There is a lot of talk about process reliability and process capability in lean circles, and while many leaders believe that they have a firm grasp on both concepts, the reality tends to be a bit different in some cases. Understanding what both factors are and how they affect your work is critical if you want to make sure that the organization is evolving smoothly, and that there are always good opportunities for improvement available.

Process Reliability

Process reliability is a measure of how much the output of a process deviates from some expected values. Usually you’re aiming for high reliability, especially in situations where the quality of the output is critical for another process later on. There are various ways to improve process reliability, but it mostly comes down to tracking past performance and adjusting some variables accordingly.

It’s also important to understand that sometimes there will be an inherent low limit to process reliability and there’s nothing you can do about it. In those cases, performing well is mostly a matter of adjusting your expectations and knowing how to deal with variability as it arises, rather than trying to perfect every run.

Process Capability

On the other hand, process capability is the upper limit for how much a process can produce in a given period of time, and it’s much more flexible and open to improvements. There are various ways to improve the process capability of a system, including some relatively inexpensive ones that most companies should be able to successfully implement, and it’s important to study this aspect of your organization in order to know how to prepare it for the future.

Sometimes you don’t actually need to improve process capability to keep seeing good results from each run of a specific process though, and it’s important to learn to recognize those situations. Spending unnecessary effort on improving the capability of processes where it’s mostly irrelevant is one of the biggest sources of waste in lean organizations, and it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with methods to deal with that. There are various statistical analysis tools that can show you exactly what’s going on behind the scenes of each process in your organization, and they can be a great way to figure out what kinds of changes you need to make in the next optimization iterations.

Aligning Both

Now that you know what both process reliability and capability are about, it’s also a good idea to understand how you can align both so that there are no conflicts between them in your organization’s processes. How you’re going to go about this depends on the specific structure of your organization itself, and in some cases you’re going to have to make some compromises. For example, you may have to sacrifice some reliability in order to improve the capability of a process, and if that improves the bottom line of the project as a whole, then it’s obviously a viable move that shouldn’t be ignored.

You’ll have to rely on statistical analysis methods quite a lot if you want to ensure that you’re moving in the right direction when trying to align these two aspects of your company. If you’re unsure about the potential impact some of your moves could have, it’s best to discuss the situation with outside experts who can shed some light on your current situation. Don’t be afraid to involve external assistance if it could potentially result in significant improvements in the company’s performance, but of course, try to solve the problem yourself first to see if there isn’t some viable solution available.

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A lot has been said about zero defects in lean circles, and while the methodology has evolved into a somewhat new direction today, there are still valid use cases for it and it’s important to recognize the benefits it brings to the table for any modern organization. The fundamental idea behind zero defects is that the job should be done right the first time that is, the number of defects should be reduced to a minimum from the very first iteration of the design, rather than having to come back to it for additional changes over and over again.

There are various positive aspects to zero defects, but also some caveats to be aware of if you’re planning to implement it in your organization. If you do things right and consider the implications carefully, zero defects can actually bring a lot to the table.

Pro: It improves team morale and reputation with customers

The mindset of we’re going to make mistakes anyway is one that should be eliminated as it can be quite harmful to the productivity of any organization. And yet, it’s quite prevalent today, especially in the tech world. Many professionals in this area consider it impossible to do their jobs without a significant margin of error, and this can drag down team morale very quickly and without people even noticing.

Zero defects changes the whole attitude of the team and forces everyone to look in a more positive direction, one where they eliminate all mistakes from their workflow. Of course, in most environments, a 100% error elimination rate is impossible to achieve, but the fact that your team members are thinking in that direction can still have a huge impact on the way things get done.

The same can be said for customers and the way they see your business, as running a zero defects program can instill a lot of confidence in your organization.

Pro: It eliminates hidden costs

Many organizations wrongly consider the development cost of a new product to end when it’s launched to the market. And yet, anyone who’s had to maintain something for months on end knows that this is very far from the truth. Zero defects can help move away from that problematic state to a great extent, while on the other hand, it can make it much more obvious what additional costs you’re incurring from post-release maintenance, and how they can be avoided.

It’s as much a tool for eliminating errors as it is a useful planning method, and if you have zero defects implemented properly in your workflow, you can see your long-term operational costs reduced nicely, or at least brought to a manageable level.

Con: It’s impossible to truly achieve

In many fields, the concept of zero defects is a more abstract one and not something rooted in reality. That’s because it’s impossible to completely eliminate human error from all stages of product design and development. According to some opponents of the methodology, this can have a harmful effect on team morality, unlike what we suggested above.

Con: Some see it as outdated and this can reflect poorly on your image

Depending on who you’re working with, it might turn out that zero defects is actually seen as something outdated and obsolete in your circles. This naturally means that continuing to use it while still engaged in those professional relationships can impact your standing in those respective circles negatively.

It’s possible that this is not an issue to you, but when it has the potential to impact your business partnerships, then it can become quite problematic. It’s important to maintain an objective overview of your business and the way you present it to the market, and always keep an eye out for potential small details that can affect this image negatively. Of course, you should always prioritize the internal impact on your organization’s operations, but sometimes these internal workings can be affected by external factors like a failed partnership very severely.

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