expertanswe
Flow with it Information flow, as the name implies,
Q: I work for a not-for-profit children’s maps the flow of information involved in
treatment center. Our organization is imple- the process and illustrates only what the
menting a new service delivery model, and process needs and when it needs it. In our
In this redevelopment process, I am in- world of information overload, informa-
volved with redesigning the client process tion flow is intended to provide the right
workflow and information flow. information in the right quantity at the right
These two process flowcharts give a time.
broad picture of how the client enters the Value stream mapping is a high-level
organization, receives service and is dis- approach that includes material flow and
charged. Information flow gives us an idea information flow in the same map to pro-
of such activities as how the paperwork is vide a big picture. A value stream map is
flowing and appointments are booked. all the actions—customer value added and
These two overarching flowcharts have business value added—required to trans-
related flowcharts to explain the process in form raw materials into a finished product
detail, what is happening in each step and and tracks those actions from the start to
the staff involved. So, we have a macro delivery to the customer.
picture or overview, and then a detailed You mentioned you are looking at a
view. lot of different Visio charts. This could be
As a result, I’m looking at a lot of differ- because you’re trying to include too many
ent Visio charts and can’t figure out how processes.
to present this to the staff. If you have any Although your question is about ef-
suggestions or know of software I can use, ficiently displaying the detailed process
it would be very helpful. flowcharts to your staff, you should start
Sejal Patel by asking yourself if you really need that
Burlington, Ontario many processes to create value for your
customers.
A: In the lean enterprise world, this is While I am a proponent of recognizing
called material and information flows. As gaps and documenting processes, I also
you pointed out, material flow—or process challenge myself to evaluate whether a
workflow as you described it—maps prod- process is necessary in the value stream.
uct movement through the value stream. Ask your team a couple questions:
Process Pages
Gaining a thorough understanding of everything an organization
does is a daunting task. Fortunately, visual aids can make that
quest for knowledge much easier. For help getting your
processes on paper, pick up Enterprise Process Mapping by
Charles G. Cobb, available now in the Quality Press bookstore
(http://asq.org/quality-press/index.html).
8 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
• Does this process offer value to the
customer?
• Is the customer willing to pay for this
process?
• Is this a process created for legacy
systems to work around limitations of
those systems or justify past head-
counts?
Too often, we don’t challenge ourselves
by asking the hard questions regarding why
a certain process exists.
Your project seems to involve mapping
the current material and information flow.
Brainstorm with a cross-functional team
and implement an efficient overall value
stream that is lean and provides high-
quality services to your customers in less
time and with reduced costs. If you have
already done this part, you should not have
too many processes.
It’s also important to remember that
processes should not have too many
steps.1 Processes become increasingly
complex due to multiple decision loops.
If you can reduce the number of decision
loops by simplifying the process, it will help
as you try to construct your flowcharts.2
I have not come across any flowchart-
mapping software that allows the user to
easily construct multiple processes and the
interrelationships between those pro-
cesses without needing to switch screens,
enlarge the views and cross-reference
junction points between charts.
But there are practical ways to display
high-level process maps and the underlying
detailed flowcharts using simple Power-
Point presentations. The first thing I would
suggest is presenting the overall process
from the 50,000-foot level all the way down
to the 1,000-foot level.
Imagine looking out an airplane window
from the highest altitude to the point of
rs
Too often, we don’t challenge ourselves
by asking the hard questions regarding
why a certain process exists.
landing. At the highest altitude, the only
things you see are major landmarks—sta-
diums, mountains and rivers. As you get
closer to the 1,000-foot level, you start to
see the highways, moving cars and build-
ings.
The 50,000-foot level presentation
involves five to seven high-level processes.
As you transition to the 30,000, 10,000
and 1,000-foot levels, present the multiple
process steps of the sublevel processes.
This approach will make it easier to
present the information to a variety of audi-
ences—from management to administra-
tive support personnel—without needing to
customize the material.
I would also suggest presenting the pro-
cess using the suppliers, inputs, process,
outputs and customers (SIPOC) approach
for the major processes. This will help
simplify the process for better understand-
ing and can be presented separately in
PowerPoint slides.
If you are going to present this informa-
tion as a single process flow, “gray out” the
process steps using PowerPoint’s coloring
options so the only thing that stands out
is the portion of the process you want the
audience to focus on at that point in the
presentation. Continue this approach until
you finish presenting all the flow paths
within the chart.
This approach is particularly useful
when you’re presenting a complex chart
with multiple decision loops. In that case,
it can be difficult for the audience to
comprehend the individual flow paths. This
approach will reduce the distractions and
ensure everyone understands the process
from beginning to end.
Govind Ramu
Senior manager, quality systems
SunPower Corp.
San Jose, CA
For More Information
Boudreaux, Miriam, “On the Map,” Quality Progress, Novem-
ber 2010, pp. 30-35.
Manos, Tony, “Value Stream Mapping—An Introduction,”
Quality Progress, June 2006, pp. 64-69.
Charting a course
Q: Normally we perform control charting
on product quality characteristics. Is it
possible to do the same thing for continu-
ous process variables, such as temperature
and pressure? If so, how do I determine the
sampling frequency and subgroup size of
the sample? Do we need to consider the
autocorrelation of the data points in this
case?
Robin Francis
London, Ontario
A: Yes, it’s possible to control chart
continuous variables such as pressure
or temperature. Typically, you would use
an individual control chart with a moving
range chart.
There wouldn’t be any subgrouping
because the variance between elements
of a subgroup for any point in time would
be so tiny that the number of out-of-
control points would be unusually high
if subgrouping was used to calculate the
process variance.
There would be some autocorrelation
if the individual points are too close in
time, but some experimentation would be
needed to find the optimum spacing. The
way to do that is through an autocorrela-
tion plot using a statistics package and
looking at lags between data points.
Also, the sampling would need to be
representative, so it’s important to place
the sensor where you want the most infor-
mation. For example, you may wish to track
a hot spot, a cool spot or an area where
the temperature is homogenous. That
depends on the research question.
But control charts can be incredibly use-
ful in situations that may not occur to you
immediately. For example, I use individual
control charts to track gas mileage on
my car. It works pretty well and makes it
easy to tell how my driving habits affect
performance.
The only caveat with individual control
charts is that the average run length to find
an out-of-control situation is typically much
longer. In other words, it may take a longer
time to detect an abnormality.
Tony Gojanovic
Packaging quality specialist
MillerCoors
Denver
For More Information
Gojanovic, Tony, “Chart Smart,” Quality Progress, February
2009, p. 80.
Sherrill, Robert W. and Louis A. Johnson, “Calculated Deci-
sion,” Quality Progress, January 2009, pp. 30-35.
June 2011 • QP 9