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Process Improvement Newsletter
from the Ben Graham Corporation
2004-2
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.

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.

Share Your Stories!
Do you have an experience using Graham Charts that you would like to "Spotlight" with our readers? Call us at 800.628.9558 or send us an email.  

If we print your story (~500 words), we'll send you a copy of the new book, Detail Process Charting!
 

ben.graham@worksimp.com
Downloads

"Business Process Improvement Methodology" booklet.  

(72 pages, 974k pdf)


"Project Guide" booklet.  
(55 pages, 638k pdf)


Evaluation Software

Workshop Brochure
(workshop.pdf - 49k)

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