TUM School of Management

Production and Supply Chain Management

Prof Martin Grunow

Technische Universitt Mnchen

Quality Engineering & Management

Session 1.2: Understanding
Customer Expectations

Dr. Holly Ott

Production and Supply Chain Management
Chair: Prof. Martin Grunow
TUM School of Management

Holly Ott

Quality Engineering & Management Module 1.2

TUM School of Management

Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow

Technische Universitt Mnchen

DEFINE
Defining Quality

DEFINE
R
MEASU
E

Holly Ott

Understanding
Customer
Expectations

Quality Engineering & Management Module 1.2

TUM School of Management

Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow

Technische Universitt Mnchen

Learning Objectives
Explain the relevance of the DEFINE phase in the DMAIC flow.
Discuss the difference between a problem (in the process output)
and causes of the problem (in the process or the inputs)
List the key goals of the DEFINE phase.

Holly Ott

Quality Engineering & Management Module 1.1

TUM School of Management

Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow

Technische Universitt Mnchen

DEFINE: Problem Definition

Input

Process

Reiner Hutwelker, Keks Scenario

Integrated-Process-Problem-Solving Method (IPPSM)
Holly Ott

Quality Engineering & Management Module 1.2

Output

Burnt
Cookie!

TUM School of Management

Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow

Technische Universitt Mnchen

Customer Expectations

Source: www.projectcartoon.com
Holly Ott

Quality Engineering & Management Module 1.2

TUM School of Management

Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow

Technische Universitt Mnchen

Problem Definition - Literature

Agre (1982): a problem is an undesirable situation which may be solvable by some agent although probably
with some difficulty(page 122)
Smith (1989): Problems are conceptual entities that don't exist in the world, but rather involve a relationship of
disharmony between reality and one's preferences.(pag965) or existing state-desired state gaps(page 968)
Eierman and Philip (2003): a problem is an emergent undesirable situation that must be corrected (page 354
Volkema (1983): A problem has been defined alternatively as a conflict (Duncker [16]), an obstacle (Maier
[42]), an accepted task that a person does not know how to carry out (Simon [70]), dissatisfaction with a
purposeful state (Ackoff and Emery [3]), and the difference between what one has and what one wants (de Bono
[13])
Basadur, M., Ellspermann, S., & Evans, G. (1994): word problem can be defined as a gap between the
present and some desired state of affairs. Similar definitions have been proposed by others. A gap can carry a
positive, negative or unknown connotation, providing three different views of the word problem. (page 629)
Mitroff and Silvers (2009) define problems as: (P) occurs if there is a gap between what we ideally desire (I)
and what we currently can accomplish (A): P = I A > 0 (quoted from Jrgensen, 2011: page 29)
Lyles (1981): Well-defined problems those that are frequently imposed on the organization, such as
government legislation or union contracts. (page 61). Ill-defined problems are problems whose nature can be
represented in multiple ways and which are perceived by people differently are open to debate in defining the
very nature of the problem. (page 61)
(Landry 1995): epistemological perspective of problems: Objectivistic, Perspective, Constructive views of
problems
Holly Ott

Quality Engineering & Management Module 1.2

TUM School of Management

Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow

Technische Universitt Mnchen

Problem Definition - Literature

Concept of Problem
Refers to what constitutes a problem

Debate among scholars

Undesirable situation (Agre 1982), gap
between current and desired state (Basadur et.
al. 1994) etc.

Holly Ott

Quality Engineering & Management Module 1.2

TUM School of Management

Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow

Technische Universitt Mnchen

Problem Definition - Literature

Concept of Problem

Concept of Problem Definition

Refers to what constitutes a problem

Refers to how the problem is represented or

described, i.e. verbal description of the individual
instances of problems (Smith 1989) in a linguistic
form such as a problem statement.

Debate among scholars

Undesirable situation (Agre 1982), gap
between current and desired state (Basadur et.
al. 1994) etc.

Different conceptualizations
Gap specification, causal diagnosis, difficulties
and constraints, perspective (Smith 1989)
As a result
Problem Definition can be defined in many
different ways depending on the context,
- the situation,
- the circumstances and
- the perspective,
from which the problem is viewed

Holly Ott

Quality Engineering & Management Module 1.2

TUM School of Management

Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow

Technische Universitt Mnchen

DEFINE: Problem Definition

Input

Process

Reiner Hutwelker, Keks Scenario

Integrated-Process-Problem-Solving Method (IPPSM)
Holly Ott

Quality Engineering & Management Module 1.2

Output

Burnt
Cookie!

TUM School of Management

Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow

Technische Universitt Mnchen

DEFINE: Problem Definition

Problems are always attributes of the output of a process:

Input

Process

Output

Reiner Hutwelker, Keks Scenario

Integrated-Process-Problem-Solving Method (IPPSM)
Holly Ott

Quality Engineering & Management Module 1.2

10

TUM School of Management

Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow

Problem Definition
A problem is the deviation of a
required attribute in the product
(output of process)

Target Range

Performance

Holly Ott

Quality Engineering & Management Module 1.2

Consumption

Reiner Hutwelker, Keks Scenario

Integrated-Process-Problem-Solving Method (IPPSM)

Availability
Quantity/Time

Quality

The attribute can be assigned to one

of the categories: Quality, Availability
(Quantity/Time) or Consumption of
Resources.

Technische Universitt Mnchen

11

TUM School of Management

Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow

Technische Universitt Mnchen

DEFINE
Customers, employees and managers identify
problems (potentials) in processes and products.

RE

MEASU

Evaluate the relevance of the output parameters

and estimate the impact of their fulfillment on
the output quality (Critical to Quality)

DEFINE

Summarize information about the process, its

important outputs and their problems
Indicate the relevance of this information for the
customer satisfaction and the business
Agree on objectives for the important critical to
quality parameters and on the scope of the
project
Define the team
Holly Ott

Adapted from Integrated-Process-Problem-Solving Method (IPPSM)

Reiner Hutwelker
Quality Engineering & Management Module 1.2

12

TUM School of Management

Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow

Technische Universitt Mnchen

DMAIC Project

image reprinted with permission from Hanwag GmbH

Holly Ott

Quality Engineering & Management Module 1.2

13

TUM School of Management

Production and Supply Chain Management
Prof Martin Grunow

Technische Universitt Mnchen

Coming Up
Please complete the Practice Problem for
Defining Quality
and start the DMAIC Project in this section

1 PROJECT: Introduction
1 PROJECT: DEFINE - Defining Customer
Expectations, Basic Process Understanding

Next Week:

Holly Ott

Lecture 2.1: Probability vs. Statistics

Quality Engineering & Management Module 1.2

14