AAOM Handbook

above, however the chart view has been modified to include a period at the end where the output variation was reduced. This was achieved by improving the management of work, thereby reducing the number of low values but not increasing the maximum value – this is just the type of improvement expected through application of the BPF. The reduction in variation results in a 25% increase in the average output, and there is still probably a lot more improvement available.

It is not uncommon for this type of improvement in average output to accompany a reduction in output variation.

Our goal therefore should be to remove variation, and its attendant losses, from the processes we manage.

Keys to Minimising Variation.

The outcomes produced from any Process are the consequences of what comes into and happens within the process. If the Process inputs and operation are not changed the outputs will not change. This is embedded in the quote from Albert Einstein that the definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. If you want to change the outcome of your work, you have to do something different. The converse of this is that if you want the same outcome, then make sure that you do exactly the same thing over and over again. This is the essence of achieving Process consistency. Statistical Process Control (SPC) theory defines two distinct components of the performance consistency of a Process. These are the Stability and the Capability of the Process.

© McAlear Management Consultants 2005 – 2012

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