International Software Consulting Network

author(s):	Tilo Messer
title:	The Siemens Improvement Method - From Assessment to Improvement Strategies
organisation(s):	Siemens AG, Corporate Research and Development Application Center Software
copyright:	ISCN Ltd.

The Siemens Improvement Method -
From Assessment to Improvement Strategies

This is a shortened version of the paper published in ISCN '96 conference proceedings.

The focus of this paper is on the support of the Siemens divisions when they start and perform their improvement programs and on the experiences with the coaching activities made by the process improvement managers from the Application Center Software.

Figure 1: Profile of the Application Center Software

Steps for starting an successful improvement program are:


• to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the Siemens division,
• to structure the recommendations following identified potentials,
• to build manageable clusters of activities,
• to define a measurable, realistic and motivating goal of the improvement program,
• to provide strong support and visible sponsorship by the (senior) management,
• to start the improvement program by a kick off meeting.

  Improvement projects usually follow 4 phases mentioned below:
  
  

• planning of the project,
• definition of goals and pilot applications,
• piloting the selected projects and
• roling out established procedures which are introduced in the selected pilot application throughout the whole company.

Figure 2: 4 phases of an improvement project

Experiences with Process Improvement Projects

Up to now more than 70 projects' processes have been covered by Siemens Process Assessments. For most of them an improvement program started soon after the assessment has been finished. The following branches (examples) are covered by assessments as well as improvement programs:


• telecommunications (switching, mobiles, devices)
• power supply and power distribution
• automation
• traffic systems
• medical systems
• automotive control systems
• installation systems
• air control systems
• workstation development (operating systems)
  

  The assessments have taken place at company sites in Austria, Brasil, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, U.K. and USA.

  Regarding the improvement projects which succeed after an assessment we have made the following experiences (excerpt from long version):
  
  

• The improvement project should be started immediately after the assessment has been finished.
  If the time slot between the assessment and the improvement project is too large the motivation to start decreases dramatically because of daily work is getting continuously more important. The management has to be convinced once again to support strongly the improvement project. We try to start the improvement project by a regular kick off meeting within at least two months after the assessment has been finished.
• Participants of assessments support the improvement project themselves.
  The employees who are directly involved in the assessment have the possibility to propose improvement activities and measures regarding their own work environment. These improvement proposals are directly put into the results of the assessment. They clearly see the advantages of improvements and of activities which overcome barriers and make things easier. The more extensive developers are interviewed the higher the acceptance of the recommended improvement activities is.
  
  It is helpful to involve in the process improvement team (project team of the improvement project) colleagues who have been participated in the assessment, champions who have deep technical experience and expertise as well as opinion leaders who are key persons for getting wide support within the organisation.
  
  
• Success has to be measurable.
  The improvement project is successful if the improvement actions which are realized lead to significant increase of efficiency in daily work. This means that every person involved in a pilot project at least must get the feeling (measurable?) that his work can be done more efficiently caused by the improvement actions.

Figure 3: Example of an successful improvement project within Siemens

The success of the whole improvement project has to be measurable (e.g. ISO 9001 certification passed) (see figure 3). A measurable goal for the improvement project has to be defined (e.g. reaching level 3 within 24 months; measured by an re-assessment - reduction of test cycle time by factor n, reduction of development costs to n DM, reduction of error rates after delivery fewer than 50 dpm (defects per million); the last 3 goals could be measured by introducing a metric system).
• External coaches help to speed up the project's progress.
  The improvement managers of the ACS are considered to be `external coaches' when they are involved in or when they manage improvement projects in Siemens divisions. It is helpful to have external coaches because they are not integrated in daily work and in problems of the organisation. Additionally they have the possibility and acceptance to gap bridges between established groups of developers in order to come to agreed results and decisions. The continuous support of external coaches can be decisive for the success of the improvement project.
• The whole organisation should be kept informed about the status of the improvement project.
  It is essential that all people who are directly and indirectly involved in the improvement project are regularly kept informed about the planning, status and the goals reached (success stories) of the improvement project (e.g. by sending out newsletters every two or three months, by organizing open discussion sessions where everyone gets the possibility to ask questions and critizise - with and without managers, to propose new improvement actions). The culture of change must be visible to everyone in the company.

  Conclusion

  It seems that our experiences made are only problems, but not more. This is not quite true. Assessments as well as improvement projects bring fun although daily improvement work is hard. We have learned that improvement projects become a success if at least the improvement rules mentioned above are strictly considered and realized.

  It is difficult to measure cultural change. But process improvement makes cultural change necessary in order to be competitive and successful in changing markets.

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