NVA - Overproduction or Overengineering

Over production or over engineering are considered a non-value add and a waste. When we try to add unnecessary steps to a process or make it more complicated than it is required we are creating more chances of creating defects in our work.

Photo Courtesy: Stephen w morris

A few examples are

1. Having too many slides in a presentation. You loose the audience and are unable to get the right message across.
2. Too many and too long reports - are you sending reports that take just too long to create and no one really looks at it? Then maybe its time to stop doing it.
3. Creating too many copies of a report - are you customizing the report so much that you are creating multiple copies. Then look at how you can combine them. The more copies you have the more place you have to make updates where there are changes and the higher the likelihood of creating defects.
4. Rewriting steps of a test cases - Are you writing the same steps several times in several places? If yes then try to create a test that can be called often. This will save a lot of maintenance time.

NVA - Defect or Rework

In my previous post I talked about customer value add and talked about non value add (NVA).
D.O.W.N.T.I.M.E is the word I used to talk about waste. The first one in the downtime is Defects or rework.

Customers don't pay us for rework. They don't expect defects and when they do find defects they are unhappy. To increase customer satisfaction we have to focus on preventing defects.

What can we do to reduce defects and rework?

Photo Courtesy: Michael Jastremski via openphoto

Its "self certification".

If I can certify my work then I can reduce the number of defects that escape. If business analysts make sure their requirements are accurate, software engineers make sure their code is unit tested and software testers can make sure they have good coverage during testing there are chances of fewer defects will escape to the customer.

To reduce waste and create more value to customer lets start looking at our work and see how we can reduce rework and defects. We can do this one step at a time.

Its All About Customer Value Add

Customer value add tasks are those tasks that a customer is willing to pay for. On a daily basis we maybe be doing several activities or tasks and some of them are tasks that business requires us to do and are referred to as business value add. There are some tasks that just don't add any value. These are called non value add. In lean six sigma concept business value add is also considered to be non value add. Eliminating waste/non-value add will save our customer money and also create a better return on investment.


Photo Courtesy: Chesi - Fotos CC


What are some forms of waste or non-value add?

D.O.W.N.T.I.M.E

• Defects or Rework
• Overproduction
• Waiting (Idle Time)
• Non-Value Added Processing
• Transportation
• Inventory
• Motion
• Employees Under Utilized

What can we do to add value to the customer? Look at everything we do on a daily basis and ask does this add any value for the customer. If they knew you were doing this would they pay for it? I will get into the details of each waste in my next post.

SOP - Its Really About Quality

Most dictionaries define Standard Operating Procedure as

• Established procedure to be followed in carrying out a given operation or in a given situation.
• A specific procedure or set of procedures so established.

What does SOP mean?

SOP is a written document detailing steps or activities for a certain process. SOP can be created for any existing or new process. This document helps standardize the process. The goal is to really do the job same way every time we do it.

Why create SOP?

• It details the activities that need to be performed and so there is a common understanding of the process among the people involved.
• Someone new to the position will perform the same task the same way as someone who has been in the job.
• It ensures the process is performed the same way on a continuous basis.

How to create SOP?

• Start with the team who is involved in the process. Include people who will be performing the job to gain insight and details that might get missed.
• Document current state of the process in the sequence it occurs.
• Document terminologies and define them so there is no ambiguity.
• Review the document with the team and get sign off.
• Maintain the document and review on a continuous basis.
• Establish a system for distribution and sign off when changes occur.

Bottom line: SOP are an integral part of creating quality systems. It provides information to perform a job consistently and properly. To get to a good quality output we have to have inputs that are predictable. For example I asked 10 non-testing people at work "What is regression testing?

Each one had a different understanding. One person said its "100% testing of everything" Another individual said "its automated testing". We have a Software Quality Control Handbook that defines our testing terminology but that is a document that we use internally. We also have explained regression testing to some extend in our Test Plan. This test plan is reviewed before every release. So then why is there a lack of understanding?

Well we haven't spent the time with the team to go over the process steps. We didn't define terms with context to the process steps involved within testing group. With a Lean Six Sigma project I am currently working on I am hoping to define the testing process and create an SOP that would make our lives a lot easier than it is today.

What this will then do is help with setting the right expectations from our testing processes and we can deliver a product that is tested and meets the expectations of the project team. Right now they expect us to test everything and catch all defects. Sure we did love to do that and then we would never have a release for any of our products.

Mistake Proofing - Poka Yoke

"Your ability to mistake-proof of a process is only limited by your own lack of imagination." Shigeo Shingo

Last week I was at week 2 lean six sigma training and learnt a concept that really made me think of my job differently. In testing we at times look for bugs and we also do activities that are risk based. For risk based activities we look at the risks that can occur and how we can test or plan for it during testing.
The other side to a defect is how to mistake proof it in such a way that if the defect does occur how do we prevent or detect it. Its a back up of a back up - Poka Yoke.

Poka Yoke is Japanese for mistake proofing. It is the creation of devices that either prevent special causes that result in defects or inexpensively inspect each item produced to determine whether it is acceptable or defective.

When this topic was introduced in class I was thinking oh this is hard. I didn't understand it. Then the instructor gave examples. Automobile air bags - yes this is poka yoke. If the customer does have an accident then the car is helping reduce the impact. Another good example is auto door lock, seat belt warning, etc.

What is really happening in these cases are that a tester is being sent with every product. He or she warns the customer when a defect is occurring or going to occur. There are some cases where the customer can override it. Example of this is where you get a spell check error and you can still choose to over write it and use the different spelling than what is being recommended. When closing a word file a message is displayed do you want to save the file before closing and its up to the customer or end user to choose one option or the other.

After the class was completed we were given an assignment to come up with as many poka yoke's we can see around us. We all went home thinking this is hard we don't see as many of these mistake proofing as we think. Next morning we all came up with 200 poke yoke's between 11 class participants.

Its really everywhere....My favorites from the class

1. Garages have car clearance limits and have a height check before the cars go into the garage
2. Dryer/washer switch off when the doors are open
3. Garage doors do not close if there is an object that obstructs its closing path
4. Drop downs for most online applications have a state drop down
5. You have to enter email addresses twice when signing up online
6. ABS (anti lock braking system)
7. Bathroom sink have a little hole at the top of the sink to prevent overflows
8. Iron's auto switch off
9. Auto sensor lights/flushes
10. Keys enter the key hole only certain way

I love this concept and will be thinking of how to use this in our day to day activities be it how I write test plans, test cases or do my testing. After all I have to think of our customers everyday and add value for them.

Friday's Musings - Process Improvement

For the past few weeks I have been busy trying to find a project for my six sigma training scheduled in Feb. I have been looking at various processes within our testing team to see which one could be a good candidate for my project. This is not as easy as I thought it would be.

Yes we see a lot of broken processes and we think something is broken, needs improvement, needs help, needs fixing, etc. But when we starting digging deeper into the issues we see that what we think is the problem is not always the real problem. The problem maybe visible at certain points of the process but in reality the domino effect started somewhere else and the real trick is to find that origin of the problem.

So before we start digging we really have to do the ground work. Its not always easy to say yes I want to reduce the time it takes for testing an application. Well then how much time should it take? Who decides that? Same with we find too many defects or too less defects... well then who defines how many defects is good enough?
I don't have the answer to these questions and I don't have a project defined yet. I will be working the next few weeks to define it and I am sure my readers will hear about it. So for now I leave you all with

1. Problems are not easy to define, especially if its gut feelings and not real data.
2. Everyone has an opinion on why things are broken but as six sigma practitioners we have to learn to take the weed out and look at the data for answers.
3. Questions lead to more questions and there is no easy way out.

Signing off with the hope 2011 will give me more answers than questions for my project.