Problem Management
Increasing IT stability
Technology drives the ability to offer new services and solutions to customers, but not without increasing the complexity of systems, and the opportunity for potential problems. These might arise through an issue with the initial design, during a release management process, or could be the result of a recent change request. If problem management is purely a reactive function, how can an organization get ahead of issues so it can focus on continuous service.
It is critical that teams are empowered to minimize the potential impact of recurring incidents and solve problems… sustainably. When organizations place their focus on improving problem management processes, they see a measurable and immediate impact on IT stability.
Our Approach
Perform a high-quality Root-Cause-Analysis (RCA)
Solve the most complex problems once and for all. KT’s best-in-class problem-solving approach drives you to focus on the most relevant data so critical resources are deployed efficiently.
Eliminate recurring incidents
Stop firefighting. Firefighting is problem-fixing, not problem solving. KT processes guide you to identify and eliminate underlying causes and related incidents, reducing your backlog and significantly improving the morale of your incident teams.
Create knowledge that people can actually use
Provide clear, consistent, and easy to understand documentation that steers you straight to the heart of the issue. Create an audit trail complete with re-usable knowledge articles that your entire organization will benefit from.
Manage problems proactively
Extend your root cause analysis interventions to “thinking beyond the fix” to manage and minimize future risk and identify opportunities for continuous improvement. Identify all contributing factors to high-impact incidents/problems so you can eliminate underlying systemic issues that are lurking in your processes and systems.
Case Studies Section
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$11M
saved in the first year
60%
improvement in on-time performance
50%
reduction in admin workload
Challenges
Kennecott Utah Copper operates the Bingham canyon mine concentrator plant, a smelter and a refinery. Ore from this mine is concentrated into slurry, piped to where the smelting process occurs, and then sent to the refinery. Efficient operation at the concentrator stage is critical to maintaining uptime of the smelter. Each year the concentrator plant is shut down a total of 36 times. This is necessary to maintain critical equipment while essential repairs and upgrades are completed. The issue at Bingham was that the length of downtime was causing a bottleneck in the overall process.
Read Case StudyResults
The shutdown process saved over $11 million in the first year of implementation. On-time performance improved by 60% and is tracking towards world-class results. key performance Indicators (KPls) for shutdown performance improved over all prior years. Team performance (on-scope, on-cost) improved by 60%. Shutdown administrative work load fell by over 50% allowing team members to focus on other areas such as reducing cost or generating more revenue. All Injury Frequency Rate (AIFR) improved, advancing a strong safety culture which is a core value of KUCC.
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47%
improvement in operational efficiency
30%
improvement in production rate
50%
reduction in change over time
Challenges
After a major capital investment at its biscuit factory at Papakura, Griffin’s needed to address several variables impacting overall conversion cost. The site was struggling with high waste, high downtime, and planning deficiencies; and overall workflow was not conducive to producing at the lowest possible conversion cost.
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For overall results, Operational Efficiency (OE), the measure of line performance relative to a theoretical maximum achievable throughput rate, was used to measure success. To achieve an OE of 100%, the line must run at its maximum theoretical throughput rate with zero plant downtime and product waste. At the conclusion of the Kepner-Tregoe engagement the plant achieved:
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€4.5M
decrease in spin-off costs
70%
non-conformity reduction in 3 years in specific departments
Challenges
Fokker wanted to increase their issue resolution maturity. This meant improving the quality and completeness of information about problems, accelerating root cause analysis and involving the right people at the right time.
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Success has been measured in a drastic reduction in non-conformities which is saving millions of euros yearly. A proactive culture has replaced the “fire-fighting” of reactive problem solving.