Editor’s note: The first installment of Scott Cornish’s series on process improvement appeared in the July issue of Newspapers & Technology. In this article, Cornish explains the framework needed to support a process improvement project.

Last month, we covered the terminology used in process improvement with a focus on practical application (see “How to define process improvement,” Newspapers & Technology, September 2006.)

This month, we’ll cover five necessary points and topics we need to consider and get agreement on before we start the project.

First, start with a small project. It should not be too big or too ambitious. It should be big enough, though, that its success would be clearly beneficial to the department and, hopefully, the entire newspaper. To quote Goldilocks; “Not too hot, not too cold, but just right.”

 

You will then progress, gradually, to bigger projects as you pick up confidence, skills and experience.

An analogy is probably in order, which may or may not be completely accurate, but you’ll see the point. I read in a newsletter about the process a tugboat uses to hook itself up to a large ship and then tow it into the harbor. Does the tugboat shoot the massive tow chain itself up and over to the much larger ship? No. That would probably be extremely difficult, if not impossible.

Instead, the tugboat uses a device to shoot a small rope that’s attached to the larger ship. As the rope is reeled in, it gets progressively larger in diameter, until it becomes a full-size chain, which the tugboat uses to tow the ship.

Starting small

Do you see how this relates to a process improvement project? It is important to start small to get the organization comfortable with the investment - and results - of practical process improvement.

After successful completion of the first project, a second, slightly bigger and more ambitious project should be the focus. Then the third project is slightly bigger and so on.

Second, your paper’s top management, both on the news and business sides, must be committed to the project. Not involved. Committed.

The distinction? Here’s how RIT quality improvement instructor John Compton described the difference: “To make a bacon and egg breakfast, the chicken was involved but the pig was committed.” Get the point?

Third, try to find something that “slightly hurts” the organization at this time. A little pain is ideal and for our purposes, it should involve something for which production is directly responsible that affects all the main departments of the newspaper.

One example could be: “How can we reduce the time it takes our pressroom and mailroom to switch from one product to another?” All departments of a newspaper would benefit from that and each should designate someone to represent its interests on the project.

Fourth, set up a system to track the cost of the project before you begin. For the type of basic project you should start with, labor is probably the most costly component.

Other costs

Keep in mind that costs span beyond the time participants meet for the project. You must budget the additional time that will be needed to perform various project tasks. This will vary greatly, depending upon each individual’s responsibility.

Last, it is important to remember that, depending upon the job assignment of each participant, you may need to cover the extra cost of someone to “fill in” for project team members while they work on the project.

(Editor’s note: In a future article, Cornish will cover techniques and tools that accurately document and present the revenue increases or cost savings that will result from a process improvement project.)

Fifth, review team size and skills. I’m not going to go into the psychology of team dynamics, or other topics such as the four stages of a team. These concepts are important, but are beyond the scope of this series of articles. You can find more information about these ideas on the Web.

Instead, I would like to suggest that for your first project, you keep the team small, no more than four or five individuals, and involve the areas “touched” by the process you want to improve.

Ideally, the team should have someone from each department affected by the project.

In addition to the department expertise each participant should bring, the team should have at least one member with skills in each of the following general areas: coordination, documentation, basic statistical analysis and flow mapping.

Next month, we’ll start with the common methodologies. The Six Sigma approach, encompassing define, measure, analyze, improve and control (DMAIC), will be the basis for the framework we will use.

But our approach, as always, will be to “keep it practical.” That means we will pick and choose from some of the other methodologies as appropriate. 

Finally, as I did in the first two articles, I’d like to end with something appropriate to process improvement but different from the topic under consideration. This month I’d like to end with a quote:

 “There is a huge difference between ‘the best that money can buy’ and ‘the best value for the dollar.’ Knowing which is most important to the customer is crucial.”

-Anonymous

We need to keep this concept in mind as we get deeper into our process improvement projects.

That becomes even more important as you deal with such process improvement trends as “exceeding customer expectations.”

Is this an appropriate approach to take?

My opinion: It’s not appropriate in any case.

Why? Your newspaper serves various clients, consumers and customers. They all demand and expect the best value for the dollar. That’s fair, and if you can’t meet that standard, you’re not going to be publishing a newspaper for too long.

If you take the “exceeding customer expectations” approach literally and give them the best that money can buy, you are leaving money on the table. Another term for that is over-engineering the product, and that doesn’t make sense (or cents) to me.

Additionally, you’ve now raised the bar; your new level will be table stakes in their eyes. If you don’t hit that level with every issue, every single day, you have now created a problem you didn’t need to have in the first place.

Scott Cornish has more than 20 years’ experience in production and quality assurance at newspapers large and small. He can be contacted via e-mail at scott@practicalprocessimprovement.com.