Process Improvement Project

Drivers for Six Sigma Process Improvement <br />Customer expectations for higher quality <br />Customers want immediate access/service and control over their research process <br />Competition for scarce resources; potential for cost reduction <br />Library resources will remain stable or be reduced in the coming years <br />New business models enabled by advances in information technology <br /> Technology can be designed to facilitate ease of use and reduce costs <br /> <br />Why engage in Six Sigma <br />Efficiency: 30-40 percent of service organization’s operating costs result from unhealthy processes that produce scrap, rework and needless complexity <br /> <br />Competition: to provide access to information for our academic community, we are pressed to assess our ability to compete on costs and on quality of service <br /> <br />Values: The Library holds to quality leadership principles such as continuous improvement and learning, customer focus, and flexibility. <br />When to use DMAIC? <br />Where variation in product or service quality is hurting your customer relationship <br /> <br /> <br />When costs are no longer sustainable <br /> <br />When measures suggest the use of control charts or other data analysis tools will help identify the current process capability and the cause of problems <br />How to Plan for Use of the DMAIC Approach <br />Gain commitment from leadership group (whole system) <br />Appoint a team <br />Some who know the process—and who will implement the new process; <br />Some who don’t know the process and have no bias <br />Someone who has clout to convince the organization to support the changes and get buy-in from the top <br />Combination of people who have strengths on different part of the DMAIC approach <br />Questioners, learners, no defensiveness re: current way of accomplishing the process <br />Openness to change <br />Train in Six Sigma DMAIC <br />Formal in-depth training is key <br />Consultant availability helps