Quality Assurance for Service

Industries
Srinivasan Nenmeli-K
What is Quality Assurance?
Q A is defect prevention.
Quality Control [QC] is testing and
inspection.
What is Quality ?
" Achieving Customer
satisfaction!."
 Service Industries QA?
❑ Service industries are increasingly
applying QA techniques!
❑ Service industries--> health
care,hotels,tourism,education,elder
homes
❑ Service industries deal with humans
at every step or their pets...difficult
to achieve customer satisfaction --that
is, QUALITY !
❑ You cannot easily test or measure the
 Develop a Quality Plan
❑ Set quality goals--> say faster
service,reduce mishaps,reduce rework
❑ measure the present levels--say time
for waiting in clinics, time for delivery
of services, no of accidents in a year
❑ Set goals for the next month or two!

❑ Explore the means to do that

❑ Fix the tasks to specific persons--

process owners
 Process Flow Chart
❑ Develop a process flow chart--go into
major processes
❑ Avoid wasteful,waiting process steps

❑ Combine two or more process steps

❑ Measure time,effort for each process

step
❑ receiving clients->enquiry-->assign
attendant -->further enquires--
>selection of treatment
 Analyze Process Steps
❑ Fro each process step, measure 2 or 3
critical parameters--write them down
❑ Measure the parameters in real
situations
❑ Find the mean and sigma for these
parameters
❑ can you reduce the sigma value?
Achieve this!
❑ Can you reduce /increase the mean?
 Defect Analysis
➢ identify defects
➢ Classify them-->Critical,
Major,MinorCount them--use
Checksheets--see any trend
➢ Critical and Major defects--> find their
"Root Causes"
➢ Eliminate the causes in a time frame
 How to find the root causes?
■ The root causes are from
■ time factors (delayed response to a
patient)
■ Space factors (inadequate space, poor
storage of medicines)
■ Materials (non availability of wheel
chairs,equipment)
■ Humans (delay, inattention,lack of
skills)
 Eliminate the root causes
❑ Timing--written schedules,planning
❑ Space ---desing properply,plan

❑ materials--planning, inventory
control,database
❑ humans--more
training,training,training
❑ environment--proper inspection,use of
technology
 Process Control for services
❑ Since service industry involves lot of human
work,process control is tough.
❑ For each process,identify critical parameters
❑ If you are running a restaurant,you may take the
service time [time from ordering to placing the
food on the table] as critical parameter.
❑ Fix a lower and upper limit for this: say 10 to 20
mins.
❑ Take measurements--about 30 measurements for
a sample
❑ Find the mean and standard deviation or sigma
❑ try to keep the sigma 1/6 th of the range of 10
 Customer Feedback
❖ This is a major resource for you
❖ Analyse the feedback regularly,say
once a month
❖ Share the analysis with the staff

❖ Find means of improving the customer

satisfaction
❖ Some measure the "satisfaction level'

❖ This level should be greater than 95%

Achieving Customer Satisfaction
❑ Try using simple means to achieve
this!
❑ Often try to give physical comfort to
the customers
❑ You must study the age group of your
customers--this is the single most
factor.
❑ Young customers in a restaurant
tolerate or even welcome noise but
Achieving Customer Satisfaction
❑ This is giving Quality
❑ Learn to study customer profile;this is
the first stepAge group,edu
levels,professional identity,family
factors,income level,cultural groups,
--------
❑ Set parameters based on these!

❑ Train your employees in learning these

 Training for Quality
❑ Train your staff on the basics---
❑ Train them in SPC Magnificent Seven
quality tools
❑ train them for using Check lists

❑ train them for using and writing

internal standards---review the
standards
❑ train them for process control--to
reduce sigma!!
 Quality Circles/Discussion
❑ Discuss quality matters with all the
staff in a non-threatening way
❑ Except for safety violations, dont
reprimand anyone for lapses
❑ Point out lapses and see how things
can be improved
❑ create fail-safe design features

❑ Reward staff for good to great

performance--every body needs this!!
 References
Dale Besterfield--Total Quality
Measurement
Contact Me:
nksrinivasan@hotmail.com