Anjana Singh

Value added activities change the form, fit or function of a product or service. These are the things for which the customer is willing to pay Typically Non Value Added Activities account for 95% of total lead time, so by eliminating NVA we tend to make the process lean and value adding. We can eliminate, reduce or simplify Non value add activities to make a process efficient A telecom example would be a customer’s visit to Retail showroom for a new connection and following activities done by the executive, now after a specific point the activities are NVA, which delays the process. 1. Explain about the Tariffs & Plans 2. Explain about the documents Requirement 3. Assist the customer in Filling the Customer Application Form 4. Collects the documents 5. Closes the sales 6. Collects the money 7. Prints the receipt 8. Send CAF for Order Entry 9. Follow up for the activation 10. Attend the customer on his revisit 11. CAF gets rejected 12. Request customer to give the missing documents again 13. Handles Customer Escalations 14. Goes to customer home to collect missing document 15. Resends the Customer Application Form Beyond point no. 9 to 15 all the activities are NVA (marked in red), which is not adding the value to the process and instead it’s a waste in a process. Hence to ensure VA in a process, the activities in a process need to be done first time right. Ideally if a Retail executive does the activities first time right, then it is value added for the customers. By stop doing “non value added” activities and by eliminating waste & the process is more effective and efficient which adds value to the customer.

Dated – 11th Sept 2017 Q6. There is enough information on how and why 5S is effective in manufacturing. While everyone may agree that 5S makes sense in workplace organization even in services, the question is - Does 5S actually save enough money when implemented outside manufacturing? If yes, how? 5S is another Japanese principle it also helps build a quality work environment. The 5S principle are applied in any work area. The elements of 5S are as follows:- Sort—Sort work area / processes in such a way that whatever is not required may eliminate the same Straighten—Organize whatever remains after sorting Shine—Clean the work area, keep it neat Standardize—Schedule regular cleaning and maintenance or keep a check by proper controls and regular reviews / audits Sustain—Make 5S a way of life. 5S will help save money when implemented outside manufacturing by ensuring following benefits for any industry: When we sort our workplace / processes, we tend to reduce waste in the process and ensure we have a Lean process due to which it will save processing time of any activity by either clubbing the process steps, automation and eventually high chances of reducing manpower. When 5S is implemented there are opportunities for reducing defect rates in any process which will help reducing cost and saving money. When there are processes are lean and without defects there are high chances of increased customer services / delight. With 5S there are opportunity for improvement employee morale due to which the employee with ensure their activity / process is carried out without any hurdles ensuring higher customer satisfaction, which will result in more customers subscribing to their brand, hence increase in revenue . This will also help enhance image of an organization & management

Quote #1 - "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it" - Peter Drucker. Quote #2 - "It is wrong to suppose that if you can't measure it, you can't manage it. The most important numbers are unknown and unknowable" - Dr. W. Edward Deming Is measurement essential for good management? Why? Why Not? Both the above quotes are correct in their own ways. However there are some activities that are measureable and some are not measurable, like when we are not able to measure the exact benefit of a happy customer but you can get measures that give you evidence of the value and even magnitude. Measurement is the process of collecting, analyzing and reporting information regarding the performance of an individual, group, organization, system or component. Measurement is essential in some areas wherein when we are able to get information / performance of the activities which are leading to some output. Whereas in some areas which are qualitative & measurements are not possible then we derive the performance by qualitative aspects However I personally believe that by using measurement we can improve the current way of doing things and also have clearer way forward. With measurements decision making is easier in any organization, like when a child’s board exam results are declared, it gives the child clear indication to take up Science, Commerce or Arts because the board exam’s results are in numbers & measurable. Using data to aid in improvement efforts is extremely valuable. Everything is relative, Improvement needs to be seen in comparison.

A cause may be necessary but not sufficient for a problem to occur. A cause may be sufficient but not necessary for a problem to happen. A cause may be neither sufficient nor necessary for a problem to occur. A cause may be both sufficient and necessary for a problem to occur. Necessary & Sufficient Conditions- Firstly condition means causes or reasons to make one thing happen so that the other thing may move. Example to fill a glass of water I would need to open the tap. So the condition is that I need to open the tap then only the water will fill the glass Necessary – means that without the necessary condition nothing will happen hence necessary condition is require for the next move to happen Sufficient – means that the condition is enough or not enough for the action to happen. Example to explain the above 2 conditions:- To ensure no call drops to a subscriber, we need to have sufficient BTS towers, however BTS towers are necessary for Calls to route and latch on. A cause may be necessary but not sufficient for a problem to occur. Example – BTS tower may be necessary but not sufficient to resolve call drop problem. Approach to problem solving – Do detail study of the no. of complaints coming to call center pertaining to call drop. Analyses the data. Analyze the time and location of maximum call drops. Initiate with 5 why analysis to come to the root cause of the call drop. While conducting 5 why there can be various factors for call drop. Then with cause and effect will zero down on a major cause and initiate improvement project. A cause may be sufficient but not necessary for a problem to happen. Example -Fuel is sufficient to make an internal combustion engine run, there are times when running the car can be a problem though the fuel is sufficient, then we look for other various cases, like battery, gear box, radiator heating/leaking, etc… A cause may be neither sufficient nor necessary for a problem to occur. Example – For a person suffering with fever, not necessary that the person has fever due to getting wet in the rain, though this can be a reason, but not sufficient. There can be other factors like eating street food during monsoon, which is highly infectious and unhygienic, getting infection from other fellow colleague at work place / school. In such scenarios, C&E & 5why will or may help us with some root cause, however further analysis like – hypothesis testing etc, will help us arrive to appropriate root cause A cause may be both sufficient and necessary for a problem to occur. Most ideal state wherein cause is sufficient and necessary for a problem to occur. Example – A man being a father is both a necessary and a sufficient condition for his being a male parent Similar – Lack of BTS towers and multiple telecom players latching to the same BTS tower at peak time (9am to 1pm), cheap tariff plan to attract more customers hence choking the bandwidth ,etc are both sufficient and necessary condition for call drops to happen.