Archive for September, 2009
Theory of Constraints + Lean + Six Sigma = Ultimate Improvement Cycle
Posted by: | CommentsI was getting to write a blog and was visiting several books I had just completed for some background information. I was distracted and saw that I had a couple of LinkedIn invitations and decided to review them instead. One of the invitations was from Bob Sproull. I stopped a second and looked over at the 2 books on the library table. Yep, I was correct Bob Sproull, author of The Ultimate Improvement Cycle was not only on my library table, but in me inbox as well. Being a marketing guy, I wondered, was this an up-sell! Has the world just gotten this small that as virtual strangers, there can be a connection of interest?
I found Bob’s book looking for the latest material on how the Theory of Constraints was developing. I am sure Bob found me because of my recent blogs on the subject. The likely hood of this development and this connection is highly unlikely, may be as recently as 12 months ago.
What caught my interest in Bob’s book The Ultimate Improvement Cycle is that recently there has been an added push from TOC disciples to bring TOC on an equal playing field as Lean and Six Sigma. I find it interesting because bottlenecks and constraints are an integral part of Lean and Six Sigma training but TOC has never seemed to be on an equal platform.
I had Mark Woeppel of Pinnacle Strategies recently, and he has a whitepaper on this subject. It is available for download on his site. He calls the process TLS, Theory of constraints- Lean-Six Sigma. You can listen to Mark on the Business901 podcast discuss some of the background on his paper. Bob’s book is the first book I have read that specifically addresses the same subject. They take different approaches with similar outcomes. I enjoyed the material in both and encourage you to read them.
The Ultimate Improvement Cycle or UIC makes the contention that without all 3 processes, you will significantly reduce your desired outcomes. Most specifically he addresses the need to work on one constraint at a time and using Lean or Six Sigma to correct the constraint. In theory, I have to agree with him that the constraint must be addresses and am a devout believer of that. He is absolutely right because the weakness of TOC may be in the development of the tools to use to do it. Bob also gives a short primer on each disciple. If you are not knowledgeable in one of the three areas or all of them, I believe it would not be a wasted book. It is not a lean or a six sigma book. It heavily leans, sorry for the pun, towards TOC.
The book is well written, giving you tools, charts and formulas to improve your business without breaking up the flow of the written material. I believe that it will take me several months to fully digest the book. Not that I have to re-read it, but using and putting into practice some of the examples that I will incorporate in my philosophy going forward. I will cite these examples in my blog in the upcoming weeks.
Did you know you could draw your Value Stream Map in Excel
Posted by: | CommentsPeople buy all these different products to do simple drawings for Value Stream Mapping using basic symbols. When they are done, they pull out the Microsoft Excel sheet and do the calculations. Sometimes they are even forced to do create their own formulas. I became familiar with Systems2win and their Value Stream Mapping tool does both, drawings and the calculations. I know that the right tool for the calculations was Excel but drawing with it?
Skeptical,think again. This is the first drawing on Youtube done with Microsoft Excel exclusively. The real amount of time it took was 12 hours and 56 minutes Special thanks to Valentina (Gracias por la paciencia T_T) and Patolín (Saludos a la distancia compadre =D)
Now, all theSystems2win Value Stream Mapping Tool ask you to do is to draw this:
Don’t be embarrassed if you can’t, but why did I ever buy Visio? By the way, some of the best collection of Excel Training videos are bundled on the System2win site along with Kaizen, Lean and Six Sigma tools.
Disclaimer: After I purchased the package, I became an Affiliate.
Lean your Marketing thru Segmentation
Posted by: | CommentsHow do you look at your marketing? Do you know where your leads come from? How are you processing leads to make them successful? In my recent blogs about marketing and the Theory of Constraints, I discussed the connections between each step of the marketing hourglass. Many organizations do not look at their sales and
marketing process in a linear fashion, let alone segmenting it. When organizations first map out the process, they look at connections where people come from being all over the map such as the diagram to the right. They look at a simple chain as an oversimplification of reality. Not everybody goes through each step of the cycle. Some will skip from step one to step three. Someone may enter the cycle in step three. These interconnections are not trivial, it is what makes your process work and it also may be stopping it from working.
So what is the purpose?
Different opportunities, normal variation and changing workforce make it just about impossible to balance everything. There is a weakest link; there is one element in your system more limiting than another. Why is it so important to find that? Without working on your greatest constraint much of your work will be wasted and non-productive. Take a look at the diagram above and see how proper segmentation may alter your perception of the marketing hourglass. As you can see, not all steps may be needed for each and every channel. An excellent example is someone that has been referred to you. With the proper referral program in place, you will know exactly what step in the process that person should enter.
Keep segmenting your list, till you gain a linear flow. Yes, there may be a few exceptions. However, I think it might be interesting to scrutinize those exceptions. Are these exceptions really your target market or ideal client? I think you might find out that they are something less than ideal clients. Whatever you do, don’t ignore the exceptions; they may prove valuable insights to your marketing process. That thought may lead to another discussion.
Related Posts:
Using the Theory of Constraints in Marketing
Identifying your Marketing Constraint
