Operations and supply chain management summary, quarter 4
Week 1
The framework for this quarter is the DMAIC problem solving approach it is simple and logic for
improving processes and quality.
Before you start with the DMAIC you need to know what to focus on. A project priority diagram
helps to prioritize this. There are two dimensions in this diagram:
1. Impact for the organization (benefit)
2. Effort to achieve results (time, money)
In the figure there is a grade and plot improvement opportunities on a scale of 1-5:
1. Quick wins: high impact, low effort (first to pick)
2. Major projects: high impact, high effort (long time to complete, complex to execute)
3. Fill ins (not now): low impact, low effort (ignore until resources become available)
4. Hard slogs (don’t do): low impact, high effort (avoid waste of time)
Define phase
The define phase is the first phase of the DMAIC problem solving approach. In this phase you
focus on:
Voice of the Business or Process (VOP)
, Voice of the Customer (VOC)
Voice of the Stakeholder (VOS)
This results in a project charter. The process of the define phase is given below.
1. Voice of the Business or Process (VOP): this visualizes the steps of a process. This can be
done in several ways. One high-level mapping method is called a SIPOC. A high-level
visualization of a process can be done using a Process Map. A way to understand the
process in more detail is to conduct a Process Walk or a Process Decomposition. This is
visualized in a Flow Chart using swimming lanes.
2. Voice of the Customer (VOC): is defines as the individuals or groups who receive the
goods or services of the process. Customer can be external to the organization or an
internal component of the organization. During the define phase, you need to better
understand customers and their requirements.
To understand customer requirements, you have to become a customer (buy your own
product, call the call centre etc.), meet the customer or perform a survey. Ask the
following questions:
Who is the customer?
What do we provide to the customer?
What is important to our customer’s needs, wishes and demands?
Is the process focused on the needs of the customer?
, The KANO-model which is a framework for categorizing and prioritizing the different
performance features of a product or service (VOC).
Degree of customer satisfaction
high
Delighters
More is better
Degree of
low high Requirement
Achievement
Must be
Must-be or dissatisfier: not meeting basic needs will result in dissatisfaction.
More-is-better or satisfier: the more is provided of this feature (at a certain price), the
more the customer is satisfied.
Delighters: these attributes provide satisfaction when offered, but no dissatisfaction
when not offered.
