According to quality guru Dr. H James Harrington Six Sigma can reduce process variation, but it doesn’t account for process improvements. Lean is effective, but it fails to address the need for major improvements in key processes. Both of these fail to use modern IT as part of their improvement methodologies. Now, H. James Harrington provides the solution via a revolutionary step-by-step method for streamlining and improving business processes that can:

• Cut cost and cycle time by 60 percent
• Improve customer and employee satisfaction
• Boost quality by 100 percent
• Analyze, streamline, and refine key processes more quickly and efficiently than ever before

The improvement approach used by streamlined process improvement (SPI) methodology is a five-phase process improvement approach called “PASIC.”

• Phase 1: P - Planning for improvement
• Phase 2: A - Analyzing the process
• Phase 3: S - Streamlining the process
• Phase 4: I - Implementing the new process
• Phase 5: C - Continuous Improvement

A special webinar was recently given by Dr H James Harrington on streamlining process improvement to mark the release of his new book Streamlined Process Improvement: The Breakthrough Strategy to Reduce Costs, Improve Quality, Increase Customer Satisfaction, and Boost Profits. During the webinar Dr. Harrington explained the five phases of PASIC with particular emphasis on the streamlining activity that is made up of 12 tasks.

 

 

One of the repeated questions in quality management is, what is the cost of quality? is quality free?
Well, my personal opinion is, it is and it is not. According to quality guru Philip Crosby “Quality is free. But it is not a gift”

In other words, the organisation needs to “pay” for establishing a quality system in order to get the rewards, it’s like paying for someone to fix the leaks in a system.

Therefore, with any  improvement initiative there will be some cost associated with the programme but at the end the organisation should gain much more than what they have paid.

In Dec 2011, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published the results of a research study aimed to evaluate the net social benefits of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Programme.

The researchers compared the benefits received by the 273 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award applicants from 2007 to 2010 with the cost of operating the Baldrige Program.

According to the research, the benefit-to-cost ratio of Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is 820-to-1, which means for every $1 spent to implement the programme the economy will get $820 in form of social value, which is categorized into 3 categories:

The researchers noted  that the benefit-to-cost ratio would be much higher  for the US economy but the research only focussed on the benefits stemming from the award applicants (in respect to the social costs of running the whole Baldrige programme). In reality, 1000’s more organisations will have benefited from the programme.

You can read the full research from here.

Ahmed
BPIR.com

The NZGBC 5 Green Star Rating

 

Right specifications, right time, right price and customer satisfaction. We hear these phrases everywhere and any in industry because as it is important that an organisation’s financial policies and marketing strategies are well designed and established, it is also essential for  organisations to have  an clearly defined quality system and follow it but is that enough?

Years ago the demand of customers was for quality products and services but now in the present information age, customers are more aware of quality  and can often find a choice of “quality” suppliers. Therefore organisations need to provide something additional in order to delight the customer. That’s why delivering a service that is unique to each customer is becoming more important than delivering a standard solution.  In other words, organisations need to offer innovative solutions instead of trying to cut the cost of goods or services if they want to stay in business.

One of these organisations is eCubed Building Workshop Ltd a leading sustainable building services consultancy with offices in Auckland and Wellington. eCubed specialises in green buildings design and have a strong commitment towards customer service. In 2010 one of their buildings was certified by the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC) as New Zealand’s second six-star building, with a rating of 83 points. It is currently New Zealand's highest rated Green Star building and  received a record four out of a possible five points for innovation. Due to eCubed’s focus on innovation and customer service they have won 9 awards since 1999.

Below is an interview with eCubed’s Director Patrick Arnold talking about his journey with eCubed Building Workshop Ltd.

When eCubed Building Workshop director Patrick Arnold was young, he was angry at how New Zealand houses were damp, inefficient and cold. So, he developed a service to change that, even if it was only one house at a time.

The entrepreneurial building science graduate teamed up with fellow building science guns Quentin Jackson and Barbara Joubert to form the Wellington company Building Workshop. The company offered technical services such as thermal, daylight and energy modelling.

As the green building sector grew, the team realised they needed an engineering component to offer a whole solution to customers so in 2005 it merged with Auckland engineering consultancy eCubed.

A typical project? "We get asked in by an architect who will have a concept sketch of a building which could be anything from a couple of lines on the back of a napkin to a full computer drawing. They'll say – this is what I want to do. What do you reckon?"

Sustainable design was optimising the building and making sure it would work, Arnold said. The building science aspect meshes with the engineering side to assess the design, using computer simulation before building begins to make sure the design team is on the right track.

"Once the building is complete and operational, we can go in again and do things like energy audits and post-occupancy evaluation to provide more feedback on how things actually worked."

eCubed Building Workshop is trying first and foremost to be the best at what it can do. "If we end up taking over the world that's great – as long as there's no drop in the quality of our work."

Why did you become an entrepreneur?

"A couple of reasons. Firstly, my previous work experience had been in London on OE in a nine-to-five office job and I was determined not to work for `the man'. More seriously, the larger, more traditional companies didn't really offer the opportunity to do building science as a career per se."

What have been the biggest obstacles in running your company?

"A lot of the construction industry in New Zealand has a very short-term focus, particularly on upfront capital costs. So to start off, we had to really educate the market, and industry in general, as to what we did and why it was worth it.

"We were lucky in that we were doing this at the same time as the natural tipping point occurred and a lot of what we were talking about became mainstream.
"Recently we've also had a combination of the [global financial crisis] which has tightened everybody's purse strings – unfortunately sustainability in construction is still often seen as a nice-to-have, which makes it one of the first things to go when money gets tight … coupled with certain political frustrations."

Name one thing you've learnt while in business and from whom?

"This is going to sound like a cop-out but we all learn things every day from the other directors, the staff, clients and even the hard way – from our competitors.

"Learning (or at a corporate level, research) is fundamental. As soon as you stop learning or doing research or creating innovative solutions on projects, it's probably time to stop and have a think about what else you could be doing."

What are your business and personal goals?

"When I was younger (and probably more naive), I was really quite angry at how New Zealanders' houses were cold, damp and inefficient. I wanted to provide a service to change that – even if only one house at a time. Nowadays I'm less angry but I've extended my focus to all buildings and making sure they work.. .

"As a company we're focused on trying to be the best rather than the biggest, so we're very focused on the quality of our work. This means we don't like to walk away as soon as the mayor has cut the ribbon, but prefer to stay involved, monitoring the building to make sure it's behaving and learn from it."

Following on from  the last post by Adam’s Stoehr (Excellence Canada Vice President) where he explained how to use the Run chart  by tracking his weight loss, this time Adam writes about scatter diagrams and how to use them including some tips and rules.

A Scatter-brain usually refers to a person who makes no sense, who doesn’t employ logic, and who takes irrational approaches toward problem solving. A Scatter-diagram has a similar name but it’s used to do pretty much the exact opposite in understanding relationships between numbers. It’s used to make lots of sense of data, it’s used to employ logic, and it’s used to make rational approaches toward problem solving.

One strategy I’ve been using lately to be less of a scatter-brain is to go for as many runs as possible.  I just ran in my second half-marathon this past weekend and it was an amazing time to think and focus. Sometimes I come up with my most important ideas while I’m running around my neighborhood with my music blaring. In this article I’ll use some of my marathon training data to explain a very useful chart called a scatter diagram.

Half Marathon Finish

A Scatter Diagram is used to show whether or not a relationship exists between two variables. Scatter diagrams display what happens to one variable when another one changes. The pattern of plots (sometimes scattered) on the diagram suggests the possible relationship.

 

Figure 1: 100% relationship

 

In Figure 1 we see a very strong relationship between my Body Mass Index (BMI) and my Weight in pounds. I can say that because the points are not scattered at all. They are tight and linear from the bottom left to the top right. I chose this example because I wanted to show what a perfect relationship between data should look like. As my weight goes up my BMI also goes up. This is however not a ground breaking revelation. Those of you who know how BMI is calculated understand that BMI is a function of weight and height. Since my height is fixed my weight is the only variable that affects my BMI.  Hence the perfect relationship.

 

Figure 2: More common scatter

 

In figure 2 I’m analyzing the relationship between my weight in pounds and my body fat %. This relationship is positively correlated (because generally as one goes up so does the other) but still scattered (because the point don’t climb in a perfect line).  This would be a more common outcome for a scatter diagram in the workplace. Based on an output like this you could conclude that a relationship seems to exist.

To draw a scatter diagram you need at least 20 “paired variables” which basically means you need 3 pieces of information about the 20 dots on the chart.  You need the first variable like weight in figure 2, a second variable like body fat in figure 2, and something that pairs the two variables together like the date in figure 2.  Each single dot on the chart represents a point in time for both weight and body fat.  If I was hand drawing this chart I ask myself what was my weight on September 30, and what was my body fat on September 30.  My weight on that day was 210 pounds and my body fat was 24%, I look at the Y axis (the one on the left) and find 210 pounds then I look at the X axis and find 24% and draw a dot in the spot that lines up with those 2 measures. I use this exact method at least 20 times for all the data and I end up with my scatter diagram.

You use a scatter diagram whenever you need to study and identify the possible relationship between two different sets of variables. In figure 3 we are looking at the relationship between weight loss and number of km’s run in the previous month.

This is referred to as an inverse relationship because as the monthly KM’s goes up the monthly weight goes down.  The relationship is not as “tight” as figures 1 and 2 but there still seems to be something tying these two things together.  

It’s important that I point out that I’m not saying that any of these relationships are “cause and effect” relationships. Looking at scatter diagrams alone we can never make this claim. To understand cause and effect relationships more work and tools are required. Scatter diagrams show relationship, not cause.

At the end of the day you want the charts to tell stories. For example looking at the three charts we can make the following fact based statements.

Figure 1: There is a very strong positive relationship between my BMI and my weight.  As my weight goes up, so does my BMI.
Figure 2: There is a relationship between my weight and my body fat. Generally as my weight goes up my body fat also goes up.
Figure 3: There seems to be an inverse relationship between the number of KM’s I run and the number of pounds I lose. If I run more km’s I seem to lose more weight in the next month.

World Quality Day was celebrated throughout the world in November 2011. This day has become a symbol for the nations across the world to focus and promote Quality Improvements in all sectors of society. The key international promoters of the day include American Society for Quality, Chartered Quality Institute UK, European Foundation for Quality Management, Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers, Asian Network for Quality and Middle East Quality Association. Quality and Productivity Society of Pakistan, an effective association of Managers and Professionals of Pakistan, has also commemorated the Quality Month with its 2nd Quality Award ceremonies at Lahore and Karachi cities of Pakistan. QPSP is an affiliate of Asian Network for Quality (ANQ), Asia Pacific Quality Organization and Middle East Quality Association (MEQA).

Quality & Productivity Society of Pakistan arranged Public Awareness Seminars, Forums and Discussion sessions during the month. Quality Symposiums for Professionals followed by Quality Awards distribution held on 26t h & 29th November 2011 at King Edward Medical University , Lahore and Usman Institute of Technology, Karachi respectively.

2011 Quality Awards distribution to distinguished Quality Professionals was core category of the event. Award Recipients were selected after a rigorous evaluation process conducted by Award committee comprising on QPSP experts and headed by QPSP Chairman.

 Professor Yuanzhang Liu, Research Professor of the Academy of Math and System Sciences, Shanghai, China, is on the left, Dr. Charles Aubrey, VP, Anderson Pharmaceutical Packaging, is in the middle and Dr. H. James Harrington, CEO, Harrington Institute, is on the right.

On November 1, 2011 the first Armand V. Feigenbaum Lifetime Achievement Medal was presented to Professor Yuanzhang Liu, research professor of the Academy of Math and System Sciences, Shanghai, China.  He received this medal in recognition of his promotion of Total Quality Management in China for more than 50 years during which time he accomplished many firsts.  Some of them are:

 
Professor Liu has served as an advisor to many Chinese enterprises and he has solved many quality problems. He has written about 20 books and more than 300 articles on quality.  In recognition of all his successful achievements he has been recognized as the “Father of Quality in China.”   He was presented the medal at the 8th China Shanghai International Symposium.
 
The Armand V. Feigenbaum Lifetime Achievement Medal was named after Dr. Armand V. Feigenbaum, a past president and Chairman of the Board of the American Society for Quality.  He is presently the foremost living authority on quality principles in the world.  Dr. Feigenbaum created the concept of Total Quality Control and Quality Costs along with many other quality approaches used today.  Dr.  Feigenbaum’s books, articles, and speeches have played a key role in the development and application of quality principles as we know them today.
 
To be a candidate for the Armand V. Feigenbaum Lifetime Achievement Medal, the individual needs to have spent a minimum of 25 years devoted to the promotion of quality principles and to have made significant advancements in promoting quality outside of the organizations which employed him or her.  The award will be given out annually and it is sponsored by the Asia Pacific Quality Organization.  For more information about this award, go to www.apqo.org .

Business Excellence Chile specialise in business excellence, benchmarking and strategic management consultancy, They are a member of the Global Benchmarking Network and BPIR’s partner in Chile. Their first English newsletter is published below. It includes an interview with Orlando Olivera the General Secretary of the National Quality Award.

 

 

Nine organisations have won the prestigious business excellence awards by Spring Singapore during the 3rd Business Excellence Global Conference.

This year, the Singapore Quality Award (SQA) with Special Commendation was given to the Institute of Technical Education and Subordinate Courts of Singapore, both previous SQA winners.

The SQA with Special Commendation is presented to past SQA winners who have done better since winning the award at least five years ago.

With 9 winners of 2011 awards this year is largest number of winners since the award was presented in 1995.

Adam Stoehr, MBA
Vice President, Education, National Quality Institute

“Run Forrest Run”… Run charts can take data over time and tell interesting stories. The chart below is a simple run chart that shows my weight in pounds from 2008 to 2011.  I have lost about 50(ish) pounds since January 2008. My strategy has been the classic “eat less and move more”. The eating less part is always tough for me so I’ve adjusted the strategy to be “move more and eat decently.”  To keep up the move more side, I have run in 7 organized races including a half-marathon over the last 2 years.  In order to finish these races you need to keep a pretty rigorous training schedule. It’s been lots of fun and I still have a long way to go. I’m not looking for a medal by the way (other than the ones you get when you finish the races).  I just thought using my marathon training/weight loss data (in pounds) would be a good way to remind people of the correct use of some simple charts.

 

 

in our work lives charts and graphs are useful to display data in a way that helps identify a gap or a trend if one exists. Charts can also be used to highlight relationships.  Generally a picture of your data says a thousand words or numbers. Over the next few Quest for Excellence newsletters, I’ll cover a bunch of charts and graphs using data from my marathon training.

A run chart is a graph that shows changes and trends over time. It can help you recognize patterns of performance in a process and document changes over time. It should be used to show trends at a series of progressively increasing or decreasing points and shifts in consecutive points that fall above or below the average. I don’t think my daughter has tried a run chart yet (like she had with the bar chart reviewed in last months newsletter) but it should be kept simple as well.

In Figure 1 we have data over time from May 2010 to July 2011 compared to my goal.  I have a monthly goal to run at least 100km. According to the chart, since May 2010 I have achieved my goal in every month except for January 2011.

It’s important to point out that the data does not represent a snapshot in time like we saw with the bar chart in Figure 2 from last month’s newsletter. The best way to explain the over time (run chart) vs. snapshot in time (bar chart) is that the data in the past on a run chart will not change. For example the number of KM’s that I ran in May 2011 will never change because May 2011 is in the past.

Conversely for a snapshot in time, the categories would vary every time you draw the chart like in Figure 2. If I drew this chart again in 2 months all of the bars would be different (unless of course I quit running for some reason).

Figure 3 represents my monthly weight in pounds compared to my average weight since January 2008.  Run charts are most useful to see trends over time. They allow you to easily see patterns in data.

The first pattern to look for is if there are 5 or 6 points in a row that steadily increase or decrease. In figure 3 you can see this in both directions. For example from May 2008 to Jan 2009 you can see 7 points in a row that are increasing. Luckily for me (considering what I’m measuring) between July 2010 and March 2010 there is the opposite pattern of weight loss.

The second pattern to look for is if 5 or 6 points in a row are on the same side of the average/goal. This is evident in figure 3 between November 2009 to present. If either of these patterns are present then it’s a pretty good sign that your process is changing (hopefully for you in a positive direction). So my running schedule and my weight loss have been trending in the right direction according to my goals.

Another pattern to look for is significant shifts, bunching, or cyclical patterns. In Figure 4 I’ve taken the same data as in Figure 3 and cut it up year over year. We can see a couple of patterns emerging. January and February seem to be bad months for my weight as well as July and August each year. May/June and November/December are generally good months. 2008 had the most significant shifts from January to April - if this type of swing kept happening, it would be something to investigate.