Posted on Tue, May 25, 2010
In this week's Operational Excellence Insight we discuss how customer complaints can drive improvements:
In a perfect world there would be no such thing as unhappy customers since every product or service would be delivered on time, perform flawlessly, and satisfy all expectations. The goal of any Continuous Improvement process is to make that perfect world arrive quickly. But until then, customers who are willing to complain should be treated like gems. Hearing from a dissatisfied customer is like looking down and finding a diamond lying on the sidewalk.
Consider a couple frightening statistics. Various sources report that 95% of unhappy customers never bother to complain. Instead, they just take their business elsewhere. Even worse, customers who feel they have been treated poorly will make the extra effort to tell 7-10 others about their bad experience.
Are these numbers perfectly accurate? Probably not, even though you could find them quoted on the internet. (Lean Six Sigma advocates know that 83% of all statistics are made-up on the spot.) But although you can quibble with the exact numbers, the fundamental lesson is true - customers willing to take the time to help drive improvement are an invaluable resource.
Read more...
Posted on Tue, Apr 27, 2010
In the current Operational Excellence Insight, we explore the relationship between safety and Lean Six Sigma.
Operational Excellence advocates often cite the old expression "What gets measured gets improved". Using that logic, do your Operational Excellence metrics include safety performance? After all, there is no greater form of waste than allowing a person to be injured.
Decades ago I worked at a plant that experienced an industrial accident when a welder tried to fix a defect on a pressure vessel filled with a reactive gas mixture. The weld repair procedure was completely safe and well understood: release the pressure, purge the vessel, burnish the defect and apply a new weld. Similar repairs were done routinely.
But this time a small, non-technical complication was introduced. Specifically, the defect was discovered at the end of first shift. Employees on the first shift naturally assumed the person making the repair would purge the vessel before starting work. The second shift welder naturally assumed the vessel had already been depressurized and purged when he began the repair.
The combination of these two natural assumptions was fatal.
Read the full article. We invite you to add your experiences to the comment section.
Posted on Tue, Apr 13, 2010
Is there a single question that will drive continuous improvement in any situation? The qualifier "any situation" covers a lot of territory but I believe there is a phrase that meets the criteria. It is truly the "World's Best Follow-up Question" or, because I'm a consultant, the WBFUQ.
Read the rest of the article on Driving Continuous Improvement
Do you have a follow-up question that is equally good - or better? Please add your comments below.
Posted on Wed, Jan 06, 2010
Over the holidays I attended a party and found myself in a discussion with another guest. Over a cold, adult beverage we traded the typical small talk about jobs and responsibilities. After explaining that I was a Lean consultant and what that meant, my new acquaintance said (jokingly), "Oh, so you are one of those guys who's shipping jobs to low wage countries".
I explained that in reality our work has saved thousands of jobs in North America by eliminating the wasteful content that encourages some companies to simply move to low cost regions. I don't think the guy meant any offense but, the more I thought about it, the more it bothered me.
I firmly believe that Lean and Six Sigma have kept and created jobs. Furthermore, consumers can buy higher quality products at lower prices as a result of the improvements in manufacturing that these technologies have provided.
But that's just me... What do you think? Are the economies of North America stronger or weaker as a result of Lean and Six Sigma? Do these technologies create net employment or reduce it? Please add your comments.