3.8. Seven steps for Continuous Process Improvement (CPI-7) -cycle

This is a process improvement cycle developed and used at Nokia Mobile Phones (1998) and has not been previously described in public. The model was developed by the Quality Office of the Nokia Mobile Phones during 1995-1996 and is meant for improvement of any process, not just software processes. The author of this literature study has contributed to this model, mainly to the process analysis step.

The model is a PDCA cycle and incorporates the Deming / Juran principle (i.e. to improve a process, it must first be described and modelled). Furthermore the model has taken additional influence from Business Process Re-Engineering and Lean Operations -thinking, where the improvement is largely based on studying the process model and identifying non-value-adding phases, which are then removed (hence improvement is aiming at making the process more effective and lean). The model (depicted in Fig. 9.) has seven steps, which are:

Defining the Scope of a Process - Important for providing a solid foundation for improvement. At this step the name, purpose, and start and end points (scope) of the process, as well as the inputs and output(s), and their requirements are defined. In addition the owner, customers, and suppliers of the process are identified.

Mapping the Process - Process map provides a common understanding of how process operates, as well as means for discussing of the process, so that the process can be analysed, interfaces clarified, and improvement opportunities identified. The notation that is recommended for the process map in the CPI-7 -model allows hierarchical approach and recognises four main elements and tree supportive elements. The main elements are Activities, Decisions, Connectors, and Object Flows. The supporting elements are Role, System, and Performance Measure. Role is a performer in the process, and can be one of Authority, Responsibility, Collaboration, or Informed (of progress in the process). The (IT) System is technology that supports the process, and the Performance Measure is the metric which is applied to the process.

Defining Process Measures - Measurement is applied on the process to enable control and visibility over the process status. The key objective is to use measurement for improvement, and the measurement responsibilities must be clearly defined. The measures must be effective, i.e. describe the critical issues and describe process performance, not ones that are easy to measure, and should be process-oriented (cross-functional), not line-oriented. Where the process map has several hierarchical levels, the measures should also map across those levels so that the lower level measure has an impact on a higher level measure. Measure

Setting Process Targets - Targets are needed to guide the process (improvement) into the right (desired) direction. There are two target types: Performance standard (the ultimate objective) and Target (what is the next improvement gain).

Analysing the Process - The analysis is a step where the improvements are identified. The process is analysed from three perspectives: People perspective (enacting Organisation and People), Technology perspective (supporting technology), and Process perspective (process flow). The people perspective asks about resources, competencies and suitability of the organisation for the task. The Technology perspective asks about adequacy of technical support and the interoperability of the technologies. The Process perspective asks about the bottlenecks, non-value adding steps, and measured problem areas in the process. Various formal analysis methods are used in this step.

Improving the Process - This step incorporates the PDCA-cycle, with a special focus on managing the change (especially human aspects of it) to the process. The PDCA-cycle is also extended by a fifth step "Review", where the immediate results of an improvement action are reviewed.

Managing the Process - This is a review step, where the results of the entire cycle are reviewed, process status is communicated to interest groups, and the next cycle is then initiated.