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.
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