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quality as how fast the product can get out the door. I saw a need to streamline the
diagnostic end. Marketing pushed for a four day turnaround time. At this time it took
one day for receiving, unpacking and set-up, one day for staining, one day for
diagnosis and the last day for finishing and printing to be sent out via express mail.
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Lesson Three - Quality Definition and Measurement
I became the bottleneck. I handled over 200 diagnostic cases per day since I was
"Doctor Medical" to the director. I immediately called a meeting with MIS to set up a
computer in my office where I could enter my results as I read each case. This took
some getting used to, but it became the prototype for the workstations we now have
for the different lines.
I was allowed to train three other physicians and lease one hour of their time per day.
Next, I asked the lab to describe the easiest and fastest way to get slides to the doctors
without compromising quality. At that time, they were collating each test which
consisted of a battery of antibodies including Estrogen Receptor, Progesterone
Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor, etc (up to six assays). They would take each test
off of different trays and match them up with their respective counterparts matching
the case number assigned at the accession step. They would, however, run each assay
in a batch mode.
The simple solution was to keep the cases in batches and allow the doctors to read
only one component of the test. For example, I would read the batch of Estrogen
Receptors, another doctor would do Progesterone and so on. By entering the data into
the computer in numerical order the data entry step was improved and the computer
collated the information for free.
Now we could get all the tests earlier in the day, have the pathologists read them all
in one hour as opposed to the six to seven hours per day it used to take, and the
reports are finalized in the computer and ready to be printed as soon as they are
diagnosed. Prior to direct entry, the worksheets would be taken from my office after
the seventh hour and then entered by another person. That person now assists in
other areas which need extra help.
In reference to the reagent diluting and purchasing of the cheaper antibody, I sent a
team of technologists on a training course after reading about a new antigen retrieval
system using microwave technology. I was able to get our current antibody vendor to
finance this training after informing them that without this improvement the director
may not use their antibody and may go with a cheaper vendor. Needless to say they
were happy to sponsor us and our vendor believed this was an excellent investment
in our partnership.
At present, 80% of the cases now go out in 36 hours, and 15% in 24 hours -- a
tremendous improvement over marketing's goal of four days. I am happy to report
that quality is excellent. The proof in this latter observation comes from our salesforce
who now boast of excellent comments from physician-customers and from the
markedly diminished customer complaints which I received during the past eight to
ten weeks.
Prior to being a student at Regent University's School of Business, I didn't even know
who Deming was, what quality was, or that God's Word could be used to support
business decisions. I can't always explain why I end up in situations, but in this case I
know now that God had a plan. Never would I have believed that after all the years
in a university setting would I end up in a corporation selling to doctors and in a
business school learning and watching how God's ways in business can outshine
Western Style Management with ease.
In conclusion, I hope this article reflects an achievement of the objectives on my part
with regards to this course and reveals the maturity I gained in managing from a
Biblical standpoint.
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Total Quality Management
--End --
Operations Measurements
For decades managers measured the success, or lack of it, with set measurements. It is
important that you know these measurements.
Utilization
Utilization is a measure of capacity. For example, you may operate a cab service. If
you have 50 cabs and 30 are in use somewhere in the city, your utilization is .60 or 60
percent.
In Use
Original Amount Available for Use
Efficiency
Efficiency is a measure of usage compared against a standard, or acceptable amount of
input to output ratio.
Standard Time
Actual Time
or
Actual Units
Standard Units
Efficiency is a measure of how the system worked compared to presumed norm. For
example, you may know or accept that a graduate business student should read at a
rate of 75 pages per hour with comprehension of the concepts and principles. You
read a textbook in preparation for class and read 100 pages in two hours. Your
efficiency ratings would be :
2.0
=1.5
1.33
or
100
=.67
150
The measure of efficiency is a ratio. The significance of higher or lower numbers
depends on whether you measure time or units.
Productivity
Productivity is a measurement of yield -- what went in and what came out. We put in
ten hours of labor, did we get ten hours of labor value from the end product?
Productivity in time = std time of work done /time available.
Productivity is equal to: efficiency x utilization.
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Lesson Three - Quality Definition and Measurement
Now that you have read these terms and their meanings. Store them in some part of
your cerebral cortex and forget them. No business exists to improve these numbers, to
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