TUM School of Management

Production and Supply Chain Management

Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

Quality Engineering & Management

Session 1.2: Understanding

Customer Expectations

Dr. Holly Ott

Production and Supply Chain Management
Chair: Prof. Martin Grunow
TUM School of Management

Holly Ott Quality Engineering & Management – Module 1.2 1

 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

DEFINE

DEFINE   Defining Quality

  Understanding

MEASU
Customer
Expectations

E R

Holly Ott Quality Engineering & Management – Module 1.2 2

 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

Learning Objectives
•  Explain the relevance of the DEFINE phase in the DMAIC flow.
•  Discuss the difference between a problem (in the process output)
and causes of the problem (in the process or the inputs)
•  List the key goals of the DEFINE phase.

Holly Ott Quality Engineering & Management – Module 1.1 3

 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

DEFINE: Problem Definition

Input     Process   Output  

Burnt
Cookie!
© Reiner Hutwelker, Keks Scenario
Integrated-Process-Problem-Solving Method (IPPSM)
Holly Ott Quality Engineering & Management – Module 1.2 4
 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

Customer Expectations

Source: www.projectcartoon.com

Holly Ott Quality Engineering & Management – Module 1.2 5

 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

Problem Definition - Literature

Agre (1982): “a problem is an undesirable situation which may be solvable by some agent although probably
with some difficulty”(page 122)
Smith (1989): “Problems are conceptual entities that don't exist in the world, but rather involve a relationship of
disharmony between reality and one's preferences.”(pag965) or “existing state-desired state gaps”(page 968)
Eierman and Philip (2003): “a problem is an emergent undesirable situation that must be corrected” (page 354
Volkema (1983): “A problem has been defined alternatively as a conflict (Duncker [16]), an obstacle (Maier
[42]), an accepted task that a person does not know how to carry out (Simon [70]), dissatisfaction with a
purposeful state (Ackoff and Emery [3]), and the difference between what one has and what one wants (de Bono
[13])
Basadur, M., Ellspermann, S., & Evans, G. (1994): “word problem can be defined as a gap between the
present and some desired state of affairs. Similar definitions have been proposed by others. A gap can carry a
positive, negative or unknown connotation, providing three different views of the word problem.” (page 629)
Mitroff and Silvers (2009) define problems as: „ (P) occurs if there is a gap between what we ideally desire (I)
and what we currently can accomplish (A): P = I – A > 0“ (quoted from Jørgensen, 2011: page 29)
Lyles (1981): Well-defined problems those “that are frequently imposed on the organization, such as
government legislation or union contracts.” (page 61). Ill-defined problems are “problems whose nature can be
represented in multiple ways and which are perceived by people differently are open to debate in defining the
very nature of the problem.” (page 61)
(Landry 1995): epistemological perspective of problems: Objectivistic, Perspective, Constructive views of
problems

Holly Ott Quality Engineering & Management – Module 1.2 6

 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

Problem Definition - Literature

Concept of Problem
Refers to what constitutes a problem

Debate among scholars

“Undesirable situation” (Agre 1982), “gap
between current and desired state” (Basadur et.
al. 1994) etc.

Holly Ott Quality Engineering & Management – Module 1.2

 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

Problem Definition - Literature

Concept of Problem Concept of Problem Definition
Refers to what constitutes a problem Refers to how the problem is represented or
described, i.e. verbal description of the individual
instances of problems (Smith 1989) in a linguistic
Debate among scholars form such as a problem statement.

“Undesirable situation” (Agre 1982), “gap

between current and desired state” (Basadur et. Different conceptualizations
al. 1994) etc.
Gap specification, causal diagnosis, difficulties
and constraints, perspective (Smith 1989)

As a result…
Problem Definition can be defined in many
different ways depending on the context,
-  the situation,
-  the circumstances and
-  the perspective,
from which the problem is viewed

Holly Ott Quality Engineering & Management – Module 1.2 8

 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

DEFINE: Problem Definition

Input     Process   Output  

Burnt
Cookie!
© Reiner Hutwelker, Keks Scenario
Integrated-Process-Problem-Solving Method (IPPSM)
Holly Ott Quality Engineering & Management – Module 1.2 9
 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

DEFINE: Problem Definition

Problems are always attributes of the output of a process:

Input     Process   Output  

© Reiner Hutwelker, Keks Scenario

Integrated-Process-Problem-Solving Method (IPPSM)
Holly Ott Quality Engineering & Management – Module 1.2 10
 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

Problem Definition Target Range

A problem is the deviation of a Performance
required attribute in the product
(output of process)

The attribute can be assigned to one

of the categories: Quality, Availability
(Quantity/Time) or Consumption of
Resources.

Quantity/Time
Availability

Consumption
Quality
© Reiner Hutwelker, Keks Scenario
Integrated-Process-Problem-Solving Method (IPPSM)
Holly Ott Quality Engineering & Management – Module 1.2 11
 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

DEFINE
•  Customers, employees and managers identify
DEFINE
problems (potentials) in processes and products.
•  Evaluate the relevance of the output parameters

MEASU
and estimate the impact of their fulfillment on
the output quality (Critical to Quality)

RE
•  Summarize information about the process, its
important outputs and their problems
•  Indicate the relevance of this information for the
customer satisfaction and the business
•  Agree on objectives for the important critical to
quality parameters and on the scope of the
project
Adapted from Integrated-Process-Problem-Solving Method (IPPSM)
•  Define the team © Reiner Hutwelker
Holly Ott Quality Engineering & Management – Module 1.2 12
 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

DMAIC Project

image reprinted with permission from Hanwag GmbH

Holly Ott Quality Engineering & Management – Module 1.2 13

 TUM School of Management
Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow Technische Universität München

Coming Up

  Please complete the Practice Problem for

Defining Quality
  and start the DMAIC Project in this section
  1 PROJECT: Introduction
  1 PROJECT: DEFINE - Defining Customer
Expectations, Basic Process Understanding

  Next Week:
  Lecture 2.1: Probability vs. Statistics

Holly Ott Quality Engineering & Management – Module 1.2 14