miercuri, 1 februarie 2012

6. Strategic Planning

Quality is strategic. Strategic planning has two important dimensions: content and process. Strategic content answers the question of what is to be contained in the strategic plan. Strategy process consists of the steps used to develop the strategy. Strategic Content: Strategy is the set of high-level plan of action that will be used to accomplish a specified goal. Strategy content is the set of actions at which a long-range plan is aimed. Strategic content refers to what is included in a strategic plan: time, leadership, quality costs, objectives, quality as a core competency. Strategic Process: consists of the steps used to formulate annual strategic plans. Ex: forced-choice models


Strategic process: Identifying the Organizational Quality Initiatives, Understanding the Voice of the Customer, Identifying Employee Involvement, Conducting Benchmarking, Developing the Vision and Strategic Direction, Developing a Statement of Quality and Quality Standards, Identifying the Quality Strategies, Developing Operational Effectiveness, Developing Strategy Measurements.

To refer to the quality planning, Japanese firms introduced the term “hoshin kanri”, or “hoshin planning”.

In the U.S. the process is referred to as policy deployment or management by planning. Hoshin planning means that all employees understand the common business direction and are working according to a plan to make the vision a reality. Continuous improvement is the process of increasing the quality of processes, goods and services through incremental gains accompanied by occasional innovation. It implies making quality an integral part of the entire process. Quality improvement involves identifying potential areas for improvement and planning the implementation of projects and improvements. Continuous improvement refers to both: incremental changes --Kaizen--, which are small and gradual, and breakthrough --innovation--, or large and rapid improvements. Kaizen focuses on small, gradual, and frequent improvements over the long term with minimum financial investment, and participation by everyone in the organization. Breakthrough improvement refers to discontinuous charge, as opposed to the gradual, continuous improvement philosophy of kaizen. Breakthrough improvements result from innovative and creative thinking; often these are motivated through stretch goals, or breakthrough objectives.

--->Tools for Continuous Improvement: 5S is a methodology for organizing, cleaning, developing, and sustaining a productive work environment. Sort – (Seiri): eliminating unnecessary items from the workplace Set in Order (Seiton): efficient and effective storage methods Shine: (Seiso): daily follow-up cleaning Standardize: (Seiketsu): standardizing best practice in the work area Sustain: (Shitsuke): defining a new status quo and standard of work place organization

Tools for Continuous Improvement:Quality circles refer to self-improvement study groups composed of a small number of employees (10 or fewer) and their supervisor that voluntarily performs quality-control activities in the workplace: Pinpointing, analyzing and solving problems in areas including knowledge management, innovation, work relations, quality, productivity, safety, cost, etc. Enhancing communication between employees and management on the above area

Deming Cycle:

Act - Plan - Do - Check

Opportunities for Improvement:

Reduction, Improvement, Elimination

Problem Solving: Expand – focus approach

Identify problems - Problems well identified - Analyze causes - Root causes identified - Generate Solutions - Solution chosen

Human causes of conformance problems: Traits: vision, height / Abilities: literacy, numeracy / Habits: qualitative feel, no self-checking / Knowledge: inexperienced, untrained, inadequate training / Lack of understanding / Attitudes: lack of attention, lack of effort, unmotivated, mismotivated.

Problem solving functions: Problem identification, Problem definition, Research, Diagnosis, Alternative generation, Design and planning, Implementation, Evaluation and review, Prediction, Follow-up

Problem identification: The process by which one comes to believe that a problem exists / Identification and selection of the process to be improved. Problem definition: Representing a problem mentally, verbally or graphically/Determining what the problem is/Resourcing project/Setting objectives/Planning future stages. Research: Determining certain knowable facts about the situation /Detailed understanding of process/Identify specific problems to be address. Diagnosis: Determining the causes of a problematic situation /Identification and verification of key causes of specific problems. Alternative / solution generation: Generating possibilities, options, or good ideas /Identification and verification of alternative solutions to key causes. Design and planning: Developing a complex artifact that satisfies certain criteria and constraints/Developing a complex course of action intended to achieve certain objectives. Planning and implementation: Implementation of identified solution. Evaluation and review: Assessing the goodness of entities or alternatives according to certain criteria/Checking on success of project. Prediction: Forecasting the likely future under specified conditions. Follow-up: Actions on findings of review: standardization of success; following up on failures; identifying future improvements.

Taxonomy of causes of quality problems: Inputs, Processes, Products (system outputs), By-products.

Inputs: People-primarily process operators: Lack of knowledge: untrained, inexperienced / Lack of basic skills: mental – reading, math; physical – manual dexterity, visual acuity / Unmotivated: inadequate incentives, conflicting motives / Carelessness / Boredom / Fatigue / Stress // Materials: Improperly specified / Don’t meet specifications / Impurities / Inadequately blended / Overstressed / Too fragile. Equipment: Not available / Inappropriate / Miscalibrated / Damaged or worn / Unclean, not maintained / Too complicated / Overheating. Requirements – demands set by product users and other agents: Unclear / Inappropriate / Late and frequent changes / Uneven workload

Processes: Production process – core activities that transform inputs into outputs: Work methods: do not exits, unclear, unknown, not standardized, inappropriate/ Work flow: scheduling, process stops & starts, abrupt movements / Demanding tasks / Measurement methods / Excessive work volume / Lack of task information. Support process – activities that support production: Procurement inadequacies / Poor material handling / Inadequate maintenance / Product testing/ inspection: sampling methods, measurement methods, inadequate equipment. Management process – management activities that can affect quality: Resource misallocation / Poor planning / Inadequate control system / Weak communication. Environment – factors outside the system that affect quality: Work environment: inadequate lighting, heating, ventilation, excessive noise, messy work area / Contaminants: air-born particles, electromagnetic.

Products (outputs): Parts – product components / Functions – what the product and its parts do

By-products: Scrap / Waste / Pollutants

Improving problem identification: Actively look for problems / Go to Gemba (Japanese word for “where the actions take place”) / Note and explain surprising observations / Exploit precursors and natural symptoms / Anticipate and prevent problems / Pay extra attention to likely trouble spots / Develop lines of communication with informants / Get close to customers / Identify potential problems through planning / How did we get into this mess?/ Make comparisons / Eliminate slack / Learn from experience/ Use attention and memory aids

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