Steady State Trial

["John McConnell" <wysowl@msn.com.au>]

Vic Forte wrote:

When you say "you'll start with an approach that has been working well for
me" - what is it that you are starting ? Assuming that what we are starting
is some sort of process. Could we perhaps
be a little clearer about the aim of our process ?  Secondly - who might the
customers of this process be? Who is it for ?  And then finally. Is there
any way that we might be able to gauge as we go
along whether we are succeeding in what we are trying to do ?

The Process is a Steady State Trial.  The aim is to reduce variation.  The
customers are twofold, my clients and their customers. The benefits are
improved quality, reduced cycle time, less Work In Progress and higher
volume output.  (A natural consequence is that costs fall if variation is
successfully reduced).  Measuring progress is simple, we plot on control
charts the quality characteristics, the key process parameters, and any two
of volume output, WIP and cycle time (if we know two, we can calculate the
third).

Vic also wrote:

As far as I can tell from your message, the process seems to be "couching
part of the discussion in a practical light" and the benefit to be "it seems
like a good idea". Could we be a little clearer about what it is we are
doing, and why ?

The aim here is the same as the aim of the DEN.  I had assumed that most of
us participating in the DEN had this as our aim.

Cheerio!

John McConnell