Having worked in various capacities of manufacturing or processing for 30 years, I have held various positions within the manufacturing sector. My first exposure to “Black Magic” was as a Quality Manager and we were quoting on some new parts which had to be Heat Treated.

In successful organizations, the focus of each employee is satisfying the customer. Meeting or exceeding the customer’s expectations every time. To do this, the organization must understand the rules. In some organizations, the organization sets the rules and then they tell the customer what the rules are. In successful organizations, the company asks the customer what rules they would like to play by and then adapts to those rules.

I read once that if all of the money promised to be saved through improvement projects in the U.S. in one year actually happened, enough money would be saved to pay off the national debts for half the world.   Whether this is, true, or accurate really doesn’t matter.  

Of all of the basic tools of process improvement and control, the flow chart may be the most valuable.  Flow charts can be used for communicating how a process operates by providing sufficient detail of step by step process flow, while remaining simple and easy to understand.  

Flow charts usually follow one of two formats, the basic flowchart and the cross-functional flow chart.  In addition there are numerous specialty flowcharts used for specific purposes.