process improvement plan

Please describe your project in this box. If it does not fit in the box, it is too long, and you must shorten it. Shoot for the 5W’s and the H, but be brief. (Who, what, when, where, why, how)

Please describe your project in this box. If it does not fit in the box, it is too long, and you must shorten it. Shoot for the 5W’s and the H, but be brief. (Who, what, when, where, why, how)

Table of Contents i Executive Summary i Message from the Professor iii Why we are using this method in the advanced internship class iii About Lean 6σ iii Criteria for the Project iii Define 1 1.1 Project Charter and Financial Estimate 1 1.2 Current State Process Map 2 Measure 3 2.1 Data Collection Plan 3 2.2 Collection Results 4 Analyze 5 3.1 Voice of the Customer 5 3.2 Voice of the Business 5 3.3 Voice of the Employee (WIFM) 5 3.4 Waste Analysis – DOWNTIME 6 4.1 Addressing gaps in VOC needs 7 Improve 4.2 Addressing gaps VOB needs 7 4.3 Addressing VOE concerns/ Alternate WIFM 7 4.4 Reduction of Waste 8 4.5 Summary of Recommended Solutions 8 Control 9 5.1 Modification to Procedures Manuals (Or Establishment of Internal Controls) 9 Lessons Learned 10 Supervisor’s Critique 11

Our internship students are within a semester or two of entering the workforce as managers. FIU’s Hospitality and Tourism Management School has included a structured internship as part of the curriculum for over a decade to assist students with this transition into management. A substantial part of the course has always included a project where the students were to improve the host company’s operations in a meaningful and lasting way.

This project is a scaled down Lean 6σ ( six sigma) project designed to be completed within the term of the semester. Lean 6σ is a continuous process improvement method which has grown in use in U.S. and international corporations since the 1970’s. Employed to great success at companies like Motorola, this method aims to refine a company’s existing processes through data based analysis and evidence based decision making.

U.S.-based quality professionals who complete any Six Sigma training earn on average $12,642 more than those without it. 2011 QP Salary Survey*

· The project must be based on a real need in the company, and have the support of the student’s supervisor.

· Must be able to be completed to in 10 weeks or (40 hours)

This template is the intellectual property of Jason L. Stiles, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

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Problem: Rooms which are identified in the database as clean are in fact dirty.

Housekeepers Receive training

Supervisor told as each room is cleaned. Changes the database hourly

Housekeepers divide the list and clean the rooms

Empty Room is dirty, and database indicates dirty

Front Desk assigns the room

Manager Prints list of rooms to be cleaned

Collect data and research on the current process to inform potential solutions

Analyze

Utilize data to determine root problems

Description of the results of your customer study regarding how they view your specific problem. You may have conducted interviews, reviewed comment cards, or utilize peer reviewed evaluations of your customer base. If your company has market research, it can also help you understand the voice of your customer.

Description of how the stakeholders in your business see the problem. Utilize interviews, exit interviews from managers, current employees, separating employees, peer reviewed journal articles, and direct observation. Explain why the process is necessary to the business. Does the process add financial value or just provide a supporting role to other processes that do provide financial value?

Description of how employees view the process problem. Understand how employees may be vested in the current process, and how they may have incentives to change. This is also known as the What is In It For Me (WIFM) perspective. Process change efforts which fail to consider the WIFM of the employee find the process change is difficult if not impossible to maintain. Recognize that any process change will have to be implemented by employees, and will only become permanent when it becomes part of the new culture of “how we do things around here”.

DOWNTIME is an acronym used to describe the potential sources of waste. Look at your process and see if any of these sources are at work reducing the efficiency and effectiveness of your process.

List 1 or more aspects of the current process which relate to the model for at least three elements.

2 Paragraphs on how to improve or optimize

2 Paragraphs on how to improve or optimize

2 Paragraphs on how to improve or optimize

What are the improvement objectives and targets? How will success be measured.?

Potential solutions should make the process measurably faster, more consistent, less variable, more automated, less prone to normal human error.

List of 5-10 potential solutions to the problem in order of feasibility

· Prepare language to be inserted into procedures manuals for employees engaging in the process.

· Include procedures for managers to inspect work.

· Include new checklists and standard operating procedures.

· Fix the problem and describe what it will take to keep it fixed.

Describe what you learned about your ability to manage a detailed process improvement project using LSS. Explain what parts of LSS you found most useful. Describe the strengths and lessons of your effort, to include how key stakeholders responded to your project. Are you able to participate in Process improvement teams in the future with a greater degree of confidence than you would have without this project? Are you interested in pursuing greenbelt certification?

The supervisor’s critique should answer all of the following:

1. What is the overall opinion of the project?

2. Does the project demonstrate your potential to produce professional work or did you fall short

3. Were elements of the project and Lean Six Sigma method useful for the business?

4. Are the financial benefits of the project realistic