SERVICE PROCESS

IMPROVEMENT
OF ON-FIELD
CONSUMER SURVEY
FOR WATER METER INSTALLATION PROJECT OFAHMEDABAD MUNICIPALCORPORATION

Presenter : Under Guidance of:

Prateek Gupta Dr. Anurag Singh
MBA (2015-17) (Asst. Prof IMS, BHU)
Roll No. 26 Mr. Rahul Sanghvi
(CEO, Dexter Consultancy)
..and standing there,
facing the pure
horrifying precision, I
came to realize the
obviousness of truth
– Morpheus, The Matrix (1999)
 INDUSTRY ANALYSIS
Research and Consulting Industry, India

Management research and consulting industry in India is quite fragmented in nature.

On one end of spectrum, we have the big four accounting firms (PwC, KPMG, EY,
Deloitte) and on other end, we have freelancers or individual practitioners. In the
middle, we have various large and small boutique firms (EPSOS, IMRB, Hansa Research,
Dexter Consultancy etc.) providing consulting expertise in different geographies across
India, industry verticals (healthcare, social sector, automobile, technology etc.) or
industry horizontals (marketing, supply chain, information technology etc.).
ASSOCHAM predicted that consulting market by 2013 will be close to ₹22,000 Cr and
for near future this industry is likely to grow at 30% CAGR. Using these numbers, a
ballpark number for 2016 is likely to be ₹48,334 Crores. Further, based on discussion
with mentor, total market for small scale consulting projects appears to be around
₹16,000 Crores.
Largest concentration of management consulting and research firms is in Mumbai
(around 30%) followed by Delhi (around 20%) and then other metro cities. Few firms
(such as Dexter Consulting) are also present in Tier 1 cities (such as Ahmedabad,
Hyderabad etc.).
Research and Consulting Industry
Ecosystem in India.
COMPANY ANALYSIS
Dexter Consultancy Pvt. Ltd., Ahmedabad

Dexter Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. is a mid-sized research and consulting firm established in
March, 2007. Headquartered in Ahmedabad, it has field presence in 29 states in India
and has done more than 1500 projects across India and in Dubai. It has worked with
clients such as Harvard Business School, The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII),
Govt. of Gujrat, IIM Ahmedabad, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd., Lenovo, P&G,
Sintex, UTV Bindass among others.
Indian research and consulting industry is highly fragmented. In-between ‘The Big
Four’ and region-specific or domain-specific mid-sized boutique firms, there is dearth
of firms that have significant presence in tier-1 cities (like Ahmedabad, Pune, Indore etc.)
and/or cater to SMEs on national level. Identifying this gap, Dexter Consultancy has
strategically positioned itself as a pan-India and multi-domain firm. The management
of company firmly believes that small-scale research, if done effectively, can lead
towards meaningful and value-adding results.
Dexter Consultancy has developed an extensive network of vendors, aanganwadi
workers, gram panchayat workers and local NGOs, across India. This competitive
advantage allows company to enjoy a much better hit-ratio (i.e. conversion rate of
Verticals in which Dexter Consultancy
prospective customers) of 1:8 as compared to 1:20, which is industry average for operates.
boutique firms. Dexter Consultancy has also developed an expertise for market-
research projects across Gujrat, maintaining a hit-ratio of 1:2 as compared to 1:10
industry average for regional boutique firms.
SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS
 Wide network of Professional and Personal
Relationships across Industries.
 Extensive network of vendors, aanganwadi
workers, gram panchayat workers,
influencers, local NGOs across India.
 Technology integration in Research
Process.
OPPORTUNITIES
 Lack of boutique firms serving SMEs at
national level across multiple domains.
 Next-Gen CEOs of family businesses are
open to small-scale research for decision
making.
WEAKNESSES
 Excess of government projects in company’s
client portfolio leads to delayed payments.
 Expanding in different verticals has resulted
in loss of focus leading to decreased number
of converted projects.
 Lack of defined processes has created
dependency on resource persons.
THREATS
 Medium-Sized global consulting firms such
as Ecovis are entering India.
 Emergence of Big Data and Data Science
poses a threat to conventional research
firms.
 PROJECT BACKGROUND
Ahmedabad, selected as one of the first 20 smart cities in India, is set to get 24 hours’ water supply and
water meters are to be installed, to measure usage and bill user accordingly. Dexter Consultancy Pvt. Ltd.
received the contract for conducting a consumer survey for existing and potential consumption units. The
survey is an extensive one, recoding information such as user details, consumption details, connection
details etc. and mapping future requirements. My project was to improve the process of consumer survey.

Process improvement was carried out using DRIVE approach.

DEFINE REVIEW IDENTIFY VERIFY EXECUTE

Scope of the problem, the
criteria by which success
will be measured and how
project will be carried out.
Current situation, understand
the background, identify and
collect information
including performance, identify
problem areas.
Improvements or solutions to
the problem, required
changes to enable and
sustain the improvements,
prioritize the improvements.
Check that the improvements
will bring about benefits that
meet the defined
success criteria, pilot the
improvements.
Suggest improvements and
changes, plan
implementation, implement,
gather feedback and review.
DEFINE
 Problem Statement: Dexter Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. has taken AMC’s ‘Consumer Survey’ project for water
meter installation. They have bid for project citing superior processes and faster results. Though, their
Submission Rate (Number of surveys submitted to AMC per month) and Rejection Ratio (Number of surveys
rejected by AMC per month: Submission Rate) are better than the competitors, they would like to improve
them further. There are two components to this improvement: ‘Time’ and ‘Cost’.
 Scope of the Project: The current project aims to improve ‘Time’ component while retaining ‘Costs’.
 Success Criteria: Several KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) will be measured for sub-processes and whole-
process. If whole-process KPI is improved as a result of this project, the project will be considered successful.
GANTT CHART
PROCESS IMPROVEMENT PROJECT: TIMELINE
May (Weeks) June (Weeks)
Activities Status 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Define
 Define scope of project Done
 Decide success criterion
Review
 Understand current process
Done
 Divide into sub-processes
 Identify & measure current KPIs
Identify
Done
• Identify & prioritize improvements
Verify
• Design experiment
Done
• Execute experiment & document
new KPIs
Execute
Done
• Report findings and suggestions
REVIEW
PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM: CURRENT PROCESS AND SUB-PROCESSES

Process flowchart for existing process is plotted using IOCR (inputs, outputs, controls and resources)
methodology. A sub-process takes input and transforms it into output using resources and working within
constrains.
IDENTIFIED KPIS & CURRENT MEASURES
 KPI 1: Structures mapped per man-day  Mean of KPI 1: 104
 KPI 2: Total structures surveyed per man-day  Mean of KPI 2: 10
 KPI 3: Average time taken in minutes to complete  Mean of KPI 3: 23
one survey
 Mean of KPI 4: 5
 KPI 4: Total structures quality checked per man-day
 Mean of KPI 5: 0.58
 KPI 5: Man-hours required for data cleaning of 100
structures  Mean of KPI 6: 3.56

 KPI 6: Man-hours required for data validation of 100  Mean of KPI 7: 9.58
structures
 KPI 7: (Overall Process) Total structures submitted to
client per man-day
IDENTIFIED KPIS & PRE-TEST MEASURES
IDENTIFY CAUSES
 1: Map provided by AMC is old and AutoCAD plotted.
 2: Single grid assigned to multiple persons lead to conflict.
 3: Division of maps into grids is done on convenience rather than
logic.
 4: Time taken to locate structures is quite high.
 5: Extreme heat leads to exhaustion.
 6: Location of lunch is quite far from site.
 7: Time taken to locate markings on structure is quite high.
 8: Unavailability of respondents.
Fishbone diagram to analyse cause and effects of existing problems.
 9: Extreme heat leads to exhaustion.
 10: Repetitive data filling leads to wastage of time.
 19: Time taken in discussions to resolve a logical error is
 11: Text fields in App instead of options leads to time wastage. high.
 12: Time taken by respondents to locate Tax Bill.  20: Sometimes information is filled by surveyor without
 13: Time taken by respondents to answer. asking the respondents.
 14: Time taken to locate structures is quite high.  21: Mismatches in types of structures.
 15: Distance between structures is very much.  22: Potential bottleneck exists between survey and data
 16: Same address is noted using different spellings. cleaning sub-processes due to unavailability of permanent
staff.
 17: Case differences while entering text fields.
 18: Auto checks are unavailable.  23: Bottleneck exists between mapping and survey sub-
processes.
PARETO ANALYSIS OF CAUSES
IDENTIFY IMPROVEMENTS
 Improved survey app, with auto fill, options instead of text box, FAQs and GPS tracking should be used.
 AMC provided map should be superimposed with current Google map.
 While mapping areas to grids, it should be preferred to assign a closed area (by roads, a single sector of a colony etc.) to
a single grid.
 Single grid should be assigned to a single person to avoid mapping conflicts.
 Mapping sub-process should be further divided into two sub-processes i.e. pre-mapping and mapping. In pre-mapping,
an executive with vehicle should mark roads, landmarks, corner structures in a block. In mapping, all other structures
should be marked.
 Structures should be marked on specific, pre-decided spots on structure such as water tank, electricity meter etc.
 Markers should be replaced with crayons to effectively mark structures.
 During quality check sub-process, structures to be checked should be located approximately with help of their GPS
location.
 For data-cleaning sub-process, improved excel sheet with auto-checks and auto-validations should be used.
 For data-validation sub-process, clear ‘if-then’ rules should be formed to avoid wasting time discussing possible
corrections.
 To avoid bottlenecks between sub-processes ‘mapping’ & ‘survey’, and between ‘survey’& ‘data-cleaning’,
mapping executives should be assigned data-cleaning and data-validation task for 3 days at end of 2nd and 4th week of
month.
VERIFY IMPROVEMENTS
EXPERIMENT DESIGN TO CHECK IF IMPROVEMENTS MEET SUCCESS CRITARIA

OBJECTIVES:
 To ease any existing bottlenecks between sub-processes, if any.
 To improve KPIs for individual sub-processes.
 To improve KPI for overall process.
HYPOTHESIS:
 H0: There is no improvement in overall-process KPI for new process.
RESEARCH DESIGN:
 One-group pre-experiment with pre-test and post-test observations.
SAMPLING:
 A sample of 5 interns (out of 13 executives, including interns) was selected using convenience sampling for
experiment and KPIs were observed.
IMPROVED KPIS & POST-TEST MEASURES
IMPROVED MEASURES & HYPOTHESIS VALIDATION
 Improved Mean of KPI 1: 127  Mean of KPI 1: 104
 Improved Mean of KPI 2: 13  Mean of KPI 2: 10
 Improved Mean of KPI 3: 20  Mean of KPI 3: 23
 Improved Mean of KPI 4: 6  Mean of KPI 4: 5
 Improved Mean of KPI 5: 0.52  Mean of KPI 5: 0.58
 Improved Mean of KPI 6: 3.36  Mean of KPI 6: 3.56
 Improved Mean of KPI 7: 13  Mean of KPI 7: 9.58

Hypothesis Testing:
Since the overall-process KPI (KPI 7) has shown improvement as result of new process,
rejected.

KPI 3, KPI 5 & KPI 6 : The lower, the better.

KPI 1, KPI 2, KPI 4, KPI 7 : The higher, the better.
EXECUTE
REPORT FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS & LIMITATIONS

KEY FINDINGS

 KPI 1 (Structures mapped per man-day): It was improved from 104 to 127.
 KPI 2 (Total structures surveyed per man-day): It was improved from 10 to 13.
 KPI 3 (Average time taken in minutes to complete one survey): It was improved from 23 to 20.
 KPI 4 (Total structures quality checked per man-day): It was improved from 5 to 6.
 KPI 5 (Man-hours required for data cleaning of 100 structures): It was improved from 0.58 to 0.52
 KPI 6 (Man-hours required for data validation of 100 structures): It was improved from 3.56 to 3.26
 KPI 7 (Total structures submitted to client per man-day): It was improved from 9.58 to 13
 Bottleneck exists between sub-processes ‘mapping’ and ‘survey’ with 36 structures mapped extra as
compared to those surveyed.
 Bottleneck may potentially exist between sub-processes ‘survey’ and ‘data cleaning’ as no dedicated
staff is assigned to data cleaning.
SUGGESTIONS

 Improved survey app, with auto fill, options instead of text box, FAQs and GPS tracking should be used.
 AMC provided map should be superimposed with current Google map.
 While mapping areas to grids, it should be preferred to assign a closed area (by roads, a single sector of a
colony etc.) to a single grid.
 Single grid should be assigned to a single person to avoid mapping conflicts.
 Mapping sub-process should be further divided into two sub-processes i.e. pre-mapping and mapping. In
pre-mapping, an executive with vehicle should mark roads, landmarks, corner structures in a block. In
mapping, all other structures should be marked.
 Structures should be marked on specific, pre-decided spots on structure such as water tank, electricity meter
etc.
 Markers should be replaced with crayons to effectively mark structures.
 During quality check sub-process, structures to be checked should be located approximately with help of
their GPS location.
 For data-cleaning sub-process, improved excel sheet with auto-checks and auto-validations should be used.
 For data-validation sub-process, clear ‘if-then’ rules should be formed to avoid wasting time discussing
possible corrections.
 To avoid bottlenecks between sub-processes ‘mapping’ & ‘survey’, and between ‘survey’& ‘data-
cleaning’, mapping executives should be assigned data-cleaning and data-validation task for 3 days at end
of 2nd and 4th week of month.
LIMITATIONS

 Individual effect of each change in sub-processes can’t be measured because only one-shot experiment
was performed due to lack of resources.
 Process improvement is done only to reduce process time. Improvements to reduce costs were out of scope
for current project.
 Changes suggested are assumed to carry negligible costs.
 Since laboratory conditions can’t be arranged, effect of extraneous factors such as weather, participants’
motivation and others on the result of experiment can’t be calculated and is assumed to be negligible.
CONCLUSION
Current process for ‘On-Field Consumer Survey for Water Meter Installation Project of Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation’ has scope for improvement. If suggested changes are implemented to improve the current
process, number of surveys submitted monthly to client can be increased by up-to 35.7%.
LEARNINGS FROM INTERNSHIP
Summer internship at Dexter Consultancy Pvt. Ltd., Ahmedabad has been an enriching experience for me. I
learned about research & consulting industry, conducting field research, client presentations and managing
teams. I also realized the importance of professional relationship networks and their importance in business,
especially in B2B service industry. I worked along interns from IIM Raipur, KJSOM, IIM Sirmaur and Gujrat
University which allowed me learn from them too. I have been left inspired by the enterprising culture of
Gujarat, which made me appreciate the ancient Indian teaching of ‘Work is Worship’.
THANKS!
References:
 http://www.dexteronweb.com
 http://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/corporate/family-business-india-seeking-mentors-outside-to-train/story/220539.html
 http://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/features/medium-sized-global-consulting-accounting-firms/story/194285.html
 http://www.greenbookblog.org/2015/02/09/10-predictions-about-the-future-of-the-market-research-industry-in-the-digital-age/
 www.businessballs.com/dtiresources/TQM_process_improvement_tools.pdf

Credits:
 http://www.canva.com
 https://creately.com/
 http://www.slideheros.com
 MS Excel