Question

• Per Hoerl and Snee (2012), to eliminate or reduce non-value-added work is a core step in improving profitability or efficiency of the business process. Give your opinion on whether you agree or disagree with this statement and include one example of a business process which supports or criticizes the aforementioned statement to support your position.

Answer 1

Answer-

Our discussion board states per Hoerl and Snee (2012), to eliminate or reduce non-value-added work is a core step in improving the profitability or efficiency of the business process. I agree that this is a true statement of a core step. Some many different facets and features make up the work required in most operations. On rare occasions, you will find a situation that doesn’t add up when you compare the value level of work with direct correspondence of efficiency and profit, but in most cases, you will see a direct relation.

In Lean Six Sigma, you are taught many ways of improving efficiency and output while building a cohesive environment that continues to grow and excel. One high-level view of a process under Lean Six Sigma is the SIPOC model that represents Suppliers, Input, Process, Output, and Customers. The Supplier being the person or organization that provides input to a process. The Input is a resource that is added to the root process by a supplier. The Process is a series of steps where the invert converts to the output. The Output is a resource that as a result of the process. A Customer is a person or organization that receives the product or the services.

One example of a business process that supports my position is using the Lean Six Sigma SIPOC process and improving each area under the SIPOC model to its best results for output to the customer. In reducing variations, our text tells us to reduce the common cause and special-cause variations. “Special-cause variation is outside the normal or typical variation a process exhibits. Normal or typical variation is called common-cause variation.

By studying the SIPOC of a process, common cause variations are easily located and benchmarked to make adjustments. Special-cause variation can be much harder to track down and understand due to atypical situations, processes, short-term, and unique situations.

An example would be a sandwich shop running short of supplies one week and not having a delivery available until later in the week, would spend a far more excessive amount on supplies locally purchase because of the special-cause scenario. Because special-cause variation is atypical, it’s root causes can be eliminated without changing the process but can make processes unstable. Our statistical thinking and use of improving processes such as using the SIPOC model to research, collect, report, and improve processes will always lead to greater results in business.