuable information considering the direction of the customer requirements. The inquiry contains also an open-ended question, which may provide the expert or consultant with information regarding the quality of the client company’s processes and output (products and services). The questions asked in the inquiry should be carefully considered in advance. In general, the customers are not interested in what the variable and fixed costs of the process or company are. They are interested in the price of the product or service. This means that the questions are adapted to the customer’s point of view. The customer satisfaction inquiry is basically based on two questions the latter of which is divided into three sub-questions: 1. One open-ended (qualitative) question concerning the customer’s opinion about the focus process and its output. 2. Three numeric (quantitative) questions: (a) The issues the customer would like the company to focus on or pay attention to regarding the focus process. This is communicated by sharing 100% between the defined customer critical parameters related to time, quality and price (costs). These are not necessarily exactly same as those chosen before (Phase 2.1) and used when modeling the impact field in Phase 2.2. (b) Performance evaluation of the focus process regarding the customer critical parameters using the scale: 0 (poor), 1 (passable), 2 (satisfactory), 3 (good), 4 (very good) or 5 (excellent).

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(c) Gathering experience how other companies or the industry sector in general performs regarding the considered process and the related critical customer parameters defined in (2a) and providing a comparable output delivered by the focus process. The customer’s opinions are communicated by the same grade used in (2b). The statements are translated into operative terms, which can be utilized in the analysis and synthesis phases. Finally, a summary of the results is made to depict the opinion of the customers. A normal and sufficient response rate ranges from 30 to 60% delivered within one week. The extent of the inquiry is one page (A4) including the questions, the space for the answers and return information. The general constraints of this type of customer satisfaction inquiry should be understood so that the correct conclusions can be drawn. Potential pitfalls include, for instance, the completeness of the responses (low or one-sided response rate), imperfections related to the interviewee (wrong person, inadequate understanding and motivation), historical burdens not related to the focus process but some other process related to the company, and the specific situation when the inquiry is being answered (haste, stress) and expectations. The customers are so used to bad performance in some industries that the general expectation levels are too low to provide any substantial momentum that could be useful when improving the focus process. In such a setting, a satisfactory performance may be deemed far better than it rightfully should. This may potentially bias the thinking of the management and prevent the company from realizing its true potential. Even if the obstacles discussed above are overcome, it may still be hard for the customers to make an appropriate judgment because of lack of information and understanding. The inquiry itself can also be cumbersome. The inquiry has to be reasonably plain and short (one page). It has to focus on a vital few questions the answers of which would be useful when improving the focus process. Customers are often interested in the output of the focus process, how fast, easily and timely the output can be delivered and what is the price/quality ratio. The perceived experience or the quality of the sub-processes delivering the final output may be critical in the service sector. Such process internal parameters are in product businesses usually more or less unusable or irrelevant. For instance, a defect-free product may be the result of a thorough final inspection, where many defects are detected and many products discarded. From the customers’ point of view, the quality may be satisfying, even excellent. However, this approach influences inevitably the price of the product and perhaps even the delivery time. Hence, the quality parameter gets little attention whereas the price and time aspects receive lots of attention. In a similar way, the defect rate of the company may be zero, but the processes are not streamlined. Hence, there may be unnecessary steps that consume time and money. The questions directed to the customer should therefore be carefully chosen to fit the needs of the analysis phase. The temptation may be great at this stage to utilize previously conducted customer satisfaction surveys. This is not advisable, as there is seldom a sufficient match between what is readily available and what is actually needed.

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The customers’ voice should provide guidance, but it should not be decisive. The customer sample does not have to be exhaustive. In many cases, a few key customers will suffice to provide the needed information. How large this number would be is a case specific question. In a business-to-business setting, the magnitude is counted in tens of customers rather than hundreds or even thousands. Some companies have only five to ten customers, sometimes even less. Companies operating in the consumer market have naturally a much larger end-customer base. Some of these companies deliver the produced physical output to a more limited number of wholesale businesses that may form the focus group for the inquiry in addition to or instead of a sample group of end-customers. Attention should be paid to the customer satisfaction inquiry approaches used to collect the data successfully. The data should preferably be collected by telephone, if the sample is small. In so doing, it is possible to dig deeper into the concerns of the customers. However, it may be hard to get in contact with the interviewee (vacations, illness, meetings, business trip, etc.), so the inquiry has to be done using e-mail (the default solution) or some other appropriate means of communication. This is also the case when the sample is larger or global because interviewing hundreds or even tens of persons (in different time zones) will consume scarce resources the output of which may not be attractive enough to verify the effort. Choosing not to conduct the customer satisfaction inquiry is not that big a deal, as the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis method will anyway consider the satisfaction of customers by identifying the best overall objects of time, quality and cost improvement. The related consideration logic utilizes the concepts and the substance presented briefly in Sect. 2.2.2.1.

5.4.6

Setting the Objectives and Evaluation of the Preliminary Monetary Gains (Phase 2.6)

The final part of the second phase considers the setting of the objectives with respect to the analysis parameters, and the evaluation of the related monetary gains, if the objectives are reached. Usually the period considered is 12 months from the implementation start. These gains are cleared from interplay to avoid having unjustified gains. The parameter specific objectives relate to the whole focus process and are set by the process owner (management). To set the objectives the process owner may consider financial business needs and forthcoming performance needs. The financial outcome should be based on the two fundamental ways of making more profits: selling more (higher volume or/and higher prices) and using less money in a total perspective. Even sustaining the current market position requires substantial improvement efforts in many businesses. These two basic ways of making more money result in different incarnations explaining the reasons for increasing the profits. These include issues related to, for example, increased customer and

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employee satisfaction, a more cost-effective process (lower quality costs) and a more attractive brand (attracting customers, high-class personnel and investors). It is also possible to distinguish process internal and external gains. This may be attractive especially when improving a support process the effect of which is to some extent realized in the support process, but largely in another process. Allocating the total costs to the support process without the proper allocation of the related process external gains would produce unjustified financial figures in Phase 4.2 when calculating the net present value of the initiatives. Phase 2.6 provides the process analysis and synthesis with three mission critical issues: Management commitment The link between the process performance improvement and the financial outcome An indication of what kind of improvement efforts are preferred (re-engineering and/or kaizen).

l l

l

Transferring the process improvement objectives into financial gains has a great positive impact on the management commitment, as at this point the management will understand at the latest the power of the approach although some signs may show already in Phases 2.1 and 2.2. Money talk is a universal language that all executives understand despite culture, business or geographical location. The link between the process performance improvement and the financial outcome is needed when the actual improvement potentials are analyzed in the different sub-processes of the focus process (Day 2). Without this link, it would not be possible to evaluate the financial outcome of the sub-process specific improvement objects and related improvement efforts, as the persons needed in Phase 3 are not capable or in the position to make such an evaluation. This problem is overcome by identifying the parameter specific improvement potential and linking this potential to the basis defined by the management (process owner). As a result, the financial outcome presented in the VISTALIZER1 Report has a high-level of credibility, as the outcome is actually based on the definitions made by the management and the operative key persons. The difference in opinions between the management and the operative key persons can furthermore be quantified from both a performance and financial perspective.31 If there are incongruities between these values, then these issues will be sorted out in Phase 4.1 before the actual synthesis. The objectives set by the management indicate also what kinds of process improvement efforts are sought-after or preferred. The VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis method considers both re-engineering (radical) and kaizen (incremental) type of improvements regardless of the ambition level of the focus process, the improvement efforts or the produced output. Relatively modest objectives will turn the consideration towards kaizen type of improvement efforts with The last section in Chap. 3 of the VISTALIZER1 Report presents this issue.

31

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135

likely less investments needs, but a potentially lower level of improvement potential and risk. Relatively ambitious objectives turn the analysis logic of Phase 3 towards more fundamental changes with potentially higher investment needs and risks. The management should not set the objectives too low so that an increase of the working pace would be enough to reach the objective. This will reduce the challenge of adopting new ways of thinking and new approaches of doing the work. The result of doing the work in the same way, only faster, will lead inevitably in the long run to frustration and a decreased employee satisfaction. On the other hand, the management must not set the objectives too high. This will reduce employee motivation because they may feel that there is no way of reaching such high objectives. Unless radical change is sought, the best way to proceed in this respect is to use intermediate targets, which are set on an annual basis. New targets are set when the company has reached the higher objectives. The cumulative effect of such an approach may result in impressive improvements on a, for example, 3-year basis. In Phase 2.6 of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis approach, the signs of the objectives should represent improvements. A cut in time or costs will result in a negative sign. The quality parameter, on the other hand, may be represented in theory with a positive or a negative sign depending on the meaning of the analysis parameter. The quality parameter is usually defined as “quality defects” resulting in a minus sign if improved. If the chosen quality parameter represents score points relating to a standardized customer or employee satisfaction survey, then the sign would be positive (for example, the overall score up 20%). Based on the increased cash flow (increased gross and net margin), it is possible to calculate the present value of the cash flow. The present value is the discounted value of future cash flows.32 After all, a dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow. This is the first basic principle of finance (Brealey and Myers 1988). The expected payoffs are discounted by the rate of return offered by comparable investment alternatives to calculate the present value. This rate of return is often referred to as the discount rate, hurdle rate or opportunity cost of capital. It is called opportunity cost because it is the return foregone by investing in a project or an improvement initiative rather than investing in securities. The second basic principle of finance says that a safe dollar is worth more than a risky one (Brealey and Myers 1988). Most investors avoid risk when they can do so without sacrificing return. However, the concepts of present value and the opportunity cost of capital still make sense for risky investments. It is still proper to discount the payoff by the rate of return offered by a comparable investment. In that case, one has to think of expected payoffs and the expected rates of return on other investments. According to Brealey and Myers, managers do not need to know anything about the personal likes or dislikes of their shareholders, nor should they involve their

32

The time period considered is usually 3 years although other time frames are naturally also possible.

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Table 5.11 The objectives and the estimation of the related monetary gains regarding the example presented in Figure 5.5 and Table 5.4 (mechanical engineering industry, the technical support process with 450 employees) Parameter Objective Value Follow-up performance (12 months) (%) (12 months) ( ) measurement criteria Response time 50 4,500,000 Fulfillment degrees of proposed and Total delivery time 10 9,000,000 confirmed actions to improve Unproductive time 15 8,000,000 the analysis parameters Quality defects 20 1,000,000 Operations costs 0 0 Discount rate: 8% 22,500,000 Time period: 3 years

own (Brealey and Myers 1988). Their task is to maximize net present value (the present value minus required investments). Management must be able to analyze a decision from the shareholder’s point of view, if it is to strike a proper balance between their interests and those of customers, employees and society at large. The net present value calculation tells them how much a particular decision helps or hinders stockholders’ or the owners’ interests. The reasons for the increased cash flow should be clearly stated to provide an empirical basis for the cash flow. In addition, appropriate performance measures should be selected to track the success of the improvement efforts as seen in the example presented in Table 5.11. This provides a cause-and-effect chain to the chosen process performance or analysis parameters (time, quality and costs) and the financial gain. The monetary values of the improvements in Table 5.11 are the estimated yearly values of the increased performance level. The gains are thus based on both being more attractive to the market (possibility to get new customers, keeping the old customers, getting the customers to buy more) and being internally more effective and efficient. The financial gain does not include possible investments, as these are yet to be considered in Phases 3 and 4. The management definitions made regarding the case presented in Fig. 5.6 and Tables 5.6 and 5.7 are shown in Table 5.12. A cut of 25% regarding the variable costs equals 1,800,000  , but as the parameters have to be cleared from interplay, the management decided to allocate directly only 300,000   (Table 5.12). The total gain equals 1,220,000   and this is the figure the management is confident with. The essence is to base the financial calculations on such figures the management feels comfortable with. The synthesis will otherwise suffer, as the management will not simply believe in the total net present value of the specified time period. This tends to decrease the communicated financial gain somewhat, but the credibility gain in the eyes of the management more than pays off for this. After all, this dilemma is a happy problem. The management definitions made regarding the case presented in Fig. 5.7 and Table 5.8 are shown in Table 5.13. The follow-up performance measurement criteria are traditionally the same as the analysis parameters that are subject to improvements (cp. the example in Table 5.12). This approach is in many cases not advisable due to two critical issues:

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Table 5.12 The objectives and the estimation of the related monetary gains regarding the example presented in Figure 5.6 and Table 5.6 (precision plastic products, the tool manufacturing core process with 150 employees) Parameter Objective Value Follow-up performance (12 months) (%) (12 months) ( ) measurement criteria Lead time 50 500,000 Lead time Delivery certainty 77.3 (the delivery certainty 170,000 Delivery certainty (from (“the problems the previous year was the ERP system) causing delays”) 78% ! next year it should be 95%) Unproductive time 80 200,000 To be defined later (the measurement logic and method have to be defined) Quality defects 50 50,000 To be defined later (the measurement logic and method have to be defined) Variable costs 25 300,000 Variable costs (from the books) Discount rate: 10% 1,220,000 Time period: 3 years

Table 5.13 The objectives and the estimation of the related monetary gains regarding the example presented in Figure 5.7 and Table 5.8 (HVAC33 equipment manufacturer, the export process with nine employees) Parameter Objective Value Follow-up performance (12 months) (%) (12 months) ( ) measurement criteria Lead time 20 100,000 Fulfillment degrees of proposed and (calendar time) confirmed actions to improve Working time 20 50,000 the analysis parameters Quality defects 50 50,000 Variable costs 10 200,000 Discount rate: 5.0% 400,000 Time period: 3 years

Such parameters relate in this connection to effects It may take time and a lot of resources to realize an appropriate performance measurement system that would provide the requested information, especially if the reliability index is low.

l l

A better alternative is to utilize the fulfillment degrees of proposed and confirmed improvement actions as the primary follow-up performance measurement criteria. The benefit from this approach is that the criteria used relate to causes providing thus a better and often faster picture of how the improvement efforts are progressing. This fulfillment degree is easily defined, if the improvement efforts are

33

Heating, ventilating, and air conditioning.

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implemented using the PDCA logic. In this framework, the proposed and confirmed improvement object is usually an effect the causes of which are analyzed in more detail in the Plan phase of said logic using, for example, the fishbone (causeand-effect) diagram. In case of problems, such as no or minor impact on the analysis parameters or a low fulfillment degree, it is easy to detect via the PDCA document what went wrong and why, and correct the situation promptly. Thanks to this “safety net”, it is unlikely that the process improvement process run under the requirements of HPPI would lose traction and steering capability to any larger extent. The loss of traction and steering capability is detected anyway. In such a case, the root causes are analyzed, corrected and used as an input of the next improvement cycle. For each improvement cycle, the improvement process gets smarter, as will also the focus process. The HPPI process prevents in that sense firstly the problems from occurring and secondly utilizes a trial-and-error approach to correct or minimize unwanted results. It is therefore important to keep on running the HPPI process despite not reaching the objectives (completely) in one year. This is true especially in the initial years as a trial-and-error based mode of learning is by definition applicable from the first completed improvement cycle onwards.

5.5

Phase 3: Sub-process Specific Improvement Plans

The third phase of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis method deals with the individual sub-processes and provides an internal (Phases 3.1 and 3.2) and external (Phase 3.3) analysis of the focus process as presented in Table 5.14. The Support Module, i.e. the coordinating session held after completing the impact field in Phase 2.2, provides the forum for planning how to organize and run Phases 3.1 and 3.2. The main purpose of this session is to assure that the Phase 3 runs smoothly in terms of interviewing the right persons at the right time.

5.5.1

Analysis of the Specific Sub-processes (Phase 3.1)

The analysis of the specific sub-processes is an intense and demanding task both from a mental and time perspective. The tight time budgets are well specified and provide hints that the analyses should be well focused and to the point. Apprentices of said analysis and synthesis method are potentially subject to many treacherous temptations, traps and deadlocks that effectively ruin both the mental capacity of the expert and the allowed time frames. When the mental capacity and the available time of the day are consumed, there should be no sub-processes left to deal with. This mental capacity increases with every case. After some cases the junior expert is able to digest the main insights how to run this phase also in terms of preventing critical deficits from emerging due to up-coming and surprising issues. The mental

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Table 5.14 The sub-phases of the third phase of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis approach Phase Main objective Participants l Phase 3.1.1: defining the sub-process Phase 3.1 Selected operative key components used to run the sub-process persons familiar with the (people, technology, information, material) sub-process l Phase 3.1.2: identifying improvement objects, or problems; linking the data collection to the analysis, i.e. cultivation of the data defined in the impact field (Phase 2.2) into information l Phase 3.1.3: placing the identified improvement objects or problems in order of precedence; defining the investment need l Phase 3.1.4: rough analysis of likely causes and potential solutions l Defining appropriate follow-up performance Selected operative key Phase 3.2 measurement criteria at the sub-process persons familiar with the level (“watchdogs”) sub-process l Defining the improvement potential l Calculations of the total investment needs of the sub-process l Defining the person who owns the improvement object or problem l Conducting the optional external analysis of Selected customers Phase 3.3 the focus process based on the definitions made in Phase 2.5 or the Support Module

fatigue concerns also the interviewees that should not be exposed to more than four sub-process specific sessions on the same day, in some cases even less.

5.5.1.1

Defining the Sub-process Components (Phase 3.1.1)

Phase 3.1 starts with a description of the main activities conducted in the considered sub-process, including the needed external and internal inputs and produced outputs. It may be purposeful to draw a flow chart. This is rare, as it is mostly sufficient just to list the main steps. Describing the main activities of the sub-process initializes the expert conducting the analysis. Having the interviewees talk about their work has also a noticeable relaxing effect on the interviewees. This paves the way for the actual analysis later on. Another aspect related to the description of the activities is that the expert gets to know the company specific terms used when running the focus process and the related sub-processes. Using those familiar terms instead of some other synonyms is one issue to consider when customizing the process improvement plan. It is important that the terms are familiar to the reader of the improvement plan. Avoiding introducing new terms is thus beneficial unless truly needed.

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After the description of the main activities, and after the expert has received an overall picture of the sub-process, the focus changes to identifying and listing the four process components the interaction of which the sub-process utilizes to produce added-value. These components include: l l l l

The people (amount, educational background) Technology (hardware/machines, software, methods) Information (data and information utilized or cultivated) Material (quantity, quality).

If the sub-process utilizes external resources then these resources are also identified and listed for possible further reference.

5.5.1.2

Identifying Improvement Objects (Phase 3.1.2)

Identifying improvement objects is a rather strictly formalized procedure that is dependent on the data collection phase and especially the impact field created in Phase 2.2. In essence, this sub-phase is where both focus process and sub-process specific data is cultivated into information. The data considered is the sub-process specific allocation of percentage points made in the impact field (Phase 2.2). The issue here is to review the allocation and find reasonable causes that verify the allocations related to the specific analysis parameter. The discussion focuses on understanding the sub-process and the related impact field allocation. Based on the combination of time, quality and costs, it is rather straightforward to analyze roughly whether the sub-process has any substantial improvement potential. In case of a potential is identified then the analysis continues to review whether the realization of the potential is related to re-engineering (effectiveness) or kaizen (efficiency) type of improvement initiatives, or both. A high relative allocation of quality defects is typically a productivity issue whereas a slow or costly sub-process indicates a likely effectiveness issue. The primary revision seeks the answer to the following questions: l l

Is the sub-process flow right? If not, why not? Are the listed sub-process components right? If not, why not? After this, the focus of the revision changes to consider two additional aspects:

l l

Is the sub-process operating right? If not, why not? Are the listed sub-process components interacting right? If not, why not?

It is a comparably complex task to consider these issues thoroughly and to the extent that is required when running the HPPI initiatives. To overcome this and to increase the performance of the expert running this analysis phase it is beneficial for the expert to utilize the Car Analogy concept as a mental backbone. Mastering this concept provides a very solid basis for focusing the questions and the brainwork on the issues that provide most leverage in terms of HPPI. As this concept is also applied when educating and training people in understanding the concept of process

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improvement from a total perspective, it will be presented in detail in Chap. 6. It is worthwhile noticing that the questions presented above are not directly asked the interviewees. Identifying causes and effects for why the process is not performing better and in the end at an absolute world-class level regarding the analysis parameters, provides the answers to the questions above. The issue is to cultivate data into information that can later on be cultivated into knowledge. This translates into the very essence of process improvement, i.e. the Concept of Zero. The issue is thus to collect opinions from the interviewees using the following question as the connecting thought and “hidden agenda”: “Why is the (sub)process not producing a world-class output in zero seconds, with zero defects and zero costs?” Analyzing the current performance in this regard offers a good basis to see if the ambition level of both the (sub)process and the produced output could be upgraded. It is also worthwhile noticing that within a process the sub-processes may operate at different performance and ambition levels. In fact, the variation can be rather big despite the sub-processes are producing zero defects. This is true especially in processes that rely heavily on expertise knowledge, the motivation and practical skills of many persons. Examples of such processes include larger support or consultative processes that generate advice of technical, medical or commercial nature. Although the generated advice may be of high-class, the following questions posed may cause the process to operate at a low performance level besides the problems occurred prior to getting to even deal with the advice generation. These problems include the quality of the initial analyses and classifications, and the identification of the right expertise and expert, just to mention a few. Chapter 2 presented and discussed the outlines of the substance backbone to this multipurpose analysis. The Concept of Zero is independent from benchmarking “best cases” or “best practices” although companies may utilize these approaches depending on the case. Being best does not imply that the operations are good from a HPPI perspective, especially if the company has achieved that position with a low PIY level (cp. Fig. 1.2). Such businesses expose themselves to competitors operating at a much higher PIY level. Being relatively best is not the same as being absolute best. Being content with a relative best performance can potentially be devastating. In any case, a lot of money is lost despite the level of current profits. In some cases, the company may compensate a bad process performance with a successful strategy although money and stakeholder satisfaction momentum are inevitably lost in such a case. A well-functioning core process, however, seldom compensates a bad strategy. In other words, it is better to be effective than productive although this mode of operation is by no means free neither. The company receives a great improvement momentum, if the company applies the HPPI concepts also to the strategy process, the related deployment and the written strategy. Chapter 7 (Sect. 7.1) considers this issue in more detail. The implications of this on the market dynamics in various industries is an interesting issue that is sure worth pondering in the companies. The best relative improvement momentum is naturally achieved, if the competitors stick to methods producing a low improvement yield output, and the own company applies methods

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with a high improvement yield output. Catching-up with a company operating at a very high process improvement yield level is a very demanding task that may even prove to be close to impossible in real-life, bearing in mind the evolving nature of the HPPI process.

5.5.1.3

Placing the Improvement Objects in Order of Importance (Phase 3.1.3)

The previous phase (Phase 3.1.2) puts the “cards on the table”, but does not pick the winning hand. This issue is dedicated to Phase 3.1.3 that lists the identified improvement objects in order of importance. The ranking is based on the opinions of the interviewees and is denoted simply by a figure from “1” onwards. The following question provides the logic for ranking the issues: “If you get to fix only one (or two, three, four, etc.) of the problems identified, which issue(s) would it be?” It is possible to alter the question by limiting the selection to a time frame and a budget and the consideration of possible change resistance. Phase 2.6 provides the input to limit the available resources. That phase identifies the general need for speed via the objectives and related time limit. If the objectives are ambitious, and the time frame defined reasonably short, this usually indicates a higher investment level and resource pool.

5.5.1.4

Rough Analysis of Likely Causes and Potential Solutions (Phase 3.1.4)

The expert in charge of conducting the process analysis and synthesis may perform a light, guiding root cause analysis together with the interviewees. This is for not only understanding better the improvement objects and the reasons behind a process performance deficit, but also for committing the operative key persons to the planning phase itself and a possible implementation phase. As the synthesis is not made at this point, it is still too early to say if the objects are interesting from a total perspective although Criterion 1 provides some advance hints in this regard. In addition, the issue of causes and effects is better understood once all sub-phases have been analyzed. The expert performs therefore back-office the deeper analysis and the writing of the more detailed problem description in the overall analysis and synthesis phases (Day 3 onwards). The VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis method considers for each improvement object the following issues: l l l

The improvement object or problem description A solution proposal including a rough estimate of the investment and time needs Supporting means.

The improvement object or problem description is defined in a way so that it can be immediately transferred to the implementation phase (Phase 3 of the HPPI process), if the object is selected for implementation. In such a case, the description, usually

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about a half a page long, becomes normally the input for the PDCA logic. This description is attached to the sub-process closest to the cause. The effects of a cause are usually observable throughout the focus process in different guises. These guises or cause related improvement objects are registered and prioritized from the perspective of that sub-process. The remedy treatment is not replicated, if a cause-and-effect relationship can be established to a previously processed cause. In such a case, there is only a link to the sub-process where the cause is revised. This logic provides additional performance momentum to the analysis phases providing also a clue that it is crucial in early phases of the analysis to detect if there are some key causes that produce bad performance throughout the focus process. This issue leads to the question where to start the sub-process specific analysis. Would it be more beneficial to start at the end of the focus process and then move towards the beginning, or should the analysis proceed in a chronological manner from the beginning towards the end? From a method point of view, I have not been able to establish a clear preference on this issue although I personally prefer to proceed in the chronological manner. In this way, I feel that I will sooner grasp the total perspective and learn the terms and the fundamental underpinnings of the focus process. The interesting issues are not usually discovered where the screams and yells come from. They provide, however, the end-points of the cause-and-effect chain that can be parsed backwards. It is important to notice that although the causes produced in a previous sub-process can produce problems in the subsequent subprocess, this does not imply that the subsequent sub-processes could not generate other problems that lower the performance of the sub-process itself and subsequent sub-processes. At the very end there can many different cause-and-effects chains that the expert needs to keep apart. This may sound like a complex task. In reality, it is not. The causes are usually few and the effects can be reasonably well attached to a certain cause-and-effect chain. For example, one chain may relate to a low initial information quality and the other to a malfunctioning IT system. Although the interviewees may consider these issues even in the same sentence and mix the issues seamlessly, it is reasonably easy for the expert to keep the issues apart. By some guiding comments and questions, it is easy to keep the discussion on the right track. The likely solution is considered at a rough level for the benefit of deciding whether the improvement efforts are subject to a re-engineering or kaizen type of improvement logic. This guidance provides also the basis for understanding the investment and time needs. Investment needs under a certain case specific limit will not be registered and specified, as the money required to implement the solution can be found and used within the budget. These improvement objects provide usually a faster and less bureaucratic implementation start compared to those initiatives that potentially require a formal decision from the board. If these improvement objects have a reasonable improvement potential and apparent benefits regarding the required start-up efforts and risk level, then these overall considerations may prove attractive in the synthesis phase. The total time estimate is also considered and registered, if the implementation of the improvement object is likely to consume more time than half of the time frame defined by the management in

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Phase 2.6. Both the money and time constraints are needed in the Plan phase of the PDCA logic when defining the improvement targets and the more detailed improvement objects and actions. Finally, supporting means of increasing the performance of the implementation in terms of time, quality and costs are roughly considered. These means include also the utilization of the approaches related to HPPI that is crucial, even decisive, if the focus process operates at a low PIY level.

5.5.2

Complementing the Sub-process Specific Analysis (Phase 3.2)

Phase 3.2 concludes the sub-process specific analysis. It will define important inputs for the synthesis phase. These issues include: l

l l l

Defining appropriate follow-up performance measurement criteria at the subprocess level (“watchdogs”) Defining the realistic improvement potential Adding up the investment needs identified previously (if needed) Defining the person who owns the improvement object or problem.

The follow-up performance measurement criteria should primarily reflect the extent to which the company has implemented the solution. This information is almost automatically received if the implementation is conducted using the PDCA logic. These criteria need other supporting criteria that communicate how well the company has corrected or improved the attached causes. This level will then affect the process analysis parameters that are the tertiary performance measurement criteria, not the primary criteria. This hierarchy of measurement criteria is important especially in the case when no or modest results are to be observed in the implementation phase. In such a case, corrective actions can be deployed properly and timely to prevent loss of improvement momentum and a lower actual improvement ramp-up and cruising speed (improvement yield). This issue would be detected when revising the actual process improvement yield level, but this fact may be received only once a year, or even once in every 2 years, according to the defined total improvement cycle. The potential time loss may be in a worst-case scenario in the range of 2 years. The potential and money lost, in many cases just for nothing, may be an astonishing high figure. The bad news is that this loss is never to be retrieved. The interviewed operative key persons define the sub-process specific improvement potential. The procedure for defining the analysis parameter specific improvement potential is based on the identified improvement objects and the related solutions (if known) with respect to a time frame half of that used in Phase 2.6. This approach provides flexibility and planning options to run the improvement initiatives concurrently and in sequence according to the available resources. A high-quality roll-out

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plan creates additional traction and a seamless improvement momentum. Sometimes it might be appropriate to limit the time frame to one-fourth part of the time frame defined in Phase 2.6. Usually this period equals 3 months. This logic, also utilized by the hoshin kanri approach, allows a flexible roll-out plan where the confirmed improvement initiatives are phased so that the confirmed 12-month objectives are reached. These 12-month objectives are not the ones defined by the management in Phase 2.6 but those overall objectives based on the sub-process specific potential definitions. These potential definitions provide the basis for defining the financial outcome of the improvement initiatives. Of course, the time limit used when defining the realistic potential may also be equal to the one used by the management in Phase 2.6, or even longer if deemed necessary although the default value is half of the time frame defined by the management in Phase 2.6. The Criterion 1 indicates which sub-processes will probably be the focus of the improvement efforts. However, these indications may not be valid, as the true potential is revealed by the sub-process specific improvement potentials (Fig. 5.15). The potential is filtered by attaching constraints to the potential evaluation. The basis is the identified improvement objects the potentials of which are evaluated and adjusted based on the possible solution and need for resources (time, money, knowledge), but also likely organizational stress and change resistance. The stress and resistance issues become relevant the greater the needed cultural change is. This filtering logic provides realistic potential evaluations that can be utilized by the synthesis phase. For instance, if the realistic improvement potential of phase P3 in Fig. 5.15 is a cut by 25% regarding the time parameter (the delivery time), and its share of the delivery time is 40% (impact field allocation made in Phase 2.2), then the impact on the overall delivery time is a 10% decrease. In a similar fashion, it is possible to define the effects of the other analysis parameters. Once the overall effects are known, then it is easy to link the realistic potential to the financial outcome for each sub-process. The missing information is received in Phase 2.6 where the correlation

Fig. 5.15 The realistic improvement potential as defined by the operative key persons for each sub-process and the contribution to the overall performance improvement of the focus process

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between an analysis parameter performance increase and the financial outcome is established. The overall effect tells how much the total focus process will be improved by each sub-process specific improvement initiative. If a 30% decrease of the delivery time equals a gain of 100,000   then the gain of a 10% decrease is one third of that sum. This value, plus the negative or positive contribution of the other sub-process specific analysis parameters, is the Criterion 3 for that specific sub-process.34 Phase 4 considers this issue more thoroughly. If investment needs have been associated with the identified improvement objects, these sums are added up to define the total investment need. This sum is utilized when calculating the net present value of the initiatives in Phase 4. Finally, a responsible person for all or some of the improvement objects is assigned. This person equals mostly the one in charge of the sub-process, but it could also be some other person. This is the case especially when the remedy is not to be applied in the considered focus sub-process. The cause is corrected somewhere else although the results are materialized in the focus sub-process. It is worthwhile noticing that the expert (consultant) and the operative key persons discuss in an interactive mode the sub-process specific issues considered in Phases 3.1–3.2. The primary approach should be the process consultation model as considered previously in Chap. 3. Other approaches of consultation may occasionally suit the occasion better. Hence, the expert or consultant should not jump to premature conclusions but should provide the interviewees with needed basic information about possible paths to follow to arrive at the answers. In so doing, the operative key persons “invent” the improvement objects and solutions by themselves, which creates more likely a better commitment level with respect to the operative key persons. According to my experience, the problems of different companies are in many cases essentially the same. The operative key persons have usually been able to provide the necessary information regarding the improvement objects and realistic potential. Within a sub-process or function, the problems are well known. It is usually also easy to address the remedy although the remedy itself is not selfevident. The challenges emerge traditionally later on in the implementation phase, as the improvement objects are implemented with an almost non-existent or low process improvement yield level. The tricky part in the analysis phase is that the expert should not be too eager to show his or her capabilities to solve that problem but should let the operative key persons come up with the objects of improvement and related solutions. If the operative key persons do not have a clue about how to improve the subprocess, but know what is wrong, the consultant can change the consultation approach to the expert model. If the operative key persons do not have any clue about potential improvement objects, then the consultant needs to switch to the doctor–patient model. However, if this change does not bring about results, the consultant needs to conclude whether or not the sub-process is operating at a very

34

Criterion 3 is the defined short-term financial outcome excluding the investments.

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high level of performance. If so, very innovative approaches to process improvement need to be considered. Another implication may be that the operative key persons lack understanding or willingness to provide the consultant with the vital information. Hence, psychological aspects need to be taken into consideration. This is done through, for example, education and initiatives to increase the willingness to change. Consequently, these measures have become the object of improvement. The operational range of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis method demands at least some cooperation on the part of the operative key persons to function properly. The assumption is that employees naturally care about the quality of work they do and will take initiatives to improve it, if they are given the opportunity and resources to implement the ideas.35 This assumption is not consequently valid in a hypothetic case where the key persons show no sign of willingness even to consider improvement efforts. Such a case undermines to some extent the strength of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis approach although it inevitably reveals such a deficit. It is important that every sub-process has a coherent improvement plan because this will facilitate the improvement of the whole process. Although some of the subprocesses may not receive attention at first, they may become topical at a later point when the more urgent sub-processes have been taken care of. Finally, it is worthwhile noticing that the overall performance of the analysis phase might be increased, if the key operative persons feel safe about the situation, and are free to deliberate areas of improvement. Considerations such as the place of the interviews and interpersonal skills of the consultant need to be addressed. If the interviews are made so that another person, for example the superior, is able to hear the discussions, then this may affect negatively the output of the person(s) interviewed. This situation advocates also that it might be wise to assign three or four persons as operative key persons, provided that this does not cause other problems offsetting the advantages.

5.5.3

The Optional External Analysis (Phase 3.3)

The optional external analysis is conducted in more than 90% of the cases. It takes the shape of a customer satisfaction inquiry as discussed in Phase 2.5 (Sect. 5.4.5). The analysis and synthesis function properly even without this input although it usually reveals some interesting perspectives and points not fully covered by the internal analysis. It may also strengthen and verify the statements made by the operative key persons. Table 5.15 presents an example of such an input. Tables 5.16 and 5.17 present the quantitative evaluation of the case considered in Table 5.15.

35

This assumption is also applied by the TQM approach; see e.g. (Hackman and Wageman 1995).

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Table 5.15 The external analysis of the case presented in Figure 5.5 and Table 5.6 (precision plastic products, the tool manufacturing core process with 150 employees) N ¼ 7 (response rate 41.2%; four internal customers and three external customers). The answers are numbered, not prioritized Twigs; negative comments Roses; positive comments 1. The greatest problem is the slipping 1. The quality of the end result (the tool) is schedules and the delivery mostly good. External Customer A/ certainty. Internal Customer A Telecom 2. There are shortages regarding the 2. The service of the company is, monitoring of the timetables generally speaking, on a very good Internal Customer A level. Together we have been able to 3. The workload of the Account solve many difficult problems in a Managers has been too big short time. Thanks to all for this. resulting in delays regarding Internal Customer C inquiries and the reporting also 3. Very high quality with a great towards external customers. understanding of the quality concept, Internal Customer A which is necessary for the automotive 4. The variation regarding the agreed industry. External Customer C/ and realized delivery times is big. Automotive Internal Customer B 5. The reliability regarding the delivery time and high-quality production of moulds has dropped dramatically. The inexperience of the persons in charge decreases additionally the reliability. External Customer A/Telecom 6. I don’t know the Tool Manufacturing Process. It is noticeable regarding the process quality that the timetables are not met and the project management does not work properly when running a lot of projects at the same time. External Customer B/Telecom 7. At this point of time, it is very difficult in terms of the delivery times. This affects negatively also the customer confidence. Internal Customer C 8. Too expensive, too long delivery times; the delivery times are not kept. Internal Customer D Other hints or comments: l The quality of the services and process are close to the industry average. Internal Customer B l The after sales activities should be improved. Internal Customer B Summary: l The delivery certainty, the timetables, delays and the speed in general have to be improved considerably. The same goes for the costs. In addition, the quality has to be improved, as the trend is (partly) negative and the customers have noticed it

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Table 5.16 The parameter priorities set by the management and customers regarding the case in Table 5.15 (precision plastic products, the tool manufacturing core process with 150 employees) Parameter Priority Parameter Priority (management) (customers) (customers) defined in Phase 2.6 Lead time 40% Delivery certainty/ 42.1% Delivery certainty (“the 10% delivery time (series [%]: problems causing delays”) 50;40;40;40;70;15;40) Unproductive time 20% Quality defects 21.4% (series [%]: 25;30;30;30;5;10;20) Quality defects 15% Price 36.4% (series [%]: 25;30;30;30;25;75;40) Variable costs 15% N ¼ 7; response rate 41.2%

Table 5.17 The parameter performance evaluation as perceived by the customers regarding the case in Tables 5.15 and 5.16. Scale: 0 (poor), 1 (passable), 2 (satisfactory), 3 (good), 4 (very good) 5 (excellent) Customer parameter The case process (N ¼ 5) Industry sector in general (N ¼ 5) Based on the experience from 20 named companies Time (delivery time/delivery 1,6 2,6 certainty) (series 0;1;2;2;1;4;1) (series 1;2;3;4;1;3;4) Quality (quality defects) 2,9 3,0 (series 3;3;2;3;3;4;2) (series 2;3;3;3;3;3;4) Costs (price) 1,6 2,7 (series 2;2;2;1;3;1;0) (series 2;2;3;3;2;3;4)

The management has the option to reconsider the definitions made in Phase 2.6 based on the customer input received in Phase 3.3. This reconsideration takes place in Phase 4.1.4, if needed. As seen in Table 5.17, the case process performs, according to the customers, well below the performance of other competing processes, especially in the two most important areas (time, costs).

5.6

Phase 4: The Synthesis and Creation of the VISTALIZER1 Report

The fourth and final phase of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis method ties together the previous phases and delivers a basis for the forthcoming improvement efforts (the implementation). With this basis, the company can take

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Table 5.18 The sub-phases of the fourth phase of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis approach Phase Main objective Participants l Computer calculations: putting Phase 4.1 The management (Phases 4.1.4–4.1.4) together the sub-process realistic and operative key persons (Phase improvement potentials to enable a 4.1.4); if needed and to the extent like-for-like comparison with the required objectives set by the management (Phase 4.1.1) l Computer calculations: calculation of Criterion 2 for the purpose of verifying the analysis phase; comparison between Criterion 1 and 2 and defining the quantitative improvement momentum (Phase 4.1.2) l Computer calculations: calculation of Criterion 3 and 4 for the purpose of detecting improvement initiatives with a low financial outcome compared to the investments, i.e. high risk, but low potential (Phase 4.1.3) l Calibrating management expectations; harmonization of management objectives and the realistic improvement potential defined by the operative key persons; if needed (Phase 4.1.4) l Presynthesis, putting together the Phase 4.2 None (done by the expert or consultant) concerns and considerations of different stakeholders (customers, employees, owners) l Synthesis and creation of the None (done by the expert or consultant) Phase 4.3 VISTALIZER1 Report l Delivery of the VISTALIZER1 Report l Presentation and confirmation of the Management and operative key persons Phase 4.4 VISTALIZER1 Report

measures to improve the performance of the focus process. Table 5.18 describes the structure of the fourth phase.

5.6.1

Processing the Analysis Information and Calibrating Management Expectations (Phase 4.1)

Phase 4.1 is a preparatory phase that includes many important issues to consider as presented in the summary table above. Spreadsheet calculations provide the results

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instantly after the completion of the last sub-process in Phase 3. This would make it possible, at least in theory, to conduct harmonization activities (Phase 4.1.4) at the end of Day 2. In practice, this is not usually possible. Day 2 is an intense day that consumes usually fully the available time. Another point is that Phase 3 consumes unevenly the strength of the attending persons. It may also be difficult to coordinate the timetables of the required persons, as these may have already committed themselves to other activities. Harmonization activities are conducted for the most part by e-mail or phone. In certain rare cases, it may be beneficial to arrange a session to meet in person to consider the issues. This logic is used also if the customer satisfaction inquiry conducted in Phase 3.3 requires the attention of the management.

5.6.1.1

Comparing the Objectives to the Realistic Improvement Potentials

The first issue to calculate is the difference between the objectives set by management (Phase 2.6) and the realistic improvement potential (Phase 3.2). Figure 5.16 presents the principle of calculating this difference. For example, the overall effect of the delivery time reductions, when the different potentials defined by the sub-process owners are considered, is 42% (P1 = 6%, P2 = 10%, P3 = 10%, P4 = 16%, overall sum = 42%). The tables below present additional examples. As seen in Table 5.19 below, the achievable performance is lower than the objectives set by the management. The equivalent financial implication is about 8,000,000   less than expected suggesting that the harmonization phase should be conducted. However, in the light of the financial considerations, and the market requirements of the focus process, the identified realistic overall improvement potential is more than sufficient. This suggests that no harmonization is needed, as there is no need to increase the improvement pace above the already identified potential. The objectives set by the management regarding the operations costs are 0% and 0  . These gains have already been taken into account when defining the outcome of the four other parameters. Therefore, the reduction of operations costs by 2%, as envisaged by the key operative persons, is not credited directly but indirectly via the other parameters. The discount rate and time period are used when calculating Criterion 3 and 4. Table 5.20 presents another interesting case where the process is already starting to run out of control. This is a normal scenario that materializes when the company has been improving its processes for years with a low improvement yield level. When the market conditions change, it is impossible to respond to the demands accordingly – despite having “the best forces” improving the process for years. Falling in the trap of “best forces” or “best practices”, and running the improvement efforts at a low actual process improvement yield level, is the “black hole” of process improvement that swallows many companies unneeded indeed. As seen in Table 5.20 below, the achievable performance increase is only half of that what the management required. The objectives set are real business needs that have to be achieved in a short period of time. However, compared to the actual

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Fig. 5.16 Defining the realistic overall effect and comparing the result with the management objectives for calibrating management expectations

Table 5.19 Summary of non-discounted, short-term gains (mechanical engineering industry, the technical support process with 450 employees) Parameter Management Gains Operative key persons Gain objectives (management) Realistic improvement (Operative (12 months) ( ) potential key persons) (%) (6–12 months) (%) ( ) Response time 50 4,500,000 37 3,330,000 Total delivery 10 9,000,000 7 6,300,000 time Unproductive 15 8,000,000 8 4,270,000 time Quality defects 20 1,000,000 14 700,000 Operations costs 0 0 2 0 Sum 22,500,000 14,600,000 Discount rate: 8 Time period: 3 years

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Table 5.20 Summary of non-discounted, short-term gains (precision plastic products, the tool manufacturing core process with 150 employees) Parameter Management Gains Operative key Gains objectives (management) persons (operative (12 months) (%) ( ) Realistic key persons) improvement ( ) potential (6–12 months) (%) Lead time 50 500,000 22 224,000 Delivery certainty (“the 77 (equals a 170,000 39 (equals a 84,000 problems causing delivery delivery delays”) certainty of certainty of 95%) 86.6%) Unproductive time 80 200,000 38 95,000 Quality defects 50 50,000 49 49,000 Variable costs 25 300,000 14 162,000 1,220,000 614,000 Discount rate: 10% Time period: 3 years

capability of the organization and allocated resources the realistic achievable gains are far from the level expected by the management. Such a big difference has to be sorted out properly in Phase 4.1.4. The realistic improvement potential may not be high enough to keep the company in business, especially when the customers have noticed the problems and the low performance. In this situation, it is necessary to consider also the business fundamentals such as the loss/profit level, liquidity and solidity. If these issues are on a sufficient level, then it is fruitful to consider HPPI approaches. The situation may have, however, deteriorated to the degree where even HPPI efforts will not make any difference. Reconstruction actions should be targeted in the first place after which HPPI approaches may be applied, if the reconstruction has been successful. Relevant questions include the question of how big a share of the total operations the focus process represents, and are the problems related to the core or support processes, i.e. the direct or indirect generation of cash and current or future cash generation capabilities (profit level and growth rate). Considerations related to the profit level, the attractiveness of current offerings, marketing and sales capabilities, and the nature of the (potential) growth rate, provide valuable hints how to proceed. Table 5.21 presents another interesting case where the management demands a better performance, but the process cannot be improved to any larger extent. The export process has to generate 400,000   more money, but the realistic improvement potential suggests that only 62,000   can be achieved. This figure is excluding possible investments to realize the improvement so in practice the financial improvement potential might even be negative. The case presented below is a typical process that is running with too low an ambition level in combination with a non-existent strategy. Hence, a high-class strategy produced by a high-class strategy process needs to be defined and implemented after which the export process is designed to contribute to reaching the

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Table 5.21 Summary of non-discounted, short-term gains (HVAC36 equipment manufacturer, the export process with nine employees) Parameter Management Gains Operative key persons Gains objectives (management) Realistic improvement (Operative (12 months) (%) ( ) potential (6–12 key persons) months) (%) ( ) Lead time 20 100,000 12 60,000 (calendar time) Working time 20 50,000 3 7,000 Quality defects 50 50,000 35 35,000 Variable costs 10 200,000 2 40,000 400,000 62,000 Discount rate: 5 Time period: 3 years

vision stated in the strategy. These issues and the related solution (VISTALIZER1 for Businesses) are considered later on in this book (Sect. 7.1). Table 5.21 indicates strongly that the ambition levels of both the export process itself and the output produced (high-class business deals) should be raised considerably. Although the difference between the objectives set by the management and the realistic improvement potential defined by the operative key persons is big, it is no use harmonizing the objectives, as the improvement momentum cannot at this point be reached by local actions within the focus process. As seen in the examples above, there are numerous situations where no harmonization is actually required or even fruitful to consider. Also at this stage, it is already possible to see that in many cases the synthesis will not point at running the third phase of the HPPI process. It may be more beneficial to consider other means of targeting the actual improvement need. These include improving the strategy related issues and restructuring the business before adapting HPPI approaches. Very few analysis and synthesis methods can deal properly with this issue making them in real-life obsolete from a process improvement perspective. Applying analysis methods that cannot detect the “big picture” properly is as bad as the methods that cannot detect the vital few details from the trivial many.

5.6.1.2

Verifying the Analysis Phase and Defining the Improvement Momentum

The verification of the analysis phase is based on a comparison between the data collection phase (Criterion 1) and the analysis phase (Criterion 2). Criterion 1 has been considered when dealing with Phase 2 of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis method. Besides verifying the analysis phase, Criterion 2 has also another important function, as it communicates the impact of improving a certain process component on the total improvement momentum. Usually this 36

Heating, ventilating, and air conditioning.

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component is the technology component and more specifically the effect of improving the IT system on the total improvement momentum. Knowing this share of the improvement momentum reveals also the financial outcome of the IT investments. This share is directly related to the financial gains calculated via Criterion 3 and 4. Especially in larger corporations, with complex and large IT systems, this knowledge can also serve as an eye-opener and wake-up call. Criterion 2 is based on the impact field allocations (Phase 2.2), the relative importance of the analysis parameters as defined by the management (Phase 2.3), and the parameter specific realistic improvement potentials as defined by the key operative persons (Phase 3.2). The criterion tells which sub-processes are the most important when future performance needs are considered. Figure 5.17 shows the first step for calculating Criterion 2. The calculation of Criterion 2 for Phase P3 in Fig. 5.17 shows that the absolute value is approximately 9.6%. The absolute values for each sub-process are calculated. Figure 5.18 presents an example of the end-result of such calculations.

Fig. 5.17 An example of how to calculate the absolute value of Criterion 2 for a sub-process Criterion 2 (Absolute Values) 6.0 % 5.0 % 4.0 % 3.0 % 2.0 % 1.0 % 0.0 % P1.1.1 P1.1.2 P1.1.3 P1.2.1 P1.2.2 P1.2.3 P1.3 P2.1.1 P2.1.2 P2.1.3 P2.2.1 P2.2.2 P2.2.3 P2.3

Fig. 5.18 An example of Criterion 2 using absolute values (mechanical engineering industry, the technical support process with 450 employees)

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5 Process Analysis and Synthesis Criterion 2 (Relative Values)

35.0 % 30.2 %

30.0 % 25.0 % 19.7 %

20.0 %

17.7 %

16.5 %

15.0 % 10.0 % 5.0 %

3.6 % 3.2 % 3.5 %

3.1 % 1.3 % 1.0 %

0.0 % 0.0 %

0.0 % 0.0 %

0.0 % P1.1.1 P1.1.2 P1.1.3 P1.2.1 P1.2.2 P1.2.3

P1.3

P2.1.1 P2.1.2 P2.1.3 P2.2.1 P2.2.2 P2.2.3

P2.3

Fig. 5.19 An example of Criterion 2 using relative values (mechanical engineering industry, the technical support process with 450 employees)

Based on the absolute Criterion 2 values the total improvement leverage of the focus process and the relative share of each sub-process are calculated (Fig. 5.19). This relative value is the actual Criterion 2, or the relative Criterion 2 value to be precise, of the sub-processes. The ones with the highest values are the most important when forthcoming improvement efforts are considered. The total sum (17% in Fig. 5.18) and the level and spread of these absolute values provide a good insight into the nature of the focus process. It is worthwhile noticing that the remedy may be located in another sub-process, process or even another company besides the sub-process itself. This cause-and-effect chain has been analyzed in Phase 3 of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis method. To verify the data collection a comparison between Criterion 1 and Criterion 2 (relative values) is conducted (recall Fig. 5.14). The initial sub-processes, in this case P1.1.1–P1.1.2 and P2.1.1–P2.1.2, are the ones that the total performance improvement largely relies on. The data collection and analysis related to P1.1.1– P1.3 can be verified as such, as the profiles resembles each other. However, the data collection related to P2.1.1–P2.3 requires a deeper consideration, as there is a peak in the Criterion 1 value for P2.2.1–P2.2.3. This peak is not observable when considering Criterion 2. To exclude a possible biased analysis there are two factors that overrule the possibility of a potential “garbage in, garbage out” dilemma. These two factors are change resistance or a way too heavy need for investments so that the specific improvement initiatives are not considered feasible within the defined or even extended time frames. In this case, the issue related to change resistance, as a decision to realize a certain set of key improvement initiatives had to be made in another part of the organization. Receiving a positive decision within 12 months was judged not likely at all. Therefore, the identified improvement potential cannot be realized, which results in a low Criterion 2 value. With this complementary information, the case passes the verification phase.

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The improvement object(s) attached to P1.1.1 provides by far the best strategic leverage (about 30% of the leverage). However, much of the momentum of the other sub-processes is realized via the improvement of P1.1.1 suggesting that the overall leverage of P1.1.1 is about 90% (P1.1.1 + P1.1.2 [=47%] + 80% of the remaining leverage [53%]). The same logic can be used to define the total improvement leverage of any specific improvement object or process component such as the impact of improving the IT or ERP system.

5.6.1.3

Calculating Financial Outcomes and Detecting Improvement Initiatives with a Low Financial Outcome

Criterion 3 tells how much the cash flow (excluding needed investments) can be increased in the short-term (1 year) by the targeted improvement initiatives. Criterion 4, or the Net Present Value (NPV), tells which sub-process produces most wealth from the owners’ point of view in the longer-term perspective. Possible investments and the cumulative cash flow are discounted using the discount rate and an appropriate time range. How to transfer the realistic improvement potential into a financial outcome has already been considered in Phase 3.2 (Sect. 5.5.2). The following inputs are needed to calculate the short-term gross gain of the sub-process specific improvement initiatives: l l

The sub-process specific effect on the analysis parameter (Phase 3.2) The parameter specific overall objectives as defined by the management and the corresponding monetary gain (Phase 2.6).

The values of the definitions above may be subject to change, if there is a need to harmonize the input in Phase 4.1.4. In case of any changes, the new values are received instantly by just updating the corresponding spreadsheet. The sum of the sub-process specific Criterion 3 values equals the total gain based on the realistic improvement potential as discussed in Sect. 5.6.1.1 and presented in the examples in Tables 5.19–5.21. Figure 5.20 shows the technical calculation of Criterion 3. The result of the calculation is that phase P3 contributes with 545,000  . Similar calculations are executed regarding the other phases. Depending on the improvement efforts, there might be individual sub-processes with a negative Criterion 3 value. This is the case when more resources are added to increase the performance level of the total process. Consequently, the focus subprocess may experience both an increase in costs and time that result in a negative Criterion 3 value. If this is compensated many times over by the performance increase in other sub-processes, then this initiative is well justified. Figure 5.21 shows a Criterion 3 case. Criterion 3 does not consider the one-time (initial) costs and investments needed to realize the improvement potential. To calculate the net financial impact of the improvement efforts, i.e. Criterion 4, one has to understand the concept of present

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Fig. 5.20 The principle for calculating the value of Criterion 3 for the example phase (P3)

Criterion 3 3 000 000 2 500 000 2 000 000 1 500 000 1 000 000 500 000 0 P1.1.1

P1.1.2

P1.1.3

P1.2.1

P1.2.2

P1.2.3

P1.3

P2.1.1

P2.1.2

P2.1.3

P2.2.1

P2.2.2

P2.2.3

Fig. 5.21 An example of Criterion 3 (mechanical engineering industry, the technical support process with 450 employees)

value and net present value. If C1 denotes the expected payoff at time Period 1 (1 year hence), then Present value ðPVÞ = discount factor  C1

(5.1)

The discount factor is expressed as the reciprocal of 1 plus a rate of return: Discount factor =

1 1þr

(5.2)

The rate of return r is the reward that investors demand for accepting delayed payment (Brealey and Myers 1988). Net present value (NPV) is an effort’s net contribution to wealth – present value minus initial investment. The formula for calculating NPV can be written as:

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NPV = C0 þ

C1 1þr

159

(5.3)

It should be noticed that C0, the cash flow at time Period 0 (i.e. today), will usually be a negative figure. In other words, C0 is an investment and therefore a cash outflow.37 The present value of an extended stream of cash flows could be summarized in the formula: PV =

X

Ct ð1 þ rt Þt

(5.4)

where refers to the sum of the series. To find the net present value the (usually negative) initial cash flow is added, just as in the Period 1 case: NPV = C0 þ PV = C0 þ

X

Ct ð1 þ rt Þt

(5.5)

Other useful formulas to calculate the present value are briefly presented below. The value of a perpetuity of $1 per year is: PV =

1 r

(5.6)

The value of annuity of $1 per period for t years (t-year annuity factor) is: PV =

1 1  r r(1 þ r)t

(5.7)

If the initial cash flow is $1 at year 1 and if cash flows thereafter grow at a constant rate of g in perpetuity, then the present value is: PV =

1 rg

(5.8)

If r is the continuously compounded rate of interest, then the present value of $1 received in year t is: PV =

37

1 ert

(5.9)

If different investments are needed each year, then the negative cash flow is discounted to its present value. After that, the negative sum is subtracted from the positive cash flow (which also has been discounted).

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5 Process Analysis and Synthesis Criterion 4 (NPV)

7 000 000 6 000 000 5 000 000 4 000 000 3 000 000 2 000 000 1 000 000 0 P1.1.1

P1.1.2

P1.1.3

P1.2.1

P1.2.2

P1.2.3

P1.3

P2.1.1

P2.1.2

P2.1.3

P2.2.1

P2.2.2

P2.2.3

Fig. 5.22 An example of Criterion 4 (mechanical engineering industry, the technical support process with 450 employees)

The VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis method uses (5.7) as the default formula, which does not exclude the use of other formulas if appropriate. For example, it is possible to transform (5.7) into (5.6). When the t-factor in (5.7) reaches infinity, the formula translates into (5.6). This is made by giving the t factor a high value (for instance, t = 100 years). Figure 5.22 shows an example of Criterion 4. The identified improvement efforts produce a net gain of approximately MEUR 35   (3 years time frame, 8% discount). Instead of defining the specific investments objects, it is also possible to define the level of needed investments as a percentage of the Present Value. In this case, the needed investments are 7% of the Present Value. Most of this net gain is realized by the improvement initiative related to P1.1.1, as this sub-process holds about 90% of the total improvement momentum (cp. Criterion 2, Sect. 5.6.1.2). A consistency check is made based on Criterion 3 and 4. This takes the shape of evaluating the magnitude of the change required. Are the initiatives re-engineering, kaizen type improvement efforts, or a combination of the two? If the required change is big then the profit level should compensate for the higher risk level as outlined in Fig. 5.23. The initiatives should normally be in the field of the usual alternatives. If this is not the case, then the initiative has to be analyzed closer to find a reasonable motivation. Initiatives that are judged to contain a high risk, but low profit potential, are discarded at this stage. These initiatives cannot compete in the synthesis phase for the available resources, unless the initiatives are modified so that the risk/profit profile would be in a better balance. Likewise, the case of an initiative with a low risk and high profit level needs to be considered closer to see if the specifications and assumptions behind the specific initiative are valid. A kaizen initiative may have, for example, multiple effects that build cumulative gains throughout the process. There might be, on the other hand, an improvement object, which is the “favorite pet” of the operative key person. Due to this, a specific improvement object may receive too much attention. This might show by underestimating other

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Fig. 5.23 The principle for conducting the risk/profit consistency check38 Criterion 4 (NPV) 600 000 368 000

400 000

205 000

200 000

32 000

85 000

42 000

P2

P3

P4

60 000

0

0 –200 000 –400 000

P1 –214 000

P5.1

P5.2

P6

P7

P8

P9

–218 000

–600 000 –800 000 –1 000 000 –1 200 000 –1 400 000

–1 300 000

Fig. 5.24 The net present value of a support process with the main gain realized in another process (IT services business; the deployment and implementation process with 2,000 persons)

initiatives or overestimating the favorite improvement object. Such a conduct does not necessarily have to be conscious, as the overall process perspective may be lacking in combination with suddenly changed circumstances and requirements. Figure 5.24 shows an example where a support process, i.e. the deployment and implementation process of a large IT services corporation, is delivering its output to a big core process. As the example shows, it is possible to distinguish process internal and external gains to calculate the total gain. It is also possible to integrate the total financial outcome directly in Phase 2.6. The NPV of the whole deployment and implementation process is 940,000   despite some positive initiatives, for example, in Phase P6 (368,000  ). On the surface, this does not seem like a good prospectus for any executive looking at the figures. Figure 5.24 contains the costs of implementing the improvement efforts and 38

Picture drawn by Harri Pakarinen and published with due permission of Vistalize Oy.

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5 Process Analysis and Synthesis Criterion 4 (NPV)

30 000 000 24 500 000

25 000 000 20 000 000 15 000 000 10 000 000 5 000 000 32 000

85 000

42 000

60 000

205 000

P5.1

P5.2

368 000

0

0 P1 –214 000

P2

P3

P4

P6

P7 –218 000

P8

P9

–5 000 000

Fig. 5.25 The net present values of a support process where process external gains are allocated to the support process (IT services business; the deployment and implementation process with 2,000 persons)

the direct gain from having a better performing deployment and implementation process. For illustrative purposes, one major factor has been omitted from the figure, namely the gains received thanks to a better performing core process. If this projected net gain is allocated to the phase where the main costs are allocated (P8), the figure changes remarkably (Fig. 5.25). Most of the issues related to the consistency check are detected and dealt with in Phase 3. The check assures that the quality of the input is in this regard sufficient. This is important because the financial gain defined by Criterion 4 is used to define the full potential of the detected improvement objects in the longer-term. The gains communicated by Criterion 4 is the cumulative discounted (usually 3 years and 10% discount) gain based on the process improvement cycle time (usually 12 months). However, the improvement initiatives may have targeted only 15–35% of the improvement potential. If the HPPI efforts are run for a period of 3–7 years then the improvement potential may be realized to 60% or more. This means that the true improvement potential in a longer-term perspective is three to seven times the value communicated in Criterion 4. In that sense, the improvement potential may be a gold mine that needs to be explored properly. The more of the potential that has been realized, the better improvement methods are needed. The good news is that the HPPI methods do the job.

5.6.1.4

Calibrating Management Expectations (Phase 4.1.4)

The overall objectives of the analysis parameters set by the management do not usually coincide with the realistic potential definition made by the key operative persons. Then, if there are major differences, a harmonization is required. Without such a measure, the expectations of the management would be biased because the realistic improvement potentials defined by the operative key persons overrule the objectives set by the management. Depending on the nature of the differences, different ways to deal with the issue are possible:

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l

163

If the realistic potential definitions are better than the objectives set by the management then no actions are required, as the management is usually happy with this situation If the realistic potential definitions are worse than the objectives, then the management has to either lower its expectations or consider means to improve the realistic improvement potentials by, for instance, allocating more resources or conducting a revision of the improvement objects and solutions to find a better approach.

The only way to change the overall potential definition is to change the realistic subprocess specific potentials by finding a better way of improving the sub-processes or a more correct way of defining the realistic improvement potential. Any change of the issues considered in Phases 2.2 (the impact field) and Phases 3.1–3.2 (the sub-process specific process analysis) requires normally also an approval by the operative key persons in question. It is also possible that the customer input received in Phase 3.3 causes the management to rethink the definitions made in Phase 2 although this does not happen commonly. Any change made in Phase 4.1 is easily addressed and does not normally cause any delays or major rework.

5.6.2

Presynthesis (Phase 4.2)

The presynthesis means in this connection that the concerns and considerations of different stakeholders, i.e. customers, employees and owners (the management), are put together. The customers’ input is received in Phase 3.3. The employees’ input is the improvement objects identified by the operative key persons in Phase 3 and possibly revised in Phase 4.1. Based on this information a table is created according to the frequency of the improvement object or problem. Once this has been made, then the improvement objects are grouped according to a specific improvement or problem area. When this has been completed, then the areas are categorized based on if they relate to causes or effects. Finally, the table is rearranged so that the problem areas with the highest frequency (and rank) relating to causes are lifted up accordingly (Table 5.22). The areas at the top of the list represent the voice of the employees in the synthesis phase. The Criterion 4 represents the owners’ voice although the Criterion 2 will also be helpful, as the compliance with future performance needs is the basis for generating a cash flow at all.

5.6.3

Creation of the VISTALIZER1 Report (Phase 4.3)

VISTALIZER1 Report is the improvement plan created using the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis method. The method manages and optimizes the

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Table 5.22 The voice of the employees. An example of the main problems or improvement objects related to the different phases of a focus process (IT services business; the deployment and implementation process with 2,000 persons)39 Improvement object or problem Phase Nature I Phase designed more or less from a tool P4 (1), P5.1 (1), P5.2 (4), P6 (3), P7 Cause point of view leading to a stiff practice that (3), P8 (1) cannot deal with other, even more crucial issues of process improvement. The solutions are not customized to fit the specific needs of the unit (“given from above”) II. (System) test routines are insufficient/ P5.2 (1), P6 (1), P8 (2) Cause biased III Slow decision making (due to a P1 (1) Cause malfunctioning management system). IV Malfunctioning information process that P2 (1) Cause does not support the decision making adequately V Selecting the right (wrong) target group P3 (1) Cause VI The documentation is imperfect P6 (2), P8 (5) Cause VII Competence shortages P7 (2) Cause VIII Lack of commitment. The group managers P5.2 (2), P6 (4), P7 (1), P8 (3) Effect do not get the people motivated/activated IX Lack of the “big picture” P5.2 (3), P8 (4) Effect

interaction of the persons, technology (VISTALIZER1 for Consultants), information and material to produce a high-class output meeting or exceeding the performance requirements of HPPI. Adding more time to the input phases will not likely improve the output quality to any larger extent. This observation suggests that the method is robust (durable), flexible and usable. Both the process and output can be run at three different ambition levels (basic, articulated, exciting) or at an ambition level between two levels. This provides a good approach to deal with the ambition level erosion where an exciting ambition levels becomes over time an articulated ambition level and eventually a basic ambition level. It is a necessary, but not a sufficient condition that the input phases produce the requested inputs under the requirements of HPPI. Besides, these inputs need to be cultivated into a high-class written document in a way that also complies with the requirements of HPPI. This boils down to producing an improvement plan in correspondence with the requirements of information quality as discussed previously in Sects. 1.7 and 2.2.1. From the user’s point of view, this means that this phase has two crucial themes it needs to fulfill in terms of the output quality. These issues are readability and implementability. Readability does not mean that the substance of the improvement plan has to be trivialized to enable a minimal mental stress to the reader. Such an approach would destroy the implementability issue 39 The importance is communicated by a number in brackets, meaning roughly that 1 ¼ very important (urgent action required), 2 ¼ important (should be fixed soon), 3 ¼ rather important (should be fixed), 4 ¼ not important right now (noted for further reference).

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resulting in a de facto low input utilization rate. Restless executives with a low mental stress level to consider a certain structure and logic of presenting issues will potentially not even read the report properly. This is a problem of neither the method nor the restless executive. The structure of the VISTALIZER1 Report is standardized and easily learned. Once this understanding is achieved, it is convenient to read any VISTALIZER1 Report in the preferred way. It would be Table 5.23 The general structure of a VISTALIZER1 Report (large corporation, complex global process) including case specific issues (Sect. 3.15, 5.1–5.3 and Encl. 2–3) Cover and signature page Executive summary Table of contents 1. Introduction 5 2. Collection of Data 6 2.1 The Initiation and the Participants 6 2.2 The Process Model 7 2.3 The Essence of the Focus Process 8 2.4 Determination of the Analysis Parameters 11 2.5 The Impact Field and Priority of the Analysis Parameters 11 2.6 Setting the Objectives and Evaluating the Preliminary Gains 13 2.7 Data for Verifying the Internal Analysis and Contents 14 16 2.8 Selecting the Ambition Level of the VISTALIZER1 Report 3. Analysis of the Focus Process 17 3.1 Phase P1 of the Focus Process 18 3.1.1 People, Technology, Information and Material 18 3.1.2 Improvement Object(s) 18 3.1.2.1 Improvement Object A 19 3.1.2.2 Improvement Object B 19 3.1.3 Performance Measurement Criteria 20 3.1.4 Responsibility, Realistic Potential and Gains 20 ... 3.15 Summary of Gains and Intermediate Synthesis 35 3.15.1 Intermediate Conclusions 36 3.15.2 Long-term Process Vision and Related Financial Gain 37 3.15.3 Structural Issues/Roles 40 3.15.4 Generic Design Notes of the Re-engineered Process 40 3.15.5 Identified and Relevant Problems in Other Processes 41 4. The Customer Analysis 43 5. Analysis of Supporting Efforts and Systems 46 5.1 Definition and Implementation of a System for Managing and 46 Improving the Internal Value Chain 5.2 Realizing the Process Vision 48 5.3 Creating the Mental Momentum 53 6. Synthesis and Recommendations 55 6.1 Presynthesis 55 6.2 Conclusions and Recommendations 58 6.3 Summary and Final Remarks 60 61 Enclosure 1 VISTALIZER1 Report Product Description Enclosure 2 Intermediate Impact Fields 62 Enclosure 3 Proposal for Increasing the Management’s Understanding of High-Performance 64 Process Improvement

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challenging, at least currently, to create an improvement plan that would be adapted to a specific executive’s profile of understanding and mental stress level. Until such an addition has been designed and properly verified, it is far more advantageous for the executive to invest some minutes to get acquainted with the logic and structure of the improvement plan. The general structure of a VISTALIZER1 Report targeting a complex and global process is presented in Table 5.23. Simpler processes have a slightly different structure. The structure activates different subheadings according to the need in the last section of Chap. 3, the sections of Chap. 5 and the enclosures from the second onwards. Otherwise, the structure is the same for all cases. The length of the document correlates strongly with the amount of subprocesses processed. A VISTALIZER1 Report is always signed by an authorized VISTALIZER1 expert or consultant. This person equals usually the principal consultant in charge of the assignment.

5.6.4

Delivery, Presentation and Confirmation of the VISTALIZER1 Report (Phase 4.4)

Once the VISTALIZER1 Report has been written according to the specification and deemed ready for delivery by the responsible expert or consultant, then the improvement plan is delivered to the client using the agreed way (internet, mail) and form (paper or e-version) on Day 14. The presentation of the improvement plan is scheduled usually 1–2 weeks after the delivery so that the attending persons are able to get acquainted with the substance. This increases the possibility to discuss constructively how to proceed with the plan and what kind of actions to pursue. It may also be advisable to arrange a half-day workshop to deal with the report properly. If the report has large implications and/or covers many different countries or organizational units, it is advisable to run a set of “road shows”. In addition, a presentation to the board of directors is advisable/compulsory, if the required investments are substantial, besides the presentation of a possible project plan for implementing the HPPI process in the organization. After these presentations, the improvement plan might still be revised to reflect new considerations or detected errors or omissions after which the report is confirmed and ready for the actions decided by the executives.

5.7

The T and V Values

The T Value is the theoretical capability of a method to fulfill certain quality requirements. The criteria used to define this value are the ones used to define a high-class process improvement plan (cp. e.g. Sects. 2.4.1 or 5.2.2). The V Value,

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on the other hand, communicates in this connection how well a method deals with the process analysis and synthesis in terms of running Phase 2 of the generic HPPI process. The letter “V” depicts, as considered in Sect. 3.4, the nature of the data collection, analysis and synthesis performance under which the specific method delivers a certain quality output (the T Value). How well this is done in practice is revealed by the logic used to define the process improvement yield. The V Value can also be specified as a HPPI score. This means that the V Value (HPPI) equals the notified performance delivered within the limits and requirements of highperformance process improvement. The critical performance parameters in this regard are (format of the V Value: nsp/nsol/T [n]): l l l

The number of sub-processes (nsp) covered in one run The number of significant organizational levels (nsol) covered in one run The achievable T Value (in brackets the number of ambition levels where the method’s approach to data collection, analysis and synthesis is still operational).

The V Value of the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis method is 1/3/100% and the corresponding V Value (HPPI) is 14-21/3/100%. The complete performance specification includes also the amount of ambition levels that the process analysis and synthesis can detect and improve. This notification is attached to the T Value notification in brackets. The VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis approach can detect and improve the focus process and the related output at three distinct ambition levels (Levels I–III; basic, articulated, exciting) with a sustained T Value. The corresponding complete performance specification, or the V Value (HPPI), is consequently 14-21/3/100% (3). Applying a process analysis and synthesis approach capable of a V Value performance of 14-21/3/ 100% (1) in a focus process operating at an ambition level the approach is not capable of dealing with, results in a usually undetected low-quality process improvement plan – despite the fact that the quality level seems to be formally on a very high level. If an approach has a score of zero regarding the ambition level issue, then it will produce a more or less random output or alternatively the same output in any case. In such a setting the output relies heavily on the expert in charge of running the approach (mood, attitude, knowledge and skills, “hidden agendas”, etc.), not the applied method. Such an approach does not provide any momentum in terms of creating a mode of systematic and result-oriented HPPI efforts. This is why it is necessary that the person in charge of running the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis approach has to be properly educated and trained. The dilemma of utilizing approaches not capable of detecting and dealing with the ambition levels of the focus process is a major shortage of most approaches to process analysis and synthesis. Combined with a low PIY level and a performance not even close to the requirements of HPPI it is clear that the improvement efforts consume plenty of resources. Occasional non-sustainable success is more related to pure luck and competitors performing even worse. The V Value provides a practical framework to define the appropriate scope of the data collection and analysis. If the focus process is very large, for example, it has six significant organizational levels and fourteen sub-processes, then the

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process can be covered by two runs if the V Value is at least 14/3/100% (3). The first run reveals which sub-process needs most improvement. This sub-process is then subject to the second run providing a detailed view of that specific sub-process. Additionally, it can be possible to make adjustments regarding the significant organizational levels as discussed before (Sect. 5.3.3). Running a process analysis and synthesis with a V Value of 1/3/100% (3) in a process that contains four significant organizational levels does not provide a 100% clear picture of the process and its potential. Practically speaking this is mostly because such a setting increases the complexity of the process so much that the number of required people would likely exceed 20. This issue is not that crucial, if the true need is only somewhat larger than 20. The synthesis is based on a reasonable input base although the trade-off results in a risk level that is above the normal level. The improvement plan can be implemented almost as such in Phase 3 of the generic HPPI process. Running the process analysis and synthesis method with a deficit of two or more significant organizational levels in the focus value intentionally, and without proper adjustments, may serve another important purpose. Such an improvement plan needs additional efforts to connect the process synthesis with the implementation phase. However, as the report is then more general by nature, it may serve as a general presentation of the improvement possibilities, and provides rough estimations of financial outcomes. Such a preplanning approach can be very useful when aiming at major improvement efforts in complex and large settings.

5.8

Summary and Concluding Remarks

The VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis method is not suited for the most restless people. It requires a thorough understanding and patience to learn the correct application of the method, both in theory and practice, before it is possible to harness the full potential of the method. When the expert has achieved the required application knowledge and skills, the method provides a high-performance approach to creating world-class process improvement plans for the benefit of all company stakeholders, including the expert him- or herself. Considering the required resources and the output, the power and performance of the method is simply amazing. Every process deserves a high-class process improvement plan. Such a plan considers directly the needs and demands of the three most important stakeholders, i.e. customers, employees and owners. In so doing, it considers also indirectly other stakeholders as well. The suppliers benefit from having a competitive customer that is attractive in the eyes of the end-customer because this means business for everyone. Society benefits from having a company that makes profits and employs people. The investors, as well as the owners, benefit from a company that increases its market value and is able to pay back loans with interest. The level of the dividend affects also the owner satisfaction considerably. The environment benefits when

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resources are better utilized and all forms of waste are minimized. The HPPI approaches are in that sense very attractive solutions to decrease the carbon footprint of companies in real-life. This is done in practice by running HPPI efforts continuously at a high improvement yield level. This is something very different from traditional continuous improvement that is not subject to any performance requirements. The companies using LPPI methods are bound to run improvement activities with an improvement yield level so low that the power actually transferred to motion is hardly recognizable. To put it on the edge: would this be the propulsion system of a ship, then the ship would be moving according to the wind and tide, not to the captain’s commands and instructions to the propulsion and steering systems. The engine is running and the ship moves. The captain is able to turn the steering-wheel, and everybody seems to be happy about the situation. In such a setting, it may be difficult to understand that the ship does not have any propellers attached to the shafts. A closer inspection reveals also that there is no rudder or keel installed, only a rotating shaft without motion generating propellers. Of course, the crew is busy keeping the ship afloat and avoiding a shipwreck by weighing and casting the anchor for the benefit of utilizing the wind and the tide optimally. Having succeeded to move the ship from the harbor to the open sea the crew needs a longer anchor cable to deal with the deeper water. As success correlates strongly with the length of the anchor cable, this becomes a major issue in terms of improving operations and investing in improvement efforts besides the issue of considering when and how to weigh and cast the anchor. LPPI methods are not able to disclose or detect the ineffectiveness of the activities above, not to mention the ability to recommend a proper solution. Using the LPPI methods and with a fair amount of discipline, it is possible with adequate time and money to improve the efficiency of these ineffective activities considerably. Compared with other ships operating in the same mode the performance may even be outstanding. The companies should rightfully challenge their ways of improving the processes, as a long-term application of LPPI methods lead inevitably to a scenario where the company is much more efficient (productive) than effective. As this concerns all key processes, including the improvement process itself, it is clear that the overall improvement potential of any company is still huge – even if the current performance level would be world-class in terms of LPPI. In fact, process improvement as a systematic and result-oriented activity, covering all processes and related networks of a company, is only in its infancy. The LPPI methods, although being mature, have little to offer to gain maturity in this respect. Improvement efficiency without improvement effectiveness is hazardous. Fixing this method deficit by individual brilliance may provide some remedy. From a process improvement perspective that advocates systematic and result-oriented actions, this is not trustworthy. It is utterly hard to sustain and improve individual process improvement brilliance in a dynamic setting, not to mention how to sustain and improve process or corporate brilliance in this regard. The HPPI methods are from a total perspective much more resistant to these concerns than the LPPI methods.

Chapter 6

The Implementation

The implementation takes advantage of four distinctive phases, namely: l l l l

The increase and maintenance of process improvement knowledge The increase and maintenance of process improvement skills The realization of the improvement objects or initiatives The follow-up.

The knowledge part refers in this connection to a theoretical understanding that education provides. A theoretical understanding is necessary to grip larger wholes and the underlying cause-and-effect relationships. This understanding provides thus the mechanism or means for assuring that the company conducts the practical realization in real-life at the appropriate ambition and performance level. Besides assuring the effectiveness of the realization, it is also possible to affect the motivation and attitudes of the attending persons in a positive way by proper educational efforts. The skills part addresses in this connection the practical understanding how to run process improvement efforts. It is required to assure that the company conducts the practical improvement work at the necessary and sufficient quality level assuring thus the productivity of the realization. The kernel of the realization part is the PDCA logic developed originally by Walter Shewhart and popularized by Edward Deming. The follow-up takes the shape of a PDCA Quality Measurement Logic that tracks how well the company actually applies the PDCA logic. This measurement result is also part of the formula used to defining the process improvement yield. The world is rather crowded by books and solutions related to these four implementation phases of process improvement. In fact, the PDCA circle is probably one of the best know improvement approaches that many companies in all industries and businesses have been successfully applying. The vast amount of concepts and solutions targeting process improvement education and training issues are familiar to most people dealing with process improvement. However, the situation changes radically, if these four phases, i.e. education, training, realization and follow-up, are considered from a HPPI process perspective. Applying such a perspective reveals a horrendous R&D task that is probably the Mt. K2 of process M. Pastinen, High-Performance Process Improvement, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-10784-9_6, # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010

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improvement. After reading more than 20,000 pages of related theory and practice, my conclusion was that most of the R&D work related to HPPI has to be done from scratch using the concepts of reverse engineering and applying a constructive research approach. According to my emerging hypothesis, the essential issue was to create a solution that does the job, not applying concepts that would be readily available, but would not help to realize my vision of the HPPI process. The first thing for me to do was to define the process improvement knowledge base including the quality and amount of knowledge that the persons attending the implementation phase need to harness to a reasonable degree. Once I was done with this issue, I switched the focus to understanding the format and time requirements related to increasing the specified knowledge base in real-life. I applied the same types of considerations to the issue how to increase the practical skills of the persons attending the implementation phase. As the practical skills are the issue where the “rubber meets the road”, so to speak, it is necessary to define on what level the skills need to be for the HPPI process to be operational. The crucial issue in this regard is the question of how well the PDCA logic is applied. Therefore, I created in the first place the logic for defining the quality of the practical skills. To define the target level I conducted practical PDCA quality measurements.1 This test bench covered 75 real-life PDCA works in some 60 organizations during 1994–1996, and about the same amount of verifying PDCA works conducted later on in real-life, or in a classroom setting utilizing the software solution presented in this chapter. The output of this consideration suggested that the triggering level for getting substantial results is an 85% PDCA quality level, i.e. 170 points out of 200 when measuring the quality using the PDCA Quality Measurement Logic. This R&D phase, in combination with some 50 VISTALIZER1 Reports, provided also valuable knowledge how to create solutions that target the explicit and implicit needs of both the focus companies and the HPPI process itself. The more the companies utilize the presented HPPI process, the better said process will be in the end (cp. the discussions in Sects. 1.9 and 3.5). The main issue from an implementation point of view was to create a solution that provides individual persons with a skill level of the stated magnitude, i.e. an 85% measured PDCA quality level within the time limits set by the HPPI process. It is important to master the time requirement and to understand the total time need related to a process improvement effort. Without this total perspective, it is easy to sacrifice the time resources reserved for the realization of the improvement objects and just go for more time. Analyzing closer this task reveals that the concept of mass customizing the knowledge and skill transfer based on a software solution would provide a solution for dealing with the time, quality and costs requirements related to this phase of the HPPI process. Such a solution would make it possible to increase and maintain the knowledge and skill base of a great number of people with a comparably modest use of resources despite personal constraints of the

1

Section 6.3 (Fig. 6.18) presents the applied PDCA Quality Measurement Logic. The PDCA measurements were conducted at the basic ambition level.

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students. The main individual constraints to consider are the starting level, learning pace and motivation. If these issues could be reasonable well solved, then it would be not that important to know the target audience and the average profile of the attendants in advance, as is the case in traditional educational and training efforts. Such a solution would provide a good momentum to increase the process improvement yield. Keeping the solution simple at the surface, but advance at heart, would provide an additional advantage, as such a solution would not have a geek stamp on it. Instead, the solution has to be designed for the larger masses – even with the risk of not attracting the most puritan geeks or devoted process improvement traditionalists. One great aha experience I got was that a picture communicates more than 1,000 words, but the corresponding output of an animation (movie) is far away from that, especially when considering the frame frequency of the animation. A 10 s animation that requires 240 individual pictures (24 per second) does not likely communicate more than 240,000 words. Therefore, the solution is to put emphasis on simple and substance-rich visualizations, not fancy animations or even movies that just work in the very short term, if at all. Applying a cartoon-like and humorous approach would also make it possible to compress and liven up the substance that many laypersons, and process improvement experts as well, find rather boring. After all, HPPI are for dynamic doers, not static scholars. The structure of Chap. 6 resembles that of the four implementation phases. Section 6.1 deals with the issue of increasing and maintaining the knowledge and skill base. Section 6.2 considers the realization of the improvement objects whereas Sect. 6.3 focuses on the follow-up and PDCA measurement logic. The chapter ends with a summary and concluding remarks (Sect. 6.4). Please note that the purpose of the chapter is not to present the substance as such, but to consider the substance from a method and HPPI process point of view.

6.1

Increasing and Maintaining the Knowledge and Skill Base

The required process improvement knowledge base includes the process improvement philosophy, the main approaches and the practical tools related to process improvement. The process analysis and synthesis phases considered in the previous chapter detect shortages related to these disciplines. An imperfect philosophic base results primarily in motivation problems, as the attending persons do not see the big picture, and do not understand the relevant underpinnings that form the cause-andeffect chain related to process improvement. Typically, such persons de-emphasize the need of theory and overemphasize “hands on” solutions. Another observable effect is a restless nature that restricts proper concentration. These issues block effectively the other subphases of the implementation phase, and may also restrict other people and the company from reaching the objectives. The main approaches to process improvement are supporting concepts and systems that the processes and company as a whole benefit from. These approaches relate more or less to the management system. Examples of relevant and crucial approaches are vision

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definition and strategy creation and deployment, the process improvement system (incl. the PDCA logic) and the performance measurement system. The practical tools are in this connection the concepts and methods used to facilitate the use of the PDCA logic and the realization of the improvement objects. The purpose of these tools is to increase the quality and speed of the realization and decrease the money spent. The basic set of tools is the well-known seven quality tools that are used within the PDCA logic. From a practical point of view, it is in many cases necessary and sufficient to master the PDCA logic and five of the seven quality tools. In addition, the PDCA work can be done at different ambition levels, which is a matter usually not considered properly when aiming at high-performance processes. From a total perspective, it is necessary to add a fourth substance area to facilitate the practical realization of the three other substance areas and the HPPI process itself. This substance area is the management of organizational change. Persons at the team leader level and upwards need to master this substance area sufficiently. This matter should preferably be considered as an integrated part of all improvement activities. The HPPI methods presented in this book have been designed from the outset to actively consider and manage this issue as a built-in feature. It is worthwhile noticing that the names of the issues should not cause confusion in the sense that the practical tools contain a theoretical part and that the process improvement philosophy and the related approaches or systems have practical implications. From a HPPI perspective the substance areas are closely interrelated and have to be mastered both from a theoretical and practical point of view to various degrees depending on a person’s need and position in the company. Educational efforts address the theoretical issues, whereas training efforts address the practical issues. The substance is the same although the perspective and the approach how to deal with the theoretical and practical perspectives are different. Theory without practice is as bad as practice without theory. This is especially true when implementing HPPI methods.

6.1.1

Increasing and Maintaining the Knowledge Base

The required knowledge base can be split into two wholes complementing each other: l l

The process improvement philosophy, approaches and tools The management of organizational change.

The essential issue is to understand the crucial underpinnings and the interdependencies of the issues. Once this level is reached, then the focus is changed to understand some topical areas in more detail. If the total improvement cycle is 12 months, then it is very unlikely that a single person would need to master all different substance areas in detail. In such a setting, a reasonable level of understanding can typically be reached in 2–3 days after which the knowledge base can be enlarged and deepened during subsequent months and years. The VISTALIZER1

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Fig. 6.1 The interface of the VISTALIZER1 for Enterprises software2

Fig. 6.2 The three approaches to increase and maintain the process improvement knowledge base

powered HPPI process takes advantage of a software (e-learning) solution called VISTALIZER1 for Enterprises (Fig. 6.1). For each substance whole, the solution provides the user with the option of increasing the knowledge base by utilizing three approaches as depicted in Fig. 6.2. Two of the issues, i.e. “Theory” and “Exercises” represent the traditional approach (albeit software based) of gaining and maintaining knowledge in the field of process improvement. The interesting approaches fulfilling the requirements of HPPI are the two analogies, i.e. the “Car Analogy” and the “Mountain Analogy”. These two

2

Graphics and picture drawn by Jesperi Vara. Published with due permission of Vistalize Oy.

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concepts provide the means of transferring a substantial amount of required knowledge in a short period of time. The approaches provide a solution for adapting to the personal constraints and interests instantly realizing thus the concept of mass customization from an educational point of view. The Car Analogy covers the knowledge base related to the improvement philosophy, approaches and tools, whereas the Mountain Analogy covers the main issues related to the management of organizational change. Let us consider below the two analogies in turn in more detail.

6.1.1.1

The Car Analogy

The current Car Analogy version consists of 27 different issues related to process improvement (Fig. 6.3). These issues cover the process improvement philosophy, approaches and tools, and they overlap also the other substance whole, i.e. management of organizational change that has an own analogy (the Mountain Analogy). There are many different ways of utilizing the Car Analogy. It can be used for self-tuition, guided studies and in lecture form. Although the Car Analogy has been refined since the early days, much of the concepts of the first Car Analogy version are still valid today as the lecture case presented below shows (Pastinen 1995). Comparing different Car Analogy versions with each other reveals also how the theory has evolved during the years. I like the exercise of reading the case description below and ponder how I would say or think of the considered issues these days. Some of the inaccuracies, or shortcomings, are rather easy to detect, some are more difficult. It is a real brain trainer!

Fig. 6.3 The Car Analogy3 3

Graphics and picture drawn by Jesperi Vara. Published with due permission of Vistalize Oy.

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The client company was relatively unfamiliar with the concepts underlying process improvement. To communicate this fairly complex subject to the audience the consultant used a car analogy. The content of the consultant’s brief lecture of the principles relating to process improvement and the Car Analogy is presented below (Pastinen 1995). “The starting point of every improvement effort is motivation (wants to drive). Motivation relates closely to a vision and a strategy communicating what could be (where to drive). Without motivation, only mediocre results can be achieved at best. Motivation itself does not improve the performance of the company. Besides, one must at least know the principles how to improve the performance of a company (the driving license, how to drive). To gain this knowledge hard work is required. A consultant or a change agent may facilitate the organizational change (driving instructor). The best way to learn how to implement the theory of process improvement is to put it into practice (you learn how to drive by driving). For the improvement framework to bring the company further and at higher levels of performance, some basic components are required (the car frame does not move forward without some basic components). First of all, there must be tools and methods available so that the company has the means to improve the performance of the company (the motor). For the methods and tools to be effective, they have to be deployed throughout the organization using, for example, an approach called Hoshin planning (drive shaft). The methods and tools are used within the PDCA cycle (the power of the engine is transmitted by the drive shaft to the wheels, which make the car move). Methods and tools are of little help if people resist using them. Hence, to make things happen, change resistance must be managed (gas pedal, motor oil, shock absorbers, bumpers, gearbox and lever). The impact of the resistance depends on both the extent of change (weight of load) and the time disposable (the speed of the car). If the extent of change is big, or radical, and the time disposable short requiring a relatively high speed, change management needs a lot of attention and therefore consumes more resources (compare for example the consumption of fuel and the different requirements considering a truck, a normal passenger car and a sports car). To give the improvement efforts a direction and purpose a vision and a strategy need to be established as stated before (direction of the car). The process improvement strategy is derived from the corporate strategy. The process improvement strategy considers how to keep the company agile in terms of satisfying the customers and other stakeholders (steering wheel, keeping the car on the road). To track the performance of the company and hence the success of the improvement efforts a performance measurement system needs to be established in the company (dashboard that provides the driver with vital information considering the trip and the car itself). Depending on the methods and tools used and the extent and speed of the organizational change (weight of load and speed of the car), resources have to be available (fuel). It is very important that consensus regarding standards exist in order to take advantage of the best practices to date. Without standards, the performance of the company is likely to decline (handbrake, which hinders the car to slip backwards if parked in a hill). To facilitate the improvement efforts new knowledge is needed (driving lights, which shed lights on dark areas). Useful concepts regarding this include benchmarking and training or education. The improvement efforts and the processes can be facilitated by the potential uses inherent in information technology. The use of information technology is becoming rapidly a necessity to stay competitive. Ultimately, all the components should be properly addressed in order for the company to be competitive. Considering the Car Analogy, a modern car consists of a whole bunch of electronic equipment, which has only little to do with the basic functions of the car; the old cars moved virtually without hardly any electronic equipment at all. Nevertheless, the equipment facilitates the function of the car and therefore it is becoming inevitable.

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Besides the components described, various types of analysis tools are needed (maps). As with maps, there are many different types, which provide various kinds of data needed. These analysis tools are implemented for different kinds of needs. For example, a global map depicting only the countries and their capitals is of little help, if the driver wants to drive from place A to place B in the same town. On the other hand, a road map may be insufficient if, for example, a topographical map is needed. Consequently, it is not sufficient for just some of the components to be in order and understood. All components need to be understood and implemented correctly in order for the company to stay agile and remain in business”.

Using the software version as a learning tool, either in the self-tuition or guided studies mode, the student (user) is able to click on each of the 27 issues in any order. Clicking an area provides a short presentation of the substance issue based on motoring related analogies. If the user would like to know more about this specific substance issue and the issue is clickable, then the user just needs to click once more on the same spot to activate a color list. In Fig. 6.4, the user has clicked twice the dashboard area, i.e. the first time to reveal the short presentation and the second time to activate the color list. Selecting a color takes the user to the table of contents and positions the substance issue in the chronological and logical framework (philosophy, approaches/systems, tools) as seen in Fig. 6.5 (the headlines dealing with performance measurement are all in red color). Clicking the specific headline provides the user with a detailed, partly visualized presentation regarding the substance area. In its most extensive form, this presentation includes key definitions, related concepts, how to implement the issue in practice, cases, supporting tools, possible pitfalls and a visualized summary. The idea of selecting different colors, as opposite to just using one color or linking the

Fig. 6.4 Linking the initial substance area of interest to a more detailed presentation of the selected subject

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Fig. 6.5 Linking the initial substance area of interest to a more detailed presentation of the selected subject

issue directly to the more thorough substance presentation, is that by selecting different substance issues the whole table of contents can be colored. This allows the user to grasp both specific details and the whole and their relationships. The headline “PDCA Circle” in Fig. 6.5 is colored green, whereas the headlines related to performance measurement are in red, indicating that user has studied these two issues. This logic enhances the formation of a cohesive total picture of the different issues related to process improvement, as the issues are placed in the appropriate logical context, and the user can track this advancement via the (differently) colored headlines. According to the individual’s need, the person may consider some issues in more detail. As this learning approach is based on own associations and insights, the learning experience is both intense and rewarding at the same time despite the starting level and learning pace.4 How well these issues, related to both the theory and the Car Analogy, have been digested can be tested by the “Exercises 1” module that also provides an approach to learn to use the software itself.

6.1.1.2

The Mountain Analogy

The purpose of the Mountain Analogy is to promote the importance of a systematic and result-oriented approach to the management of organizational change. This 4

Of course, the Car Analogy does not work properly in cultures where the car as such (or a computer for that matter) is not a familiar concept. In such undeveloped settings, it may be questionable if HPPI is on the agenda within a reasonable time frame.

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issue is especially critical when planning for the full or partial use of the HPPI process. It is critical to notice that there are two different dimensions to the management of organizational change. The first dimension deals with this issue from a process improvement perspective, and the other deals with the issue from a concept roll-out and HPPI process usage perspective. Most of the issues to consider regarding the former dimension have already been taken care of in the method design of the related HPPI methods utilized by the HPPI process. None or very little of the issues are taken care of from a HPPI process roll-out and usage perspective. This means that appropriate measures in line with the requirements of organizational change management have to be considered and implemented properly to receive in practice a continuous high process/total improvement yield. The omission to deal with the latter perspective properly is probably the single most critical obstacle related to the implementation of the HPPI process. Understanding the principles and concepts of a successful management of organizational change decreases this obstacle substantially. The solution to pave the way for gaining such an understanding is the Mountain Analogy (Fig. 6.6). Figure 6.6 is divided into three parts in the VISTALIZER1 for Enterprises software depicting roughly the initial part, the middle and the end of a project or larger improvement effort. Initially, it was designed to provide a support for implementing specific improvement objects. During the R&D work of the HPPI process, the change management needs were analyzed to design the HPPI methods so that the change management concerns could be taken care of to a reasonable high degree as built-in features of the created HPPI methods. This does not imply, at all, that the problems related to change management challenges would be sorted out by this. The logic used by the HPPI process lessens the burden, but it does not to remove the burden. Therefore, the Mountain Analogy can and should be used to increase the awareness of the issues related to a successful management of organizational change. Most persons in a superior position need a knowledge basis in this regard. The idea is to compare an improvement effort with climbing a mountain. Although the HPPI process runs as a process, the related roll-out and usage of said process is usually based on project deliveries with an underlying project organization and a project plan defining the specific outcome, the budget and a time schedule. Of course, the same concepts can be applied to any improvement initiative that potentially changes (improves) the corporate culture (the way things are done in the company). Figure 6.7 shows the Mountain Analogy in the Exploring Mode, i.e. a mode where the user is able to consider different situations and make associations and reflections regarding planning and implementing a project or improvement effort in general. As the situations are given, there is no need to find a scapegoat and start accusing someone for being that person or causing a certain situation. Instead, it is fruitful to consider in advance possible situations that need to be dealt with preferable in a proactive, not reactive way. Such a consideration is usually best done by discussing the issues in groups although the Mountain Analogy can also be utilized in a self-tuition mode with brief examples of “lessons learned” (Fig. 6.8). Naturally, this option may also be used to boost the discussions in the Exploring Mode.

6.1 Increasing and Maintaining the Knowledge and Skill Base

181

Fig. 6.6 The Mountain Analogy5

The issues targeted by the Mountain Analogy provide a basic understanding how to deal with the change management aspect. A deeper understanding is reached via the Theory Module. Many of the key persons may not have the interest, time or the need to consider the issues more thoroughly. After all, it is better to have a basic understanding than not having any understanding at all, as this basic understanding is already of great help when assuring a high improvement yield level. Later, if a need arises, it is always possible to study the specific issues more thoroughly.

5

This figure was drawn by Harri Pakarinen and it is published with due permission of Vistalize Oy.

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6 The Implementation

Fig. 6.7 The Mountain Analogy (Exploring Mode)

Fig. 6.8 The Mountain Analogy (Self-tuition Mode)

6.1.2

Increasing and Maintaining the Skill Base

Most companies strive to increase and maintain the skill base of their employees. However, restricting the focus area to process improvement and more specifically the PDCA logic, reveals that the actual capabilities are modest from a HPPI perspective. As this issue is the one that will make it or break it in terms of running the HPPI process, it is utterly important that both the quality level and the coverage (scope) under which the improvement objects are realized, are at the sufficient and necessary level (cp. Sect. 2.4.1). These demands, i.e. how to reach and sustain the required quality and coverage levels, are not easy requirements to fulfill especially

6.1 Increasing and Maintaining the Knowledge and Skill Base

183

Fig. 6.9 The three training phases

when the total effective time usage is counted in a few days, not weeks or months. Very few companies are able to deal with this issue properly, as many of the lowperformance process improvement methods do not even recognize the implementation quality and coverage issues targeted by the PIY concept. From a training point of view, three issues have to be properly dealt with in order to provide the required support to the HPPI process. These issues are (Fig. 6.9): l l l

The basics and philosophy (Sect. 6.2.1) The PDCA logic (Sect. 6.2.2) The main tools used within the PDCA framework (Sect. 6.2.3).

The first module (Basics and Philosophy) could be described as an attitude cultivator that assures that the persons taking part in the training are receptive for the message and substance of the PDCA training module at the intended ambition level. This is an important issue, as a bad attitude base will be very hard to tackle later on. Bad attitudes endanger the achievements that are about to be materialized in the PDCA training module. This module consists of two parts as seen in Fig. 6.9: one where the framework is studied in practice and one where the learned issues are adapted and tested. The third training whole is more of a support module to the PDCA training module, as it presents visualized cases how to apply the seven quality tools.

6.1.2.1

Basics and Philosophy

Although the basics and philosophy are also considered in the educational phase, there is a need to consider these at a more practical level. This is true especially if the company is not that familiar with systematic and result-oriented improvement efforts. Operating at a low ambition level makes it hard to enter the PDCA training

184

6 The Implementation

Fig. 6.10 Customizing the story to fit the purpose6

module directly, as the basic understanding and motivation of the attending people will be too low to reach the 85% quality target level. The essence of this module is the concept of story telling (Fig. 6.10) that is primarily used in the guided studies mode. There are altogether 30 interactive modules that provide different paths and themes to customize the training module to fit the purpose. Each module contains an objective and a task where the story and the theme are related to the own situation and company. The underlying story tells about a fictive company delivering packages to its customer using a certain approach (a tandem bicycle) that has previously been competitive, but that starts to be obsolete, as new requirements and competitors start to change the market environment (Fig. 6.11). The idea of the customized story is to consider the various aspects evolving along the way when cultivating the “tandem” based company (process) into a “car” based company (process) depicted in the Car Analogy (recall Fig. 6.3). How to achieve this can be considered via different perspectives that range from a personal to a company wide perspective. Such a feature provides a platform for discussing both soft and hard issues related to organizational change and process improvement. There are a lot of different perspectives and tasks to consider in each section. These tasks may be considered first in smaller groups after which all groups consider the themes together. Although the attitude base may not be perfect after the initial run, it will nevertheless provide a substantial support for conducting the PDCA training module. Implementing the PDCA circle cultivates, bit by bit, the

6

Graphics and picture drawn by Jesperi Vara. Published with due permission of Vistalize Oy.

6.1 Increasing and Maintaining the Knowledge and Skill Base

185

Fig. 6.11 The concept of story telling and customizing the training input and output by relating the tasks to the specific case7

attitude base and has a positive impact on the company culture. As the company aims at a higher ambition level than the basic level, it is possible to utilize the same logic for the benefit of digesting the basics and philosophy at a higher level. In such a setting, it is possible to utilize this training module as an idea generator and catalyst.

7

Graphics and picture drawn by Jesperi Vara. Published with due permission of Vistalize Oy.

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6 The Implementation

Fig. 6.12 The PDCA cycle

6.1.2.2

The PDCA Training Module

The objective of the PDCA training module is to learn the user to apply the PDCA cycle in practice (Fig. 6.12).8 To boost the phases, especially the Plan phase, different quality tools can be utilized. The seven quality tools are probably the most widely used set of tools in this connection9 although other tools can of course also be used, for example, the seven new quality tools.10 The different stages of the PDCA cycle and the use of the supporting tools are always being documented (the PDCA document). The PDCA training module is divided into one preparatory training phase and one verifying training phase. The preparatory training phase contains of ten modules during which a PDCA case, including the full PDCA documentation, is presented and considered in detail. Each module contains an objective, a task, electronic templates and questions and answers (Fig. 6.13).

8

The PDCA (PDSA) cycle is also widely known as the seven-step problem solving process or the Shewhart cycle or Deming cycle. The six sigma approach uses a corresponding logic called DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve, control). 9 The seven quality tools are the flow chart, the check sheets, the Pareto diagram, the fishbone diagram (the Ishikawa diagram or the cause-and-effect diagram), the scatter diagram, the histogram and the control chart. 10 The seven new quality tools, even known as the seven management and planning tools, include the affinity diagram, the interrelationship diagraph, the tree diagram, the prioritization matrix, the matrix diagram, the process decision program chart and the activity network diagram.

6.1 Increasing and Maintaining the Knowledge and Skill Base

187

Fig. 6.13 The PDCA preparatory training phase11

The “Objective” states what the point is with the specific section. For instance, the objective of Section 1/10 presented in Fig. 6.13 is to introduce the concept how to realize improvement efforts in a systematic and result-oriented way using the PDCA framework. The “Task” provides a practical exercise that relates to the main point(s) of the section. This task can be to draw a flow chart, produce a Pareto diagram or deliberate why certain problems related to the PDCA implementation occur and what could be done to decrease these obstacles. The specific task related to Section 1/10 (Fig. 6.13) invites the student to deliberate what issues are required of a high-class process improvement plan and a problem solving logic. The mark that depicts a computer provides an electronic template (MS-Office application) where the tasks can be made and documented. The question and answer sections provide a small intermediate test whether the user has grasped the essence of the section. For instance, the question of Section 1/10 in Fig. 6.13 asks: “What does the term systematic and result-oriented improvement mean?” Different possible answers are listed below the question. The right answer is revealed by clicking the Answer box. By clicking on the different spots/areas of the cover picture, the user can get information regarding, for example, the conversations, the underlying process improvement plan, the process flow and the measurement results (before/ after). How the case and the documentation advance can be observed in detail via the PDCA documentation attached to the case (Fig. 6.14).

11

The name “Circuit Inc.” is a fictitious company. Any similarities to an actual company are purely coincidental. The case, however, reflects a real-life PDCA work conducted as part of the R&D work related to the presented HPPI process. Graphics and picture drawn by Jesperi Vara. Published with due permission of Vistalize Oy.

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6 The Implementation

Fig. 6.14 An excerpt of the PDCA document related to the preparatory PDCA training module

The idea of this training module is to present and consider in a practical way the total PDCA circle and the related documentation. If the user has never been told or shown on what level the issues have to be dealt with, it will be much harder to reach the adequate quality level in real-life. A detailed example, including practical tasks and questions that calibrate expectations, and broaden and deepen the understanding of the PDCA logic, is a powerful booster that contributes significantly to the HPPI objective of gaining the necessary and sufficient practical

6.1 Increasing and Maintaining the Knowledge and Skill Base

189

Fig. 6.15 The PDCA training phase (interactive case)12

improvement momentum. Especially when run in the guided studies mode, it is possible for the instructor to intervene early to help the student to achieve the required quality level. Preventing problems from occurring in the early phases of the PDCA circle and on the personal level is very crucial, as a bad data collection and imperfect analysis of causes spoil to a large extent the possibilities to finish the PDCA circle successfully. Likewise, not finishing the do, check and act phases properly results in unrealized potential and a deteriorating improvement culture. If this cannot be done in a rather simple training setting, it is hard to achieve a reasonable PDCA quality level in a more demanding training setting, not to mention in real-life. Once the preparatory PDCA training module is finalized, the user is subject to a practical test that takes the shape of an interactive case (Fig. 6.15). This case, consisting of 22 sections or sub-modules, is more advanced and complex than the preparatory case. Besides, it contains a few surprising situations that need to be properly dealt with. The main task is to document the presented case according to the information provided and selections made during the course of the PDCA work. To support the task there will be guiding information and templates available. The produced PDCA document is subject to an evaluation when the student feels that the work is ready. This does not necessarily mean that the student has been able to close the PDCA circle successfully. Section 6.3 considers this evaluation logic in detail. 12

The name “Copier Wizards, Inc.” is a fictitious company. Any similarities to an actual company are purely coincidental. However, the case used as a substance backbone reflects a real-life PDCA work conducted as part of the R&D work related to the presented HPPI process. Graphics and picture drawn by Jesperi Vara. Published with due permission of Vistalize Oy.

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6 The Implementation

If the user gets 170 points (85%) or more according to the PDCA measurement criteria, then this persons is likely capable of implementing the PDCA work according to the quality requirements in a real-life case. This measurement score provides a good basis to plan for further actions, as it inevitably provides hands-on information regarding the readiness level of the group to implement structured approaches to process improvement. In most cases, a low score indicates change resistance and lack of interest. In addition, it might indicate that the preceding phases have not been properly conducted or that some students did not properly attend the required sessions. To overcome this dilemma it is possible to utilize further, or once more, the solution presented in Sect. 6.1.2.1 or more specifically the Sections 2–6 in Fig. 6.10. Running a workshop for making a cause-and-effect diagram based on the identified main problem (“The PDCA Measurement Score is too low”) provides detailed information what the actual problem is and how it could be solved. It is even possible to assign a real-life PDCA work to target specific problem areas once the initial motivation has been assured. The current trend of being “on-line” and utilizing the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), updating information on social networks, or performing work tasks instead of taking part in the training sessions properly, is an issue that needs to be properly addressed to prevent a spoiled education and training session. After all, being physically present is still not a sufficient condition to assure a proper learning mode. It is more important to be mentally present.

6.1.2.3

The Main Tools Used Within the PDCA Framework

The training module containing the seven quality tools is a complement to the theory part and the PDCA training modules. The theory part does not illustrate how to implement the tools in practice, and the PDCA training modules utilize the tools as an integrated support. Such a backdrop positioning does not make the quality tools justice, as these provide a substantial realization support. To highlight the use of the seven quality tools there are seven visualized cases (Fig. 6.16) where the tools are utilized without being part of the PDCA logic. This fosters the understanding of the individual quality tool for the benefit of gaining even more momentum when applied within the PDCA framework. In the specific case presented in Fig. 6.16, it is possible to click the different flow chart symbols to see how the case progresses. Not only is the person able to learn some basic process flow symbols, but also is the person able to get a notion of what process orientation and process improvement are all about (e.g. why there are unnecessary delays in the process). The concept of the visualizations is to utilize story-telling techniques in a not so grave way. The Parts 1–4 of Fig. 6.17 consider the Pareto diagram in a simple, but complete way. The case covers the initial situation analysis (Part 1), how to utilize check sheets to get the basic data for the Pareto analysis (Part 2), how to utilize the Pareto analysis (Part 3) and cultivate the results further (Part 4). It is important to notice that the use of the PDCA cycle and the related tools do not have to be based on computers although basic office applications such as a

6.1 Increasing and Maintaining the Knowledge and Skill Base

191

Fig. 6.16 An example of one of the visualized cases (the flow chart)13

Fig. 6.17 An example of using the Pareto diagram14 13

Graphics and picture drawn by Jesperi Vara. Published with due permission of Vistalize Oy. Graphics and picture drawn by Jesperi Vara. Published with due permission of Vistalize Oy.

14

192

6 The Implementation

spread sheet program and a text and slide editor will in many cases enhance the usage and make the documentation easier. A pen and a sheet of paper is enough.

6.2

The Realization

Table 6.1 presents the framework used to realize the gains. The framework is customized according to the needs and considerations identified in the case specific process improvement plan (the VISTALIZER1 Report). The realization framework can be defined to realize both short and long-term gains. This specific version of the realization framework, presented in Table 6.1, is used to improve the performance of large and complex processes operating currently at low ambition levels (both the improvement work and the focus process). The objective of the setup is to realize substantial net financial gains within 3–5 years. As seen in Table 6.1, the logic is firstly to create the required awareness and mental momentum. Once an adequate level is reached, the focus is moved to assuring that the knowledge and skills are in line with the requirements and that the HPPI process can be launched and operated successfully according to the specifications made by the management. After this, the efforts are directed towards raising and maintaining the improvement yield levels, i.e. the defined cruising speed of the improvement efforts is achieved and sustained. When the cruising speed has been reached and possible HPPI process defects have been removed, then the satisfaction of performance needs starts to materialize in a big way. At this stage, it is important to monitor both the performance of the HPPI process and the focus process so that a possible upgrade of the ambition levels can be seamlessly done.

6.3

The Follow-Up

There are two basic follow-up approaches related to the HPPI process. The first follow-up approach is the measurement made in Phase 1 of the HPPI process (VISTALIZER1 for Networks). This measurement provides a versatile picture of the progress of both the HPPI process itself and the performance of the focus process. Although the measurement could be done continuously, it is for practical reasons usually made no more often than once a year according to the applied improvement cycle (12–24 months). From an operational point of view, this feedback time is too long to provide guidance to the operational improvement work. Besides, it does not consider the performance of specific individual improvement objects, as the focus is to consider the company or unit level. The required guidance and feedback are received via the PDCA Quality Measurement Logic that tracks the quality level of individual PDCA works (Fig. 6.18). An expert makes the evaluation. The same logic is used to measure the training

6.3 The Follow-Up

193

Table 6.1 An example of how the realization is organized when running the implementation according to the principles of HPPI15 (a) Creating awareness and mental momentum (laying the foundation for b–d) (1) Reviewing, communicating and discussing the results of the created VISTALIZER1 Report to the key persons, e.g. in workshops. (2) Assuring a deeper understanding of the substance related to the HPPI process. (3) Selecting the total process improvement yield and speed of individual PDCA cycles (if not default speed) ! reviewing, communicating, discussing and specifying the structure to manage the realization of the VISTALIZER1 Report. (4) Consideration of financial issues (point a3 will make it possible to specify the investments and resources needed at a detailed level). (b) Satisfying the conceptual needs (1) Understanding the essence of the focus process by defining the vision (ambition level) and defining on what level the contributing networks (suppliers and own units) are currently and defining the improvement path and the prognosis. (2) Assuring the implementation capabilities according to the specifications made in a3. The practical implementation base should be at least 85% according to the VISTALIZER1 PDCA Quality Measurement Logic (Ambition Level I) throughout the scope defined in a3. Achieving this level before starting with real-life PDCA cases is done via the PDCA learning modules in the software VISTALIZER1 for Enterprises. This decreases the total improvement time substantially and assures the proper use of resources. (3) Making the HPPI process fully operational according to specifications defined in a3 and targeting the five most crucial improvement objects according to the logic and approaches deployed and used in the HPPI process (customization, verification, prioritization and implementation of the solutions in the different units). (c) Satisfying the improvement needs (1) Assuring that the HPPI process and the related PDCA cycles deployed throughout the focus process are rotating according to the specifications in a3 or, if on the 2nd round of the HPPI process or higher, according to the specifications in d3. (2) Close the round of efforts (each 12 months) and evaluate the total improvement by the specified criteria including the total improvement yield and the process improvement yield. (3) Create/update the next VISTALIZER1 Report. Consider if the performance of other processes of the company should be improved to support the performance of the focus process and take appropriate measures if yes (revealed in the VISTALIZER1 Report). (4) Go to d1 and c1, i.e. manage two loops c1–3 and d1–5 at the same time. (d) Satisfying the performance needs (1) Monitoring progress via cause-and-effect-measurements to discover HPPI process quality defects in an early stage. (2) Updating the ambition levels (process & output) according to the realized potential! specified in Phase 1 of the HPPI process (VISTALIZER1 for Networks). (3) Updating the ambition level of the HPPI process to take the focus process to the next ambition level. (4) Repeating d1–3 according to needs and wanted ambition levels (theoretically until the process time is 0, costs 0 and the quality in an absolute sense is world-class). (5) If d4 is OK ! focus on the maintenance of the total process improvement yield and improve the level of resources needed to maintain the specified level.

15

Focus groups and the preliminary schedule are specified according to the input of the management, see Issues a1–4 in the table.

194

6 The Implementation Company Inc. Mike Fishbone

Grade (G): 0 Poor 1 Satisfactory 2 Good

22.7.2009 Checked by: Markus Pastinen Date: 23.7.2009

Weight

G

Sum

1

2

2

1

2

2

1

0

0

2

2

4

6

2

12

3

1

3

* Collection of data realated to the problem

3,5

2

7

* Process modell (flow chart)

3,5

2

7

2

2

4

Criteria 1. Subject/object (Plan)

Share 2%

* Why was the problem/object selected * Initial data 2. Background (Plan)

2

3%

* Situation of the process/company * Link to the strategy and improvement objects 3. Objectives/targets and time schedules (Plan)

1,3

9%

* (numeric) objectives/targets * time schedules (calendar time, effective working hours), persons 4. Analysis of initial state and causes (Plan)

1,7

25 %

* Description of the problem structure (causes-and-effects + 5 X Why?) * Setting the hypothesis * Definition of corrective actions * The use of data (coverage, validity, relationships) 5. Improvement plan/implementation of corrective actions (Do)

1,6

3

1

3

6,5

2

13

6,5

1

6,5

10

2

20

15

1

15

25 %

* Corrective actions (relevance to the collected & analyzed data, definition, test) * Performance measures

1,4

6. Results (Check)

8%

* Achieved results (data, measurements)

Not

2

0

compl-

2

0

eted

2

0

2

0

4

0

4

0

* What was learned?

5

0

* What next? * How could the results be utilized in other parts of the organization?

5 5

0 0

* Credibility * Documentation * Comparision to the objectives 7. New way/establishing the new way (Act)

0

8%

* Definition (=concrete instructions, change of system or standard) * Follow-up 8. Future plans (Act)

0

15 %

9. The technical implementation of the PDCA work

0

5%

2

* Selection of the improvement object and restricting/limiting the subject

2

2

4

* Clearness of the structure and logic

1

2

2

* Languge

1

2

2

* Lay-out

1

2

Sum 10. Utilized tools: Pareto, flow chart, fishbone diagram

100 %

Average

100

2 108,5

1,1

11. Comments: the approach has been systematic and the focus has been on relevant issues. The work is not completed => Sections 6-8 not graded. The proposed future actions are part of the Do phase.

Check (%)

Plan (%) Do (%)

100 % 50 % 0%

1 2 Share Average

80 % 20 % 70 % 30 %2 0 % 100 %1 0 % 100 %0 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Graded issues (1-9)

K1-5 K6 K7 K8-10

Weighted average

Act (%)

Share

12. Graphics

Fig. 6.18 The logic defining the quality of the PDCA document (basic ambition level)

outcome (see Sect. 6.1.2.2). The logic presented in the figure tracks the quality of the PDCA document at the basic ambition level. The criteria are stricter, if the evaluation is conducted at a higher ambition level, besides a score scale ranging

6.4 The T and V Values

195

from zero to five. At the basic level, it is by and large sufficient that the issues targeted in Fig. 6.18 are considered formally, whereas at higher ambition levels there is a quality check to verify the contents quality. As seen in Fig. 6.18, the quality level is only 54%. This is too far away from the trigger level of 85% (170 points). The problem is that the work has not been successfully closed, as the Check phase onwards has not been conducted. This is a typical case, as people tend to lose interest once they have completed the Do phase. However, in many cases the results are missing due to, for example, a wrong hypothesis or an imperfect Do phase. The persons using the PDCA logic seldom receive the information that they have closed the PDCA cycle too early or that they could improve the application of the logic. In addition, the idea of continuous improvement, updating the standards, and achieving a mode of organizational learning will not contribute to boosting the performance improvement. These issues are topical aspects related to the Act phase that the company never actually conducts. These aspects would enhance the improvement culture of the company as a built-in in feature and are thus important when aiming at higher performance levels. In any larger setting, these shortcomings decrease the improvement momentum to a minimum despite the efforts so far. It is always better to assure the appropriate PDCA quality level in as early stage as possible, emphasizing the importance of the PDCA training modules. Fixing shortcomings in real-life, instead of fixing the deficits previously in the “classroom”, costs a lot of money due to a lower realized improvement potential. The PDCA training logic presented before will effectively identify those persons capable of running independently the PDCA cycle. It reveals also which of the persons possess the right attitude and appropriate knowledge and skill base. In many cases, it is justified to reward these persons in some way in addition to a possible reward based on the achieved process improvement results. A score of 100% at the basic ambition level is just about motivation, as it only takes some concentration and a small amount of time to get all issues properly done. A score below 85% is more related to a bad attitude (change resistance) and unwillingness to perform in a structured and result-oriented way. After all, this is still not rocket science.

6.4

The T and V Values

The T and V Values depict how well an approach or a method complies with the requirements of the (high-performance) process improvement process. These considerations are mainly intended for the expert in charge of running the HPPI process. Persons taking part in the different phases of the HPPI process do not have to know about these narrow specialist issues at all. In this connection, these values should reflect the education, training and realization phases and in principle also the follow-up phase. From an improvement point of view, the consideration could even be restricted to cover only the training phase, as this issue is the most critical issue when running the process improvement process. The education phase is an enabler of the training and realization phases

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increasing motivation and enhancing the upgrade of ambition levels. However, the training and realization output in terms of the PDCA quality level is the score that is the most critical issue. The PDCA logic as such complies very well with the requirements of the HPPI process, as it provides the fastest known way to solve problems. The complete V Value takes the shape of the following formula: learning modes (n)/substance coverage/T (n). l

l

l

Learning modes communicates the amount of different learning approaches, i.e. self-tuition, guided studies, lecture form, and in brackets the amount of persons covered in one run with a reasonable possibility of reaching a quality level of at least 85% regarding the specified realization logic (the PDCA logic) Substance coverage, i.e. the level of substance issues covered in the education (20% weight) and training phases (80% weight)16 The T Value, i.e. the theoretical achievable PDCA quality level and the ambition levels supported (basic, articulated, exciting).

The V Value for the VISTALIZER1 for Enterprises solution is 3 (1)/100%/100% (3) and the corresponding V Value (HPPI) is 3 (20)/100%/100% (3). The V Value (HPPI) depicts the default performance level based on one VISTALIZER1 expert and an available time of 5–6 days depending on the starting level, and by applying the modes of learning to the following extent: self-tuition (40%), guided studies (50%), lecture form (10%). How well this performance level specification reflects the real-life output quality is measured via the PIY concept. Crucial risk factors include the skill of the expert/consultant and the motivation of the attending people. Although this formula may seem cumbersome at the first glance, it is very helpful when operating the HPPI process. Based on this performance metrics, it is possible to make high-class implementation plans according to the starting level, available resources and targeted quality and ambition levels.

6.5

Summary and Concluding Remarks

The implementation phase consists of four sub-phases, i.e. education, training, realization and the follow-up, which have to be mastered properly before the full gain related to HPPI can be materialized. How to deal with these issues is not an easy task. Luckily, technology and new approaches to knowledge visualization and transfer can be adopted for the benefit of assuring the real-life implementation quality on the individual level. Traditional education and training efforts, based on average profiles, contain too many obstacles preventing an adequate contribution to 16

Education: process improvement philosophy (5%), approaches and tools (10%) and management of organizational change (5%). Training: attitudes (20%) and the realization logic and supporting tools (60%). The emphasis, expressed as percentages, is the corresponding share relative to the total required substance as defined based on the current HPPI theory (cp. Fig. 3.4).

6.5 Summary and Concluding Remarks

197

the realization of the HPPI vision. These obstacles relate to not only the place and time of the learning experience but also to the way the knowledge is delivered and digested by the unique individuals. When the time and quality demands are tough enough, it is clear that new approaches based on a total perspective are in demand. The use of a software based mass customization logic to respond to the increased performance requirements in the field of HPPI provides the missing brick to fill-out the arisen performance deficit. The PIY level will ultimate reveal how good the education and training efforts are. The concept of zero defects should also be applied to the education and training efforts making it possible to sort out the problems before implementing the issues imperfectly in practice. Targeting this issue at an early stage provides the means to increase the ambition levels of the improvement activities, the focus process and the produced output. This is a very attractive approach resulting in a high satisfaction level amongst all stakeholders, including the three most critical ones, i.e. the customers, employees and owners. The HPPI philosophy should be properly applied to all improvement activities. Applying a total perspective in a holistic way assures that all contributing parts are up to the task and aligned towards a high improvement yield output. Reaching this critical mass is the key to realize large-scale gains in a sustainable way. In the end, this translates into a simple management decision, as the HPPI process can be made operational in almost any company possessing the will to improve its operations in a systematic and result-oriented way.

Chapter 7

Derivative Concepts and Future Outlines

The concepts and solutions presented before provide the basis for defining derivative concepts and solutions that enhance HPPI and thus deserve an own chapter. The intention of the chapter is not to be as profound as the preceding chapters but to highlight some special cases supporting the HPPI process. The presented concepts provide an essential and general complement when aiming at a sustainable HPPI. The issues considered focus on the following areas: l l

The company strategy and the related strategy process (Sect. 7.1) “Acid tests”, i.e. fast and targeted analysis and synthesis approaches (Sect. 7.2).

The company strategy is produced via an information process that cultivates data into information (analysis) and further into knowledge (synthesis). The outcome is a document the quality of which can be measured and improved in a systematic and result-oriented way. This is done by creating a construction (logic) that continuously targets and runs the strategy related activities at the correct ambition and performance levels. The acid tests are powerful indicators of the starting level of the targeted company regarding certain interest areas. These tests can also be utilized for following-up improvement efforts from a method point of view. This provides feedback how well a certain method has in fact been applied. Applied in this context, the acid tests provide a score that tells how far from the theoretical T Value (maximum score) a method has been applied in real-life. Section 7.3 provides some future outlines of HPPI. Considered aspects concern the HPPI process and the core parts, how to assure the knowledge and skills of the experts running the HPPI process, and the underlying business models. The chapter ends, as always, with a summary and concluding remarks (Sect. 7.4).

M. Pastinen, High-Performance Process Improvement, DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-10784-9_7, # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010

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7.1

7 Derivative Concepts and Future Outlines

Strategy and Strategy Process Improvement

There are two types of documents, which form the basis for increasing the competitive state of a company. These types are a high-class strategy and a high-class process improvement plan (recall Chap. 5). From a total improvement perspective, there are of course three additional types of documents that are required, i.e. the network improvement plan, the company (unit) improvement plan (recall Chap. 4) and the PDCA document (recall Chap. 6). Besides the specific substance areas considered by the documents, they also consider the deployment and implementation part to the extent required. As already seen when implementing the HPPI process, there may be a need to consider also the strategy and the underlying strategy process, before the full process improvement potential can be realized. If you have read the book carefully this far, you may have noticed two inputs in this regard, suggesting that the strategy concerns should be a key improvement object. The two inputs can be received in Phase 1 (see Fig. 4.1) and Phase 2 (see Sect. 5.6.1.1 and Table 5.21) of the HPPI process. From a process improvement perspective, there is nothing special about improving the strategy and the underlying process. The issue here is to design the “smartness” into the process creating and updating the strategy. Applying the concepts of HPPI to achieve a systematic and result-oriented mode towards this objective takes the strategy work a long way. From a solution point of view, the task is rather simple, as the requirement is to create and verify a concept and process for assessing, defining, deploying, implementing and monitoring a corporate/company strategy. In other words the objective is to collect the appropriate data, cultivate the data into information (making an analysis) and finally cultivate the information into knowledge (making a synthesis) under certain competitive time, quality and cost requirements. This implies that the activities should be based on a logic that optimizes the interaction between people, technology and information to produce the desired output (the written strategy). The tricky part in this connection is to design and integrate into the strategy process and the written strategy for a specific company the appropriate logic (method) for cultivating the data and information into knowledge, which is needed when making decisions. In the end, what counts is the quality of the decisions. The objective of a corporate/company strategy is to primarily increase the quality of crucial decisions. After this, it is fruitful to consider the quality of the deployment and implementation. The solution should also be applicable in a setting where no logic for creating a successful strategy is in place. If the corporation/company has already a strategy process or logic in place, then the solution needs to assess the current quality level of the process and outcome (the written strategy) and strengthen such issues deemed necessary. In so doing, it has to consider the quality of four issues, namely the strategy, the deployment, the implementation, and the monitoring of the three first mentioned issues, sometimes even the monitoring itself. Once in place the solution should also provide the organization with the knowledge and skills for running the process independently of external expert resources. If an existing

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strategy process has to be improved, it is beneficial to apply the method and output presented in Chap. 5. The designed concept and solution, i.e. VISTALIZER1 for Businesses, is the latest addition to the VISTALIZER1 family. Naturally, the solution has not yet undergone the same rigorous revolution and evolution phases as the solutions related to the HPPI process and the related methods presented in Chaps. 4–6. The purpose of this chapter is to present roughly the solution for targeting the strategy related issues discussed above. Section 7.1.1 provides the concept of the matter whereas Sect. 7.1.2 presents the solution in more detail.

7.1.1

The Strategy Improvement Concept

The concept of addressing the strategy improvement issues is an application of the logic used to address the network and company/unit level issues in Chap. 4. This makes it possible to utilize the same approach despite unique company constraints and considerations (Fig. 7.1). The company vision communicates what the company wishes to achieve and provides thus the direction where the company intend to go. The strategy considers what to do providing thus an approach for focusing the efforts according to the available resources. The deployment and implementation consider the issues how to materialize the issues defined in the strategy. This includes besides the “how”

Fig. 7.1 The general process flow of the VISTALIZER1 for Businesses solution

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7 Derivative Concepts and Future Outlines

component the practical co-ordination of the efforts. The first issue to consider is the vision. The vision is based on the purpose of the company and should in this case target measurable financial objectives. These objectives include growth and profit levels that can be deployed and measured properly. Consider below the vision defined by the HVAC equipment manufacturer, the case of which we considered in Chap. 5. “The revenue 4 years from hence is MEUR 25. The corresponding yearly profitable growth of domestic sales is 8% and of export sales 25%. New products bring 10% of the revenue at the end of the vision time frame.”

Based on the vision analysis the required components (the contents) of the strategy are defined to see how the company complies with these requirements. If the company is big, there may be different maturity levels in different country units that have to been considered in the same way, as is the case when considering the competitive state of a specific network company or unit. In principle this strategy analysis could also be conducted as an own module when running the network analysis and synthesis, for example, the next day. In the case of the HVAC equipment manufacturer, the issues presented in Table 7.1 were defined to be included in the written strategy. In addition, the weight of the issues is defined to allow the design and the use of a fulfillment degree indicator. After these criteria have been defined, an analysis is made to reveal the effort needed to reach a 100% strategy quality level. Once the size of the effort is clear, then the strategy work begins by defining the process and the process components needed to create and update the strategy (Fig. 7.2). The process components include the people, technology, information and material (usually omitted) needed to produce a high-class company strategy. In the case of the example used above the following definitions were made: People: the Managing Director and all manager level persons. Technology: MS-Excel. Material: Information: market data and information needed for defining the market quality, market functionality and competitive situation, the fulfillment degree of the vision.

The information definition is rough. It should reflect major information needs that may require extensive efforts to obtain. Other information needs are dealt with once a specific need arises. The phases of the strategy process will then guide and coordinate the strategy work in detail.

7.1.2

Strategy Process Analysis and Synthesis

To conduct the strategy process analysis and synthesis properly two issues are needed. The first issue is the metrics for evaluating the written output of the strategy process, i.e. the strategy document. This metrics has been productified and is known as the VISTALIZER1 Acid Test (Table 7.2).

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Table 7.1 An example of the customized strategy criteria used to define a high-class strategy (HVAC equipment manufacturer; 70 employees) Issue (chapter) Weight (%) 1. Introduction 2 1.1 The strategy and the importance of strategy improvement 0 1.2 The previously conducted strategy work 0 1.3 The strategy process of the company 2 2. The company’s purpose and vision 3 2.1 The purpose 1 2.2 The vision 1 2.3 The yearly break-down of the vision 1 3. Customers, markets and delivery channels 20 3.1 Current/future customers, customer classifications 2 3.2 The criteria for defining the market quality 3 3.3 Market analysis 2 3.4 Market specific analysis and the distribution channel strategy 4 3.5 The export process and the market specific distribution channel strategies 4 3.6 The product information process (product introduction process) 2 3.7 Pricing strategies and options 2 3.8 The elevator pitch as a strategic communication tool 1 4. Satisfaction of stakeholders 24 4.1 The company’s values and code of conduct 2 4.2 Satisfying the customers 7 4.3 Satisfying the employees 5 4.4 Satisfying the owners 5 4.5 Satisfying the suppliers and subcontractors 1 4.6 Satisfying the partners 1 4.7 Satisfying the investors 1 4.8 Satisfying the society 1 4.9 Satisfying the environment 1 5. Subcontractor co-operation 5 6. The competitive state and other strategic issues of competition 5 6.1 Direct competitors 2 6.2 Market obstacles 2 6.3 Other strategic issues of competition 1 7. Financial analysis 4 8. Risk analysis 2 9. Functional objectives and strategies 25 9.1 Common improvement issues and the required resources 2 9.2 Product development 2 9.3 Technical support 2 9.4 Marketing 3 9.5 Domestic sales 4 9.6 Export operations 8 9.7 Manufacturing and delivery 2 9.8 Management and administration 2 10. The implementation plan 10 Market areas and their quality incl. the quality of the importers (Encl. 1) The service yield (Encl. 2) 0 100

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Fig. 7.2 An example of a strategy process (HVAC equipment manufacturer; 70 employees)

Table 7.2 The concept of the VISTALIZER1 Acid Test focused on the company strategy (cp. Table 7.1) Issue Weight Fulfillment Implementation Implementation (%) degree degree (real-life) degree (real-life) (document) (%) current year -2 current year -1 (%) (%) 1. Introduction 2 50 100 50 2. The company’s 3 100 100 50 purpose and vision 3. Customers, markets 20 65 30 15 and delivery channels 4. Satisfaction of 24 35 20 10 stakeholders 5. Subcontractor co5 15 0 0 operation 6. The competitive state 5 70 50 25 and other strategic issues of competition 7. Financial analysis 4 100 100 50 8. Risk analysis 2 80 60 30 9. Functional objectives 25 40 20 10 and strategies 10. The implementation 10 25 0 0 plan Total

100

48

29

14

As seen in Table 7.2, the quality level of the strategy is currently 48% and the implementation level is 29%. The quality level of the written strategy is defined based on two approaches depending in what stage the definition of the strategy is: l

If the strategy or a new strategic substance issue is written for the first time then the fulfillment degree indicates how much of the substance has been covered

7.2 Acid Tests l

205

If the written strategy is updated then the fulfillment degree indicates the freshness of the strategy. Each item will be out of date if it has not been checked, updated or revised in one year, i.e. the fulfillment degree will be set to 0% after passing the deadline for updating the strategy. Usually the update cycle is 12 months.

The implementation degree in real-life indicates how much of the covered substance of previous years’ strategies has been made operational according to the specifications defined in those strategies. It is worthwhile noticing that this is not the same as the business results, as this indicator tracks the fulfillment degree of improvement objects and specified strategic actions. It is a good measure when considering the output of the strategy process. If these scores are low then the strategy process needs to be improved. The needed solution is the VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis approach producing the VISTALIZER1 Report. The implementation of the report follows that approach discussed earlier in Chap. 6.

7.2

Acid Tests

Many board members, business directors and managers do not know in a true sense the quality level of the corporate strategy and their company’s process improvement capabilities. These board members, directors and managers are in a mode described best as “I believe that I know”. Such a mode is probably the worst enemy of a fact-based management, as these persons may not see any need for an improvement in this regard. To create motivation, momentum and understanding an “eye opener” might be needed to prevent losses in terms of customer, personnel and owner satisfaction – the virtues that any director or manager should actively enhance, not only maintain, every day. It is possible to get this crucial missing piece of information simply by utilizing some of the aspects considered earlier. As these derivative solutions are a smaller part of the HPPI methods presented before, then these solutions will also perform according to the requirements of HPPI. Time and money wise they provide a flexible way of boosting the preplanning phase and follow-up activities related to any major improvement effort. Another, sometimes overseen factor is that such an acid test provides also the consultant with an initial opportunity to get to know the client company and its key persons. The generic HPPI process powered by VISTALIZER1 contains two different acid test types. Both types are named VISTALIZER1 Acid Test and they find out on what level two fundamental business cornerstones are: 1. The company strategy. 2. The process improvement yield. The method to define the quality level of the company strategy is based on the initial analysis module of the solution VISTALIZER1 for Businesses (recall

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Sect. 7.1.2 and Table 7.2). Besides a total result in %, it will also provide a detailed specification regarding the quality of different strategic areas/issues. The input data required is a written strategy that is evaluated according to the criteria defined by the mentioned method. The VISTALIZER1 Acid Testþ provides additional understanding regarding the quality and functionality of the underlying process (if existing) dealing with the creation and updating of the company strategy. This enlarged acid test considers also the deployment and implementation of the strategy and provides suggestions (a “road map”) how to improve the performance in this regard. The method to define the process improvement yield (%) is based on the initial analysis module of the solution VISTALIZER1 for Networks (Issues 1.1. and 1.2 in Table 4.1). Besides a total result in %, it will also provide a detailed specification regarding the quality of different areas related to the process improvement plan and the implementation. The enlarged VISTALIZER1 Acid Testþ provides a more thorough understanding about the company’s competitive state according to the full (standard) criteria of the VISTALIZER1 for Networks approach. The required management time consumption is approximately half a day for the basic VISTALIZER1 Acid Test and approximately one day for the enlarged VISTALIZER1 Acid Testþ. The delivery time is approximately one week.

7.3

Future Outlines of High-Performance Process Improvement

The methods and solutions of HPPI evolve according to Fig. 1.3 or more specifically according to Fig. 3.4. As you might have already concluded, the achievable and sustainable total performance of the presented HPPI process is already very good. This is verified by the achievable improvement yield levels, but also by the more detailed T and V Values of the methods applied. Making a distinction between the process improvement output and outcome, and running continuously the process improvement efforts with a high output (improvement yield level), is the key to achieving and sustaining high-performance processes  and continuously solving the HPPI equation properly. This simple, but profound, philosophy will fundamentally change the way we organize, run and improve future improvement activities and efforts. To identify prospective areas of improvement it is advisable to apply a holistic total perspective separating three different wholes related to the HPPI process. These three wholes include: l l l

The HPPI process and the core parts (cp. Figs. 1.1–1.3 and 3.4) The VISTALIZER1 Center of Excellence (recall Sect. 3.5) The business model, including marketing and sales.

The first whole has been successfully completed and is subject to normal R&D efforts according to the principle described in Figs. 1.3 and 3.4. The HPPI process

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runs smoothly according to the specifications, if the expert running said process possesses the required knowledge and skills. These knowledge and skill issues are targeted by the second whole where company external and internal experts are educated and trained to master a part of or the whole HPPI process. The logic and performance of this second whole are fundamental issues that provide many opportunities for fruitful R&D efforts. This performance is likely to be one of the key features when thinking about how to respond to increased process improvement performance needs. The bottleneck is thus not the HPPI process, but the knowledge and skill levels of the experts (the HPPI process owners) running it. The HPPI process is a demanding task to operate properly and attention should be paid not to spoil the versatile opportunities by an imperfect application of the HPPI process. A large-scale application of the HPPI process is in any case best suitable for devoted companies and persons understanding the essence of the concepts. The third whole is the development and refinement of the business model needed to run the HPPI process. Many different models need to be considered, as the HPPI process can be operated in different modes. These modes include: l l l

An in-house operation An outsourced operation A hybrid operation, i.e. a mixture of in-house and outsourced operation of the HPPI process.

The modes of operation are based on the support of an external center of excellence although a “mini” center of excellence can be operated in-house. The main deliverables in any setting are the total improvement yield level and the process improvement yield level. The T and V Values of the applied improvement methods provide a solid basis for designing the optimal mode of operation for any given company or network (value chain). The critical issues are consequently the targeted improvement yield level and the time when this level has to be achieved. In addition, the issue of maintaining the level is important, as this affects also the selection of the most appropriate mode of operation. This enables new ways of pricing improvement efforts, as the improvement yield level will be a general commodity with a certain euro or dollar per PIY level price. This makes it possible to compare what the company actually gets and how much the company has to pay for each PIY percentage point including external and internal costs. Such a comparison reveals the true price of the process improvement efforts. Comparing the (total) outcome with this price reveals the return on investment. Such an exercise is easily conducted in any company. If you took your time and really conducted this calculation properly, you might have found the results both surprising and interesting. The answer to your likely forthcoming question, “Why haven’t we thought about this sooner?”, is to be found in Chap. 1. Besides these three business models presented above, it is possible to separate six main business segments that can be operated by a different set of companies or organizations, which together form the total value chain related to the HPPI process. These segments include:

208 l l

l

l

l l

7 Derivative Concepts and Future Outlines

The R&D activities related to the HPPI process The VISTALIZER1 Center of Excellence (principal center, “satellite” centers, “mini” centers) The delivery and maintenance of the improvement yield levels to the targeted value chain (the HPPI process) “Stand-alone” education and training of students and professionals in process improvement (non-HPPI process) Improving the strategy and strategy process of the focus company or value chain The (independent) verification of the deliveries, monitoring of the yield levels (“process improvement auditors”).

These six business segments serve four customer categories that can furthermore be divided into different industries and sectors: l l l l

Small companies Middle-sized companies Large corporations The public sector.

By this set-up, it is possible to design, create, operate and manage the total value chain related to the HPPI process and its derivate solutions and applications. This calls for motivated and skilled people and companies to take part in improving and running the HPPI process for the benefit of increasing the satisfaction of all concerned stakeholders. Making this total value chain operate in a highperformance mode throughout the world would be in such a case the machine to the machine that really changed the world. How to improve the performance of this value chain and the related processes could not be that hard, could it? Finally, I will make a prediction which of the presented solutions contains the potential of gaining a large utilization acceptance. Although all solutions are potential “winners” because of the fact that they target different crucial needs and provide thus an important output that solves the HPPI equation, my gut feeling tells me that the VISTALIZER1 Report will be a real cracker. That solution is simply awesome. I am sure more people will start to realize the magic in that method and related output. I would not be completely surprised, if it would even reach a status as a de facto standard in certain settings, such as IT/ERP system definition/improvement and due diligence studies besides “ordinary” process improvement initiatives without an articulated and specific IT system development or due diligence need. These ordinary improvement initiatives are by far the “bread and butter” of the VISTALIZER1 Report. The VISTALIZER1 for Enterprises solution is actually an equally attractive solution, maybe even more attractive, but it may be harder to grasp initially, and therefore the appreciation of that solution will follow probably with some delay compared to the VISTALIZER1 Report. The VISTALIZER1 for Networks solution, the youngest of the three core solutions, contains many very attractive features to assure the improvement effectiveness and to increase the understanding of the competitive state of the targeted company and network (value chain). In a due diligence context this is a highly attractive complement, maybe

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complemented with a VISTALIZER1 Report, if needed. However, it will not make the really “dirty job” as the two other solutions do when solving the HPPI equation. Therefore, I feel that it might be somewhat in the shadow of the two other solutions. After all, the solutions that deliver the results are the ones that count in the end. The derivative solutions make a strong case of their own. The solution VISTALIZER1 for Businesses will probably receive a natural acceptance, as the need for a high-quality strategy and its classy implementation evolve somewhat further from the current rather low real-life ambition levels. Combined with the HPPI process it provides an attractive concept for any company.

7.4

Summary and Concluding Remarks

The concepts of the presented HPPI process can be adopted for improving both the company strategy and the process producing and implementing the strategy. Together with the other application possibilities, this provides an attractive total improvement solution that takes process improvement to the next ambition level by solving, method based, the HPPI equation  the fundamental equation of business. Thanks to its dynamic nature and modular design, the solutions evolve to reflect new knowledge and perspectives. This has a positive impact on process improvement as such, as the methods do not have to be changed every second year according to which method or concept is topical. In fact, many companies have perceived the concept of continuous improvement as continuous method change. Sticking to a certain set of low-performance process improvement methods to avoid the continuous method change has been one approach to gain a competitive advantage, as this approach has provided some stability and an improvement yield above zero. With HPPI methods and solutions entering the market, this strategy becomes obsolete. The critical issue is to reach a high improvement yield level in a comparably short time – using as little resources as possible. This has nothing to do with rushing things, as the performance is based on dedicated HPPI methods providing a great cumulative effect, if sustained for a long time. Embracing this philosophy redefines the concept of continuous improvement and provides new perspectives on how to run the improvement activities, including new business concepts. The objective of the activities cannot be set lower than delighting all stakeholders at the same time. When the competitive advantage is based on who applies best the total HPPI process, then we have come a long way in terms of getting the improvement efforts on the right track. This most rewarding work needs to start immediately, as a lost second and penny are never to be recovered. There is an abundance of old, present and future HPPI equations, which eagerly yearn for a proper solution!

References

Andersin H (1992) Det dataintegrerade industrifo¨retaget. Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo Augustin S, Oberhofer A (1990) Information als Wettbewerbsfaktor: Informationslogistik – Herausforderung an das Management. Albert F Oberhofer, Ko¨ln Brealey RA, Myers SC (1988) Principles of corporate finance, 3rd edn. McGraw-Hill, New York Davenport TH, Short JE (1990) The new industrial engineering: information technology and business process redesign. Sloan Manage Rev Summer, pp 11–27 Deming EW (1986) Out of the crisis. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Center for Advanced Engineering Study, Cambridge, MA Fromm H (1992) Das Management von Zeit und Variabilita¨t in Gescha¨ftsprozessen. CIM Management 5:7–14 Garvin DA (1988) Managing quality: the strategic and competitive edge. The Free Press, USA Hackman RJ, Wageman R (1995) Total quality management: empirical, conceptual and practical issues. ASQ June, pp 309–342 Hunsaker PL (1985) Strategies for organizational change: role of an inside change agent. In: Warrick DD (ed) Contemporary organization development. Scott Foresman and Co, London Jones TO, Sasser EW Jr (1995) Why satisfied customers defect. Harvard Bus Rev November– December, pp 88–99 Juran JM (ed) (1974) Quality control handbook, 3rd edn. McGraw-Hill, New York Kano N et al (1986) Attractive Q vs. must be Q. Hinshitsu (Quality) 14(2):39–48 Maslow AH (1954) Motivation and personality. Harper & Bros, New York McGregor D (1960) The human side of enterprise. McGraw-Hill, New York Mitroff II (1983) Stakeholders of the organizational mind: toward a new view of organizational policy making. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco Parasuraman A, Berry LL, Zeithaml VA (1990) An empirical examination of relationships in an extended service quality model. Working Paper, Report Number 90–122. Marketing Science Institute, Cambridge, MA, pp 8, 33, 38–39, 56 Pastinen M (1993) Einsatz von Methoden und Systemen zur Optimierung von Informationsprozessen orientiert an neuen Organisationsstrukturen und Prozessabla¨ufen. Munich: Siemens AG Zentralabteilung Produktion und Logistik, M.Sc. (Tech.) thesis (Helsinki University of Technology) Pastinen M (1995) Total quality management essentials: a framework for assessing and improving the processes of the company. Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, Ph.D. dissertation Pastinen M (1998) (2nd ed. 2000) Process improvement essentials – a framework for creating and implementing operational improvement plans. Helsinki, Vistalize. Dr. Tech. dissertation (Helsinki University of Technology) Pirsig RM (1974) Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance. Bantam Books, New York

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212

References

Rust RT, Zahorik AJ, Keiningham TL (1994) Return on quality. Probus Publishing Company, Chicago Schein EH (1987) Process consultation: lessons for managers and consultants. Addison Wesley, Reading, MA Soin SS (1992) Total quality control essentials – key elements, methodologies and managing for success. McGraw-Hill, USA Steiner G (1979) Strategic planning: what every manager must know. Free Press, New York Zeman M, Fro¨schl J, Greiner-Du¨rr E, van Hassel M, Hofer-Alfeis J, Petersen U, Vollmer K (1993) Erfolgreiches Informationsmanagement durch Prozessorientierung. Mu¨nchen, Siemens AG

Index

A Acid tests, 199 Analysis parameter cost parameter examples, 117 definition, 110 industry examples, 118 quality parameter examples, 114 time parameter examples, 113 Articulated attributes, 33

Criterion 4, 157 Customers, categorization, 32 Customers’ needs, categorization, 33 Customer value, four components, 32

D Daily management, 14 Delivery time, 33 Deming chain reaction, 31

B Basic attributes, 33 Basic principles of finance first principle, 135 second principle, 135

E Exciting attributes, 34

F C Car Analogy, 176 Change process, Schein’s three steps, 37 Concept of zero, 4, 141 Consultation approaches doctor-patient model, 53 expert model, 52 process consultation model, 53 Schein’s three approaches, 52 Core competence, 29 Core process definition, 27 examples, 28 Criterion 1, 128 Criterion 2, 155 Criterion 3, 157

Finance first basic principle, 135 second basic principle, 135

H High-class process improvement plan imperative aspects, 44 100% quality score, 44 High-performance process improvement additional outlines, 49 annual time consumption, 59 benefits, 10 definition, 26 design concepts, 49 general construction requirements, 18 general performance requirements, 41

213

214

the kernel, 40 output quality measurement points, 60 theoretical backbone, 25 three critical issues to manage, 21 High-performance process improvement equation, 4, 7(Preface) High-performance process improvement philosophy, 7 High-performance process improvement process, logic of operation, 12 High-performance value chain improvement, 12 Hoshin kanri, 14 HPPI equation, 4, 7(Preface)

I Impact field definition, 118 reliability classification, 123 Improvement philosophy, 6 Information process actor-oriented approach, 29 competitive relevance, 30 general outline for creating a plan, 18 inter-functional, 30 inter-organizational, 30 interpersonal, 30 quality components, 30 task-oriented approach, 29 types, 29 Inter-functional information process, 30 Internal consultants advantages, 95 disadvantages, 96 Inter-organizational information process, 30 Interpersonal information process, 30

K Key process, 29

L Low-performance process improvement, cost, 8

Index

M Maslow appreciation need, 36 physical need, 36 safety need, 36 self-realization, 36 social need, 36 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, 35 Mountain Analogy, 179

N Net present value, 136 formulas, 158 Network analysis and synthesis critical performance parameters, 167 data collection classification, 71 functional perspective, 71 key areas to master properly, 68 operational perspective, 72 performance profile, 85 performance profile example, 85 structure of the synthesis, 84 time space perspective, 73 Network, definition, 67 Nichijo kanri, 14

P PDCA cycle, 186 Philosophy high-performance process improvement, 7 process improvement, 6 Physical product, 32 Present value, formulas, 135 Process actor-oriented information process, 29 core process definition, 27 core process examples, 28 definition, 8, 26 definition basis, 27 information process definition, 29 information process types, 29 key process, 29 support process definition, 27 support process examples, 28 task-oriented information process, 29

Index

Process analysis and synthesis, 91 agenda example, 100 fundamental deficits, 92 Process improvement definition, 26 flow, 91 general improvement method performance criteria, 17 meaning in practice, 8 paradox, 6 philosophy, high-performance process improvement, 7 process definition, 12 yield calculation example, 45 concept, 13 example, 73 general formula, 43 Process performance parameter, definition, 110 Process type test, 28 Push strategy, 39

Q Quality Juran’s user-based quality definition, 32 physical product, 32 service, 32

S Service, 32 delivery, 32 environment, 32 Seven quality tools, 186 Stakeholder definition, 31 examples, 31 Stress level curve, data collection (network analysis), 79 Support process definition, 27 examples, 28 SWOT analysis, network analysis and synthesis, 86

215

T Time, different concepts, 33 Time-to-market, 33 Total cycle time, 33 Total improvement yield calculation example, 47 concept, 13 general formula, 43 Traditional process improvement methods, 3 T Value, 61 network analysis and synthesis, 166 process improvement plan aspects, 101

V

VISTALIZER1 Acid Test, 202, 205 VISTALIZER1 Acid Test+, 206 VISTALIZER1 Center of Excellence, quality parameter, 63 VISTALIZER1 experts, areas of expertise, 63 VISTALIZER1 for Businesses, 205 VISTALIZER1 for Consultants, 97 VISTALIZER1 for Enterprises, 175 VISTALIZER1 for Networks, 67 VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis, 92 agenda example, 103 VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis Synthesis, framework, 98 VISTALIZER1 Report, 92 agenda example, 100 V Value, 61 implementation, 195–196 network analysis and synthesis, 88 questions asked, 61 VISTALIZER1 for Networks, 88 VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis, 88 V Value (HPPI), 88 VISTALIZER1 for Networks, 88 VISTALIZER1 for Process Analysis and Synthesis (VISTALIZER1 Report), 167