Tsu-Ming Yeh

Service quality attributes determine improvement priority

Purpose – Although there are many quality measurement theories and models, all are imperfect; that is, each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Particularly, some models cannot indicate accurate improvement priorities. The purpose of this study is to develop an integrated performance model that improves service quality and acquires accurate improvement priorities that promote customer satisfaction and eliminate resource wastage.Design/methodology/approach – This study applied a performance matrix and quality loss function (QLF) theory to determine priority items needing improvement. A questionnaire was designed to determine the priority of improvement objectives derived from certain questionnaire items that do not fall into the appropriate performance zone (APZ) of the performance matrix. Finally, the QLF was adopted to rank the improvement objectives in terms of priority. A large QLF area indicates customer satisfaction needs improvement.Findings – This study utilized an employee satisfaction surve...

The analysis of the implementation status of Six Sigma: an empirical study in Taiwan

In this study, we want to investigate the implementation status of Six Sigma by using an empirical study in Taiwan. The main focuses of the study are: (1) to analyse the levels of implementation and the degrees of importance of the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) of the programme, (2) to discover the areas in which Six Sigma has been applied and (3) to examine the rate of utilisation and degree of effectiveness of the Six Sigma tools and discuss the obstacles encountered in the implementation. This research also compares the results with respect to the implementation time periods and success levels. The study concludes that Six Sigma is a fashionable method of management, but if organisations want to obtain dramatic benefits from the implementation, they must enhance the implementation of the CSFs and utilise more advanced statistical tools.

Using a hybrid MCDM methodology to identify critical factors in new product development

With increased global competition, businesses now face a more complex and dynamic competitive environment and need to develop more innovative products with higher quality and shorter product life cycles. New product development (NPD) is the keys to the success of a business, where both critical success factors (CSF) and key performance indicators (KPI) will affect the outcome of a NPD project. This study utilizes both CSF and KPI to examine the critical factors of NPD with the methodology of multiple criteria decision making and investigates the correlations of critical factors with fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory and establishes the weights affecting NPD in the criteria with the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) approach. The results assist managers in selecting suitable competitive strategies, making the optimal allocation of limited resources, achieving the greatest increase in benefits, and promoting the overall success of NPD. The findings show that there are various correlations between the critical factors, where ‘products and customers’ have the most influence on other dimensions. Moreover, the top five critical factor criteria weights, constructed by FAHP, are ‘quality standard of new products’, ‘complete quality management system’, ‘consumer satisfaction’, ‘excellent planning and control’, and ‘support of top managers’.

An integrated implementation model of strategic planning, BSC and Hoshin management

In pursuit of excellence in business performance and long-term profits, strategic planning and Hoshin management have been widely implemented as strategic-management tools for some time. In recent years, the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) has also been gaining in popularity. Indeed, some organisations have been implementing these three management systems simultaneously. The present study compares and contrasts strategic planning, Hoshin management and BSC. Although differences exist, these strategic-management systems can be integrated on the basis of the features they share in common. Moreover, because each system has its shortcomings, the combination of the differences can overcome the individual weaknesses of each methodology. The paper presents an integrated model of strategic planning, BSC and Hoshin management, and provides a practical case study of its hugely successful implementation. The study confirms that this integrated model is feasible and effective.

Customer‐focused rating system of supplier quality performance

This paper establishes an objective‐orientation driven supplier customer satisfaction performance rating system. The purpose is to provide a methodology for “integrating supplier and manufacturer capabilities and applying different strategies for quality improvement”. This study was undertaken to specify the interaction and mutual movement among three groups in the supply chain “Supplier‐Manufacturer‐Customer” and integrate the results from four factors: incoming inspection, line reject performance, supplier service quality and product reliability. These factors are transformed into measurable, quantitative, Just‐in‐time (JIT) parameters, utilized in planning and establishing a supplier performance rating system focused on satisfying both internal and external customers.

A fuzzy AHP-based performance evaluation model for implementing SPC in the Taiwanese LCD industry

Statistical process control (SPC) is one of the most practical and widely used tools to enhance product quality and reduce costs. However, the implementation of SPC has often resulted in unsatisfactory performance; moreover, there is no well-established standard for evaluation of the results of introducing the system. The present study addresses this problem by proposing an effective and convenient performance-evaluation model for implementing SPC. The proposed model draws on the DMAIC methodology of Six Sigma, the performance-evaluation model of Lin et al. (Lin, W.T., Liu, C.H., Hsu, I.C., and Lai, C.T., 2004. An empirical study of QS 9000 in the automobile and related industries in Taiwan. Total Quality Management, 15 (3), 335–378), and the fuzzy mathematical programming of Kaufmann and Gupta (Kaufmann, A. and Gupta, M.M., 1991. Introduction to fuzzy arithmetic: theory and application. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold) to define the fuzzy indices and control values of importance, action, and performance in developing the proposed performance-evaluation model. The model is then applied in a case study of a Taiwanese liquid crystal display manufacturer. A questionnaire is designed to establish fuzzy indices of importance, action, and performance values for assessment by analytic hierarchy process methodology. Various critical factors and feasible improvement strategies are then compared (using computed weights) to determine the priority of the improvement strategies. To verify improvement, the same model is used to re-evaluate system control performance after implementing the improvement strategies for some time. The study demonstrates that the proposed model is an effective and convenient tool that can be used to analyse and improve the performance of an existing SPC system or to enhance success in implementing a new SPC system while working within constraints of time and costs.

The use of fuzzy measures in a performance-evaluation model for ERP implementation among Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturers

Many semiconductor-related manufacturing enterprises in Taiwan have embarked upon the implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) to integrate and optimize various business processes across the entire firm. The present study proposes a performance-evaluation model of ERP implementation utilizing fuzzy measures. The paper then presents an empirical study of semiconductor-related manufacturers in Taiwan in which the proposed model is used to: (i) identify the critical implementation items requiring improvement; and (ii) rank the strategies for improving them according to weight value. A systematic approach is thus proposed to: (i) examine the performance of an ERP implementation process; (ii) determine the items to be improved; and (iii) select appropriate and feasible strategies to improve these items. The proposed model can ensure successful implementation of ERP and thus enhance its potential benefits for semiconductor manufacturers.

Methods for determining areas for improvement based on the design of customer surveys

Many firms conduct satisfaction surveys of their customers, with a view to using the analyzed results to identify areas of potential improvement. The weakness in this approach is that attributes with a lower satisfaction level might not be in need of improvement. They might merely be of little concern to customers. The present research develops several methods to identify areas that do require improvement. These methods include the importance–satisfaction (I–S) model, the improvement index, the quality-improvement index, the SERVQUAL survey, Kanos model, the extent of satisfaction, and the extent of dissatisfaction. An integrated model of service-quality measurement is used to cover all the customer surveys required for an international certification service company. In the case study, valuable information of various kinds is obtained from an analysis of the customer surveys. On the basis of this information, the firm can make appropriate decisions on areas for improvement, which are significantly different from those identified on the basis of a simple satisfaction survey.

Fuzzy-based risk priority number in FMEA for semiconductor wafer processes

Semiconductor wafer manufacturing processes are considered to be complex and require considerable manpower and financial investment. Effective control to promote wafer yield is thus a very important issue. Many computational problems in traditional failure mode approaches, such as variable selection and data collection, are far too dependent on the experience of engineers, with a lack of specifically quantified values. Therefore, there are significant differences between the results of research and the actual processes. Although several researchers have revised the failure mode computation, the occurrence results continue to differ from the actual quantified values. The potential failure mode in semiconductor wafer manufacturing processes is effectively discussed using linguistic fuzzy variables to replace the severity and detection in the failure mode for re-calculation and sorting, along with the occurrence acquired from the wafer processes yield change. Based on the results of engineering experiments, the use of a risk priority number can effectively overcome the problem of a lack of objectivity in the traditional failure mode and effect analysis, as well as accurately distinguish the priority of the key failure factors so that the research results become more complete.

An Integrated Model of Hoshin Management and Six Sigma in High-Tech Firms

ABSTRACT Hoshin management has been widely implemented in Japan and Taiwan for many years, and many Western companies are now also adopting this management system. Hoshin management is a powerful management tool, as has been confirmed by the companies that have implemented it. The GE Six Sigma programme has also been widely adopted in recent years by various industries and non-profit organizations around the world. Hoshin management and Six Sigma both relate to an organizations vision and strategy. However, in most cases, these two systems have been implemented separately – thus producing a number of significant problems. The present study develops an integrated model of Hoshin management and the Six Sigma programme. This integrated model links an organizations annual objectives and the Six Sigma programme to the organizations vision and strategy. In addition to such a linkage, the model includes an analysis of VOS and CSFs – which is critical in developing KPIs and an appropriate focus for the deployment of Six Sigma projects. This integrated model embeds the Six Sigma programme into the implementation framework of Hoshin management, which can enhance an organizations development of Hoshin and simultaneously solves the deployment and auditing problems involved in the execution of Six Sigma projects. Several well-known companies in Taiwan have successfully utilized the framework developed in this study. An empirical case study is provided to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of this integrated model.