Page 370 - Design for Six Sigma for Service (Six SIGMA Operational Methods)
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330 Chapter Ten
Examples of Service Factory Processes
Banks (branch operations); restaurants; copy centers; hair stylists; and
check-in counters of airlines, hotels, and car rental agencies.
Service Factory Process Performance Metrics
Number of Errors or Defects
The number of errors or defects in each customer transaction is an important
indicator of service factory process quality.
Waiting Time
In the service factory process, the average waiting time is an important
process performance metric. Since waiting time does not provide any value
for customers and service companies, the longer the waiting time, the
poorer the performance is. The bottleneck in the service process is one of
the leading causes of excessive waiting time. Average queue length in the
service factory process is an alternative measure for waiting time. The
abandonment rate is the portion of customers who go away due to excessive
waiting time; it is also often used as a performance measure.
Service Time
The service time is the time duration used to provide the needed service. The
service time might be “the smaller, the better” performance characteristic for
some service factory processes; for example, in fast-food restaurants. However,
for some other service factory processes, the service time for each customer
depends on his or her specific needs. So the required service time will be
different for different customer needs. Overall, average customer service time
might be an appropriate performance measure for a service factory process.
Customer Service Quality
The customer service quality in this case has two components: one is the
quality of the service, and the other is the quality of customer–service
provider interaction. The quality of service is the quality of the service
product, that is, the service provided. In the restaurant industry, the quality
of the service includes the taste of the meal and the cleanliness of the din-
nerware. The quality of customer–service provider interaction is mostly
based on how happy the customer feels about the service. It includes the
politeness of and the facial expressions (e.g., a smiling face) of the service
provider, and even the tone of the conversation. The total experience and
feeling of the customers during operator-customer interaction is a very
important part of process quality and customer satisfaction.