Ultimately, your customer will have the final say on what is and isn't valuable, but there are some simple tips you can use as a guide to help guide conversations with your customers or team members when identifying processes, tasks or services that are not adding value.
Here's an example I think we can all relate to. All of us at some point have had to go to the DMV, whether it's after buying a new car, updating your driver license or renewing the tags on your vehicle. Rarely do I ever hear someone say this a pleasant experience. You gather all your documents and thinking you are all prepared to complete your transaction, only to find out after a long wait that you are missing something critical to complete that transaction. You leave the DMV frustrated and task uncomplete knowing you will be repeating that process all over again.
Whether it's going to the DMV, going to the Dr. office and duplicating your name and contact information on a dozen forms in case your forms get mixed up with other patients or contacting customer service to resolve a problem with an order can all be a very frustrating experience.
The VoC- Voice of the Customer can be a valuable tool to help improve the customer experience to identify the non-value added processes, tasks or services.
There is a process in Six Sigma referred to as TWO-DIME that can help you and your team identify waste within your organization or a future customer project. Let's go through these one by one.
➢ T: Transportation: Is there unnecessary (non-value added) movement of parts, materials, or information between processes?
➢ W: Waiting: Are people or parts, systems or facilities idle – waiting for a work cycle to be completed?
➢ O: Overproduction: Are you producing sooner, faster or in greater quantities than the customer is demanding?
➢ D: Defects: Does the process result in anything that the customer would deem unacceptable?
➢ I: Inventory: Do you have any raw materials, work-in-progress (WIP) or finished goods that are not having value added to them?
➢ M: Movement: How much do you move materials, people, equipment and goods within a processing step?
➢ E: Extra Processing: How much extra work is performed beyond the standard required by the customer?
Memorize this list. Use this to start conversations with your customers and team members to recognize the waste. Be careful to focus on the areas that have the greatest pain points balanced with the most benefit for making changes. Stay tuned for the next Tips & Tricks on how to prioritize using qualitative and quantitative methods to develop your business case.
