Benefits of Integrating Business Process Management with Lean Six Sigma

Business Process Management and Lean Six Sigma can work very well together. Each system has something great to contribute to an organization, which results in a higher level of power when combined. However, today not all organizations throughout the world either recognize the benefits or have failed to implement the combined initiatives through a system such as Integrated Enterprise Excellence.

In Lean Six Sigma, members and leaders are typically taught that technology is not a vital component in terms of solving process problems. Although BPM involves technology, Lean Six sigma can be enhanced through BPM’s methodologies and capabilities. Similarly, BPM users tend not to have appreciation of Lean Six Sigma strategies and how the techniques of Lean Six Sigma could lead to more effective BPM deployments. BPM and Lean Six Sigma complement each other in many ways possible, but not many are aware about these. Five benefits of integrating these two initiatives are:

1. Process Enforcement and Business Ownership

The integration of BPM and Lean Six Sigma can speed up the real-time execution of processes even when a team is geographically dispersed. With the tools combined, organizations or businesses can offer an orchestration of the essential elements of the techniques, such as the processes, inputs, outputs, failure analysis, documentation, evaluation, statistical analysis and feedback, among others. An effective collaboration of BPM and Lean Six Sigma can result in processes that can be automatically executed through BPM?s automation.

Through this integration, practitioners or business owners can have more control, which is intensified by monitoring and the reporting of predictive process performance metrics. The BPM portion and associated software can provide vital data for implementation and process design. This simply means that all processes can be executed according to their intent with harmony. This minimizes the risks of problems occurring.

2. Agility and Speed

Organizations will experience benefits when the two initiatives (i.e., agility and speed) operate together. For instance, a supplier can improve its competitiveness by reducing the delivery time. Through the use of Lean Six Sigma methods, this organization can determine the value stream map, which highlights the metrics and focus points necessary to reduce total lead time.

In this, the value stream map is broken down from the lower processes up to the point that key areas of waste and failure are addressed. Once improved, it results in delivery time enhancements. A BPM automation initiative can act at this time to deploy the controls and processes throughout the initial key areas, such as waiting order approvals and signatures. Through BPM, there can be automated controls, where all the data for process performance are collected in real time.

3. Better Approach to Problem Solving

Usually, Lean Six Sigma strategies focus on resolving narrow and highly specific issues. With this technique, all the data necessary to eradicate all wasted work can be determined in an efficient manner. Hence, there can be a well-defined set of steps or activities, which will aid in eliminating all the non-value-added work.

However, a traditional Lean Six Sigma deployment by itself often misses the big picture. This is where Business Process Management can be beneficial in the picture. In general, organizations benefit the most when there is a framework that will support the integration of the two techniques so that all angles of the problem solving process will be looked in a more precise manner; e.g., the Integrated Enterprise Excellence business management system described above.

4. Patches the Weaknesses

Lean Six Sigma alone in terms of a deployment involves two major weak points:

• The enhancements obtained from Lean Six Sigma have the tendency to become isolated and less focused, which can lead to problems with the flow of services or products in terms of the bigger context, like in an enterprise.
• A Lean Six Sigma deployment depends upon the collection of resources from competitors and views priorities the same way cooperatives do. Since various business units have their unique priority ratings, reviewing the right priorities normally leads to slow enterprise-wide improvements.

Now, what about BPM? Essentially, BPM is not into statistics — creation of hypothesis test when it comes to identifying areas for improvements like a Lean Six Sigma process improvement roadmap suggests. Yet, BPM within an IEE structure lays the framework required for modification in workflows and processes to allow the implementation of enhanced outputs derived from Lean Six Sigma.

5. Higher Returns

Average companies, which either employ Lean Six Sigma or BPM, are known to generate increased profit when compared to those who do not utilize any initiative. However, those organizations that manage to effectively integrate BPM and Lean Six Sigma successfully achieve the most long-lasting benefits.

Many organizations are deploying both Lean Six Sigma and BPM. Most of these companies are large companies, but smaller ones can also reap the benefits of BPM and Lean Six Sigma, together. Those companies that either utilizes Six Sigma, BPM or both experienced significant improvements on essential performance indicators. Yet, those who performed the integration of the two initiatives gained higher levels of success, particularly in terms of revenues.

Without doubt, the two initiatives have a lot to give to one another since they only have one goal — help organizations optimize and manage their processes more efficiently. While the focus and approach may be different, the combined efforts really help in elimination of waste, improving quality and developing better control.

BPM and Lean Six Sigma integration is promising, but organizations should be clever and alert to achieve continuous improvement throughout the years to come. An Integrated Enterprise Excellence system provides a roadmap for this effective integration.

SOURCE: Quality Magazine

What is Kanban and How Did It Change Management?

If you’ve shopped for project management or enterprise resource planning (ERP) software recently, you’ve likely come across the term ‘Kanban.’ If you’re like most software buyers, you might not be familiar with what that means. Below, we explain the history and business uses of this system.

What is Kanban and Where Did It Come From?

Kanban is a Japanese word that literally means “card” or “billboard.” In terms of project management, Kanban is a way of visually organizing production using cards, each of which represents a task or step in the production process. The system was born in the late 1940’s by Toyota engineers who drew inspiration from the “just-in-time” delivery model of supermarkets. Instead of ordering product to restock shelves based upon vendor availability, supermarket clerks ordered based upon the current store inventory. The engineers used this idea as a model to develop a manufacturing process that relied on matching inventory with demand in order to increase both quality and throughput. The result? Kanban.

On the manufacturing floor, workers would use a Kanban, or card, to represent steps in the manufacturing process. Adjacent up-and-downstream workstations communicated with one another via the Kanban cards. A container at each station would contain a Kanban that, when received, authorized the station to produce parts or ship the full container to the next workstation. The visual nature of using a card or billboard allowed teams to better communicate with one another, which maximized productivity. The result? Toyota became the largest, most profitable auto manufacturer in the world.

Kanban Goes Mainstream

Kanban was only used for manufacturing until the early 2000s, when David J. Anderson, Corey Ladas, and others developed the Kanban method for software development. It was centered around the idea of making incremental changes to processes and systems, and could be used by corporations in any industry, not just manufacturing. It is a “pull” system, where work in progress is limited in order to reveal bottlenecks that prevent supply from matching demand.

Of course, the introduction of the Kanban manufacturing process to software development resulted in the development of e-Kanban, or electronic Kanban systems. Instead of physical representations of work, e-Kanban systems, like those found in Kanban-based project management and ERP software, use electronic cards that may or may not contain barcodes, attachments, or other electronic messages.

Whether used for development or manufacturing, Kanban has six rules, developed by Toyota, that help ensure a successful implementation.

1. Downstream processes use items only in amounts specified by the Kanban card.
2. Upstream processes produce items only in amounts specified by the Kanban card.
3. Nothing is made, moved, or altered without a corresponding Kanban card.
4. If an item is produced or shipped, it must have a corresponding Kanban card.
5. Errors, defects, or shortages are never sent downstream
6. The total number of Kanban cards are limited to reduce inventory or work-in-progress and reveal bottlenecks or other problems.

Do You Need Kanban?

While the benefits of Kanban/Lean processes to manufacturing and development are relatively well-known, a Kanban system can be used with great effect in a myriad of industries. Any team that generates a product can use Kanban. We even use Kanban software on several teams here at TechnologyAdvice. While Kanban takes some getting used to when transferring from a traditional waterfall system, once your team becomes more comfortable with the process it will help reduce lead times, and increase team communication and output. 

To find out more about Kanban-based project management and enterprise resource planning systems, call, click, or email one of our Technology Advisors for a no-cost, no-obligation consultation on how Kanban can benefit your business.

SOURCE: TechnologyAdvice

Process Improvement: Six Sigma & Kaizen Methodologies

The American Innovator - The 8 Wastes...FastCap Style

Four Principles Lean Management - Get Lean in 90 Seconds

Messy processes – Messy customer experiences?

Yeah, I am sure you have heard it at least once in your life: “Sorry, it is against our policy”. Lately I have heard too many times “It is against regulations”. How is it against regulations when others are doing it? Nah, it is just a easy escape from offering bad customer experiences. How many companies actually mix bad internal processes with regulations? Quite many it seems!

Messy customer experiences

I hope that is not the case in your company. It is actually easy to test. Find out how many times your clients hear phrases like “I’m sorry, our system doesn’t allow us to do that.” Or “It doesn’t work like that. The way our process works is … blaa blaa …”. Those are clear indicators of messy processes leading to messy customer experiences.

Remove waste

And why would you care? Certainly not because more clients would spend more money in your business if those processes were functioning better? Or if your existing clients give you 60-70% higher profitability than the new ones? I’m sure you find those very good reasons to start aligning your processes to customer experiences. That will actually save you money, it is as simple as that. Removing waste from a Lean perspective is great, removing it from customer perspective is remarkable.

Outside-in focus

Too many companies have “inside-out” focus, that is focusing on themselves instead of “outside-in” focus which is about putting the customer in the centre of everything. Processes are a practical way of putting customers in the centre. They are the core of everything that is done in your business. Employees and systems follow processes. Now if you are thinking that you don’t have processes, you may be partly right. They are unstructured; ad-hoc processes that happen with high variation. But they still are processes.

Customer journey

So, what should you do? Most companies can start from the basics. That is to map out all the relevant processes and customer journeys. You can’t fix something you don’t understand first. Having a map of what is going on makes it easier to plan the desired future state that will respond to customer needs better. That leads to second point, which is using the customer journey maps in conjugation with process map to see where the biggest gaps and waste is. Then you can use Customer Experience Blueprint to define how those processes should work in the future and create a transformation project. Simple, right?

Summary 

Your customer experiences are outcomes of your processes. Messy processes will lead to messy customer experiences. To fix your customer experiences, you have to fix your processes. And that will take much more customer-centric approach than what traditional process methods can offer you (Lean, Six Sigma, BPM, etc.). You need customer experience management aligned with business process management and IT strategies. That way you can be sure that there are no messy processes in your business.

Here are some reflective questions you can use to evaluate your current situation:

• Have you done process maps? Are they up to date? Are you using them to understand how they produce customer experiences?
• Have you done customer journey maps? Are they up to date? Are you using them to understand how they produce successful customer outcomes?
• Do you have a Customer Experience Blueprint in place that will direct the customer experience and process improvement efforts?
• Have you done a holistic map that aligns business processes to customer journeys?

Receive a complementary copy of my book on customer-centric process leadership! Please visit http://addvalueto.me/download-a-free-process-leadership-book/

SOURCE: BPMLeader

Lean and the Corporate Agenda with Guest Jacob Stoller

Watch How a Lean Thinking Company Runs a Morning Meeting

An Introduction to Lean Thinking

When to Use Lean Six Sigma Tools? - PART II

In many scenarios, new lean six sigma practitioners, uncertain about the methodology, tend to get confused on when to use the different lean six sigma tools. This article, the second of a two-part series, gives an overview on when to use different Lean Six Sigma/Change Management tools and in which phases of DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control). 

#13: Production Leveling (Heijunka)

To reduce unnecessary inventory and capital getting locked up as inventory in warehouses. Production Leveling helps with creating "flow" and getting the product/service on time/faster to the customer.

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Analyze/Improve

#14: SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Dies)

To reduce the changeover time on a machine, between systems etc. SMED helps with creating "flow" and reducing batch sizes.

 

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Analyze/Improve

#15: FMEA (Failure Modes and Effects Analysis)

To analyze how each (prioritized) X fails, what are the effects on Primary Y when X fails, Why each X fails, what are the current controls etc. In simple terms to drill down to the root cause of the problem/issue. Ensure the operational definitions of ratings for Severity, Occurences and Detection are agreed upon and the scale is customized if necessary. Ratings should be based on data.

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Analyze/Improve

#16: Control Charts

To determine whether the process is stable and has special or common cause variation. Use the appropriate control charts based on the type of data and pre-requisites. For example I-MR control chart cannot be used if the data is not normally distributed. Refer Minitab Statguide for detailed information.

 

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Measure/Improve/Control

#17: Capability Analysis

To compare customer's specification limits with process control limits (in simple terms to determine whether the process can meet customer's specifications or not). Ensure the specification limits actually come from the customer and not some hypothetical numbers. Refer Minitab Statguide for detailed information.

 

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Measure/Improve

#18: Brainstorming techniques (Reverse, Analogy, Six Thinking Hats etc.)

To brainstorm solutions for the root cause(s) or critical Xs. Six Thinking Hats requires the use of an experienced facilitator who is trained and certified in Six Thinking Hats.

 

Which phase of DMAIC to use? End of Analyze/Improve

#19: Pugh matrix

To select the best solution objectively from among a set of solutions. The Pugh matrix is a much better objective tool compared to other tools which tend to be subjective.

 

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Improve

#20: Kano model

To determine the needs, wants and desires of customers. Offers insights into the product attributes which are perceived to be important to customers. Supports product specification through better development of team understanding

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Pre-Define/Define

#21: VOC gathering techniques (Surveys, Customer complaints, secret shopper, Structured interviews, Gembas etc.)

To determine and understand the pain areas of a customer(s) and thereby make a case for change (whether a project is required or not). As far as possible, collect VOC by direct interaction with customers rather than surveys to get quality information. VOC is converted to CTQs (Critical to Quality Characteristics) i.e. objective measures which can determine if VOC is met or not.

 

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Pre-Define/Define

#22: Control Plans

To ensure the gains/improvements made through the project don’t slip back to the original state. Most of the projects fail due to incomplete or no control plans.

 

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Control

#23: Threat vs. Opportunity matrix

To create a sense of urgency (burning platform) for change. Focus on Threats if we DO make the change as well.

 

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Pre-Define/Define

#24: Stakeholder analysis/mapping

To determine areas of resistance and support. Ensure the stakeholder rating (such as ++ or --) is based on some data/previous experience with the stakeholders and not just based on heresay or person opinions.

 

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Define phase; updated through out the phases periodocially

SOURCE: processexcellencenetwork

When to Use Lean Six Sigma Tools? - PART I

In many scenarios, new lean six sigma practitioners, uncertain about the methodology, tend to get confused on when to use the different lean six sigma tools. This article, the first of a two-part series, gives an overview on when to use different Lean Six Sigma/Change Management tools and in which phases of DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control). 

#1: Fish Bone Diagram (Ishikawa diagram) or Cause and Effect Diagram

To brainstorm the causes of variation (represented by bones of the fish) that lead to the effect (represented by the head of the fish! (6Ms – Man (and Woman!), Machine, Method, Mother Nature (Environment), Measurement System and Materials. Ensure that Man (or Woman) ONLY doesn’t get blamed as the cause of variation; don’t debate endlessly whether a particular cause is Method or Man etc - note down the causes first and then classify later

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Measure/Analyze

#2: Hypothesis tests

To test and prove or disprove a hypothesis (for example, to test whether the average production time of a shift 1 is greater than shift 2). Ensure you use the right hypothesis test. Also ensure the pre-requisites for each hypothesis test are met. Refer Minitab Statguide for detailed information.

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Measure/Analyze

#3: 5-Why Analysis

To get down to the root cause of a particular problem/issue. Ensure that God doesn’t get blamed for everything.

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Analyze 

#4: Cause and Effect matrix (C&E matrix)

To rank each X against Primary Y, Secondary Y and the Counterbalance and prioritize Xs. Operational definition of rating (9-3-1-0) an X against a Y should be clear and agreed upfront.

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Measure/Analyze

#5: Kaizen event

When the problem/issue needs to be solved immediately and requires a focused effort (and time) from the team. Ensure the pre-work is planned thoroughly and completed prior to actual kaizen event; scope should be defined such that the problem/issue can be solved and solution implemented within 3 - 5 days (or atleast a pilot).

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Improve

#6: 5S

To sort, organize and perform housekeeping of files, products, service items, maintenance tools, clothes, etc. Helps with increasing productivty and employee morale

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Any Phase

#7: Poka Yoke

To mistake proof a solution/process/sub process. Physical prevention of an error is the best form of poka-yoke - strive for this.

#8: Value Stream map

To not only map out the flow of a process, but also get in-depth information about the process such as Customers, Suppliers, Downtime, Errors, Production time, Inventory, Value added time, Information flow, Material flow, People flow, Throughput rates, Incoming raw material rates, 8 wastes etc; to determine the bottlenecks in a process.

Don’t rely on existing process maps/SOPs to construct a VSM; observe and walk through the process (Gemba) 3 - 4 times to get a good understanding of the process before constructing a VSM.

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Measure

#9: Process Map

To visualize the flow of a process. Swim lane process map can be used to capture the steps of the process as well as the who executes those steps.

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Define/Measure

#10: Measurement Systems Analysis

To rule out the possibility that Measurement System is one of the causes of variation (one of the 6Ms)

Ensure that the MSA is conducted with full cooperation from the participants; Ensure all the rules of the MSA are followed (for example, minimum number of operators, parts etc). Refer Minitab Statguide for detailed information.

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Measure

#11: Design of Experiments

To experiment actively and determine the optimum levels of critical Xs to achieve the desired Y. There are many types of DOEs. Refer Minitab Statguide for detailed information.

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Analyze/Improve

#12: Regression

To establish an equation between critical Xs and Y and predict future values of Y. Always test whether the assumptions of the model are valid or not (for example, for least squares method, all residuals must be normally distributed, should show no pattern or in other words remain a mystery!). Refer Minitab Statguide for detailed information.

Which phase of DMAIC to use? Analyze/Improve

SOURCE: processexcellencenetwork

Top Challenges for Effective Lean Six Sigma and PEX Implementation

While many major businesses in the Philippines are becoming aware of the resource saving principles of lean six sigma and process excellence (LSS and PEX), there remains a number of concerns regarding their effective implementation. In order to identify these issues we consulted some of South East Asia’s foremost industry experts to share their unique insights, implementation difficulties and top tips for LSS and PEX project success.

Aubrey Mendez

Assistant Vice President - Process Excellence

Wells Fargo Philippines Solutions

If a culture of continuous improvement (CI) is not present in a company, it tends to be due to one of two scenarios. One is that the organisation is still young and therefore education and awareness are both required to propagate the CI culture, or alternatively the organisation is already mature and feels that it has already done everything possible to remain efficient; therefore engagement has fallen through the cracks. Either scenario represents a barrier to adopting a true culture of continuous improvement.

Another major obstacle towards implementation is a lack of solid stakeholder buy-in. Process Excellence should be viewed as an experience and a company way of life fully endorsed and supported by management – not a passing fad to be whimsically included in your organisational goals.

LSS and PEX projects can also struggle if their handlers are unable to relate the project’s improvements to bottom line. Often the projected annualised savings are properly quantified in $ value but still there are times that these numbers seem like they don’t impact the P&L thus partners can take the view that the project looks like “fluff”.

Finally, some PEX professionals are well-schooled on the theory side but are lacking in  deployment experience. They may be versed in the principles and technical jargon of LSS but will fail to communicate how the partners they support – whether in operations or technology – can make practical use of the tools and methods taught by PEX.

Additionally, some PEX professionals lack strong deployment experience to be able to relate to business.

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Melody Tolisora

Service Delivery Director

TransUnion Credit Bureau

The following are the most frequently repeated objections and concerns I have received whenever I start any project or deployment of LSS or PEX:

• “It will take too long to implement.”
• “I don’t have the resources to do it.”
• “It’s too complicated.”

What the authors of these concerns don’t often realise is that LSS can make things simpler while in turn improving their business processes by making them faster and more efficient. Another major roadblock is a lack of buy-in from the organisation’s owners and top tier management. This is often because they believe that their operational processes work, so why would they need to invest in new and potentially costly PEX projects in order to change it?

In terms of actual implementation, the most common concerns are:

• A lack of precise data or form of measurement to track progress.
• No baseline to effectively measure ultimate improvements created by the project.
• Over analysing implementation methodology and execution of project priorities.

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Peter Awayan

Six Sigma Black Belt/Site Champion

ON Semiconductor Philippines Inc.

There is no doubt about it, Six Sigma really works. Motorola, Honeywell and GE all documented breakthrough improvements in quality and profitability when they pioneered to implement Six Sigma in the mid-80’s. Decades after, many more corporations have benefited and continue to benefit from it. However, like many high-profile programs, the deployment model must be correct and relevant to be truly successful.

In the implementation of LSS, the uncompromising formula for success is an unwavering desire and commitment by the top management to make it work. This requirement holds true regardless of the type of business or institutions in question. Anything short of this basic requirement would throw the program deployment into a complex web of compromises. If the implementation has to continually compete with other initiatives to secure the company’s resources (e.g. employees’ time, equipment, materials, etc.), then it is highly likely to fail or achieve only partial success.

When strong top management commitment is visibly demonstrated, everything else will fall into the right order such as:

• Improvement initiatives are linked with customer needs and departmental KPIs
• Project sponsorship is consistent and unshaken
• Improvement activities are actively undertaken
• Performance measures drive rewards and recognition and employees are eventually transformed into change agents.

Following this, the guaranteed outcomes then include a culture change that perpetually drives breakthrough improvements in quality, cost and delivery.

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Sunil Narang

VP & GM Services Business APAC; Global Customer Assurance

Director Packaging Printing Solutions, Kodak Singapore

In order to achieve longer term sustenance of the benefits of LSS and PEX in an organisation, it is essential to:

• Embed principles of LSS in the culture of the company, instead of simply keeping its principles restricted to a group of LSS experts. It is necessary to make it second nature to each employee to have an eye for non-value added work around them and address it quickly.
• De-mystify LSS concept and jargons – make it simple to understand the intended benefits and keep the company outlook regarding LSS and PEX positive in nature. This will help embed its principles into each and every employee.
• Create simple recognition for encouraging steps in the right direction at smallest level – again this is an invaluable aid in embedding LSS and PEX principles into an organisation’s culture and ultimately driving positive change.

SOURCE: processexcellencenetwork

Use the Voice of the Customer to select the best projects

The Voice of the Customer is at the heart of Lean Six Sigma. The focus on eliminating waste and reducing variability is founded in a desire to improve the outcome for customers, whoever they may be. But, it can be hard to know if our project selection process is putting enough focus on the areas of priority for our customers. Just because management thinks something is a priority does not mean that the customers agree. Customer feedback is an essential part of it.

However, before we launch a thousand surveys, we first need to identify our customer. While it sounds obvious, it rarely is. When most people think about their customers, they think of the end-user of whichever product or service they offer; so the guests at a hotel, or a driver for a car manufacturer, and while this is true it is not the whole story. Your product may have been specified by a designer, delivered to a client with you as a supplier and used by someone on a shop floor. All three are customers.

Looking closer, we know that every single member of staff is a customer of the HR process. The technician on the subassembly line is a customer of the person before him. There are many different customers in each process; for each output there could be several different customers. It is up to us to look at who is using the process and determine where the customers are, a SIPOC is the ideal tool for this.

So know I know who my customers are, what next?

It’s time to collect customer feedback

There are three key ways that all feedback is collected, and a Voice of the Customer exercise is no exception; interviews, focus groups and surveys.  Interviews, as the name suggests, are either face to face or telephone discussions which provide in-depth information about the experiences of an individual. They are ideal to get a feel for what the customer experience is like, however they provide qualitative information which is tough to quantify. Focus groups provide similar information but help businesses group customers by segments.

Surveys are useful for providing the quantitative information that businesses need for decision making. They provide reliable and robust information about a range of wants, needs, complaints and concerns – and you’re often able to filter the results to get the same customer segments we see in focus groups. However, in order for them to be truly effective, questions need to be formatted using the Likert Scale (i.e. customers are asked to rate something out of ten or whether they agree or disagree with a statement), rather than free form responses. This way, responses are standardised and can be compared, grouped and filtered easily.

How to sort your feedback

Once you’ve got information from a range of customers, it is essential to sort it in order to find meaningful insights. This is easier with survey feedback, but to get an overarching feel of your customer story it is best to use all of the information you have. Interview and focus group information is usually sorted using an affinity process.

This involves breaking down all of the comments made into single statements. For instance the statement “the stockroom was chaotic because the team had no respect for managers” would be broken down to “the stockroom was chaotic” and a separate statement of “the team had no respect for managers”.

The statements should then be written on Post-It notes and grouped by affinity. So if our example above said “the stockroom was chaotic” it might be grouped with “you can’t find anything in the stockroom”, this is done by placing the Post-Its in vertical lines on the walls, with each column representing an affinity group. There should be as many affinity groups as necessary, even if there are only one or two statements in them, so that no statements are forced into fitting in other groups.

Once all of the statements have been placed in the right groups, either choose one statement that encapsulates each row or create your own heading. Then it is time to prioritise them. It should be fairly obvious that the column with the highest number of statements is a core priority. However, an urgent/important matrix can also help.

Picking your project

This is the stage where you start selecting your Lean Six Sigma projects. There will be a number of issues raised that are ideal projects, while others are not. It’s important to first sort out which issues have a clear cause and solution and fix them immediately – what we often refer to as ‘Just Do It’ problems. If you know what you need to do to fix it, you don’t need a project –  you need to get on with it.

The Lean Six Sigma projects are those which have no clear root cause. The Define, Measure and Analyse phases all help us to identify the root causes of problems, so it’s a waste of time to expend energy doing that if you know exactly what the problem is before you start. Similarly, the problem has to be big enough that it couldn’t be fixed by one person given a couple of hours to investigate – it has to be a complex or systemic problem within the company with no clear cause or solution.

While this whole process is fairly long, it provides you with the best outcomes for your customers as you’re addressing the problems that they raised with you. Customers like to see businesses fix their issues, and often an unhappy customer who has seen the service improve on the back of their feedback will be much more loyal than a customer who was happy all along.

SOURCE: 100pceffectivetraining

The 5 Main Steps Of The Lean Manager

Deliver Business Value With Modern Metrics And Analytics

Modern application delivery leaders realize that their primary goal is to deliver value to the business and its customers faster. Most of the modern successful change frameworks, like Agile (in its various instantiations), Lean, and Lean Startup, which inspire developers and development shops, put metrics and measurement at the center of improvement and feedback loops. The objective of controlling and governing projects to meet vaguely estimated efforts but precisely defined budgets as well as unrealistic deadlines is longer on the agenda of leading BT organizations.

The new objective of BT organizations is to connect more linearly the work that app dev teams do and the results they produce to deliver business outcomes. In this context, application development and delivery (AD&D) leaders need a new set of metrics that help them monitor and improve the value they deliver, based on feedback from business partners and customers.

So what do these new metrics look like and what can you do with them? In the modern application delivery metrics playbook report “Build The Right Things Better And Faster With Modern Application Delivery Metrics,” I describe:

• Preproduction metrics. Leading organizations capture preproduction data on activities and milestones through productivity metrics, but they place a growing emphasis on the predictability of the continuous delivery pipeline, quality, and value.
• Postproduction metrics. High-performing teams track business metrics to understand how the applications they’ve deployed affect business performance. Typical metrics include application health metrics like deployment success rate, performance stability, and ghost users. But AD&D leaders also track customer-experience-related metrics like clicks, usage, happiness, and preferences.
• How metrics are correlated to identify what’s impacting business. AD&D leaders leverage big data and analytics tools that provide reporting, dashboards, and dedicated algorithms to find correlations (and more) in the sea of overwhelming data generated, which neither the business nor developers could otherwise identify or make good business sense out of.

The use of the above metrics with data and predictive analytics and machine learning makes it possible to discover, for example, poor-quality code that’s causing slow performance for users and consequently poor sales or usage of production features, as well as who is developing this poor code — and it then allows you to take corrective action to fix the problem. Likewise, you can also use data to find out where high-performing teams are significantly contributing to business growth.

To find out more details about these new metrics, the products used, and real examples of organizations leveraging them, read the Forrester report“Build The Right Things Better And Faster With Modern Application Delivery Metrics.”

I am looking forward to your ideas, comments, and suggestions on how metrics can make the world of modern application delivery a better one. I will be kicking off a stream of research on how deep machine learning can make this a better world; stay tuned!

SOURCE: Forrester

Learn What 5S is All About And Why It's So Much More Than A Housekeeping Initiative

The Challenge of Developing Lean Management

Want your business process management initiative to succeed? A strong BPM team is one of three key ingredients. What are the other two?

By Cesar Fernandez, PMG

Business management guru Tom Peters once said, "Almost all quality improvement comes via simplification of design, manufacturing, layout, processes and procedures." Although this may be true, so many companies have a tendency to over engineer systems, or worse, implement courses of action without a clear and easy plan to follow. This is where the discipline of business process management (BPM) can come in handy for CIOs.

BPM targets efficiency improvements within an organization by modeling and standardizing core business processes, like hiring and onboarding a new employee, product development or customer acquisition. While not solely concerned with enhancing the way individual tasks are performed, BPM focuses more on managing the entire process, or the chain of events, tasks and decisions that ultimately produce added value for the organization and its stakeholders.

For BPM to work organizations must gather support from business leaders, establish a team that’s focused on the initiative and continuously monitor and measure what’s been put in place. Here are tips on adopting all three best practices:

BPM and Business Leaders

Typically in larger corporations slightly modifying processes -- let alone deploying BPM -- can be a scary concept. This means that whoever introduces the idea of BPM will have to lobby for it and look to executive leaders for support. 

o how do you win a leadership team over with BPM? Tell the truth, or as my boss likes to say, "Throw that dead rat out on the table."

improvement opportunities and show how change is achievable with business process management. Comparisons between existing processes and planned changes, including details on costs and value propositions, can be an incredibly powerful way to warm leaders to the idea that BPM initiatives are necessary.

Build BPM Team

While business leader support is important, an even more critical task is securing a team who can execute BPM objectives. These team members should know the businesses’ processes end to end, while not being critical to day-to-day operations. If BPM is not a team member’s primary initiative, CIOs run the risk of distractions and delays to the project.

Business analysts are also vital. They should be fluent in IT and have the ability to bridge the gap between IT and the business. They should be experienced practitioners in some form of process discipline such as business process reengineering, Six Sigma, Lean or total quality management (TQM).

Rounding out the team should be the hired guns, the consultants. When vetted thoroughly, consultants can be a valuable asset as many have been a part of BPM initiatives for a variety of organizations.

Once a team has been assembled, it can begin identifying opportunities, developing and prototyping using technology like workflow design. This allows for visualization of the process in a different light and provides a mechanism for running simulations for various scenarios, which is crucial to process optimization.

Measure BPM Success

The work is not over once a new process or refinement has been implemented. After its launch, monitoring and measurement come into play. In fact, regularly and proactively reviewing findings become a process all its own. Not only does monitoring and measuring help to identify key issues before they become serious problems, it also helps ensure that the processes put in place are continuously adapting to changing business needs.

While BPM initiatives can be an undertaking, getting a handle on the many processes and tasks within an organization should not be intimidating so long as well-defined principles and methods are observed. With executive buy in, commitment from all business process management team members and continuous monitoring, long-term success is inevitable.

SOURCE: enterpriseAPPStoday

Introduction to Lean Six Sigma and Process Capability

5 Ways to Convince Your Boss to Pay for Green and Black Belt Training

The current business climate requires regular education and training courses as a necessity. You, as an employee, need to develop your skills to ensure you do not fall behind your peers, both inside your current organization and in the wider marketplace. The qualifications will not just help your career, but also your employers as well, as long as the course is relevant to your role.  

After speaking to a good friend he informed me that he wanted to take further training and become Belt qualified, either Green or Black Belt, for the reasons mentioned above and wanted my assistance to convince why his employers should allow him to take and possibly pay for the necessary qualifications.

My advice was as follows:

1: Link up what the course can offer to the current and future projects you will execute. E.g.  What you will learn in the training will immediately assist your current role whilst also provide you with enhanced knowledge going forward. Perhaps the organization is looking to break into a new market or have new initiatives they want to start in the future. Certain projects require specific qualifications before you can participate and your employer should be happy that you have taken the time out to ensure you are correctly trained and therefore able to assist. 

2: Show how you can share the knowledge with your colleagues. This will help persuade your employers as to why you should take the training course. Perhaps you could give a summary for your colleagues and potentially even give presentations or advise on their projects.

3: Highlight the key benefits and how the organization or department would benefit from having this new in-house knowledge and skillsets. For example, how the training can identify and remove waste from a process, which can then be replicated across the organization where applicable. This is different from point two, as you may not be required or responsible for showing colleagues; this could fall into others responsibilities such as departmental managers or divisional directors.  This is also the time to show how the cost of the training can be easily off-set by the savings you can provide by applying your training.

You could even identify a significant issue within the organization or process that needs attention, raised either by customers or fellow employees, that you can address through your training.  You might even be able to go so far as to begin quantifying the value of solving the problem, and then the projected ROI from the training.  This would really show initiative … to make the most of the training and provide direct benefit back to the funder/employer. 

4: Show how you can fit this into your current role and how it will not impact your performance due to time out at critical moments. For example, how far would you have to travel for the course? Technology now allows you to take training online minimizing time out of your busy day whilst allowing you to work in your own time outside of working hours.

5: Write a written letter to your employer highlighting the first four points. With smaller organizations this may not be necessary, however with larger companies this can really help cement your reasons as to why it would benefit you and therefore the organization. Provide full details such as dates, cost and why you think it is the best option. I.e. Show you have done your research! 

Good training providers will help provide you with the required information. For example the PEX Institute provide a sample module recording for potential participants to view and ain a solid overview of what can be expected in the course in addition to a detailed agenda breakdown and benefits of the course.

Video testimonials from previous students will help give you and your employer an understanding of what can be achieved. Videos work better than written testimonials as this will show how the previous students were willing to give their time to recommend the training provider and do truly recommend the course(s).

Now go forth convince and your boss to pay for your required training!

SOURCE: processexcellencenetwork