Chapter 4 QUality Control

Chapter 4
Defining and
Documenting a
Process
Chapter 4
Defining and Documenting a Process
You will understand how to:

 Define and document a process in an analytic study
 Discuss the concept of feedback in a process
 Discuss the construction and use of a flowchart for
communication and process improvement
 Discuss the importance of operational definitions in
defining and documenting a process
Empowerment Revisited
Empowerment provides an employee with:
 The opportunity to define and document processes,
 The opportunity to learn about processes through training and
development,
 The opportunity to improve and innovate best practice methods
that make up processes
 The latitude to use her own judgment to make decisions within
the context of best practice methods
 An environment of trust in which superiors will not react
negatively to the latitude taken by people making decisions
within the context of best practice methods.
The operational definition of empowerment
has two parts:
In the first part, employees are empowered
to develop and document best practice
methods using the SDSA Cycle.
In the second part, employees are
empowered to improve or innovate best
practice methods using the PDSA cycle.
Analytic Studies Revisited
Analytic studies are statistical investigations that
lead to action on a dynamic process.
They are the vehicle for using the SDSA cycle in
the context of the first level of empowerment to
define and document a process.
 Process Basics
 A process is the transformation of inputs into
outputs.
Inputs Process Outputs

Personnel/Services Transformation of Personnel/Services
Equipment inputs, value Equipment
(time, place form) Materials/Goods
Materials/Goods is added or Methods
Environment created Environment
Process Basics
Processes exist in all aspects of organizations, and
our understanding of them is crucial.
Administration, sales, service, human resources,
training, maintenance, paper flows,
interdepartmental communication, and vendor
relations are all processes.
These processes can all be studied, documented,
defined, improved, and innovated.
The Feedback Loop
A feedback loop relates information about outputs
back to the input stage and/or process stage.
This information can be studied to help identify
potential improvements and innovations to a
process.
A major purpose of analytic studies is to provide the
information (flowing through feedback loops)
needed to take action with respect to a process.
Introduction
Considering the following questions will help you
define and document a process:
 Who owns the process? Who's responsible for the
process's improvement?
 What are the boundaries of the process?
 What is the flow of the process?
 What are the process's objectives? What measurements
are being taken on the process with respect to its
objectives?
 Are process data valid?
Who Owns the Process?
• Every process must have an owner (an individual or
team) who is responsible for the process.
• Process owners may have responsibilities
extending beyond their departments, called cross-
functional responsibilities; they must be high
enough in the organization to influence the
resources necessary to take action on a cross-
functional process.
• A process owner is the coach and counsel of her
process in an organization.
What Are the Boundaries of the Process?
Boundaries must be established for processes.
These boundaries make it easier to establish
process ownership and highlight the process's key
interfaces with other (customer/vendor) processes.
Process interfaces frequently are the source of
process problems, which result from a failure to
understand downstream requirements.
 What Is the Flow of the Process?
 A flowchart is a pictorial summary of the flows and
decisions that comprise a process.
 It is used for defining and documenting the process.
 A flowchart can help a manager, designer, analyst, or
anyone else understand, define, document, study,
improve, or innovate a process.
Bad
Start Design of trial prototype Evaluation

specifications of
prototype
Good
Trial of Bad
production units Overall Production
Good
evaluation or design Stop
trial production accepted
units
What Is the Flow of the Process?
Constructive Opportunities to Change a Process.
When using a flowchart, changing a process is
facilitated by:
 Finding the sections of the process that are weak (for
example, parts of the process that generate a high defect
rate),
 Determining the parts of the process that are within the
process owner's control, and
 Isolating the elements in the process that affect
customers.
What Is the Flow of the Process?
If these three conditions exist simultaneously, an
excellent opportunity to constructively modify a
process has been found. Further, process
improvements have a greater chance of success if
they are non-political (or have the appropriate
political support) and do not require capital
investment (or have the necessary financial
resources).
What Are the Process's Objectives?
A key responsibility of a process owner is to clearly
state process objectives that are consistent with
organizational objectives.
An example of an organizational objective is "Strive
to continually provide our customers with higher-
quality products/services at an attractive price that
will meet their needs.“
What Are the Process's Objectives?
A process owner in the Purchasing Department
could translate the preceding organizational
objective into the following subset of objectives:
 Continuously monitor the Purchasing Department's
customers (e.g., Maintenance Department, Administration
Department) to determine their needs with respect to:
 Number of days from purchase request to item/service
delivery.
 Ease of filling out purchasing forms.
 Satisfaction with purchased material.
 Continuously train and develop Purchasing personnel with
respect to job requirements. For example, take
measurements on the following as a basis for process
improvement:
 Number of errors per purchase order.
 Number of minutes to complete a purchase order.
Whatever the objectives of a process are, all
persons involved with that process must understand
its objectives and devote their efforts toward those
objectives, rather than toward some other
objectives.
Are Process Data Valid?
Management's (process owners') attempts to
define and document a process must include
precise definitions of process objectives and sub-
objectives, and specifications of products and
services, and processes.
Operational definitions used to collect data must
have the same meaning to everyone so that the
data can be used as a basis for action.
 It is useful to illustrate the confusion which can be
caused by the absence of operational definitions.
 The label on a shirt reads "75% cotton." What does this
mean? Three quarters cotton, on the average, over this
shirt, or three quarter cotton over a month's production?
 What is three quarters cotton?
 Three quarters by weight? If so, at what humidity? By what
method of chemical analysis? How many analyses?
 Does 75 percent cotton mean that there must be some
cotton in any random cross-section the size of a silver
dollar?
 If so, how many cuts should be tested?
 How do you select them?
 What criterion must the average satisfy?
 And how much variation between cuts is permissible?
 Obviously, the meaning of 75% cotton must be stated in
operational terms, otherwise confusion results.
As another example, one operation in a production
process is a deburring operation. Clearly, it is
reasonable to ask for the definition of a burr.
 Although inspectors B and C always agree, they always
disagree with inspector E.
 Inspector A agrees with inspectors B and C 40 percent of
the time, with inspector E 60 percent of the time, and with
inspector D 50 percent of the time.
 Inspector D also agrees with inspectors B, C, and E 50
percent of the time.
 This information does not paint a pretty picture.
 Absence of an operational definition of a burr creates
mayhem. The Deburring Department manager (the
process owner) and inspectors have no consistent concept
of their jobs. This creates fear (Deming's Point 8) and
steals their pride of workmanship (Deming's Point 12).
More on Operational Definitions
An operational definition consists of:
 A criterion to be applied to an object or to a group
 A test of the object or group
 A decision as to whether the object or group did or did not
meet the criterion
A firm produces washers. One of the critical quality
characteristics is roundness. The following
procedure is one way to arrive at an operational
definition of roundness, as long as a buyer and
seller agree on it.
Step 1: Criterion for roundness.
 Buyer: "Use calipers that are in reasonably good order." (You
perceive at once the need to question every word.)
 Seller: "What is `reasonably good order'?" (We settle the question
by letting you use your calipers.)
 Seller: "But how should I use them?"
 Buyer: "We'll be satisfied if you just use them in the usual way."
 Seller: "At what temperature?"
 Buyer: "The temperature of this room."
 Buyer: "Take six measures of the diameter about 30 degrees
apart. Record the results."
 Seller: "But what is `about 30 degrees apart'? Don't you mean
exactly 30 degrees?"
 Buyer: "No, there's no such thing as exactly 30 degrees in the
physical world. So try for 30 degrees. We'll be satisfied."
 Buyer: "If the range between the six diameters doesn't exceed .
007 centimeters, we'll declare the washer to be round." (They have
determined the criterion for roundness.)
Step 2: Test of roundness.
 Select a particular washer.
 Take the six measurements and record the results in
centimeters: 3.365, 3.363, 3.368, 3.366, 3.366, and 3.369.
 The range is 3.369 to 3.363, or a 0.006 difference. They
test for conformance by comparing the range of 0.006 with
the criterion range of 0.007 (Step 1).
Step 3: Decision on roundness.
 Because the washer passed the prescribed test for
roundness, they declare it to be round.
If a seller has employees who understand what
round means and a buyer who agrees, many of
the problems the company may have had
satisfying the customer will disappear.

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Chapter 4

You will understand how to:

Inputs Process Outputs

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