Process Analysis and Improvement Information Center: Book Preface


		Table of Contents About the Authors Book Preface



	Student Edition
	Instructor Edition

Process Analysis and Improvement: Tools and Techniques

Marvin S Seppanen, Productive Systems
Sameer Kumar, University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis
Charu Chandra, University of Michigan - Dearborn

ISBN: 0072857129
Copyright year: 2005

Book Preface

All businesses in the twenty-first century are facing ever-increasing consumer expectations. This is true whether the manager or engineer is in charge of a fast food operation, a call center, a health care clinic, a university, or an automotive assembly plant. The consumer wants and expects the product or service to have better quality, ease of use, and lower cost than ever before. The consumer has learned that the marketplaces can deliver more for less and is increasingly demanding it with every purchase decision. The same is true on the business-to-business level, where suppliers are increasingly becoming partners with their customers.

Every business process is sought to be improved or reinvented in order to remain competitive in today’s global environment. New business processes must be designed using the best practices of the past while incorporating the flexibility needed to keep pace with an ever-changing world. A structured approach is required to effectively understand the present processes and then to search for and implement process improvements. The paper, pencil, and file cabinet technology of the past century is being replaced using the personal computer found on the manager’s and engineer’s desk. Unfortunately, the personal computer has yet to become fully integrated into this process analysis and improvement function. This textbook has been developed to start bridging this gap.

Exhibit 1 illustrates the four basic tasks that are fundamental to any structured process analysis and improvement approach.

Exhibit 1 Four basic tasks for process analysis and improvement

The personal computer with currently available software can be central to accomplishing these four tasks. In the past, Management Information Systems were promoted to be the solution to the data side of the process management issue. Even with the introduction of the personal computer to the business world in the 1980’s and networks and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems in 1990’s, most business processes are still waiting for an effective solution. This textbook takes the approach of using software currently available on many desktops and using those tools to develop solutions for today. In the future, these tools and techniques are likely to be integrated into more comprehensive systems, however the power of desktop computer will still be a key component in that evolution.

Target Audience

This textbook is meant to fulfill the needs of senior undergraduate and beginning graduate students and practitioners in technical and managerial fields interested in analytical approaches to process analysis and improvement. The text is designed for a course with a title as: "Process Analysis and Improvement" or "Business Process Redesign" or "Process Mapping and Improvement". This course could be an introductory graduate level course in MBA, Industrial Engineering, Management of Technology, Engineering Management, or the senior design course in Industrial or Manufacturing Systems Engineering undergraduate programs. We assume that students have knowledge of business or engineering statistics, production and operations management, and moderate level proficiency in Microsoft Excel or similar personal computer software.

Our primary audiences for this text are students taking an introductory graduate course in Management Science, Operations Management, and Industrial Engineering programs, where students will gain the necessary personal computer application skills for business process analysis, design, and improvement. Students completing this course will have a high level of Excel application knowledge, moderate proficiency in Visio, and basic understanding of simulation using Arena. Students will also be exposed to interchange of data between applications using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). This is not a computer programming course. This text will enable students to solve complex business problems using popular software tools and solution templates included on the CD-ROM provided with the text.

Secondary audiences are students taking the Process Analysis and Design course from graduate and undergraduate programs in Industrial Engineering, Engineering Management, Manufacturing Systems Engineering, and Management of Technology. We use a case study/project approach in this text to make it also appropriate for senior engineering design courses.

This course could be a prerequisite to an advanced course in discrete-event simulation titled, "Manufacturing System Simulation", "Simulation Software Design", or "Process Simulation of Application in Service Operations."

Subject and Approach

The primary purpose of our textbook is to describe and illustrate how to create an integrated business process analysis and improvement capability using popular software tools – Excel, Visio, Arena, and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). This textbook is designed for learning by doing. A comprehensive CD-ROM accompanies this textbook containing all of the Visio drawings, Excel workbooks, and Arena models covered in the textbook. While a quick reading of the textbook can give the reader an appreciation of the material, learning to use computer based tools and techniques requires considerable practice. The Visio drawings, Excel workbook, and Arena models illustrated in the textbook and contained on the textbook CD-ROM have been carefully designed by practitioners with more than 30 years of experience in using computer based tools. All exhibits illustrated in this textbook are direct copies of the supporting material from the appropriate software source. The textbook CD-ROM provides the student with complete solution templates using the appropriate software tools. Students will use these templates to formulate their own problem solutions. Exercises at the end of each chapter encourage readers to extend their knowledge and skills in using the tools and techniques just presented.

Textbook Features

This textbook demonstrates integrated applications of Excel, Visio, Arena, and VBA for modeling business applications. We use Excel for the analysis and organization of data using spreadsheets, graphs, charts, statistical analysis, and linear / non-linear optimization. Visio is used for process mapping and other graphical applications including office layout and organizational charts. The Arena process simulation software is used to model and understand the operational behavior of complex business systems. Finally, we introduce VBA to provide a method for the automation of applications and the transfer of data between applications. Other salient features of this textbook are described below.

Project Orientation

This textbook offers techniques to apply the tools – Excel, Visio, Arena and VBA – to a Process analysis and Improvement Project, a natural outcome of integration of various topics covered in the entire textbook. We provide the project team with a number of tools and accessories such as, a Gantt chart for a typical one semester student project, examples of successfully completed process analysis and improvement projects, application templates, two service case studies, and a number of applicable manufacturing operations models developed in Arena.

Exhibits

All the illustrations in the textbook are called Exhibits as they represent either an Excel worksheet, a Visio drawing, an Arena model, or VBA editor display. The source worksheets, drawings, and models are included in the textbook CD. As the emphasis of the textbook is computer-based applications, illustrations in the textbook are drawn from Excel, Visio, and Arena software. For maximum benefit the reader must utilize these software tools.

Source Worksheets, Drawings, and Models

For each chapter we have developed an Excel workbook named Chapter x Worksheets.xls and also a Visio drawing file called Chapter x Drawings.vsd. The first sheet in each Excel workbook is named Exhibits. This sheet is an index that links textbook exhibits to Visio pages and Excel worksheets and also lists Arena models and other related files included on the CD for chapter.

Challenge Levels

Some sections of this textbook have been marked as challenge. Those sections may not be of interest to all readers or appropriate for some course work applications. They can be skipped or skimmed over without missing the main flow of the textbook.

Learning Objectives

Each chapter starts with an overview, followed by a concise set of student learning objectives. The chapter provides necessary instructional material including the appropriate computer based applications to achieve student’s learning objectives. Exercises at the end of each chapter are meant to reinforce understanding of the learning objectives.

Instructional Support

The textbook CD-ROM provides PowerPoint transparencies for each chapter which enhance the effective dissemination of topics covered and demonstrate applications utilizing various software tools.

Software Tools

The textbook uses Microsoft Excel and Visio Office XP (Version 10), and Arena (Version 8.0). A demonstration/academic version of Arena 8.0 is provided on the textbook CD courtesy of Rockwell Software.

Case Studies

This textbook provides a number of case studies and industry examples from service and manufacturing sectors where various functions and features of these tools are used. These business system case studies and examples reflect realism from service and manufacturing operations to form the backbone of process modeling and analysis. These case studies enable how to successfully design and improve a business process. We use the above-mentioned software tools with an applications perspective to develop business solutions using concepts and techniques from process management, process flow analysis, and process integration.

Textbook Organization

This textbook is organized in a 12 chapter format for use in a semester long course. Exhibit 2 illustrates the organization of textbook chapters and suggests some potential paths of study.

Exhibit 2: Textbook chapters with suggested teaching flow

One chapter might be covered each week with adequate time for examinations and project presentations. The chapters track a general format of how it works (Chapters 3, 5, and 7) followed by how it is used (Chapters 4, 6, 8). Two introductory case studies are presented in Chapters 1 and 2. The case study in Chapter 2 has sufficient depth to be used as a prototype for student course project. Chapter 10 presents applications in Supply Chain Management. Chapter 11 presents summaries of student projects taken from their actual work experience as practicing managers and engineers. Visio is the focus of Chapters 2 and 3, Excel is the focus of Chapters 4 and 5, and Arena is the focus of Chapters 6 and 7, while VBA is extensively covered in Chapter 8. Because we are attempting to integrate these computer-based tools, some applications of each tool are included in every chapter. Chapter 12 completes the textbook by looking into the future. Some instructors may wish to skip certain material such as, Chapter 8 Visual Basic for Applications: Computer Based Tools Integration. Other instructors may wish to cover Visio or Arena in more depth using the textbook material provided as part of those software packages or widely available in major bookstores. Wherever appropriate, the textbook also references additional material that may be available on the WEB or as part of supporting materials provided with the software.

Chapter 1: Introduction to Process Analysis and Improvement, introduces readers to dynamics of a "new business game" which is shaping organizations. This chapter explains how market forces are pushing businesses toward vertical and horizontal alignments. It describes opportunities for process analysis and improvements in various types of business operations. It also outlines how redesign of existing business processes be approached starting from understanding the components of a simple business process model to process life cycle, identifying opportunities for process improvements, process mapping and analysis, and utilizing computer based tools. A simple but comprehensive example of analysis, design, and optimization of a fast food drive-thru operation is presented to demonstrate the application of the computer based tools and techniques.

Chapter 2: Process Analysis and Improvement Using Visio, describes how business processes can be improved using process mapping and how to construct process map using Visio. This chapter outlines the main features and functions of Visio. The history of process mapping and various process mapping symbols are also reviewed. The goal of this and following chapter is to introduce the reader to the Visio software and move the reader with reasonable computer skills to an intermediate proficiency level for using Visio to graphically analyze processes.

Chapter 3: Applications Using Visio, presents a wide range of graphical process analysis and improvement applications that can be accomplished using Visio. These applications include: Cause and Effect Diagrams, Process Improvement Using Value Analysis, Building an Organization Chart, and Creating an Office Layout, all using Visio.

Chapter 4: Data Management and Analysis Using Excel, presents history of data management and analysis. It also describes how to design functional Excel worksheets, use statistical data analysis and optimization tools, build pivot tables, and develop Excel macros using VBA. The goal of this and following chapter is to move the reader with a basic skill level in using Excel or similar software to an expert proficiency level. The example worksheets and templates are designed to make the reader an every day expert Excel user.

Chapter 5: Applications using Excel, provides templates and detailed examples for using Excel to improve business processes. These applications include: Quality Function Deployment, QFD; Technology Function Deployment, TFD; Six-Sigma; and equipment Operating/Repair Cycles for developing simulation models.

Chapter 6: Process Simulation Using Arena, covers a brief overview of queuing system theory and demonstrates how simple calculations can be made using either Excel or Arena. The basic structure of the Arena Simulation Environment is introduced by covering a simple queuing system model in detail. Sources of additional information are reviewed using the material from the Arena software CD-ROM Examples and Smart Files. The chapter concludes with a review of the basic information required to conduct a successful simulation project. The goal of this and following chapter is to introduce the reader to the Arena software and move the motivated reader with reasonable computer skills to a beginning proficiency level in developing and using discrete event simulation tools.

Chapter 7: Applications Using Arena, presents an extensive set of simulation examples based primarily on manufacturing systems but with relevance to a broader range of applications. This example set begins with a simple single unit and batch production systems and extends those models to include staff scheduling, equipment failures, inspection – rejection – rework, and material handling equipment. The transfer of data to and from worksheets is also demonstrated. The modeling of multiple product flows is presented along with several alternative approaches supported by Arena. The size limitations presented by the Arena academic edition are reviewed along with two modeling techniques that can be used to minimize the impact of those limitations.

Chapter 8: Visual Basic for Applications: Computer Based Tools Integration, introduces to VBA applications, how VBA provides integration between Excel, Visio, and Arena applications. VBA macros are recorded from both Excel and Arena. A VBA based simulation example is presented to read variable data from an Excel workbook.

Chapter 9: Process Analysis and Improvement Application: Customer Service Center, introduces readers to a case study dealing with customer service call center. This chapter lays the groundwork by showing application of the computer based tools and techniques in a popular real life service operation. The process is defined, documented and improved using computer based tools in a step-by-step manner. Collection and organization of data is accomplished by using Excel. Mapping the process is achieved by invoking Visio, and process modeling is demonstrated using Arena discrete event simulation. In addition to the standard Arena edition, the special purpose Arena Contact Center Edition is also demonstrated. This chapter has sufficient depth to be used as a prototype for student course project.

Chapter 10: Process Analysis and Improvement Applications: Supply Chain Management, introduces readers to extended enterprises as companies form global alliances resulting in global supply chains. Competition is now between supply chains rather than between companies. This chapter presents a brief review of supply chain theory, examples of prominent supply chains and the beer game case study to demonstrate building a supply chain model using Excel, Visio, and Arena.

Chapter 11: Student Process Analysis and Improvement Projects, offers summaries of student projects taken from their actual work experience as practicing managers and engineers. This textbook has been designed to support a course where the students spend considerable time analyzing, documenting, and improving an existing business process or design a new process. Past student case studies are included to demonstrate how others have used the computer based tools and techniques to solve real life problems.

Chapter 12: Future of Computer Based Tools for Process Analysis and Improvement, provides a perspective on tools such as, enterprise knowledge base, vendor supplied virtual objects, and seamless integration of various computer based tools in a collaborative environment to facilitate process modeling and optimization.

Course Organization

In order to help instructors to plan a course delivery, Exhibit 3 illustrates a sample syllabus for a semester course based on this textbook. Similarly, Exhibit 4 illustrates a sample outline for 16-hour short course based on this textbook.

Exhibit 3 Semester course syllabus using the textbook

Exhibit 4 16-hour short course outline using the textbook

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