AGILE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

DIGITAL ASSIGNMENT 1
B2+TB2
WINTER SEMESTER 2021-22

SRI GANESH.D 19MIS0122

SUBMITTED TO:
Prof.KALAIVANI.S

1. Survey at least five companies which are continuously improving

their process\product quality through the below given approaches.
a. CMM
b. Six sigma
c. Lean
Elaborate how they applied and grow up their business success
through customer satisfaction.
Continuous improvement is a method that strives to locate opportunities for
ensuring efficiency, continuously. This involves the assessment of current
processes, products and services to ensure that output is maximised and waste is
minimised. This benefits internal and external stakeholders, from employees to
customers and investors alike.

Five examples of continuous process improvement and where we can use it

during your day-to-day practices are:

1. Ideation and Think Tanks: 

Initiating regular think tanks and ideation sessions can benefit the organisation.
We can choose to run think tanks with an agenda in mind or at the very least,
elicit the attendance of key personnel so that valuable ideas are discussed.
During these sessions, we can explain how processes are currently being run to
see if there are places that need to be improved and changes to be made. Often,
since technology is so intertwined with most business processes, a starting point
is to discuss updates and new technology solutions geared towards optimisation.
For example, automation solutions are becoming increasingly necessary for
businesses to remain competitive. 

2. Surveys and Polls: 

The people who work within the organisation are the most well-versed to know
where improvements can be made. It’s not only important to gain feedback
from customers and vendors, but important and often overlooked is employee
feedback. By polling our team, we can find out their pain points and find places
for improvement. As a business leader, we spend most of the time on the big
picture, so the smaller details that significantly affect the business outputs can
go unnoticed without such insight. 

3. Monthly Training: 

In big businesses, especially, it is common that each employee works within a

silo or “swim lane.” But, both cross-training and automation software can
contribute to process improvement. For example, if we can train employees to
know how to do multiple jobs, then if someone is absent because of sickness or
vacation, a process remains unharmed. Another idea is to implement an
automation tool within the organisation to reduce dependency on key personnel.
For example, automation tools like SolveXia’s system are designed such that
processes are stored within the system and can be run by virtually anyone with
access. Not only is the process stored and will automatically run, but as the
process runs, the system documents the steps it is taking to produce its output. 
4. Time Audits: 

One of the most significant resources wasted within a business is time. Being
able to accurately measure and gauge how much time a process takes on behalf
of the employees can offer insight into where we can optimise a process. It’s as
simple as using software to time a process. Then, we can analyse how long
processes take and find ways to eliminate wasted time. This could be in the
form of automating approvals and reducing touch-points, thereby preventing
potential bottlenecks and delays from occurring.

5. Catchball:
Within organisations, processes are rarely started and completed by a single
person. As such, every process needs to have someone who can be held
responsible for its execution, but still requires the input and assistance of
multiple people. Catchball is a method of continuous improvement that requires
the person who initiated a process to state its purpose and concerns to the others
involved clearly. In this way, they can then “throw” it out to the group for
feedback and ideas for improvement, yet the single person remains responsible
for its completion.

Some areas that breed waste within the business that often have room for
improvement are:
 Timeliness: System downtimes, approvals and bottlenecks of information
 Errors: Manual data entry errors, invoice errors
 People: Underutilised workforce, excessive management and
micromanagement
 Production: Overproduction of printed documents before necessary

CMM:
Cognizant:
Some key aspects of the Cognizant appraisal process included:
 A multi-model appraisal of both Development and Services functions
 Appraisal of the company’s Agile, DevOps and Digital capabilities
 In-depth analysis of the business impact resulting from the company’s mature
delivery practices.
The CMMI underscores Cognizant’s process maturity at scale and underpins
our strong development and services capabilities for the digital era. This
accolade is a testament to our structured approach to driving innovation,
efficiency and best practices to make delivery excellence a sustainable
competitive differentiator.

HCL:
HCL Enterprise is a leading Global Technology and IT enterprise that
comprises two companies listed in India -HCL Technologies Ltd & HCL
Infosystems Ltd. Its range of offerings span Product Engineering, Custom &
Package Applications, BPO, IT Infrastructure Services, IT Hardware, Systems
Integration, and distribution of ICT products.
The People Capability Maturity Model (People CMM) is a framework that
helps organizations successfully address their critical people issues. It helps
organizations to characterize the maturity of their workforce practices, establish
a program of continuous workforce development, set priorities for improvement
actions, integrate workforce development with process improvement, and
establish a culture of excellence. The People CMM consists of five maturity
levels (1 through 5) that establish successive foundations for continuously
improving individual competencies, developing effective teams, motivating &
managing performance, and shaping the workforce to accomplish its future
business plans.

Six Sigma:

Tata Steel:
The term Six Sigma defines an optimum measurement of quality. The Greek
letter SIGMA is a mathematical term that simply represents a measure of
variation, the distribution or spread around the mean or average of any process
or procedure in manufacturing , engineering , services or transactions. The
sigma value, indicates how well any process is performing. The higher the
value, the fewer defects per million opportunities.
TBEM Criteria is designed to help organizations use an integrated approach to
organisational performance management that results in
 Delivery of ever-improving value to customers and stakeholders, contributing
to organizational sustainability
 Improvement of overall organizational effectiveness and capabilities
 Organizational and personal learning
 To help improve organizational performance practices, capabilities, and
results  To facilitate communication and sharing of best practices information
among all organisations within TATA Group.
 To help in guiding organizational planning and opportunities for learning

MOTOROLA:
Motorola’s journey to achieve Six Sigma performance began in 1986 when
engineer Bill Smith quietly set out to devise a methodology to standardize
defect measurement and drive improvements in manufacturing. Developing this
new methodology was the first step on our journey and gave us the tools to
begin measuring and comparing the quality improvement rates of our business
groups. Six Sigma became our performance metric and was reflective of a
product.
Over the years, they built on this methodology to include the use of statistical
tools, and a step-by-step process to drive improvement, innovation and
optimization. Through the direction of former CEO Bob Galvin, they made the
Six Sigma methodology available to the world. they implemented large-scale
training efforts and applied the methodology beyond manufacturing into
transactional, support, service and engineering functions. Six Sigma became a
collaborative effort between their customers, suppliers and stakeholders and an
important tool to engage their employees in a culture of continuous
improvement. The program further evolved when they added Lean concepts to
the traditional Six Sigma framework to identify redundancies and reduce costs
and cycle time. their emphasis on reducing waste and non-value added activities
was critical in addressing the continuing competitive pressures and increasing
our productivity.

Lean:
ADDVALUE:
 On time error free deliveries by application of TQM
 Improved Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) through TPM
 Increased capacity and flexibility & agility
 Enhanced customer experience
 Improved margins and profitability
 Higher market share
 Highly motivated and excellent team work
 Improved Cash Flow

SME Sector across the globe is facing stiffer competitions internally as well as
from Manufacturing Giants. Organizations are chasing the same customers in
many cases. You must be the best at what you do, or you will lose business.
Knowing your customers’ expectations is crucial. Customers are focused on
three things:
 Cost
 Quality
 Delivery
ADDVALUE, across two decades of consulting SME Sector, has developed
exclusive approach to link Lean Practices with Business Goals and has hand
held organizations towards becoming truly the success stories. AVCI
Consultants work closely with their clients to bring Lean Manufacturing (along
with the in-house training of personnel in applicable concepts) into the Business
Processes for Steel, Brass, Cement, Castings, Rubber, Paint, Textiles,
Machinery, Heavy Engg., Foundry, etc industries in India. ADDVALUE’s Lean
model outlines the success mantra to approach Business Enhancement through
Lean Manufacturing.

Incremental Continuous Improvement: 

This type of process improvement is done as we recognise problems during a

process. The upside of this type of improvement is that it is relatively cheaper
and faster than breakthrough continuous improvement. Say we are running a
process and notice a mistake. This could be a typo in a brochure or an error in
data. We can fix the error as you go; however, to ensure that the actual process
moves forward in its next iteration without the same error requires that you
communicate the change. So, incremental continuous improvement is beneficial
so long as the person who fixes the mistake brings it up to the rest of the
organisation. 

Breakthrough Continuous Improvement: 

Breakthrough continuous improvement happens the other way around. Rather

than making a change during the process itself, it involves targeting the process
for improvement and then strategically approaching the change as a united
front. These are typically more substantial items for correction that require an
entire team to implement. 

Benefits of Continuous Improvement :

 Streamline workflow
 Reduce costs/waste

Here are some considerations for how to make continuous process improvement
the norm within the business: 

1. Manageable improvements:

Set reasonable goals. When setting out for improvement, you want to break
down larger projects into smaller, measurable pieces. This will help to reduce
overwhelm, as well as keep everyone involved on the right track to succeed. 

2. Elicit Feedback:

You should continuously seek feedback from customers, stakeholders and

employees throughout your operations. This feedback will not only help locate
opportunities for improvement, but it can also offer new perspectives and breed
new ideas. 

3. Motivate employees:
Not only should you breed a culture where each employee feels empowered to
notice inefficiencies and offer solutions, but you should also develop a
rewarding culture to be motivational. For example, you can create rewards or
develop an accessible system for employees to share feedback continuously.