Last week, we established how important process maps are in developing policies and procedures.  In the course of this series, we will present seven types of process maps. This week we will discuss three types: High-Level, Low-Level, and Cross Functional or “Swim Lanes” Maps.

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You have identified a problem, and you have made an immediate correction to fix it for now.  How do you make sure the same problem doesn’t happen again?

That is the role of corrective action in continual improvement of an organization.  In a reactive organization, we constantly react to problems in a corrective mode.  We make the short term fixes – over and over and over again. 

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Corrective action is the theme for this month.  To start the series, let’s talk about where it all begins – inputs to the corrective action process.

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Many companies appear to run relatively smoothly under the status quo, so they may not think about organization improvement. Minor product inconsistencies or customer complaints are normal, and the owners might think that overhauling an entire system to save a little money might not be worth it. But those same business owners would be surprised to learn that a few simple process changes and a small amount of effort can save thousands of dollars through cutting waste and improving customer quality.

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The present economic downturn looms over the heads of business executives (and their employees) like the Grim Reaper.

How do you ensure your company doesn’t fall prey to the hype or the financial crisis and actually maintains — or even grows! — during this economic downturn? How can you use this time to focus and develop more sustainable customer relationships to increase your customer satisfaction or customer quality?

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Part 2 of a four-part series

In part one of this series, we talked about how strategic dysfunction starts when we set the wrong business objectives. The right objectives start with placing “reducing variation” over “increasing mean”. We found that you are just chasing your tail if

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Part 1 of a four-part series

Given a set of business objectives, can you identify the business metrics and diagnose the business situation outcomes needed to realize the objectives?

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Part 4 of a four-part series

Delays, we all encounter them everyday. But in process terms, delays are one of the biggest causes of ineffectiveness, inefficiencies, and poor performance. In past articles we saw how delays in the manufacturing cycle

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