Part 1 of a 2 part series

Warning Signs: SIGNS A PROCESS NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

• Falling profits with stable or growing sales, stable prices and costs.
• Net sales to total assets out of line with industry averages.
• Unnecessary duplication.
• Bottlenecks.
• Missing information.
• Missing resources.
• Poor morale.
• Rejects.
• Customer complaints.
• Absenteeism.

Steps to Improve: GENERAL

• Interview employees and managers.
• Brainstorm to identify and solve problems.
• Use structured or unstructured brainstorming.
• Organize departmental or cross departmental task forces.

Steps to Improve: CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS

• Better understand customer requirements.

Steps to Improve: RAW MATERIALS & INFORMATION

• Eliminate missing resources.
• Eliminate missing information.
• Improve use of resources.
• Improve use of information.
• Improve quality of input (resources and information).