Database Reference
In-Depth Information
table 7.1
Benefits tools and techniques for Continuous improvement
Tools or Technique
Use
External customer survey
To understand the needs of the external customers
Internal customer survey
To understand the perceptions of internal Services
Staff survey
To obtain employee feedback on work environment
Brainstorming
To generate ideas for improvements
Cause and effect diagrams
To prompt ideas during brainstorming
Benchmarking
To compare similar processes to find the best practice
Service Performance
To quantify the importance/performance of services
Activity data
To understand the allocation of time in processes
Activity categories
To obtain the level of core/support/diversionary activities
Activity drivers
To relate volumes of activity to causes
High-low diagram
To group objects using two variables
Force-field analysis
To show the forces acting for/against a variable
Histogram
To show frequency of a variable in a range
Scatter diagram
To view the correlation between two variables
Affinity analysis
To measure the strength of functional relationships
Bar chart
To plot the frequency of an event
Run chart
To show how a variable changes over time
Pie chart
To show frequency of a variable in a range
table 7. 2
Advanced tec
hniques for Continuous improvement
Tools or Technique
Use
Statistical process
Control (SPC)
SPC is a means to understand if a process is producing and is
likely to produce an output that meets the specifications
within limits.
Failure mode and
effects Analysis (FMEA)
FMEA is a means to understand the nature of potential
failure of components and effect this will have on the
complete systems.
Quality function
deployment (QFD)
QFD is a structured process to build.
Taguchi methods
The design of experiments to create robust processes/
products where final quality is subject to many variables.
