The recent competition in the banking industry has forced the Emirates Islamic Bank in Dubai to re-engineer its processes in order to stay competitive in the banking world.
One of the processes that require re-engineering is the credit card application process which has been signaled out as not being effective as it is supposed to be (Tenat 118).
Process re-engineering involves a complete re-structuring of the process in question to make it fast, effective and customer satisfying. Total quality management is a modern management system that attempts to continuously improve all the processes in an organization to meet customer needs (Tenat 127).
This paper will discuss the six sigma total quality management method to be applied by the Emirates Islamic Bank in improving its operations.
The six sigma method was originally used in the manufacturing industry to improve production processes. These set of practices were designed to completely eliminate the number of defects in the products produced by manufacturing firms.
The success of this approach of total quality improvement led to its use in other organizations apart from manufacturing companies (Keller 8).
The original objective of the six sigma method is to improve the quality of services and products and at the same time reduce the cost of production. Six sigma can be referred to as a management system or methodology meant to make process results predictable and stable.
The six sigma methodology is supposed to help the organization have a customer focus through consideration of their feedback and input in improving company processes. Six sigma tries to minimize the variations in processes as much as possible through a thorough data analysis of the existing processes (Keller 8).
The improvements made to business processes should be rapid and sustainable. Total quality management tries to achieve this objective by creating an environment for a thorough scrutiny of all the processes to find out the various ways of improving them for customer satisfaction (George 19).
According to our case, the Emirates Islamic Bank is planning to improve its application processes for various services and products.
Since a credit card is a very essential product in the banking industry, all banks have to make sure the application process of this key product meets the customer requirements.
How the customer feels determines how successful an organization is. The Emirates Islamic Bank conducted an analysis of its operations and identified some weaknesses in its processes that need improvement. The six sigma process is an appropriate managerial approach to be used to improve the process.
The six sigma methodology is normally implemented in six phases (George 19). The process is very strict and aims for perfection in processes and products. The first weakness at the Emirates Islamic Bank is in the company’s turnaround time.
It was noted that the bank took too long to respond to customer complains on very fundamental issues like credit cards. The process of defining the problem or area of concern is the first phase of the six sigma process (George 19).
The next phase is the collection of key data on the current process and systems in place my measurement. Accurately collected data ensures that process improvement is done based on real facts. In this case, the bank should collect accurate data about the credit card application process.
The next phase is data analysis of the collected process data to find the cause and affect relationships. The root cause of the problem is easily identified from data analysis of the collected data. The inputs and outputs are thoroughly analyzed to find out the various causes of delay in credit card application process (Akpolat 42).
The fourth phase of the six sigma process is the improvement phase. The information gathered from data analysis is normally used to optimize and improve the current processes to suit customer requirements. Techniques such as mistake proofing and design of experiments are used to improve the current processes.
According to our case, one of the causes of the delay in credit card application process is the fact that all the processes are done at the headquarters. The idea of relying on the main office to process all the cards ends up wasting a lot of time because of the many logistics involved (Akpolat 42).
The processing of the credit cards at the branch level would reduce the waiting time and hence satisfy the customer. After process improvement has been done, it is then tested to establish its capability.
The final phase in the six sigma process is the control phase. After improving the current process, a control system is put in place to correct any deviations that might occur in the process. The most commonly used control systems are production boards and statistical control processes.
Those in charge of the process should continuously monitor it to ensure it meets the set standards and goals. The other weakness identified by the Emirates Islamic Bank was the long duration in the application of various bank services and products (Akpolat 42).
The five steps of the sigma process should be followed to improve the process and solve the problem of delays.
The sigma methodology is also used in the design of products and services.
The first three phases of definition, measurement and analysis is similar but the last two are a bit different from the normal six sigma process.
The design goals are defined inline with customer needs and the overall strategy of the organization.
The measurement phase identifies the critical characteristics of the product.
At the analysis stage, alternative designs are developed and their capability evaluated. The best design is then chosen from the rest (Akpolat 42).
The fourth stage is the design stage where simulations are done on the selected design.
The final phase in the design for sigma process is the verification phase where the production process is established and the pilot runs done.
In conclusion, the six sigma managerial approach is very useful in improving process and product quality in an organization. This total quality management technique aims at improving customer service for the general benefit of the organization.
The six sigma is a five phase process that eliminates all the defects in processes and products through a systematic problem identification and process improvement. The Emirates Islamic Bank has some weaknesses in its operations that can be effectively improved by the six sigma process.
The total quality management system has strict procedures that need to be followed for its benefits to be fully seen.
The six sigma process is also used in the product design process to ensure the designed product meet the customer requirements and the organization’s overall strategies. Both manufacturing and service industries are currently using the six sigma methodology to improve their operations.
Works Cited
Akpolat, Hasan. Six Sigma in Transactional and Service Environments. Gower Publishing Ltd., 2004. Print.
George, Michael L. Lean Six Sigma: Combining Lean Sigma Quality with Speed. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2002. Print.
Keller, Paul A. Six Sigma Demystified. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2010. Print.
Tenat, Geof. SPC and TQM in Manufacturing and Services. Gower Publishing Ltd., 2001. Print.