Process improvement strategies and implementation methods

Operations Management

Process Improvement at Riordan Manufacturing

The international organization for standardization publishes a wide variety of standards relevant for different industries, processes and products. Founded in 1926 as the International Federation of the National Standardizing Associations (ISA), the organization was disbanded during the Second World War, after reforming in 1946 it has become the global authority on standards supported by more than 2,700 technical committees (ISO, 2013). The standards are published and available for all firms, a firm may use the standards to make improvements, and once they believe compliance has been met they may apply for certification. Certification will act as an assurance to customers regarding the quality of the products or process used by the supplier.

Looking at Riordan Manufacturing there are several different standards which may be applied. There are standards for the products, such as, but not limited to, ISO 5136:2003, ISO 5136:2003 and ISO 13347-3:2004 dealing with acoustics and sound levels, ISO 13347-1:2004 for power levels, ISO 14695:2003 for vibration and ISO 12499:1999 for safety.

However, as Riordan want to improve the entire supply chain management process and improve efficiency, these ISO's all deal with specific areas of production, an ISO which focuses on the process with a broader approach may be advisable. This may be satisfied with ISO 9001:2008, which is a generalized standard applicable to all industries, laying down the requirements and standards for quality management of processes. Therefore, it is recommended that ISO 9001:2008 is adopted.

Slide 3

Six Sigma is a total quality management tool; it has received less attention compared to many other tools as it is based on statistical analysis. A statistical analysis is used to identify where there are faults or flaws, where the process is not performing at perfection. The areas where there is a divergence from the desired outcomes can then be examined to identify why there is a divergence and assess how that divergence may be decreased (Breygogle et al., 2001).

Different approaches to implementation of 6 Sigma exist, DMIAC is one of these, with the different stages being define, measure, analyze, design and verify.

Slide 4

The definition of the issue for Riordan is how to improve the supply chain. It is a key aspect of the firms' ability to manufacture fans, if there are delays in the supply of goods there will be delis in manufacturing. As the firm has a level supply strategy for the majorly of the products, and goods are supplied out of stock when they are ordered, a delay due to supply chain issues may create delays in supplying customers,. Furthermore, to overcome this, the firm may need to invest more in inventory to ensure they have the inputs.

To make an improvement it is necessary to establish where there is an issue, and the level of the performance or divergence. The only receives 93% of input material on time form their suppliers.