using the cmmi-svc to transform an organization into a high-functioning, customer-driven profit...
DESCRIPTION
As a company grows and matures from a startup entrepreneurial venture to a sustainable corporation, the departments and company services that begin as good ideas expand and evolve to support the company’s growing business. Many times these services simply develop without any strategic vision resulting in institutionalized behaviors that are incompatible with the company’s business goals and objectives. Consequently, the transition to a larger corporation becomes a challenge. A notable example is a company’s Engineering Services Department.When people think of Engineering Services, the Customer Support or Help Desk team is what first comes to mind. However, other services such as Product Training, Field Services (product installation and troubleshooting), and Engineering Sales Support may be provided as well.As a product development company begins selling product, the Customer Support function becomes one of its first service offerings whether or not it recognizes it as such. In addition, it is natural for the focus of the Customer Support function to be on pleasing their customer base, as many sales are contingent upon repeat business and word of mouth until the company and its product line become established in the marketplace. Nevertheless, without a clear idea of its charter and strategic direction to support business growth and identify new markets and service offerings, the Customer Support Specialists focus instead on supporting their customer base on non-company and non-product issues and questions that consume internal resources without any tangible benefit to the company. Once a company starts banging its head on the “glass ceiling” as it attempts to grow, the leadership may recognize that its current Engineering Services approach does not support its strategic business goals and objectives.In these circumstances, the company is not necessarily interested in implementing the CMMI for Services (CMMI-SVC) and becoming appraised to either Maturity Level 2 or Maturity Level 3. However, by using the Continuous Representation, the CMMI-SVC can provide the needed guidance to help a company restructure and reorganize its Engineering Services approach in order to become a profit center or revenue generating function.In this presentation, we will present a case study for OMNI Flow Computers, Inc., a company that specializes in the design, development, and manufacture of panel-mount multi-run, multi-tasking liquid and gas flow computers, and field-mount, hazardous area controllers/RTUs for liquid and gas custody transfer metering systems. The challenge facing OMNI was to develop its Engineering Services Department into a high-functioning, customer-driven profit center. OMNI’s Engineering Services Department consists of three groups: Customer Support, Training, and Engineering Field Services. Customer Support handles customer questions, concerns, and issues. The Training group provides training on the OMNI product line to its customers and users. Engineering Field Services provides on-site troubleshooting services on an as-needed basis.As the Training and Engineering Field Services groups were recent additional capabilities, Customer Support presented the biggest obstacle to overcome. Noted management consultant Peter Drucker declared several years ago that Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the client or customer gets out of it. Moreover, an obstacle to achieving this objective was one of the core challenges faced by the department: developing an appropriate customer focus and developing new service offerings. A major reason for these challenges is the nature of OMNI products. OMNI's customers integrate their products into custody transfer systems that involve a wide variety of large-scale hardware and electronic equipment from other manufacturers. OMNI’s customers usually develop and commission these systems for their clients and end users. Therefore,TRANSCRIPT
Using the CMMI-‐SVC to Transform an Organiza8on into a High-‐Func8oning,
Customer-‐Driven Profit Center
Henry Schneider/PPQC Dan Stoller/OMNI
2010 SEPG Savannah, Georgia
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Background OMNI Overview Issues with Delivering Engineering Services ISO 9000 Limita8ons Regarding Services
How CMMI-‐SVC Applied Results
Agenda
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Background
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Many companies begin with a great idea for a product
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Case in Point – OMNI Flow Computers
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Issues with Delivering Engineering Services
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Engineering Services
Customer Support
Provide help desk services
Field Services
Provide product troubleshooCng
services
Training
Provide product training services
Return Material AuthorizaCon
Provide product warranty,
replacement, repair services
Organiza8on Structure
Each group has a different customer focus, but must work together to provide a value-‐added customer experience
Job Descrip>ons wriEen based on what someone was currently performing in their assigned job role(s), not on the expecta>ons for the job role
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Great customer service
Strong technical background and exper8se
Field Services Technicians duplicate customer’s problems in-‐house before going on-‐site
Students are tested to determine what they have learned during a product training class
Engineering Services Strengths
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Engineering Services evolved without an overall strategy
Issues with capturing and tracking customer inquiries
Mul8ple databases and systems in use
Lack of formal training for Field Services technicians
Returned items diagnosed, repaired, and returned to the customer, some8mes taking months
Engineering Services Issues
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ISO Limita8ons
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Per ISO 9000:2008 (clause 7.2.1(a)) Service items are called “post-‐delivery acCviCes”
ISO limita8ons Post-‐delivery acCviCes should be treated as any other product requirement and be included in new product development
Does not work when Services ARE the product Standard does not provide guidance for providing Services
Hence the need for another model, standard, or guideline for delivering Services
ISO 9000 Limita8ons Regarding Services
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CMMI-‐SVC to the Rescue!
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OMNI’s primary focus is on obtaining and maintaining cer8fica8ons for the world-‐wide standards necessary for their industry Did recognize the need for guidance for delivering Engineering Services, but not interested in being appraised
How CMMI-‐SVC Helped
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Many of the Specific Prac8ces in the Maturity Level 2 and 3 Process Areas provided the needed guidance, but not the whole model Service Delivery, Incident ResoluCon and PrevenCon, Service ConCnuity, and Strategic Service Management
How CMMI-‐SVC Helped
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Provided necessary guidance for Engineering Services to document its exis8ng service offerings, ensuring that each group was prepared to deliver the defined service offerings, and delivering the services SP 1.2 Establish and maintain the service agreement
SP 2.1 Establish and maintain the approach to be used for service delivery and service system operaCons
SP 3.1 Receive and process service requests in accordance with service agreements
SP 3.3 Maintain the service system to ensure the conCnuaCon of service delivery
Service Delivery
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Provided necessary guidance for iden8fying, documen8ng, tracking, repor8ng, and resolving customer complaints, issues, and other service interrup8ons SP 2.1 IdenCfy incidents and record informaCon about them
SP 2.2 Analyze incident data to determine the best course of acCon
SP 2.5 Monitor the status of incidents to closure and escalate if necessary
SP 2.6 Communicate the status of incidents
Incident Resolu8on and Preven8on
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Provided the necessary guidance to focus the Engineering Services Department Manager to iden8fy and priori8ze the essen8al func8ons and necessary resources SP 1.1 IdenCfy and prioriCze the essenCal funcCons that must be performed to ensure service conCnuity.
SP 1.2 IdenCfy and prioriCze the essenCal resources required to ensure service conCnuity
Service Con8nuity
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Provided the necessary focus for establishing Engineering Services’ strategic needs and plans for standard services SP 1.2 Establish and maintain plans for standard services SP 2.2 Establish and maintain descripCons of the organizaCon’s defined standard services
Strategic Service Management
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An Example Improvement
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Former Inquiry Process
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Proposed Inquiry Process
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Results and Next Steps
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0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
# of Inquiries Issued
Preliminary Results -‐ 1
Number of new inquiries per month remains fairly constant
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0 20 40 60 80
100 120 140 160 180 200
# Open
# Closed
Preliminary Results -‐ 2
Inquiries are being closed at a faster rate
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0
50
100
150
200
250
ES Inquiry Average Days Open
Preliminary Results -‐ 3
Average # of days for an open inquiry has dropped by 57%
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Preliminary Results -‐ 4
0 20 40 60 80
100 120 140 160 180
Average of All ES Inquiries (Open and Closed)
Average number of all inquiries has dropped by 43%
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Measurements are being taken, analyzed, and communicated
Inquiry process has been improved Daily team meeCngs to discuss new and open inquiries Close the inquiry when a customer receives an answer/resoluCon
Reopen the inquiry if a customer responds with a quesCon or addiConal informaCon
Staff has been trained to reduce dependency on key “knowledge masters” within OMNI
Explana8on of Improvement
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Job Descrip8ons have been wrijen to document the expecta8ons for each manager and technical job role
Customer issue data are now fed to the appropriate department for resolu8on
Product issue and enhancement data are now forwarded to Product Development for considera8on in future releases
Management now has insight into Engineering Services work levels and issues
Accomplishments -‐ 1
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Goals established for different service performance levels and Engineering Services personnel are working towards mee8ng those goals
Training evalua8on data are used to drive improvements in training materials and delivery
Complaint data are now reviewed and analyzed to determine service improvements
Accomplishments -‐ 2
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Establish and plan an Engineering Services departmental budget
Evaluate Engineering Services job descrip8ons Establish a training program to bring staff knowledge up to required proficiency levels
Next Steps
BOTTOM LINE
CMMI-‐SVC can be very effec8ve in helping an organiza8on to rapidly achieve improvement