Better Business Processes
From the Vault...
Our retrospective in this issue looks at a poem written
over a century ago that reflects on a few of the attitudes that we often
encounter in process improvement... (i.e. complacency and resistance to change).
What do you think? The Calf Path was written by Sam Walter Foss in 1896.
Could it have been written today?
One day through the primeval wood
a calf walked home as good calves should;
but made a trail all bent askew,
a crooked trail as calves all do...
Read The Calf
Path (350k pdf)...
Announcement - New Book
Detail Process Charting: Speaking the Language of
Process is now available.
Ben B. Graham
ISBN: 0-471-65394-2
Detail Process Charting is a
practical tool for helping professionals at all levels gain stronger control of
their work environments. Applicable to all organizations, this book revisits
the work simplification approach to process improvement that prevailed for much
of the twentieth century, with a special focus on the detail process chart.
Looking forward to the demands of the twenty-first century, the method described
in this book helps readers see the detail process chart with trained eyes that
perceive fresh ways of applying this valuable approach to work improvement.
Detail Process Charting provides a brief
introduction to the history of information process charting and its derivation
from manufacturing process improvement methods, offering a common sense approach
to data gathering - following the path of the process with a clipboard. It
defines the elements of a process flowchart (symbols, conventions, and words)
and explains how each is applied. With the help of more than a hundred
informative illustrations and a variety of real-world examples, this book
demonstrates how to construct and use detail process charts to examine and
improve business
processes.
Read the Preface
Read the Contents
Read the List of Exhibits
Read the Foreword
Read Chapter 1
www.detail-process-charting.com
Buy your copy now...
Feature Article
Business Process Improvement: The Devil’s in the Detail
Organizations employ a number of formulas to improve their business operations
and get more "bang for their buck". Effective programs invariable get down to
an examination, analysis and improvement of the business processes. Using a
process flowchart to define the existing system is an essential first step to
improvement that is often overlooked or addressed superficially.
This article takes a look at a couple of more common
flowcharting methods being applied today with a focus on the detail process
charting methodology that was developed sixty years ago.
Read
the article (344k pdf)...
Process
Improvement Workshops
We have one more public workshop scheduled this year in Dayton, OH...It will
include two days of working through the methodology followed by a day of
working with the software.
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October 6-7 Methodology
October 8 Software |
Register now and
receive a copy of Detail Process Charting: Speaking the
Language of Process.
To register for this workshop, call us at
800-628-9558 or download our
fax
registration form.
Process Improvement Discussion Forum
If you
have any questions or comments about process improvement / work simplification
or Graham Process Charting software, post them to our discussion board.
www.worksimp.com
or call us at 800.628.9558
Business Process Charting 6.0
www.processchart.com
Here are answers to a few questions we have received recently from new users.
I am having difficulty
actually making the fonts smaller. I am drawing a process flow and when I put
the text above/below the symbols. . . It runs over to the next.
The
software does not offer a way to adjust the font size. The font size remains
constant in relation to the symbol size. There are a couple of things that
you can do to keep the text from overlapping. First, space the symbols with one
or more empty grids between them. After you have placed text a couple of times
you will have a feel for how much space the text will use on screen -- then you
can control the width as you are entering the text (i.e. if you have a text
statement that is 4 or 5 words, you might limit each line to 1 or 2 words.).
Also, where you are associating text with several symbols in a row, you can
alternate placing the text above and below the symbols. Check out some of the
sample charts for examples.
I can't seem to figure
out how to put the name of the process at the top as a heading for the whole
page. Any ideas?
Use the Free Text
pointer (5th button from the right) to place a free text marker on a grid. Then
select the Text pointer and click on the free text marker to display the text
window -- (notice a Large Text checkbox at the bottom of the window is
pre-selected). Enter your process name and click on the Okay button. If
you want the heading to display in red, check the "Bold" checkbox to the right
of the text line.
I am trying to print the chart I have just
created, but it keeps printing too big. What do I need to know about printing
charts that will make them smaller?
Take a look at the grid
size on the chart you printed –the grid size is displayed in the summary key. A
grid size between .75 and 1.0 works well for a wall chart. For a handout, a
grid size between .35 and .55 works well. If the “big” chart fits well on the
page size you selected, you will want to adjust the page size down as well.
I wish you the
best with your improvement work.
Ben B. Graham
ben.graham@worksimp.com
If you know
anyone who may be interested in our process improvement material, please
forward this email to them. Thanks. | 
