112 CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER PROBLEMS apply those techniques in a problem-solving format is critical and difficult. Upper-management involvement in selecting issues to be investigated is important to the success of a quality improvement program. Brainstorm- ing and Pareto charts also help identify where problem- solving efforts should be concentrated. Teach people the techniques and then use brainstorming to encourage them to uncover problems in their own area and begin to solve them. Upper management should be involved in the entire process, m education to implementation. They should be the ones providing their people with a push in the right direction. 0 LESSONS LEARNED 1. Problem solving is the isolation and analysis of a prob- lem and the development of a permanent solution. Problem solving should be logical and systematic. 2. The following steps should be taken during the prob- lem-solving process: Step 1. Recognize a problem exists. Step 2. Form an improvement team. Step 3. Develop performance measures. Step 4. Clearly define the problem. Step 5. Document and analyze the problem/process. Step 6. Determine possible causes. Step 7. Identify, select, and implement the solution. Step 8. Evaluate the solution. Step 9. Ensure permanence. Step 10. Continuous improvement. PROBLEM SOLVING 1. Good root cause identification and problem-solving efforts begin with a clear problem statement. Why is a well-written problem statement necessary? 2. Describe the 10 steps of problem solving. 3. An orange juice producer has found that the fill weights (weight of product per container) of several of its orange juice products do not meet specifications. If the problem continues, unhappy customers will stop buying their product. Outline the steps that they should take to solve this problem. Provide as much detail as you can. 4. Bicycles are being stolen at a local campus. Campus security is considering changes in bike rack design, bike parking restrictions, and bike registration to try to reduce thefts. Thieves have been using hacksaws and bolt cutters to remove locks from the bikes. Cre- ate a problem statement for this situation. How will an improvement team use the problem statement? 5. Read Example 4.16. As if you were the project manager responsible for solving this problem, describe the steps you would take to plan this problem investigation. 6. A pizza company with stores located citywide uses one order call-in phone number for the entire city. Callers, regardless of their address, can phone XXX-1111 to place an order. Based on the caller's phone number, an automated switching service directs the call to the appropriate store. On a recent Friday evening, the pizza company lost as many as 15,000 orders when a malfunctioning mechanical device made calls to their phone number impossible. From about 5:30 to 8 P.M., when callers hoping to place an order phoned, they were met with either silence or a busy signal. This is not the first time this malfunction has occurred. Just two weeks earlier, the same problem surfaced. The pizza company and the company that installed the system are working to ensure that situation doesn't repeat itself. They believe a defective call switch is to blame. Based on what you have learned in this chapter, why is a structured problem-solving process critical to the success of finding and eliminating a problem? What steps do you recommend they follow? 7. When creating a problem statement, what are three guides to use? 8. Select one tool or technique from this chapter and describe how you will apply it to your work or life. How will applying it improve your success with problem-solving? 9. In the rush to fix a problem or get something done, an organized problem-solving method is often ignored. What benefits are there in using either the PDSA or DMAIC 3. The following are techniques used in problem solving: brainstorming, Pareto charts, WHY-WHY diagrams, flowcharts, force-field analysis, cause-and-effect dia- grams, check sheets, histograms, scatter diagrams, control charts, and run charts. 4. Problem solvers are tempted to propose solutions before identifying the root cause of the problem and performing an in-depth study of the situation. Adher- ing to a problem-solving method avoids this tendency. 5. Brainstorming is designed for idea generation. Ideas should not be discussed or criticized during a brain- storming session. 6. Flowcharts are powerful tools that allow problem solvers to gain in-depth knowledge of the process. 7. Cause-and-effect diagrams enable problem solvers to identify the root causes of succinctly stated problems. 8. Steps must be taken to ensure that the new methods or changes to the process are permanent. 9. Don't hesitate to apply the techniques you have learned to the problems you face in your work or life. Quality Improvement: Problem Solving 115 33. Create a flowchart for solving a financial aid problem at your school. MEASURES OF PERFORMANCE 18. Describe a process. Based on the process you described, what are two measures that can be used to determine if the process you described is performing well? 19. Review Problem 6. What are two measures of perfor- mance that can be used to determine if the changes they make are effective? 20. Review Problem 9. What are two measures of perfor- mance that can be used to determine if the changes they make are effective? 21. Review Problem 12. What are two measures of per- formance that can be used to determine if the changes they make are effective? 22. Review Problem 15. What are two measures of per- formance that can be used to determine if the changes they make are effective? 34. WP Uniforms provides a selection of lab coats, shirts, trousers, uniforms, and outfits for area businesses. For a fee, WP Uniforms will collect soiled garments once a week, wash and repair these garments, and return them the following week while picking up a new batch of soiled garments. At WP Uniforms, shirts are laundered in large batches. From the laundry, these shirts are inspected, repaired, and sorted. To determine if the process can be done more effectively, the employees want to create a flowchart of the process. They have brainstormed the following steps and placed them in order. Create a flowchart with their information. Remember to use symbols appropriately. BRAINSTORMING AND AFFINITY DIAGRAMS 23. Brainstorm 10 reasons why a dinner order might arrive late to the guests' table. 24. Brainstorm reasons why the university computer might malfunction. Use an affinity diagram to organize your results. 25. Brainstorm reasons why a customer may not feel the service was adequate at a department store. Create an affinity diagram to organize your results. 26. How are brainstorming techniques used to discover potential corrective actions? Shirts arrive from laundry. Ask: Is shirt beyond cost-effective repair? Pull shirts from racks. Discard shirt if badly Remove shirts from hangers. damaged. Inspect. Sort according to size. Ask: Does shirt have holes Fold shirt. or other damage? Place in proper stor- age area. Make note of repair needs. Make hourly count. WHY-WHY DIAGRAMS 27. Create a WHY-WHY diagram for how you ended up taking this particular class. 28. A mail-order company has a goal of reducing the amount of time a customer has to wait in order to place an order. Create a WHY-WHY diagram about waiting on the telephone. Once you have created the diagram, how would you use it? 29. Apply a WHY-WHY diagram to a project you face at work or in school. 30. Create a WHY-WHY diagram for this problem state- ment: Customers leave the store without making a purchase. 35. Coating chocolate with a hard shell began with M&Ms during World War II. Coated candies were easier to transport because the coating prevented them from melting. Making coated candies is an interesting process. First the chocolate centers are formed in lit- tle molds. These chocolate centers are then placed in a large rotating drum that looks a bit like a cement mixer. Temperature controls on the drum maintain a low enough temperature to prevent the chocolate from softening. While rolling around in the drum, the chocolates are sprayed with sugary liquid that hard- ens into the white candy shell. Since the chocolates are constantly rotating, they do not clump together while wet with the sugary liquid. Once the white candy shell has hardened, a second, colored, sugar liquid is sprayed into the drum. Once the color coating dries, the colored candies are removed from the drum by pouring them onto a conveyor belt where each candy fits into one of thousands of candy-shaped depres- sions. The belt vibrates gently to seat the candies into the depressions. Once they are organized on the belt, they proceed through a machine that gently imprints a maker's mark onto each candy with edible ink. Map this process. 36. Create a flowchart using symbols for the information provided in the table below. PROCESS MAPPING 31. Why is a process map such an excellent problem-solv- ing tool? 32. Create a flowchart for registering for a class at your school.
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