Business Basics Home Page Who is Bill Gaw? And why should we listen to him?	How to implement, optimize and sustain a lean manufacturing program The Lean Manufacturing Toolbox Add pizzazz to your lean training program with participative exercises. Manufacturing Simulation Game-Plus
	Service Supply Chain Management Part 4 of 4
privacy policy To review our training packages, simply click on any of the links below: Lean Manufacturing Solutions Lean Manufacturing Toolbox Performance Measurement Training Poka-Yoke and Process Improvement Training Lean Manufacturing - Small and Medium Sized Businesses Supply Chain Inventory Management Lean Six Sigma Implementation Strategic Planning Training World Class Manufacturing Continuous Process Improvement Kaizen Training Kaizen Blitz Event Thinking-Outside- the-Box Best-In-Class Manufacturers Best of Gaw Lean Management Articles Golf Training Program
	People and Motivation People providing the service must be well motivated to perform the service. They must understand why the service is important, receive satisfaction from their work, and feel supported in and valued for their efforts. The attitude of the service providers is important in both the hiring process and the ongoing service delivery. The demonstrated be­haviors of the employees can be measured, as well as some metrics that are ways to determine if the attitude and motivation are improv­ing, stable, or declining. Key questions to consider are these: •      What is the level of staff turnover and staff retention? How does this compare to other service areas within the organization, or with the same type of service at other companies? Is there a plan for job progression? Do top performers stay, or are they being lured away by competitors? •      Is the facility design economically effective? Is the layout, light­ ing, noise, privacy, and work space consistent with the job being performed and overall industry conditions? •      Are employee attitude and behavior factors like sick days, absenteeism, and tardiness being measured? Does the staff consistently exhibit courtesy and professionalism for their duties? •      Does management exhibit appropriate attitude and behavior to the service staff? How much time does management spend in the service area? •      Has staff compensation for the jobs performed been aligned with local and industry averages and practices? Are there formal and informal reward and recognition systems for the individuals and work teams? Do rewards match behavior, and are there any rewards for exceptional service? •      Is there a sufficient variety of job tasks and operations challenge built into the positions to learn by working? Are there recognized training programs to upgrade skills? •      Do the jobs require personal empowerment and flexibility? People and Skills The service staff must have the right set of skills for the job. In addi­tion to any product and technical knowledge, they must possess com­munications skills, problem/opportunity-solving skills, escalation skills when problems occur, and plain old interpersonal skills. You cannot have your people effectively serving customers if they are not equipped with having mastered the necessary skills. •      Are there enough people to handle the job given the plans for use or the volume of activity anticipated? Is there scheduling and forecasting of the likely distribution of service activity? •      Is there a skills inventory and have employees' skills been updated in the inventory? •      Are there individual or group development plans? Is there a time and expense budget annually to ensure training and development? •      Does the plan cover the four basic knowledge areas in the service process: technical skills, business knowledge, service team skills, and company infrastructure and knowledge? Goal setting provides the opportunity to get people to commit to a level of service. It is then much easier to manage to the commitments, instead of managing individual personalities. Tools and Technology The bill of service also includes the materials and consumables to ac­tually deliver the service. Naturally, the service must have the neces­sary components to achieve the performance levels established in the objectives of the service, and hopefully consistent with the customer's expectations. There must also be infrastructure necessary to support the service. For example, a hotel registration clerk is expected to have access to the room reservations system, a room assignment system, a credit card authorization system, a cash drawer, and other systems, including a telephone. They must also have access to a variety of consumables, like keys, instructions booklets, maps, and other items likely to be re­quested by the person registering for the hotel room. Equally impor­tant are service problem tracking processes to identify issues and have them resolved, if possible, before a customer notices the problem. Here, much of the APICS body of knowledge can be applied to determine the right materials for the service being offered. More im­portantly, basic questions about the service can be asked and answered in light of the new forms of technology. For example: •      Can customers use self-help options for products or services by using the company's applications or the Internet? Can they retrieve status or other information? •      Can customers design their own customized service offering? Or can they even design a customized product offering? •      What are the planning processes for material used and consumed in the service processes? •      Are there tools available to track queues, or demand that does not match expected supply? How are service capacity and load monitored? •      Do requests for products or services in one part of the organization place load or work flow demand in other parts of the organization? SUMMARY Excellent service is not an accident. It must be carefully planned for and flawlessly executed. The delivery of excellent service is not an act, but a process of service chains that run throughout the service organi­zation, and within the industry of the service organization. The same body of knowledge APICS has developed to plan and operate manufacturing organization can be directly applied to services. Breaking down the excellent service into its component parts, most of which are services in themselves, provides a easy way of examining the service component of our world. The customer bill of service can be applied to any service, in any industry, and be used to plan and deliver excellent service. For balance of this article, click on the below link: Lean Manufacturing Articles and click on Series 11 A Gift for You Need help in bringing this training to your company, may I suggest that you forward this Web page to your leader. If you do, we'll send you our Power-Point presentation, "7-Rules for Surviving in an Entirely New Economy."   To open the "Forward to" form:   STAY CONNECTED To stay current on Lean Management Basics and Best Practices, subscribe to our weekly MBBP Bulletin... and we'll send you our PowerPoint presentation, "Introduction to Kaizen Based Lean Manufacturing™." All at no cost of course.    First Name: Your E-Mail:  Your personal information will never  be disclosed to any third party. privacy policy Here's what one of our 13,000 plus subscribers wrote about the MBBP Newsletter: "Great manufacturing articles. Thanks for the insights. I often share portions of your articles with my staff and they too enjoy them and fine aspects where they can integrate points into their individual areas of responsibilities. Thanks again."                Kerry B. Stephenson. President. KALCO Lighting, LLC "Back to Basics" Training for anyone ... anywhere ... anytime Business Basics, LLC 6003 Dassia Way, Oceanside, CA 92056 West Coast: 760-945-5596  © 2001-2009 Business Basics, LLC