Visual Management (Service Industries)

Visual Management (Service Industries)

Visual Management is a very effective operations management system. Visual Management sets up the environment (office, service center, etc.) into an environment where man, machine, material, method and environment are harmoniously organized. Visual Management compliments many other total quality management methods because the workflow is optimized according to the least resistance for people doing work. Since people will always find the easiest path of work, Visual Management is the workflow method of choice by employees.

Advantages

• A Visual Management
• No capital cost involved
• Homely working environment
• Safer working environment
• Saves work place
• Easy to see service delivery
• Satisfaction notes from employees

Your Problem

In most organizations, people find it hard to work together because they are all entrenched in a circle that depends on the processes before or after their own. In fact employees are too busy for any improvement. The fact remains nobody comes to work thinking that " Today, I want to make some nonconformance ". Even when people want to work smoothly they are restrained by the system. Since the system evolved over a long period of time, under different managers, engineers or supervisors, it is bound to be inefficient and cannot be handled by any one person or department. The result is: people are demotivated in a system that prevents change.

Our Solution

If management does not facilitate a clear work method for all tasks, employees will find an alternative solution. Therefore, it is paramount to provide a service environment (operating procedure, service delivery, etc.) that allows the easiest work execution. Anything else must be more difficult. Then, and only then, will employees stay within the service delivery specification. Belmah Strategies can provide this environment through our Visual Management consisting of the following steps.

1. 5S Housekeeping

Often the first step towards Visual Management is the conversion: workplace like home based on 5S Housekeeping. When management converts the workplace to a place like home the immediate result is: employee willingness for further improvement . This happens because; it is comfortable to do work. 5S Housekeeping is based on the Japanese housekeeping practice. Housekeeping is necessary to ensure a clean and orderly working environment with a highly visible management. With 5S Housekeeping, you can convert an untidy workspace into an efficient work place. 5S Housekeeping stands for:

• Service encounters:
  
  
  • Hospital: I arrived at a big and well-known hospital to visit a relative in the critical care unit. The receptionist's desk was cluttered with patient records, etc. I asked for my relative's room and the receptionist fumbled all over the desk to find the patient's room.
    
    
  • Restaurant: While dining at a restaurant I had to go to the toilet. The path to the toilet was meandering with lots of tools and equipment stored along the way. Inside, the toilet was a storeroom for detergents, mops and brushes, etc. The toilet itself was in such a state, I came out, paid and left - and never turned back.
    
    
  • Civil Service: I submitted my application for a training program to the council. The officer accepted my proposal and placed it at the bottom of a foot high stack of other priorities. "I will process it as soon as possible" he said.

2. Service Flow Line

Once there is a clean environment, the next step is to improve the service flow line. We make it easy to work. Less carrying of things, less moving around, less steps and a very ergonomic service flow line. For managers, the service delivery line is easy to see. There is no need for lengthy reports and long meetings. Service delivery is visual and process constraints are very visual so action can be taken quickly. Often there is a significant freeing up of space.

• Service encounters:
  
  
  • Hospital: Equipment is stashed away in a small room. If you needed the trolley or wheelchair, it would be a maneuver to get it out in a rush.
    
    
  • Restaurant: The food collected from the kitchen and the used dishes from the dinner table both go in and out of the kitchen through the same door with high risks of bumping into each other. "Oops - that was close" but nothing further is done!
    
    
  • Civil Service: I collected a form on the third floor in Block Two and then walk down the corridor, down several flights of steps to get it stamped on the ground floor. I had to make a photocopy on the forth floor and finally bring it back for submission to the third floor.

3. Staging Elimination

When the service delivery flow line is achieved, staging is almost automatically eliminated! Hard to believe, but true. When staging is eliminated cycle time is reduced. Service delivery is also more sequential. Traceability is also obvious.

• Service encounters:
  
  
  • Bank: I arrived at a bank to send a money order. My application was processed in batches. The clerk passed my application to the senior clerk who then passed it on to the chief clerk before it could be approved.
    
    
  • Civil Service: I applied for renewal of my passport. I first had to take a number. When my number was called, I submitted my old passport. An officer checked it and placed it in a tray with others. Once there were about 5 passports, the tray was passed to the next officer. He called my number and asked for my Identity Card. He checked it and attached it with my passport and again, he collected about 5 passports before he passed it to the next officer. The next officer asked me to pay a certain fee for the processing. He gave me a small slip and asked me to pay at the next counter - when my number was called. Finally, I got the receipt for payment that I had to pass to the officer before my passport was accepted for renewal. Finally, I was asked to come back two weeks later to collect my new passport – which I started with a new number queue.

4. Service Invariance

When staging is eliminated (or reduced) delivery can be made more consistent so there is less service variation. Consequently, service quality becomes more consistent and there is reduced waste.

• Service encounters:
  
  
  • Restaurant: I went for lunch in a popular restaurant and thought the food was good. So I took my friends for a dinner. It turned out to be a bad mistake because the day chef was different from the night chef and each had his own way of doing the dishes.

5. Equipment Maintenance

Often service delivery depends heavily on equipment, e.g. a courier service depends on delivery vans, a hotel depends on its air conditioner, a hospital depends on an X-ray machine, etc. Therefore, equipment maintenance must be planned and scheduled to prevent equipment failure. Proactive equipment maintenance can be used to achieve forward preparedness.

• Service encounters:
  
  
  • Hospital: My relative wanted the bed to be arched. In the bed, there was a lever that allowed the bed to be arched. But when I turned the lever, the lever was jammed. The bedside trolley could only be opened and closed with some force. And the trolley had one dented wheel that simply wouldn't go in a straight line.
    
    
  • Domestic Repair: I called for a domestic repair. The service center sent two workmen whose tools were not even maintained. They had with them poorly maintained tools and consequently, not only did they take longer to complete their work, their work was shoddy.
    

6. Materials Control

Until in-house processes are stabilized, it is sometimes very difficult to control materials. Materials may be in-house material or incoming material. Many service providers have to control the issuing of material carefully, e.g. hospital, restaurant. With good material control service variations can be reduced.

• Service encounters:
  
  
  • Hospital: I saw a carton of medicines (waiting to be stored, I suppose). On the carton it was clearly stated, "Keep refrigerated. Use immediately after opening". A week later I saw the same carton yet to be stored.
    
    
  • Restaurant: My friends and I ordered a large fish dish for four. One bite and we all thought the fish was spoilt. We informed the cashier. They then replaced the fish with another fish. But by then, we made up our minds. That was the last time we dined at that restaurant.

7. Store Organization

Many service organizations have a store, e.g. retail supermarket. If the store is poorly managed it is possible to lose stock (theft, date expiry, etc.). With Visual Management, material can be organized systematically. Shelf life can be monitored efficiently, e.g. first in first out. Material can be classified and grouped clearly so that traceability is improved.

• Service encounters:
  
  
  • Supermarket: I was shopping for some fruits and I came across a section "Quick Sale" on a whole list of dairy items. One look at the expiry date showed that all the products were going to expire the next day.