ERIE COUNTY, NEW YORK

LEAN SIX SIGMA

DISS Help Desk

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Project Information

DISS Help Desk Project

Project Duration – March 2009 to October 2009

Project Lead - Joe Ippolito

Company – County of Erie

Project Sponsors – Greg Turner and Cheryl Mekarski

Location – 95 Franklin St Buffalo NY 14202 15th Floor Room 1505

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Project Team

Team Members

 Brett Jaros– Basis Administrator

 Shawn Lee – Help Desk Supervisor (Yellow Belt)
 Carl Nuermberger – DISS Manager
 Steve Corritore – SAP Security Specialist
 Scott Smith – Helpdesk Support
 Robert Jaworski – Social Service IT Manager
 Tami Burns – Personnel
 Andrea Shear – Black Belt
PROJECT TEAM
John Lupienski – Master Black Belt

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 DEFINE PHASE

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Define Phase

Problem Statement

Since 2004 the amount of calls to the DISS Help Desk has steadily risen
from 15,000 calls in 2004 to a projected total of 30,000 calls in 2009
(100% Increase). The helpdesk staff is also responsible for the support
of over 250 different applications.
These calls are initially handled by the frontend helpdesk staff. This
small group consists of 4 people who are responsible for resolving calls
and routing calls to 2nd level support.

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Define Phase

Goal Statement

Our goal is to continue improving all services that are provided by the
DISS help desk staff without adding any additional staff. This is done by
better staff training and more management involvement.
Additionally, process improvements are required in order to decrease the
length of time it takes to close a call. If we want to maintain the high quality
that has been established, while maintaining a lean staff, then the help desk
must become more efficient and in the end improve the productivity of
customer. This improved efficiency will reduce the length of call time by at
lease 8 percent.

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 PROJECT TEAM

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Define Phase

Help Desk Terminology

Term Description
Call/Category Type How Calls are classified in helpdesk System.

Triage Category Type Initial Holding queue for all helpdesk calls.

Level 1 Support Frontend staff that are answering and routing calls.

Level 2 Support Process Engineers

Level 3 Support DISS SWAT team or Software Companies

Customer Anyone who uses DISS services.

SLA Service Level agreement - Currently this is an internal policy based on

how long each type of call should take by priority level.
Helpdesk Priority Levels Low – Consists of account management calls, software installs,
workstation support, Network patches, printers and other routine
support
Medium - Consists of calls such as workstation out of service,
computer viruses etc…
High – Network Printers, Network Services, Internet, or any other
critical service down.
Urgent – Network Viruses

Pending – Technical staff waiting on a vendor or waiting for info from

the user.

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Define Phase

Work Order by Year

100% Increase
from 2004 to
2008

Define Phase

Goal Statement
As of August
31, 2009

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Define Phase

Fishbone Diagram

Short Term Goals

Staff Training, Customer
Service, and Workflow
Improvements

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Define Phase

SIPOC

Suppliers: County Employees, Legislature, Vendors, Public, Municipalities

Inputs: Phone Calls, Emails, Managers, Online Forms, and SharePoint

Process: Enter Ticket Resolve Ticket or Escalate Call Close Ticket

Output: Ticket Resolution, Communication back to Customer, and Email

Customers: County Workers, Legislature, Vendors, and Public

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 MEASURE PHASE

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Measure Phase

Data Collection

DISS Survey Results by Percentage

(348 Responses out of a possible 3000)

Proportion Test for Agree and Strongly Agree Choices (6,7)

Testing proportion = 0.84 (versus not =

0.84) Alpha = 0.05
Sample Alternative Alternative
Size Proportion Proportion
348 0.899200 0.772692
Testing proportion = 0.77 (versus not =
0.77) Alpha = 0.05
Sample Alternative Alternative
Size Proportion Proportion
348 0.839436 0.694131

Testing proportion = 0.20 (versus not =

0.20) Alpha = 0.05
Sample Alternative Alternative
Size Proportion Proportion
348 0.272618 0.134532

Testing proportion = 0.61 (versus not =

0.61) Alpha = 0.05
Sample Alternative Alternative
Size Proportion Proportion
348 0.692934 0.52446
Testing proportion = 0.79 (versus not
= 0.79) Alpha = 0.05
Sample Alternative Alternative
Size Proportion Proportion
348 0.856854 0.716235

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Measure Phase

Data Collection

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Measure Phase

Data Collection

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Measure Phase

Data Collection

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Measure Phase

Financial Analysis

Define Phase

Goal Statement

Weekends are excluded when calculating wait times and a six hour work day was
used when estimating time.

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 ANALYZE PHASE

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Analyze Phase

Initial Improvements

Improvements based on initial assessments (Quick Hits)

• Staff Training
• Reorganization of Call Types

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Analyze Phase

What were the Results

Results after
reorganization of
Call Types

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Analyze Phase

Data Collection

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Analyze Phase

Measurements Continued

• Sub-Type Field Measurements based on Defects

• Measuring Priority Levels
• Duration of Calls based on Day of Week

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Analyze Phase

Data Collection

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Analyze Phase

Data Collection

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Analyze Phase

Data Collection

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Analyze Phase

Data Collection

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Analyze Phase

Data Collection

Interval Chart by Hours for calls opened on a specific day of week (January – March)

Performed a One Way

ANOVA and TUKEY
Test to determine
if there was a
significant
difference in data
based on DOW. Since
P-Value is over .05
(0.145) the data
is statically the
same.

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 IMPROVE PHASE

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Improve Phase

Additional Improvements

• Add new Triage Call Type

• Change to the Initial Default Entry Field
• Password Rule Changes
• Created Helpdesk Management Report
• Meeting Low Priority SLA’s at a higher rate
• Call Duration Reduced

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Improve Phase

What Solutions Were Selected?

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Improve Phase

What were the results?

New types and sub-types allow for better distribution of calls. This in turn
permits certain calls to be earmarked to specific technician.

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Improve Phase

What were the results?

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Improve Phase

What were the results?

70% improvement
after making
password rule
change from 6 to 12
failure attempts

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Improve Phase

What were the results?

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Improve Phase

What were the results?

Original Baseline Data

SLA was 82.5 versus
88.5 percent after
changes.

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 Improve Phase

What were the results?

The Original
Percent of
calls that were
completed in
Under 1 Hour
and One Day
were 32.2 and
28.8 percent

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Improve Phase

Financial Savings

Define Phase
BNN
Goal Statement

Based on a 2 Proportion Test

there is a significant difference
between baseline number of
10.6 and number of 9.07 after
changes.

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 CONTROL PHASE

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Control Phase

Next Steps

• Send Follow Up Survey - New Survey sent beginning of November

• Continue Staff Training on additional applications
• Continue Monitoring Results - One Proportion Test (Comparing Data by Month)
• Implement New Helpdesk System in SAP

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 Control Phase

Six Sigma Tools Used

Define
Define Measure
Measure Analyze
Analyze Improve
Improve Control
Control
Problem Statement  SIPOC Diagram  Potential X’s  Regression Analysis  Control Methods
 Macro Map  Process Flow Diagram  Graphical Analysis  DOE Planning Control Plans
Identify Customers  Value Analysis/ Muda  Hypothesis Testing  Screening DOEs  Poka-Yoke
 Project Scope  Detailed Flow (I/O)  Means  Quantifying DOEs  SPM – Monitor Y
 Primary Metric  Measurement System  Variance  Optimizing DOEs  SPC – Control X’s
Analysis
 Secondary Metric  Proportions  Verify Critical X’s  OCAP
 Capability Analysis
 Consequential Metric  ANOVA  Y = F(x)  Update FMEA
 Short Term Capability
 Baseline Data  Regression Analysis  Optimization  Project Transition
 Long Term Capability Action Plans
 Entitlement  FMEA  Generate Solutions
Data Collection  Update Financial
 Objective Statement  ID Critical X’s  Select Solutions
Benefits
Process Monitoring
Financial Estimates  Quick Improvements  Pilot Trials
 Final report
 Lean Opportunities
Non-financial Benefits  Lean Improvements  Capability Analysis
 Close Project
C & E Fishbone
Team Members  Process Tracking
 C & E Matrix
 Define Review  Measure Review  Analyze Review  Improve Review  Control Review

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