Question: Environmental computer models*: An environmental company specializes in developing computer models. The models display the direction of groundwater flow, and they are used to predict the movement of pollutants. The company's major customers are state and federal agencies. The development of the computer models is a fairly complex process. First, numerous water wells are drilled in an area. Then probes are lowered into each well at various depths. From instruments attached to the probes, a number of recordings are made. Field technicians, who record the data on paper forms, do this. The data consist mostly of long lists of numbers. Back in the office, a data entry clerk enters the numbers into a computer. The clerk typically enters hundreds of numbers at a time. The entered data are then used to develop the computer models.
Recently, the company has experienced numerous problems with data quality. Numerous data entry errors have resulted in the generation of inaccurate models. When this happens, someone must carefully review the entered data. When incorrect numbers are identified, they are reentered, and another computer model is generated. This rework process often must be repeated more than once. Because it takes a long time to generate the models, such errors add considerable cost and time to a project. However, these additional costs cannot be passed on to the customer. Prices for the computer models are based on fixed bids, so the company must pay all rework costs. Alarmingly, rework costs have skyrocketed. On the last two jobs, such additional costs eliminated almost all profits. The company has decided to fix the problem. The company's first step has been to hire an expert in data quality.
The consultant makes a series of random inspections. First, the consultant checks the original numbers recorded by the field technicians. They all seem correct. Next, the consultant examines the data entered by the data entry clerks. Numerous transposition errors are identified. Some of the errors are huge. For example, one error changed 1927 to 9127; another changed 1898 to 8198. The consultant proposes some process changes, including adding an inspection step after the computer data entry step. The consultant suggests that someone other than the data entry clerk should perform this inspection. Because each model has hundreds of numbers, the additional inspection step will take some time. However, the consultant can think of no other way to prevent the data entry errors. The proposed process is outlined in Table.
The consultant was paid and left for what he described as a "well-deserved vacation" in Hawaii. The company currently is hiring people to staff the third step in the process.
a. What measures should be used to assess the performance of this process?
b. How would the consultant's proposed process perform according to the measures defined in part (a)?
c. Do you agree with the consultant's methodology and improvement strategies?
d. Would you propose a different process?