Amy S Friend for STC Spectrum Conference. Reduce the time it takes to do work by analyzing the process and eliminating non-value added time. Cycle time improvement can be applied to business processes to gain results similar to manufacturing.

1. From Epic to Short Story: A
Process To Reduce Cycle
Times

2. Why Do It?
❚ Less people to do the same or more
❚ Less time to get the same amount of work
done
❚ More Competitors

3. Improving Work Processes
❚ “Our ability to make substantial
improvements in overall organizational
performance is largely a function of
process design and our ability to jointly
optimize, integrate,and coordinate all the
components comprising our work
processes” -- Jerry Harbour, 1993

4. What is a process?
❚ A set of interrelated and repeatable steps,
tasks, or work activities
❚ Represents the transformation of specific
inputs into a more valuable specific
outcomes.

5. The Process We Use:
❚ The Systems Model

6. More Detail

7. ❚ Input from Suppliers
❚ Process we follow
❚ Output to our
customers/partners

8. Focus on the Customer
❚ What do our customers need?
❚ How well do we deliver to meet these
needs?
❚ How much of our process would customers
consider value-added?

9. Why Reduce Cycle Times?
❚ Improve customer satisfaction by completing
products earlier and faster
❚ Bring products to market sooner enabling our
company to sell sooner
❚ Reduce costs to our company and our customers
❚ Increase the value-add to the company
❚ More time to do other work
❚ Support company strategies, goals

10. A Process To Reduce Cycle
Time
1. Set scope & scale with customer needs in mind
2. Identify & map your current process
3. Add the times and category for each step
4. Verify actual times for each step
5. Examine your process flow map
6. Eliminate, simplify, & automate steps
7. Develop & implement improvements
8. Verify & maintain improvements

11. 1. Set Scope & Scale with
Customers’ Needs in mind
❚ Customers’ Needs
❚ Scope and Scale
❚ Improvement Goal

12. Focus on Customer Needs

13. Set Scope & Scale: What
are the processes?

14. Cross-functional Process
Relationships

15. Set An Improvement Goal
❚ Where are we now? Baseline current
process.
❚ Where should we be?
❙ How good are comparative operations?
❙ How good are competitors’ operations?
❙ What do customers need?
❚ How big is the gap?
❚ What rate of improvement is needed?

16. 2. Identify & Map Current
Process

17. Identify the steps to do job
❚ Use 1 sticky note for
each step or decision
❚ Include the person and
verb:
“SME reviews first
draft” not “First
review”
❚ Position steps in order

18. Map the Process example

19. 3. Add times and category
to each step
❚ How long does each step take?
❚ How long is the wait time between steps?
❚ How long does the entire process take?

20. Different Types of Time

21. Work Time
❚ No work is done
❚ Time between steps
❚ May be doing work on
a different project
❚ Planned & unplanned
❚ Usually most
significant area of
opportunity to reduce
For example:
❚ Waiting while review
copy is out
❚ Waiting for Printer to
start job, in queue to
be done

22. Transactional Time
❚ Time spent moving the product
along the way
❚ Hand-offs
❚ Moving from one step to
another
❚ Does not make the product into
its final form
❚ Not value-added from
customers’ perspective, may
add value for process owners
❚ Customer not willing to pay
extra for these
Examples:
❚ Reviews
❚ Editing
❚ Mailing drafts to
reviewers
❚ Delivering final drafts
to printer
❚ Making changes after
edits, re-work

23. Transformational Time
❚ Time spent actually
shaping the inputs into
final form
❚ Adds value from
customers’ perspective
❚ Customer willing to pay
more for product after
these steps done
Examples:
❚ Writing documentation
for the first time
❚ Printing materials to be
stocked
❚ Cutting DISCs

24. Total Elapsed Time
❚ The total of work time
+ transactional time +
transformational time
❚ The clock starts when
client submits job and
does not stop until job
is done

25. 10 days
4 hours
3 days
8 hours
2 days 5 days
2 days
3 days 2 days 3 days
2 days
5 days
2 days
Baseline Current Process Flow Map
1 day = 8 hours
Circle = VA Work Time
Square = BVA or NVA Time

26. 4. Verify actual times for each
step
❚ May start with estimates
❚ Determine what a “day” equals, 8 hrs. or
24 hrs.
❚ Add a cover to a job and have each person
add the time they work on the job
❚ Double-check when job submitted and
delivered

27. 5. Examine Process Flow
Map
❚ Gather & add the wait time + work time to get total
elapsed time
❚ Determine Value-Added Ratio
VA Ratio = Total VA Work Time
Total Elapsed Time
❚
❚ Usually .5 to 5% before improvement
❚ 10X goal is 33% to 50% after 3 years

28. Example
❚ Work Time
4 hours CVA
8 hours CVA
1 hour
3 hours
2 hours
6 hours
5 hours
7.5 hours
2 hours CVA
1 hour CVA
40.5 hours with 15 hours CVA
❚ Wait Time
10 days
3 days
2 days
5 days
2 days
3 days
2 days
3 days
2 days
5 days
2 days
39 days
X 8 hours = 312 hours

29. Example: Total Elapsed Time
❚ Work Time + Wait Time =
❚ 40.5 + 312 = 352.5 Total Elapsed Time is
the Baseline
❚
❚ To get to 10X = 35.25 hours

30. Example: Value Added Ratio
❚ VA Ratio = 4 hrs. + 8 hrs. + 2 hrs. + 1 hr.
352.5 hours
❚
❚ VA Ratio = 15 hrs.Total Customer Value Added Work Time
352.5 hrs. Total Elapsed Time
❚
❚ Value Added Ratio Current Process is: .04255 or 4.25%

31. 6. Eliminate, Simplify, Automate
❚ Only in this order!
❚ Waiting time is usually largest portion to try to
eliminate.
❚ Remove the need for transaction steps
❚ Balance customers needs with process steps
❚ Reduce time: if can’t eliminate, can shorten the
time?
❚ Re-sequence the steps
❚ Look to uses of technology to reduce

32. 7. Develop & Implement
Improvements
❚ Map the Future State process map
❚ Identify strategies to transition from
current to future state
❚ Identify obstacles to change
❚ Identify improvement projects
❚ Use metrics to show change
❚ What is the rate needed? Continuous
Improvement or Reengineer?

33. Improved Future-State Process Flow Map
5 days
1 day 2 days
4 hours
1 day
8 hours
1 day
2 days 1 day 2 days
2 days
2 hours
1 day
1 hour
1 day
1 day = 8 hours
Circle = VA Work Time
Square = BVA or NVA Time

34. Practice Exercise
❚ Calculate the new Total Elapsed time
❚ Calculate the new VA Ratio
❚
❚ How much did they reduce Total Elapsed
Time? How about Total Work Time?
❚
❚ Identify what else you might improve?

35. Practice Exercise
Work Time:
❚ 4 hrs.
❚ 1 hrs.
❚ 4 hrs. CVA
❚ 8 hrs. CVA
❚ 5 hrs.
❚ 5 hrs.
❚ 5 hrs.
❚ 2.5 hrs.
❚ 2 hrs. CVA
❚ 1 hr. CVA
❚ Total 37.5 with 15 CVA
Wait Time:
❚ 5 days
❚ 1 day
❚ 2 days
❚ 1 day
❚ 1 day
❚ 2 days
❚ 1 day
❚ 2 days
❚ 2 days
❚ 1 day
❚ 1 day
❚ Total Wait time = 19 days x 8 hrs =
152 hrs.

36. ❚ Total Elapsed Time = 37.5 + 152 = 189.5
❚ VA Ratio = 15 total CVA hrs.
189.5 Total Elapsed Time
❚ VA Ratio = .1675977 or 16.759%
❚ Reduced Total Elapsed from 352.5 to 189.5
or 46.39%
❚ Reduced Total Work Time from 40.5 to
37.5, or 7.41%
❚ What else would you improve?

37. 8. Verify & Maintain the
improved process
❚ Continue tracking
relevant metrics to
ensure improvements
stick
❚ Check that
improvements
continue to meet
customers needs
❚ As new gaps in
customers needs arise,
conduct root causes
analysis to fix
❚ Implement new
improvements as
needed to keep on
track