Minnesota Section 1203 Virtual Program Meeting, June/14/2022: "Using Process Behavior Chart Dashboards for Better Decision Making"

The Quality Gurus Shewhart, Deming, Juran and Wheeler all endorsed the use of Statistical Quality Control Charts. Dr. Donald Wheeler has gone a step further renaming them Process Behavior Charts bring them to the attention of businesspeople to use to improve their decision making. I will briefly discuss the theory of control charts showing introducing the concept of common vs special cause variation. I will then illustrate how businesspeople use tables, stop light reports, and dashboards all using two point % difference comparisons for their key performance indicators. I will present a typical stop light report, i.e. a report that highlights bad results in red, concerning results in yellow, outstanding results in green, for a sales organization. Typically there are questions about what happened from the top manager.

I will then show the results of a dashboard containing only control charts which show no special cause codes in the most current month. The proper interpretation of the dashboard is that the individual business processes are all performing in a predictable manner and that all the effort that went into investigating the reasons for the red two point % difference comparisons was a waste of valuable time and effort.

I will then demonstrate the PBCharts Excel Add-In to show how I made the dashboard.

Presenter: Mike Mercer

Born in Buffalo New York. Enjoyed making toys with scotch tape made by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company in 1961. I liked it so much I said out loud I want to work for that company; being an east coaster had no idea there was a state called Minnesota. Got a BS in Chemical Engineering University of New York at Buffalo 1967. Got an AbD* in Chemical Engineering at the University of Minnesota in 1973. Went to work for a “small” company on the east side of St. Paul, known as the 3M Company. Worked as a Process Development Engineer for Diamond Grade Reflective Sheeting. Moved to Hutchinson MN for 3M to be the process engineer for Scotch Magic Mending tape and recollected that indeed I was now working for that company. Didn’t connect that Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company was also the 3M Company. Last job at 3M was as a Senior Quality Engineering Specialist for the Tape Manufacturing Divisions leading the team implementing ISO-9001 at all thirteen Tape locations. Developed BPCharts Control Charting App 1995, the precursor to today’s Process Behavior Charts Excel Add-In.

Developed “Quality Direct” Customer Complaint process reducing response time from 35 days to 3 days.

Awarded 3M Company Lew Lehr Career Quality Achievement Award 2004, retired in 2008.

Started Mercer Quality Consulting, LLC in 2008 specializing in ISO 9001 Management System, Statistical Thinking, Designed Experiments especially the U of M Carlson School professor Chris Nachtsheim’s Definitive Screening Designs.

*All but Dissertation – a phrase coined by my favorite history author Stephan Ambrose indicating all that all that remained to obtain a PhD was to finish the thesis.