Supply Chain
The Senator’s Mail(Revised, 10/20/2022)
1. Assignment: To get started, draw a Pareto chart based upon the results of the survey.
Which of the three types of errors should be targeted first? (HINT: Only compare the errors on the Pareto chart; do not include the 76 respondents who indicated “no problem”.)
To begin any process improvement effort, it is usually a good idea to draw a flow chart of the process in question.
2. Assignment: From the description given above, sketch a flow diagram of the “issue” mail process in Senator Blah’s office. This chart should show each activity (like
scanning paper mail), storage location (mail waiting to be processed), and decision point (like deciding on a response), which is described or implied by the above
description, as a separate step (using a rectangle, triangle, or diamond, as
appropriate).
Given your flow chart, think about how you would go about using the rest of the tools of process improvement (Text Chapter 12, Analytical Tools for Six Sigma, pages 351-354) to find and correct the root causes of these apparent problems. DO NOT attempt to state possible solutions; you cannot propose possible solutions because the exercise does not give you enough information to do so. Instead, consider how you would use the tools in order to develop the
needed, detailed information, from which possible solutions could be developed and tested.
As a first step, look at your flow chart and decide where in the process it is possible to make a mistake that could result in the most frequently occurring type of error (that you identified in question 1).
3. In-Class Exercise only: You can now (1) create a cause and effect diagram, with the effect being the type of error. Next, (2) describe how you would determine which
point(s) in the process accounts for most of the errors. Then (3) describe how you
would go about identifying and eliminating the root cause of the errors at that point in
the process.
