SPC – Not just for the Shop Floor

 


Statistical Process Control was designed to keep our processes as lean and consistent as possible and I was introduced to this on the shop floor when I was involved in the investment casing industry.

When I left the shop floor, I continued to use this process to look at how I did what I did. 

In sales it was looking at calls per day or visits per month, we could see that there was a number that, if we reached it, would help us get as close to our sales goal or exceed them.

In a customer service role I had, we were able to determine how long we should let someone wait for their appointment before we check in and/or get necessary information to give them a better idea of when they will be taken care of.  (For us It was 5 Minutes by the way)

When I was supervising a customer service team, one of the most effective use of SPC was tracking “on hold times” which was one of the biggest indicators of an agent who needed more training or at least some attention. 

So , be proactive with the data you create or can collect.   Pay attention to those metrics that give you insight into your processes and people.  Learn how they can be used to improve them.

There is no doubt in my mind that Data is one of our most valuable tools both for improving processes for our people and ourselves.  Data can’t hide, which is to our advantage if we decide to take advantage of it.

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