COURSE : MANAGEMENT SERVICES INSTITUTION : UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG LECTURER’S NAME : MR M MOLEFE ASSIGNMENT TITLE : DUE DATE : 01 OCTOBER 2018GROUP MEMBERSSURNAMES INITIALS STUDENT NUMBERS EMAILSTEFFO MJ 216054374 [email protected].
zaRASHAGA AN 216076757 [email protected] Z 217080317 217080317@student.
uj.ac.zaMSIZA LP 216012387 [email protected].
zaSIHLANGU C 217080401 [email protected] K 217077784 [email protected] F 217029905 217029905@student.
uj.ac.zaDECLARATIONWE THOROUGHLY UNDERSTAND HOW FIRM THE UNIVERSITY POLICY IS WITH REGARD TO PLAGIARISM.
PLEASE TAKE NOTE THAT THE WORK PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS OF OUR OWN. ANY WORK THAT IS TAKEN FROM VARIOUS SOURCES HAVE BEEN REFERENCED ACCORDINGLY TO ACKNOWLEDGE THOWNER. THANK YOUTable of Content TOC o “1-3” h z u 1.Introduction and Background PAGEREF _Toc526138501 h 12.
Literature review PAGEREF _Toc526138502 h 22.1.Provisional Solutions PAGEREF _Toc526138503 h 23.SIX SIGMA AND PROCESS IMPROVEMENT PAGEREF _Toc526138504 h 33.1.
EQUIPMENT AND TOOLS OF SIX SIGMA PAGEREF _Toc526138505 h 43.1.1.Project Charter PAGEREF _Toc526138506 h 43.1.2.Process Map PAGEREF _Toc526138507 h 43.
1.3.Pareto Charts PAGEREF _Toc526138508 h 43.1.4.Failure Mode and Effects Analysis PAGEREF _Toc526138509 h 43.1.5.
Design of Experiments PAGEREF _Toc526138510 h 43.1.6.Control Charts PAGEREF _Toc526138511 h 43.2.PROCEDURL STEPS PAGEREF _Toc526138512 h 53.3.
Method of data analysis PAGEREF _Toc526138513 h 53.4.Arrangement for conducting the research PAGEREF _Toc526138514 h 64.
Discussion of results PAGEREF _Toc526138515 h 65.Conclusions/or Recommendation PAGEREF _Toc526138516 h 76.REFERENCES PAGEREF _Toc526138517 h 8AbstractCity Power is the company that supplies electricity, specifically at Johannesburg.
The company has faced some challenges on an ongoing basis. Most of the equipment and infrastructure is old and to replace them or even finding spares is a time-consuming task CITATION Bai03 l 7177 (Bai ; Lee, 2003). Theft and vandalism still poses some major problems. The above problems are experienced within the company, yet the purpose of this report is based on the theft and vandalism that are to be further outlined. The aim of this research was to explore the underlying causes on low process improvement and variation. The study analyzed the system of assessing methods of working so as to achieve the maximum output and efficiency, this was done by observing the type of equipment they are using, as well as the time they take to replace old infrastructure and the equipment vandalized CITATION Sch99 l 7177 (Schneiderman, 1999).The method that was used to do the research was observation and questionnaire. These observation and questionnaire was conducted to assess which factors contributed in the low process improvement and variation at City power.
The findings show that City power has been experiencing the challenge of theft and vandalism of equipment. A provisional response to the problem at hand was touched within the content of this report. Stages of Six sigma strategy forms a huge significant part on solving the problems that the City power is facing. It is result based on factual initiative that follow a systematic order within the process framework. Six sigma is rendered as a powerful instrument that can lead any company to an improved and strong performance.We have included that City power has to take measures to protect their equipment by building protective buildings, employ security guards that will look at identified hotspots, replace copper wires with aluminum ones and by exploration of crime intelligence strategies to protect network infrastructure against theft and vandalism.
The City Power board is at last responsible to guarantee that administration has planned an actualized viable arrangements of big business hazards administration and that dangers are overseen inside, the endorsed chance hunger and resilience level. The general administration danger of the City power is to distinguish and anticipate potential and rising danger before happen or appear and executed hazard administration framework and system that is relevant to all City Power tasks CITATION Ten01 l 7177 (Geoff, 2001). Introduction and BackgroundCity power was started in 2001 as an independent municipal entity. it is owned by city of Johannesburg. Their vision is to be a world class energy utility. City power is in the business of providing energy. their mission is to meet the customers and shareholders’ demands.
City power is inspired by being resilient, reliable and respectful to its customers and stakeholders. CITATION htt l 7177 (Anon., n.d.
) City power owns and works a broad transmission and circulation arrange and additionally open lighting framework. The engineering group is entrusted with undertaking arranged and spontaneous support with the plan to accomplish greatest congruity of supply. It however, mandated that the operation and maintaining of the product line throughout is done in a safe manner. In order to maintain the smooth maximum operation henceforth, reliability and cost-effectiveness are major concept to be cognizant of CITATION Cit18 l 1033 (City Power, 2017 – 2018). Vital challengesMost equipment and infrastructure is old and to replace them or even finding spares is a time consuming task. This results in maintenance problems.theft and vandalizing still poses some major problems.The above problems are experienced within the company, yet for the purpose of this paper only the theft and vandalism are to be further outlined.
A provisional response to the problem at hand will be touched on also within the content of this paper. theft and vandalizing of infrastructures and assets takes place at various sites. Some of those are mentioned below : SubstationsUnderground copper cablesMini-substations.The main objective is to provide assistance through addressing some of the main problems city power is facing. This is achieved through allowing customers to get quality and reliable product/services at lower rates. The association will likewise require to guarantee the manageability of the business through accomplishment of certain consented to budgetary, social and ecological objectives CITATION Cit18 l 1033 (City Power, 2017 – 2018). Literature reviewEscalation of theft and vandalism incidents occurs at the substation, underground copper cable circuits, overheads bare copper lines and supply points to the streetlights. Vandalism leads to plant out of service which refers to the equipment that has been isolated to be out of service.
The equipment requires repairs, refurbishment or complete replacement in order to restore back to service. This is mostly equipment that is obsolete and no longer supported by OEMs. The business has to launch capital projects or consciously decide to overspend on the repairs and maintenance budget in order to ensure reliable supply. The infrastructure target by the vandals includes substations, supply points for streetlights, mini-substations and underground copper cables (city power, 2017-2018)Provisional SolutionsThe company, city power has to come up with a way of reducing the theft and vandalism of their properties by building protective structure such as long walls, electric fences and also by employing security guards that will look at the identified hot spots, and they decided to replace copper wires with aluminum wires. They installed alarms at the substations and asked the community to work with them to catch all the people who stealing the cables. Through the implementation of the above mentioned provisional solutions reduction in the current challenges is imminent CITATION Cit18 l 1033 (City Power, 2017 – 2018)SIX SIGMA AND PROCESS IMPROVEMENTSix sigma is a set of techniques and tools for process improvement. It was first invented by engineers Bill Smith and Bob Galvin when they were still working at Motorola in 1986.
Then jack welch made it the focal area to his business strategy at general electric in 1995. Six sigma strategies can be used to improve the quality of the output of a process by identifying and removing the causes of faults and minimizing variability in manufacturing and organization’s processes. It uses quality management methods like empirical, statistical methods, and creates people within the organization who are experts in these methods.The maturing and the continuous process improvement in the manufacturing sector has led to the innate of Six Sigma. The Six Sigma depicts the ratio of produced deliverables (products) through various forms of rating. It is based on the definition, measurement, analysis, improvement and controlling (DMAIC) of how organizations are doing CITATION MSo10 l 1033 (M. Sokovic, 2010).
One must be aware that the stages are linked to each other. DMAIC forms a huge significant part of the Six Sigma strategy. It is a result based and factual initiative that follow a systematic order within the process framework CITATION Placeholder1 l 7177 (Tennant, (2001))Define – distinguishing, organizing and choosing the privilege venture.Measurement – vital points of the process (characteristics), the extent to which the process drags to and the performances thereof.Analyze – the important key area through depiction of major causes.
Improve – altering the process whilst maximizing the performance.Control – sustain the attained. Various industries particularly manufacturing industry make use of Six Sigma to trace the efficiencies and effectiveness of the organizations (M.
Sokovic, 2010). Through utilization of Six Sigma the organization has seen their objectives of buying and selling electricity to the citizens of Johannesburg. It is rendered a powerful instrument that can lead a company to an improved strong performance.
It tends to be utilized skillfully to streamline the assets and illuminate business objectives. Companies make use of the strategy of Six Sigma to effectively reduce unnecessary costs. Thus, concurrently improving on quality whilst staying competitive in the market.EQUIPMENT AND TOOLS OF SIX SIGMAProject CharterThe first step of the first stage of DMAIC cycle is the creation of project charter. The charter will thoroughly define the roles of everyone involved and tasks for each member of the team. All the financial implications and the valid cases of the business are contained within the charter.
Process MapProcess map entails utilization of flow chart to indicate with varying color codes the current processes of production. Thus, ascertaining that each individual within the team thoroughly comprehend how the process goes about CITATION For94 l 1033 (Fortenot, et al., 1994).Pareto ChartsThis tool enables team members to easily depict areas where improvement is needed. Through employment of 80/20 rule, major impact areas could be taken cognizant of, hence, paying more attention to them CITATION Get03 l 1033 (Getty ; Prybutok, 2003).
The significant few against the trivial many. So the more attention will be paid to the significant few so as to reduce major losses and impacts within the organization.Failure Mode and Effects AnalysisIn every process failure is imminent, therefore, calling for calculated precautionary measures. When the failure arises, one has to be able to identify where it comes from and how to mitigate the impact or entirely eliminate it CITATION Get03 l 1033 (Getty ; Prybutok, 2003). This applies further to relatively predicting the impacts of various modes of failures prior their occurrence. Design of ExperimentsThis instrument is utilized in order to profoundly identify the real cause of defective products. The influencing aspects and factors within the production process analyze and measure the impacts on the desired outcomes CITATION Bai03 l 1033 (Bai ; Lee, 2003).
Control ChartsControl chart aid individuals to modify the process and it further allows them to not make any changes if requiredCITATION Mer18 l 1033 (Keen, 2002).Step 4: Prioritize ActivitiesListening to the customers is one of the priorities of each company, even City Power can use that strategy to get close to their customers and Identifying quality criteria. Making sure that there’s a relationship between the efforts of City Power and their objectives which is to be the best in South Africa. Step 5: Establish OwnershipAssign an individual to lead and be accountable for the whole team.Step 6: Take the correct measurementCompanies must figure out how to measure process execution to guarantee that the information is received.Step 7: Govern the ProgramAn appropriate governance enables professionals to render their best ability during work on sharing discussions based on each task at hand. This allows them to consistently maintain their momentum CITATION Sch99 l 1033 (Schneiderman, 1999).
Step 8: Recognize ContributionRewarding and recognizing the employees assume a significant job in ensuring colleagues stay fulfilled and propelled in their jobs.METHODOLOGY OF SIX SIGMAThe use of six sigma strategy can be useful since the company is facing a problem of stealing and vandalizing of infrastructure and assets. The six sigma strategy has five steps which the company can use to solve this problem which are Define, Measurement, Analyze, Improve and Control.
DEFINEThe company needs to know, what’s the main cause of this? and find out if the employees are happy in the work place. Reasons may be, the employees are not satisfied with the payments or the company is not responding to their needs.MEASUREMENTThe company should check more details on, who is responsible for this? Because it could be employees or even the community. The community can steal assets because they believe that selling the cables can make them rich, whereas employees can do that to make extra cash.
ANALYZELooking at the key important points can be for effective for the company to see where they can fix this issue. Doing research on what the company can start to fix the issue would be productive and make sure that they use their resources efficiently.IMPROVEThe management can start by calling all the works and have the meeting with them. Promising rewards about good work for motivation can be helpful and also promise promotions for securities can make them focus on their job.CONTROLMonitoring is one of the best technique of maintaining good work and determination, if the management can keep their promises of rewards and promotion the company will never have the same problem again.
Arrangement for conducting the researchWe selected the area of work to be studied and we decided to choose City Power which is not manufacturing company but service company. It provides electricity specifically in Johannesburg, after having clarity on our investigation, we broke down the work into smaller components.The team comprised of the total scope of work to be carried out and to accomplish the projects objectives which are : To meet the expectations of the customers and stakeholders, provide a sustainable, affordable, safe and reliable energy and supply. Providing efficient and effectives customer services. Being preferred equal opportunity employer and undertaking city power in an environmentally acceptable manner We started studying the facts or information that we got at City Power and analyzed all the resources and how they do their work on daily basis, we recorded time when they were fixing cables so that we can measure their work. Discussion of resultsWe have grasped several things in the section of literature review and through some analysis made. Ignorance and negligence are two varying aspects which if not thoroughly looked into could cause a major problem for any organization.
Ignorance in a sense that lagging behind technologically give rise to problems that could be prevented. Such is depicted through deterioration of infrastructure due to it being old. The modern technology caters for automated alarm system in case of any anomaly within every process. Lack of proper security at the identified hotspots depicts less strong management and leadership within an organization.Negligence in a sense that inaction of responsible personnel creates problems. This concept can be entangled to some extent with accountability and responsibility.
Any deviation of this concepts (a person responsible not being able to take accountability) major problems occurs. Nonetheless, the provisional solutions provided if followed plenty of the current challenges faced by the company could be shirked if not reduced drastically. Of course the community and the society in general should play a part if this is to be fought against successfully.
Conclusions/or RecommendationThis report outlined some of the problems which many if not all the companies either in manufacturing or service industry incur. It has been clearly made in the content of this research report that lack of responsibility and accountability within an organization will lead to major impacts. The impacts could be either financial or assets vandalism and theft. Organized crime is still persistent as the perplexing unit for companies. However, most the modern problems could be dealt with easily through being in line with technology and thoroughly training of employees. Employee recognition and rewarding them through incentives could be part of the recommended solution to lower down risks. Quality improvement tools have proved to be effective if utilized efficiently to identify and eliminate defective products and or service.
Tools such as DMAIC used concurrently with Six Sigma have proved to me more helpful.REFERENCES BIBLIOGRAPHY Bai, R. J. ; Lee, G.
G., 2003. “Organizational factors influencing the quality of the IS/IT.
Industrial Management & Data Systems, 103(8/9), p. 622.City Power, 2017 – 2018. City Power Johannesburg Business Plan, Johannesburg: s.n.Fortenot, G., Behara , R.
& Gresham, A., 1994. Six Sigma Concept and Tools. Six Sigma concept, tool and application, 27(12), p. 15.Getty, R.
I. & Prybutok, V. R., 2003. Quality Management in small manufacturing companies. Quality Management in small manufacturing companies, 106(1/2).Keen, P. G.
W., 2002. The Process Edge: Creating Value Where it counts. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.LeanSixSigma, 2012. www.
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goleansixsigma.comAccessed 27 September 2018.M. Sokovic, D. P. K.
K. P., 2010. Quality Improvement Methodologies. Jamme, 43(1), p. 8.Matlakala, M.
D., 2017. Six Sigma. In: Johannesburg: JC Holdings.Schneiderman, A. W.
, 1999. Online Available at: http://www.schneiderman.comAccessed 28 September 2018.
