Why chart the flow of customers, information and/or products through the stages of the conversion process? (2)
- Easier to understand (communication & training)
- Helps identify improvement opportunities
What is an example of process analysis?
Toyota went and helped Canadian Blood Services. Toyota rearranged the workplace so each blood pack moved in a circle from beginning to end cutting the number of steps by 30% and saving 40% in packing time.
*Slides 6-10
Canadian Blood Service Study
(Could be a short answer)
What were the solutions to solve the problem of people waiting and not being told they weren’t eligible to donate? (2)
- Interactive questionnaire on website
- Signage of possible reasons for ineligibility
*Slides 11-13
Bakery process analysis
(Could be a short answer)
What are the three stages of process improvement?
- Recognize the need for change
- Research “best practices” (benchmarking)
- Determine how to change (tinker or tear-down)
How does an organization realize there is a need for change?
There are many “warning signs” that the business processes at your organization may need improvement
Define benchmarking.
the formal process of comparing an organization’s processes and performance measures against top performers.
What are the kinds of “warning signs” (2) and give one example of each.
- Internal or External
- Leading (immediate feedback) or Lagging (delayed feedback)
Internal & immediate: Idle staff and excessive delays
Internal & delayed: Excessive overtime and turnover
External & delayed: Loss of market share
External & immediate: Customer complaints
What can the results of benchmarking be used for?
The results can be used as targets for process improvement
What are the categories of benchmarking? (3)
- Internal
- Appropriate for organizations with multiple locations - Competitive
- Functional
What are the approaches to process improvement and explain each? (2)
- Continuous process improvement (CPI) “tinker”
- Never-ending process of achieving incremental improvements - Business Process Reengineering (BPR) “tear-down”
- short-term radical process improvement
What causes the need for BPR? (3)
Typically a combination of:
- Technological advancements (Disruptive Technologies)
- Drastic improvement at a competitor
- Changing customer desires
What is reengineering?
Reengineering is the process of rethinking and restructuring. It requires discontinuous thinking.
What are Disruptive technologies? (3)
- new technological innovation, product, or service that eventually overturns the existing dominant technology in the market
- disruptive technology is both radically different than the leading technology
- often initially performs worse than the leading technology according to existing measures of performance
What does the organization need to implement CPI? (3)
- Collaborative, cross-functional teams
- Need for training in problem/opportunity identification and resolution
- Adequate time to be creative
What are some examples of disruptive technologies?
Cell phone
Digital Music
Electric cars
Streaming services
What is the company culture to implement CPI? (3)
- Willingness to invest in employees
- Willingness to delegate decision-making
- Disciplined approach to managing change
Define Just In Time / Lean production, what is it, and what does it assume?
A coordinated approach that continuously reduces waste while also improving quality.
Management Philosophy and a “pull” system through the plant
Stable environment (production linearity)
AKA High volume
What does Just In Time / Lean production try to minimize?
unnecessary transportation, duplication, defective service or goods, inspections, waiting, bureaucracy, “overcontrol”, idle workers, etc.
Explain the Just In Time “Pull” (Kanban) System
A manual, self-regulating system for controlling the flow of material. Workers produce only when the Kanban ahead of them is empty, thereby creating a “pull” system through the factory
What does the Just In Time “Pull” (Kanban) System minimize?
“Pull” system minimizes unnecessary inventory that would accumulate in a “push” system
Slide 23
“Expose the rock” philosophy
What kind of markets do BPR and CPI work best in?
BPR: “Dynamic” Markets
CPI: “Stable” Markets
