#3 당신의 고객은 누구인가?(SIPOC Diagram) - Identifying Your Customers

In this chapter

▶ Finding out the fundamentals of processes

▶ Engaging with internal and external customers

▶ Creating a map of your processes

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Understanding the Process Basics

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A process is a series of steps and actions that produce an output in the form of a product or service. Ideally, each process should add value in the eyes of the customer. Then let's not confuse the process with the procedure. The process describes what we need to do, while the procedure explains how we do it.

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All work is a process, and a process is a blend of PEMME:

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• People: Those working in or around the process. Consider whether you have the right number in the right place, at the right time, and possessing the right skills for the job.
• Equipment: The various items needed for the work. Consider whether you have the right equipment, located in an appropriate and convenient place, and being properly maintained and serviced.
• Method: How the work needs to be actioned - the process steps, procedures, tasks, and activities involved.
• Materials: The things necessary to do the work - for example, the raw materials needed to make a product.
• Environment: The working area - perhaps a room or surface needs to be dust-free, or room temperature (or humidity) must be within defined parameters. e.g., Welding, Painting, and steelwork are highly sensitive to environmental conditions.

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Focusing on PEMME helps you think differently when considering what a process actually is.

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Pinpointing the elements of a process

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Ensuring that the CTQs are understood and agreed on is the first requirement of a process. More often than not, a lack of quality or rework is the direct result of not defining the customer's requirements properly. Once the customer's requirement has been agreed upon, determining your own requirement from suppliers is the next step. Now you're the customer, so spend time with your suppliers to ensure your needs are properly understood and agreed upon. The process model shown in the below figure has PEMME at its heart(the process), but it also builds on PEMME and helps you think about the wider requirements of the process.

 

[Using a process model]

 

Identifying internal and external customer

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Knowing who the internal customers and suppliers are, and how they fit into the picture, is important because together, you form the end-to-end process, the value stream that ultimately provides the external customer with the service or product he's looking for. The external customer is someone outside of your organization.

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Consider the below figure. Department A produces output for department B, which produces output for Department C, which provides the answer to an external customer inquiry. Each of these departments is involved in the process and needs to understand the objectives of the 'big process.'

 

[Identifying your internal customers]

 

Getting a High-Level Picture

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To really understand how the work gets done, and to identify just who the internal and external customers are, you need to draw a picture of the process. These pictures are known as 'process' or 'value stream maps.'

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Before developing a process map, recognizing that different process levels exist in an organization is important. Right at the top of an organization are very high-level processes, such as 'business development.' These level 1 processes break down into a number of sub-processes. Level 2 and 3 processes gradually increase the amount of detail. You move from the high-level 'what' to increasingly detailed 'how.' Level 4 or 5 covers the step-by-step procedural tasks and elements.

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An example in the below figure has 'business development' at Level 1 and shows the various sub-processes down to level 3.

[Process Levels]

 

The below figure provides another example of Level 1 processes.

 

[The APQC generic process framework]

 

Drawing a high-level process map

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A high-level process map provides a framework to help you understand your process and its customers and suppliers better and to think about what needs to be measured in the process to help you understand performance and opportunities for improvement. The below figure shows the SIPOC model. SIPOC stands for:

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• S (Suppliers): The people, department, or organizations that provide you with the 'inputs' needed to operate the process.
• I (Inputs): Forms or information, equipment or raw materials, or even the people that you need to carry out the work.
• P (Process): A picture of process steps at a relatively high-level, usually level 2 or 3, as shown in the figure above [Process Level].
• O (Outputs): A list of things that your process provides to the internal and external customers in seeking to meet their CTQs.
• C (Customer): The different internal and external customers who'll receive your various process outputs.

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[The SIPOC model]

 

 

[An example of SIPOC]

 

The SIPOC model identifies your customer and the outputs they need, presents a high-level process map, usually comprising four to eight steps, identifies your suppliers, and confirms your input requirements from them. In many ways, SIPOC should really be called COPIS, because when you create the diagram, you start with the customer on the right-hand side of the model before listing the outputs that go to him.

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The best way to create your SIPOC diagram is together with your team around a large sheet of paper and follow these steps. (The below figure provides an example of how it might look):

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[Building up the SIPOC model]

 

1. List all the different customers involved.
2. List all the outputs you send your customers.
3. Set out the steps in the process. - Typically, it involves four to eight steps. Don't go beyond eight steps because you'll be dealing with too much detail, too soon.
4. List all the inputs you receive.
5. Identify where all your inputs come from. - SIPOC provides a helpful checklist, identifying who your customers are and the outputs that go to them. It highlights areas where greater clarity is needed, especially in relation to requirements and outputs. It also helps you focus on what needs to be measured.

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Segmenting customers

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In developing your SIPOC process map, you need to identify your customers and the outputs that go to them. Possibly, you classify or segment your customer in some way, for example, by size or geographical location.

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Think carefully about these different customers. Do they actually have different CTQs? Will the process outputs be the same for each segment, or will these vary to some degree?

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※ 참조: 본문은 책, "Dummy들을 위한 린 식스시그마(Lean Six Sigma)"와 The Toyota way를 정리한 내용을 기반으로 제 경험들을 조미한 글입니다. 현재는 원서 기반으로 내용을 정리하고 있는 중이며, 정리가 완료되면 한글로 번역을 추가할 예정입니다.