As a company grows and matures from a startup entrepreneurial venture to a sustainable corporation, the departments and company services that begin as good ideas expand and evolve to support the company’s growing business. Many times these services simply develop without any strategic vision resulting in institutionalized behaviors that are incompatible with the company’s business goals and objectives. Consequently, the transition to a larger corporation becomes a challenge. A notable example is a company’s Engineering Services Department. When people think of Engineering Services, the Customer Support or Help Desk team is what first comes to mind. However, other services such as Product Training, Field Services (product installation and troubleshooting), and Engineering Sales Support may be provided as well. As a product development company begins selling product, the Customer Support function becomes one of its first service offerings whether or not it recognizes it as such. In addition, it is natural for the focus of the Customer Support function to be on pleasing their customer base, as many sales are contingent upon repeat business and word of mouth until the company and its product line become established in the marketplace. Nevertheless, without a clear idea of its charter and strategic direction to support business growth and identify new markets and service offerings, the Customer Support Specialists focus instead on supporting their customer base on non-company and non-product issues and questions that consume internal resources without any tangible benefit to the company. Once a company starts banging its head on the “glass ceiling” as it attempts to grow, the leadership may recognize that its current Engineering Services approach does not support its strategic business goals and objectives. In these circumstances, the company is not necessarily interested in implementing the CMMI for Services (CMMI-SVC) and becoming appraised to either Maturity Level 2 or Maturity Level 3. However, by using the Continuous Representation, the CMMI-SVC can provide the needed guidance to help a company restructure and reorganize its Engineering Services approach in order to become a profit center or revenue generating function. In this presentation, we will present a case study for OMNI Flow Computers, Inc., a company that specializes in the design, development, and manufacture of panel-mount multi-run, multi-tasking liquid and gas flow computers, and field-mount, hazardous area controllers/RTUs for liquid and gas custody transfer metering systems. The challenge facing OMNI was to develop its Engineering Services Department into a high-functioning, customer-driven profit center. OMNI’s Engineering Services Department consists of three groups: Customer Support, Training, and Engineering Field Services. Customer Support handles customer questions, concerns, and issues. The Training group provides training on the OMNI product line to its customers and users. Engineering Field Services provides on-site troubleshooting services on an as-needed basis. As the Training and Engineering Field Services groups were recent additional capabilities, Customer Support presented the biggest obstacle to overcome. Noted management consultant Peter Drucker declared several years ago that Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the client or customer gets out of it. Moreover, an obstacle to achieving this objective was one of the core challenges faced by the department: developing an appropriate customer focus and developing new service offerings. A major reason for these challenges is the nature of OMNI products. OMNI's customers integrate their products into custody transfer systems that involve a wide variety of large-scale hardware and electronic equipment from other manufacturers. OMNI’s customers usually develop and commission these systems for their clients and end users. Therefore,

1. Using
the
CMMI-­‐SVC
to
Transform
an
Organiza8on
into
a
High-­‐Func8oning,
Customer-­‐Driven
Profit
Center
Henry
Schneider/PPQC
Dan
Stoller/OMNI
2010
SEPG
Savannah,
Georgia

2. Agenda
 Background
 OMNI
Overview
 Issues
with
Delivering
Engineering
Services
 ISO
9000
Limita8ons
Regarding
Services
 How
CMMI-­‐SVC
Applied
 Results
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3. Background
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4. Many
companies
begin
with
a
great
idea
for
a
product
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5. ®2009
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and
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5

6. ®2009
***Proprietary***
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Process
and
Product
Quality
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6

7. Case
in
Point
–
OMNI
Flow
Computers
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8. ®2009
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Quality
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8

9. ®2009
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and
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Quality
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9

10. ®2009
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and
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11. ®2009
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12. Issues
with
Delivering
Engineering
Services
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13. Organiza8on
Structure
Each
group
has
a
different
Job
Descrip>ons
wriEen
based
on
customer
focus,
but
must
work
what
someone
was
currently
Engineering
performing
in
their
assigned
job
together
to
provide
a
value-­‐ Services
role(s),
not
on
the
expecta>ons
for
added
customer
experience
the
job
role
Return
Material
Customer
Support
Field
Services
Training
AuthorizaCon
Provide
product
Provide
product
Provide
help
desk
Provide
product
warranty,
troubleshooCng
services
training
services
replacement,
services
repair
services
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14. Engineering
Services
Strengths
 Great
customer
service
 Strong
technical
background
and
exper8se
 Field
Services
Technicians
duplicate
customer’s
problems
in-­‐house
before
going
on-­‐site
 Students
are
tested
to
determine
what
they
have
learned
during
a
product
training
class
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15. Engineering
Services
Issues
 Engineering
Services
evolved
without
an
overall
strategy
 Issues
with
capturing
and
tracking
customer
inquiries
 Mul8ple
databases
and
systems
in
use
 Lack
of
formal
training
for
Field
Services
technicians
 Returned
items
diagnosed,
repaired,
and
returned
to
the
customer,
some8mes
taking
months
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16. ISO
Limita8ons
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17. ISO
9000
Limita8ons
Regarding
Services
 Per
ISO
9000:2008
(clause
7.2.1(a))
 Service
items
are
called
“post-­‐delivery
acCviCes”
 ISO
limita8ons
 Post-­‐delivery
acCviCes
should
be
treated
as
any
other
product
requirement
and
be
included
in
new
product
development
 Does
not
work
when
Services
ARE
the
product
 Standard
does
not
provide
guidance
for
providing
Services
 Hence
the
need
for
another
model,
standard,
or
guideline
for
delivering
Services
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18. CMMI-­‐SVC
to
the
Rescue!
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19. How
CMMI-­‐SVC
Helped
 OMNI’s
primary
focus
is
on
obtaining
and
maintaining
cer8fica8ons
for
the
world-­‐wide
standards
necessary
for
their
industry
 Did
recognize
the
need
for
guidance
for
delivering
Engineering
Services,
but
not
interested
in
being
appraised
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20. How
CMMI-­‐SVC
Helped
 Many
of
the
Specific
Prac8ces
in
the
Maturity
Level
2
and
3
Process
Areas
provided
the
needed
guidance,
but
not
the
whole
model
 Service
Delivery,
Incident
ResoluCon
and
PrevenCon,
Service
ConCnuity,
and
Strategic
Service
Management
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21. Service
Delivery
 Provided
necessary
guidance
for
Engineering
Services
to
document
its
exis8ng
service
offerings,
ensuring
that
each
group
was
prepared
to
deliver
the
defined
service
offerings,
and
delivering
the
services
 SP
1.2
Establish
and
maintain
the
service
agreement
 SP
2.1
Establish
and
maintain
the
approach
to
be
used
for
service
delivery
and
service
system
operaCons
 SP
3.1
Receive
and
process
service
requests
in
accordance
with
service
agreements
 SP
3.3
Maintain
the
service
system
to
ensure
the
conCnuaCon
of
service
delivery
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22. Incident
Resolu8on
and
Preven8on
 Provided
necessary
guidance
for
iden8fying,
documen8ng,
tracking,
repor8ng,
and
resolving
customer
complaints,
issues,
and
other
service
interrup8ons
 SP
2.1
IdenCfy
incidents
and
record
informaCon
about
them
 SP
2.2
Analyze
incident
data
to
determine
the
best
course
of
acCon
 SP
2.5
Monitor
the
status
of
incidents
to
closure
and
escalate
if
necessary
 SP
2.6
Communicate
the
status
of
incidents
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23. Service
Con8nuity
 Provided
the
necessary
guidance
to
focus
the
Engineering
Services
Department
Manager
to
iden8fy
and
priori8ze
the
essen8al
func8ons
and
necessary
resources
 SP
1.1
IdenCfy
and
prioriCze
the
essenCal
funcCons
that
must
be
performed
to
ensure
service
conCnuity.
 SP
1.2
IdenCfy
and
prioriCze
the
essenCal
resources
required
to
ensure
service
conCnuity
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24. Strategic
Service
Management
 Provided
the
necessary
focus
for
establishing
Engineering
Services’
strategic
needs
and
plans
for
standard
services
 SP
1.2
Establish
and
maintain
plans
for
standard
services
 SP
2.2
Establish
and
maintain
descripCons
of
the
organizaCon’s
defined
standard
services
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25. An
Example
Improvement
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26. Former
Inquiry
Process
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and
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27. Proposed
Inquiry
Process
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and
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28. Results
and
Next
Steps
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29. Preliminary
Results
-­‐
1
#
of
Inquiries
Issued
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Number
of
new
inquiries
per
month
remains
fairly
constant
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30. Preliminary
Results
-­‐
2
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
#
Open
60
#
Closed
40
20
0
Inquiries
are
being
closed
at
a
faster
rate
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31. Preliminary
Results
-­‐
3
ES
Inquiry
Average
Days
Open
250
200
150
100
50
0
Average
#
of
days
for
an
open
inquiry
has
dropped
by
57%
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32. Preliminary
Results
-­‐
4
Average
of
All
ES
Inquiries
(Open
and
Closed)
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Average
number
of
all
inquiries
has
dropped
by
43%
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33. Explana8on
of
Improvement
 Measurements
are
being
taken,
analyzed,
and
communicated
 Inquiry
process
has
been
improved
 Daily
team
meeCngs
to
discuss
new
and
open
inquiries
 Close
the
inquiry
when
a
customer
receives
an
answer/
resoluCon
 Reopen
the
inquiry
if
a
customer
responds
with
a
quesCon
or
addiConal
informaCon
 Staff
has
been
trained
to
reduce
dependency
on
key
“knowledge
masters”
within
OMNI
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34. Accomplishments
-­‐
1
 Job
Descrip8ons
have
been
wrijen
to
document
the
expecta8ons
for
each
manager
and
technical
job
role
 Customer
issue
data
are
now
fed
to
the
appropriate
department
for
resolu8on
 Product
issue
and
enhancement
data
are
now
forwarded
to
Product
Development
for
considera8on
in
future
releases
 Management
now
has
insight
into
Engineering
Services
work
levels
and
issues
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35. Accomplishments
-­‐
2
 Goals
established
for
different
service
performance
levels
and
Engineering
Services
personnel
are
working
towards
mee8ng
those
goals
 Training
evalua8on
data
are
used
to
drive
improvements
in
training
materials
and
delivery
 Complaint
data
are
now
reviewed
and
analyzed
to
determine
service
improvements
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36. Next
Steps
 Establish
and
plan
an
Engineering
Services
departmental
budget
 Evaluate
Engineering
Services
job
descrip8ons
 Establish
a
training
program
to
bring
staff
knowledge
up
to
required
proficiency
levels
BOTTOM
LINE
CMMI-­‐SVC
can
be
very
effec8ve
in
helping
an
organiza8on
to
rapidly
achieve
improvement
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