DMAIC Project: Reducing Telephone Contacts by 50% in Telephone Helplines

‍

Baseline (Define)

As a result of the external change, the number of calls to the telephone helpline increased by almost 40% in a few months. The service level was no longer meeting the company's needs and there was no desire to hire additional resources.

The aim was to reduce the number of incoming calls by 50%.

Process performance at the beginning (Measure)

The target number of calls per day exceeded the target level by 83% at the start of the project. Not all demand could be met.

Improvement measures (Analyze & Improve)

The main cause was two similar services that were confused by customers. Unfortunately, for external reasons, nothing could be done about them. Communication was clarified, especially in terms of messages sent and decisions taken, to eliminate "lost" contacts. Six sigma analyses were also used to identify correlations between telephone contacts and other variables, leading to the right root causes.

Results (Control)

During the project monitoring period, the target number of calls per day was not exceeded on any day. As a result of the project, the company saved more than €100,000 per year, while service levels improved significantly.

‍

This project was a Black Belt Training project, which the participant did as part of the training and received a Black Belt certificate at the end of the project.‍

‍Ifyou are interested in learning how to streamline your processes with Lean Six Sigma and obtaining a Green or Black Belt certification, check out the opportunities at : Lean Six Sigma training courses.‍