Member You - Business

Customers Want a Relationship
Would you rather go out to a different store every time you want to buy something, never being completely satisfied with what you get, and having to look for a new store on each new shopping trip or would you rather go to the same store and get everything that you need and want each time you go? The same is true for your customers. Just like anyone seeking a relationship, customers want a long-standing business relationship not a one night stand. To get your business to flourishing you need to focus on your customers and their satisfaction.The real value of your customers is found in the second and third purchase and every one after that. You can grow the value of your business by growing the value of your customer base. When you create a marketing campaign, look at both the immediate return on investment you expect as well as the long term customer value that you are providing.You need to get in your customer’s shoes. By having an intimate knowledge of what your customers really want from your product or service or what their real pain or desire is you will be able to create customer-driven

solution are not carried out consistently
b) Some of the line workers are not aware of the changes
c) Tracking is focus on results but did not extend to the action / solution

The above article is a compilation of issues in several TQM projects facilitated by the author in various manufacturing and service sectors from year 2001 to 2006. These projects are categorized as :-

Sales Improvement Projects such as :-

a) Customer & Market Analysis
b) Reduction in Customer Complaints
c) Production Uptime
d) Delivery Cycle Time
e) Loan Processing

And Cost Reduction Projects such as :-

a) Quality Improvement
b) Process Optimization
c) Increase Boiler Efficiency
d) Reduce Material Losses
e) Reduce Electricity Consumption
f) Reduce Machine Downtime
g) Reduce Repair & Maintenance
h) Reconcile Insurance Policy Premium etc

This article deals with some common difficulties encountered during the implementation of improvement projects with regards to the use of tools, implementing action and solutions, sustaining the effort and so on. However, other aspects not included in this article are management commitment, sustainability and Reward & Recognition.

In summary, the above projects were completed and their duration varied depending on project complexity. Also, the cost of project, improvement and its related cost saving varied too. As an indication, the project saving ranged from few thousand to a million Malaysian Ringgit. Besides these tangible benefits, there are several intangible benefits too. To name a few; team

Malcolm Baldrige Values and Concepts Part 3 -- Organizational and Personal Learning
In this issue, I will share my experience acquired from the conglomerate and its operating companies. For the purpose of this article, I will articulate the Organizational and Personal Learning which is one of the eleven core values and concepts used in Malcolm Baldrige Criteria. As before, I will use case studies to show how some of the companies implement them.To recap, below are the Eleven Core Values and Concepts of Baldrige Criteria:-Visionary Leadership | Customer-Driven Excellence | Organizational and Personal Learning | Valuing Employees and Partners | Agility | Focus on the Future |Managing for Innovation | Management by Fact | Public Responsibility and Citizenship | Focus on Results and Creating Value | Systems PerspectiveArticulated Organizational and Personal Learning A systematic and well-executed Continuous Learning Approach to achieve highest business performance is essential Organization and Personal Learning. It should be develop as a way of life in the day-to-day function. This may result in major changes or minor changes to strategies, process, pro

This article contains a summary of implementation of TQM improvement projects in the Manufacturing and Service Sectors over the last 5 years. It highlights difficulties encountered in using specific improvement tools as well as handling of the team members.

The TQM Improvement Methodology - D.A.I.C

Throughout these TQM improvement projects, a common methodology was used as a systematic way to Define-Analyse-Improve-Control the opportunity or problem. 7 QC tools are widely employed within this methodology

The DEFINE phase

In this phase, team members are required to identify improvement projects. Some tools commonly used to help members to select improvement projects are as follows :-

a) Brain Storming
b) Multi Voting
c) Selection Grid
d) Problem Statement

Upon completion of using the tools, team members will be able to select and agreed to a project which may be an opportunity for improvement or problem. A Problem Statement is used as a summary of this phase to state the nature of the project, boundaries of the process to be improved, goal and target, resource required and potential constraints

While this is a simple phase to accomplish, often team members are faced with difficulties for some valid reasons. Some of the common difficulties encountered are as follows :-

a) Team leader cannot decide whether to use the above tools to select project eventhough project is already assigned by the management
b) Team leader lack experience in directing team members
c) Lack of initial data to support decision making
d) Team members are not well verse with the subject matter
e) Lack understanding of the improvement tools

The ANALYSE phase

This is a critical phase where the current state of the subject matter as well as root causes will be analysed in detail. This analysis is done systematically and logically as follows:-

a) The scope of the subject matter
b) Current performance (problematic) trend
c) Identify possible causes of the opportunity or problem
d) Detail diagnostic to the root cause of the confirmed true causes

Certainly, these steps are performed using common improvement tools include 7-QC tools such as Brainstorming; Data collection; Trend Charting; Fish-Bone Diagram and why-Why Analysis. Team members use these tools selectively to dissect the problem into smaller junks and look at them critically. As expected, team members do not seems to able to grasp the use of these tools effectively. Often than not, team members make conclusion to the "root cause" too soon without factual data to support. The reason for this are several, some of them are as follows:-

a) Team leader dominate in team discussion
b) Some team members used past experience to make conclusion
c) Data collection is tedious
d) Lack data analytical skill
e) Lack focus during brainstorming on possible causes
f) Did not spend enough time to validate the possible causes
g) Too judgmental on the causes
h) Root cause analysis is often skip after possible causes is identified

The IMPROVE phase

There are two steps in this phase, namely; plan the improvement and Implement the improvement plan. Upon completed the Analyse phase, the team members would have some ideas what are some of the causes of the problem. And to some extend, the root causes of the problem is identified. Based on these causes, planning to improve them is the key objective of this IMPROVE Phase. There are several tools involve in doing so, namely:-

a) Brainstorming of action / solution
b) Selection Grid
c) Benchmarking
d) Cost-Benefit Analysis
e) Control lot and testing
f) Pilot the action / solution
g) Force-Field Analysis
h) Prevention Planner

Traditionally, when an action / solution is identified, often than not, they are implemented without considering the risk involved. Sometime when they are implemented, these action / solution causes different set of problem. During my consulting projects, team leaders failed to stay control of the "excitement of success" when action / solution is identified. Risk analysis was not enough or lacking before they are implemented. Some of the difficulties encountered by the team members during this IMPROVE phase are as follows:-

a) Action / solution taken causes other problem (Jump into the action without further evaluation of the risk)
b) Action / solution does not yield long term result (Member got over exited about the action / solution and forgot about the root causes.
c) Line workers refuse to abide to the new action / solution (Focus too much on technical aspect of the action / solution, forgot about the human factor. New action / solution involve change. Managing the change is often neglected)
d) Some action / solution are not carried out as expected

The CONTROL phase

This is the most neglected but critical phase to ensure action / solution put in placed are permanently yield expected results. It cannot be over emphasized the importance of CONTROL. Not only team need to control the improvement result but equally important the action / solution. These are the critical components of the whole Improvement Projects to ensure sustainability of the improvement. However, members tends to keep track of the result without realizing it is the action / solution that bring about the improvement of the results. Besides tracking and monitoring, it is important that new action / solution are standardized across the company with simple yet effective work instructions and Standard Operating Procedures. And they are periodically audited for compliance. That Management team has included these items in their operation review meeting until such a time they feel it is sustainable. They are some basic tools used in this phase, namely:-

a) Trend Charting
b) Control Chart
c) Documentation
d) Audit
e) On-job training
f) Re-certification

During this phase, least difficulties were encountered by team members. Perhaps it was due to the fact that most action / solution are taken placed in the work area they are in charge. However, there are cases where teams are set up for a cross-function project in which action / solution to be taken are in work areas not the responsibility of the team members. In which case, team members faced with the following difficulties :-

a) Action and solution are not carried out consistently
b) Some of the line workers are not aware of the changes
c) Tracking is focus on results but did not extend to the action / solution

Sales Improvement Projects such as :-

a) Customer & Market Analysis
b) Reduction in Customer Complaints
c) Production Uptime
d) Delivery Cycle Time
e) Loan Processing

And Cost Reduction Projects such as :-

Five Essentials of Customer Service for Web Hosts
If you've been in the web hosting business for any length of time, you will already realize that keeping your servers humming along smoothly is only half of the equation. The other half is customer service. No matter how well your technology works, there will always be customer support issues. How you handle them is crucial to your success.In this article, I will offer 5 essentials for success. These are not all that is involved, but id you master these five fundamentals, you'll be well on your way to success.1. Like Your Customers and Help Them To Like YouBefore anything else, you really have to like people. If you are strictly a tech head, and hate dealing with people, you have a real problem on your hands. You may assume that you can fake it, but your dislike for people will eventually show through. If you don't like people, consider hiring someone who does.One of the secrets of business is that people don't usually do business with the best person for the job - people do business with people they like.With that in mind, remember to be a likeable person as well. Be polite,

to support decision making
d) Team members are not well verse with the subject matter
e) Lack understanding of the improvement tools
The ANALYSE phase
This is a critical phase where the current state of the subject matter as well as root causes will be analysed in detail. This analysis is done systematically and logically as follows:-
a) The scope of the subject matter
b) Current performance (problematic) trend
c) Identify possible causes of the opportunity or problem
d) Detail diagnostic to the root cause of the confirmed true causes
Certainly, these steps are performed using common improvement tools include 7-QC tools such as Brainstorming; Data collection; Trend Charting; Fish-Bone Diagram and why-Why Analysis. Team members use these tools selectively to dissect the problem into smaller junks and look at them critically. As expected, team members do not seems to able to grasp the use of these tools effectively. Often than not, team members make conclusion to the "root cause" too soon without factual data to support. The reason for this are several, some of them are as follows:-
a) Team leader dominate in team discussion
b) Some team members used past experience to make conclusion
c) Data collection is tedious
d) Lack data analytical skill
e) Lack focus during brainstorming on possible causes
f) Did not spend enough time to validate the possible causes
g) Too judgmental on the causes
h) Root cause analysis is often skip after possible causes is identified
The IMPROVE phase
There are two steps in this phase, namely; plan the improvement and Implement the improvement plan. Upon completed the Analyse phase, the team members would have some ideas what are some of the causes of the problem. And to some extend, the root causes of the problem is identified. Based on these causes, planning to improve them is the key objective of this IMPROVE Phase. There are several tools involve in doing so, namely:-
a) Brainstorming of action / solution
b) Selection Grid
c) Benchmarking
d) Cost-Benefit Analysis
e) Control lot and testing
f) Pilot the action / solution
g) Force-Field Analysis
h) Prevention Planner
Traditionally, when an action / solution is identified, often than not, they are implemented without considering the risk involved. Sometime when they are implemented, these action / solution causes different set of problem. During my consulting projects, team leaders failed to stay control of the "excitement of success" when action / solution is identified. Risk analysis was not enough or lacking before they are implemented. Some of the difficulties encountered by the team members during this IMPROVE phase are as follows:-
a) Action / solution taken causes other problem (Jump into the action without further evaluation of the risk)
b) Action / solution does not yield long term result (Member got over exited about the action / solution and forgot about the root causes.
c) Line workers refuse to abide to the new action / solution (Focus too much on technical aspect of the action / solution, forgot about the human factor. New action / solution involve change. Managing the change is often neglected)
d) Some action / solution are not carried out as expected
The CONTROL phase
This is the most neglected but critical phase to ensure action / solution put in placed are permanently yield expected results. It cannot be over emphasized the importance of CONTROL. Not only team need to control the improvement result but equally important the action / solution. These are the critical components of the whole Improvement Projects to ensure sustainability of the improvement. However, members tends to keep track of the result without realizing it is the action / solution that bring about the improvement of the results. Besides tracking and monitoring, it is important that new action / solution are standardized across the company with simple yet effective work instructions and Standard Operating Procedures. And they are periodically audited for compliance. That Management team has included these items in their operation review meeting until such a time they feel it is sustainable. They are some basic tools used in this phase, namely:-
a) Trend Charting
b) Control Chart
c) Documentation
d) Audit
e) On-job training
f) Re-certification
During this phase, least difficulties were encountered by team members. Perhaps it was due to the fact that most action / solution are taken placed in the work area they are in charge. However, there are cases where teams are set up for a cross-function project in which action / solution to be taken are in work areas not the responsibility of the team members. In which case, team members faced with the following difficulties :-
a) Action and solution are not carried out consistently
b) Some of the line workers are not aware of the changes
c) Tracking is focus on results but did not extend to the action / solution
The above article is a compilation of issues in several TQM projects facilitated by the author in various manufacturing and service sectors from year 2001 to 2006. These projects are categorized as :-
Sales Improvement Projects such as :-
a) Customer & Market Analysis
b) Reduction in Customer Complaints
c) Production Uptime
d) Delivery Cycle Time
e) Loan Processing
And Cost Reduction Projects such as :-
a) Quality Improvement
b) Process Optimization
c) Increase Boiler Efficiency
d) Reduce Material Losses
e) Reduce Electricity Consumption
f) Reduce Machine Downtime
g) Reduce Repair & Maintenance
h) Reconcile Insurance Policy Premium etc
This article deals with some common difficulties encountered during the implementation of improvement projects with regards to the use of tools, implementing action and solutions, sustaining the effort and so on. However, other aspects not included in this article are management commitment, sustainability and Reward & Recognition.
In summary, the above projects were completed and their duration varied depending on project complexity. Also, the cost of project, improvement and its related cost saving varied too. As an indication, the project saving ranged from few thousand to a million Malaysian Ringgit. Besides these tangible benefits, there are several intangible benefits too. To name a few; team
Learn Marketing in the Truck Stop John
Interstate travel by car continues to evolve as the major truck stops have morphed into multi use convenience stops.Pull you car in to one of these Interstate Stores and you find a multitude of gas pumps for cars, completely separate from the 4 acres of parking for the big rigs.Inside, you might find a franchised fast food outlet (McDonald’s, Subway, Burger King, Popeye etc) Some have more than one. Plus cooler after cooler of soft drinks and exotic elixirs. Plus, the isles and isles of packaged food.If you wander into the chrome and mud flap section you will see every kind of CB radio and antenna on the market as well as truck TVs, DVD layers and hundreds of movies. Some have truck taillights and wiring harness as well as load restraining sticks and tarps.But for the ultimate educational experience for the small business owner, make a fact-finding trip to the toilet!Most big league truck stops use every opportunity to sell you something. Even in the john. There are ads in the stalls, ads over the urinals, ads near the sink. All suggesting additional purchase before you leave
in this phase, namely; plan the improvement and Implement the improvement plan. Upon completed the Analyse phase, the team members would have some ideas what are some of the causes of the problem. And to some extend, the root causes of the problem is identified. Based on these causes, planning to improve them is the key objective of this IMPROVE Phase. There are several tools involve in doing so, namely:-
a) Brainstorming of action / solution
b) Selection Grid
c) Benchmarking
d) Cost-Benefit Analysis
e) Control lot and testing
f) Pilot the action / solution
g) Force-Field Analysis
h) Prevention Planner
Traditionally, when an action / solution is identified, often than not, they are implemented without considering the risk involved. Sometime when they are implemented, these action / solution causes different set of problem. During my consulting projects, team leaders failed to stay control of the "excitement of success" when action / solution is identified. Risk analysis was not enough or lacking before they are implemented. Some of the difficulties encountered by the team members during this IMPROVE phase are as follows:-
a) Action / solution taken causes other problem (Jump into the action without further evaluation of the risk)
b) Action / solution does not yield long term result (Member got over exited about the action / solution and forgot about the root causes.
c) Line workers refuse to abide to the new action / solution (Focus too much on technical aspect of the action / solution, forgot about the human factor. New action / solution involve change. Managing the change is often neglected)
d) Some action / solution are not carried out as expected
The CONTROL phase
This is the most neglected but critical phase to ensure action / solution put in placed are permanently yield expected results. It cannot be over emphasized the importance of CONTROL. Not only team need to control the improvement result but equally important the action / solution. These are the critical components of the whole Improvement Projects to ensure sustainability of the improvement. However, members tends to keep track of the result without realizing it is the action / solution that bring about the improvement of the results. Besides tracking and monitoring, it is important that new action / solution are standardized across the company with simple yet effective work instructions and Standard Operating Procedures. And they are periodically audited for compliance. That Management team has included these items in their operation review meeting until such a time they feel it is sustainable. They are some basic tools used in this phase, namely:-
a) Trend Charting
b) Control Chart
c) Documentation
d) Audit
e) On-job training
f) Re-certification
During this phase, least difficulties were encountered by team members. Perhaps it was due to the fact that most action / solution are taken placed in the work area they are in charge. However, there are cases where teams are set up for a cross-function project in which action / solution to be taken are in work areas not the responsibility of the team members. In which case, team members faced with the following difficulties :-
a) Action and solution are not carried out consistently
b) Some of the line workers are not aware of the changes
c) Tracking is focus on results but did not extend to the action / solution
The above article is a compilation of issues in several TQM projects facilitated by the author in various manufacturing and service sectors from year 2001 to 2006. These projects are categorized as :-
Sales Improvement Projects such as :-
a) Customer & Market Analysis
b) Reduction in Customer Complaints
c) Production Uptime
d) Delivery Cycle Time
e) Loan Processing
And Cost Reduction Projects such as :-
a) Quality Improvement
b) Process Optimization
c) Increase Boiler Efficiency
d) Reduce Material Losses
e) Reduce Electricity Consumption
f) Reduce Machine Downtime
g) Reduce Repair & Maintenance
h) Reconcile Insurance Policy Premium etc
This article deals with some common difficulties encountered during the implementation of improvement projects with regards to the use of tools, implementing action and solutions, sustaining the effort and so on. However, other aspects not included in this article are management commitment, sustainability and Reward & Recognition.
In summary, the above projects were completed and their duration varied depending on project complexity. Also, the cost of project, improvement and its related cost saving varied too. As an indication, the project saving ranged from few thousand to a million Malaysian Ringgit. Besides these tangible benefits, there are several intangible benefits too. To name a few; team
Environmental Level Paying Fields and Mining Issues
With all the environmental controls on mining operations in the United States and the lack of mining controls and other onerous regulations in other countries we have rendered our mining uncompetitive in World Markets. There is no way for a US based mining operation to receive a comparative ROI in within our borders. There are many other factors to consider also, but this is the big one. For instance if your other countries do not have the same rules for environmental controls they can often sell those raw materials to other countries who in turn can sell their finished products, such a specialty alloys, steel, etc. at lower prices than your companies can produce them in the states. Which would appear to be dumping; selling their products for less it costs them to produce them. Many countries prop up such industries with huge tax incentives or subsidizing those industries and/or companies.There are many reasons for this, sometimes it is merely to insure that those companies are in business to sell products to the Countries government agencies for infrastructure projects. Other times it is to appease labo
lected)
d) Some action / solution are not carried out as expected
The CONTROL phase
This is the most neglected but critical phase to ensure action / solution put in placed are permanently yield expected results. It cannot be over emphasized the importance of CONTROL. Not only team need to control the improvement result but equally important the action / solution. These are the critical components of the whole Improvement Projects to ensure sustainability of the improvement. However, members tends to keep track of the result without realizing it is the action / solution that bring about the improvement of the results. Besides tracking and monitoring, it is important that new action / solution are standardized across the company with simple yet effective work instructions and Standard Operating Procedures. And they are periodically audited for compliance. That Management team has included these items in their operation review meeting until such a time they feel it is sustainable. They are some basic tools used in this phase, namely:-
a) Trend Charting
b) Control Chart
c) Documentation
d) Audit
e) On-job training
f) Re-certification
During this phase, least difficulties were encountered by team members. Perhaps it was due to the fact that most action / solution are taken placed in the work area they are in charge. However, there are cases where teams are set up for a cross-function project in which action / solution to be taken are in work areas not the responsibility of the team members. In which case, team members faced with the following difficulties :-
a) Action and solution are not carried out consistently
b) Some of the line workers are not aware of the changes
c) Tracking is focus on results but did not extend to the action / solution
The above article is a compilation of issues in several TQM projects facilitated by the author in various manufacturing and service sectors from year 2001 to 2006. These projects are categorized as :-
Sales Improvement Projects such as :-
a) Customer & Market Analysis
b) Reduction in Customer Complaints
c) Production Uptime
d) Delivery Cycle Time
e) Loan Processing
And Cost Reduction Projects such as :-
a) Quality Improvement
b) Process Optimization
c) Increase Boiler Efficiency
d) Reduce Material Losses
e) Reduce Electricity Consumption
f) Reduce Machine Downtime
g) Reduce Repair & Maintenance
h) Reconcile Insurance Policy Premium etc
This article deals with some common difficulties encountered during the implementation of improvement projects with regards to the use of tools, implementing action and solutions, sustaining the effort and so on. However, other aspects not included in this article are management commitment, sustainability and Reward & Recognition.
In summary, the above projects were completed and their duration varied depending on project complexity. Also, the cost of project, improvement and its related cost saving varied too. As an indication, the project saving ranged from few thousand to a million Malaysian Ringgit. Besides these tangible benefits, there are several intangible benefits too. To name a few; team
Having Your Newsletter Printed Online
Newsletters are a means of communication between a company and its employees, clients, patrons and customers. These are periodically printed updates about products, events and other news about your company. This is a good means of increasing your market exposure. By regularly reminding your market of your presence, you give an impression of consistency and stability.Regular communication builds consumer-producer intimacy. It helps build trust and improves customer relations. By regularly promoting your products, the improvements and updating customers of your services, you give them a sense of reliability. This makes your market more aware of your brand. This is called brand awareness. Brand awareness is a good form of publicity because it attracts more attention and increases the number of your potential clients.Certain things should be taken into consideration when designing a newsletter. Since this will be distributed on a regular basis, it is best if the newsletter's appearance remain consistent. The design should be simple and easy to remember. Think about the articles and the content should
solution are not carried out consistently
b) Some of the line workers are not aware of the changes
c) Tracking is focus on results but did not extend to the action / solution
The above article is a compilation of issues in several TQM projects facilitated by the author in various manufacturing and service sectors from year 2001 to 2006. These projects are categorized as :-
Sales Improvement Projects such as :-
a) Customer & Market Analysis
b) Reduction in Customer Complaints
c) Production Uptime
d) Delivery Cycle Time
e) Loan Processing
And Cost Reduction Projects such as :-
a) Quality Improvement
b) Process Optimization
c) Increase Boiler Efficiency
d) Reduce Material Losses
e) Reduce Electricity Consumption
f) Reduce Machine Downtime
g) Reduce Repair & Maintenance
h) Reconcile Insurance Policy Premium etc
This article deals with some common difficulties encountered during the implementation of improvement projects with regards to the use of tools, implementing action and solutions, sustaining the effort and so on. However, other aspects not included in this article are management commitment, sustainability and Reward & Recognition.
In summary, the above projects were completed and their duration varied depending on project complexity. Also, the cost of project, improvement and its related cost saving varied too. As an indication, the project saving ranged from few thousand to a million Malaysian Ringgit. Besides these tangible benefits, there are several intangible benefits too. To name a few; team member work well together as a team than before, gaining extra understanding to the processes, gain analytical and project improvement skill etc
D.A.I.C. (pronounced as "deck") is the methodology used in the above TQM Improvement projects. It is designed by the author based on a collation of best practices from TQM, Strategic Planning, 6-Sigma, PDCA, 7-QC tools etc . He welcomed feedback from readers of this articles. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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