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We hope you enjoy this month's edition of our operational excellence newsletter. Please take a few minutes to read the ISO 9001:2015 transition article. It speaks to how the new standard requires quality managers to not only specify the processes that are relevant to the scope of their quality system, but that they also have the ability to capture evidence verifying that processes are being followed.
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Quantum Associates, Inc
Operational Excellence Newsletter
Delivering Swift and Significant Results
"Our groove is to help you improve."
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December 2015
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Are You Managing Your Cycle Time?
A company's total business cycle time is measured from the time a customer's need is identified to receipt of payment from the customer for the finished product or service.
Most manufacturing companies focus on the time required to produce the product when they should be looking to simplify their internal support processes to eliminate waste and nonessential activities. The reality is that as much as 75% to 90% of existing activities in the support functions are non-value-added and can be eliminated. As an example from one manufacturing client demonstrates. The average customer delivery time was 32 days. However, when the time it took the average sales order to make its way through order entry was measured, it was found to be a whopping 10 days when the actual touch (processing) time was only 20 minutes.
Cycle time management extends beyond manufacturing into your support processes and yields benefits in other areas like marketing, human resources and finance. Once your people learn that up to 90% of their activities in their work area are non-value-added and expendable, they become open to a new operating philosophy-cycle time reduction. The benefit of focusing on internal support processes is that the change is relatively inexpensive and the operating savings relatively large.
Because cycle time management focuses on reducing time it helps you produce products or services of better quality at lower cost and with faster delivery. These results are essential if your organization is to remain competitive in the global marketplace.
Happy Holidays!
Willie
"Our groove is to help you improve"
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| 6 Key Traits of a Lean Leader | |
Contributor: John S. Hamalian
Research states that '46% of all improvement initiatives fail due to lack of leadership'. Taken with other evidence, clearly more work is needed to develop lean leaders. But what is a 'Lean Leader'? What makes a Lean Leader different from a 'normal' leader? What special competencies are required to be considered a Lean Leader? (Read More)
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Lean Accounting in a Nutshell
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Contributor: Brian Maskell
Companies that are seriously pursuing the lean journey soon find their accounting, control, and measurement systems need to change to support the new strategy. The principles and methods of lean thinking and practice are quite different from traditional business and therefore require different measurements...(Read More)
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The Improvement Kata PDCA Cycles Record
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Contributor: Mark Rosenthal
Improvement kata describes a routine for continuous improvement through four major steps. Those steps provide a structured pattern to enable consistent practice of each kata routine until it becomes habit-until it's a natural way of thinking and acting. This change in behavior makes it easier solve problems, to grasp a situation, and to develop a solution...(Read More)
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| Preparing for the Transition to ISO 9001:2015 |
Contributor: Mika Javanainen
While ISO 9001:2008-certified companies have three years to complete migration to this newest edition of the standard, the changes introduced in ISO 9001:2015 can truly help organizations to improve their business processes, and therefore starting early gives your organization more time to reap the rewards of the improved quality system...(Read More)
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| 'Retained Document Information' in ISO 9001:2015 | |
Contributors: Craig Cochran
ISO 9001:2015 does a lot of things right, but using clear language isn't one of them. One of the most glaring examples is the transformation of the word "records" into "retained documented information...(Read More)
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Quantum Process Improvement TM (QPI)
Move your company into the "Profit Zone" with our quantum process improvement (QPI) model. QPI Integrates the three most powerful process improvement disciplines-Lean, Six Sigma and the Theory of Constraints to move your company into the area where sustainable, superior profit happens creating enormous value for you and your stakeholders.
Leading your company into the "Profit Zone" requires improving the performance of your critical operations and administrative processes. We use our QPI Assessment to focus on the process areas with the greatest potential for generating results within two to three quarters.
If the goal for your business is to create superior long-term profits-not average profit, not cyclically inflated profit, not short-term profit then contact us today to learn more about how our Quantum Process Improvement TM model can work for you.
We guarantee 100% customer satisfaction absolutely.
"Our groove is to help you improve."
Enjoy the Newsletter,
Willie Carter
President
Certified Lean Sensei
Certifed Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence
Certified ISO 9000 Lead Assessor
"He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery." ~ Harold Wilson
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