Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US6704015B1/en
Timestamp: 2018-11-19 13:57:47
Document Index: 218613086

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 545', 'art 1645', 'art 1645', 'art 1645', 'art 1713', 'arts 1714', 'arts 1713']

US6704015B1 - Methods and apparatus for providing a quality control management system - Google Patents
Methods and apparatus for providing a quality control management system Download PDF
US6704015B1
US6704015B1 US09564012 US56401200A US6704015B1 US 6704015 B1 US6704015 B1 US 6704015B1 US 09564012 US09564012 US 09564012 US 56401200 A US56401200 A US 56401200A US 6704015 B1 US6704015 B1 US 6704015B1
US09564012
Richard Dale Dobbins
FIG. 1A shows a first “house” structure for purposes of illustrating core business processes which have been recognized as such in accordance with the present invention;
Next, the core processes are linked to their role or roles in achieving financial objectives of the business as illustrated for the exemplary financial objectives of increasing revenue and decreasing expenses in “house” structure 150 of FIG. 1C. In the structure 150, a number of exemplary revenue items are listed in a revenue column 160 and exemplary expense items are listed in an expenses column 170. Revenue is shown broken down into sales and investment related items 161 and 162, respectively. The particular sales related items shown in FIG. 1C are commitment dollars ($) 163, percentage new product introduction (NPI) revenues 164, new insurance written (NIW) premium dollars 165 and market share 166. The sole investment related item shown in FIG. 1C is capital gains 167.
Statistic char (40) chart name
stat1 char (10) data point 1 (all charts), a numeric
stat2 char (10) data point 2 (p & u charts), a numeric
Datestamp char (20) date and time of data point (optional). Time
Value data type file position description
Statistic char (40) 1-40 chart name
stat1 char (10) 41-50 data point 1 (all charts),
stat2 char (10) 51-60 data point 2 (p & u charts),
Datestamp char (20) 61-80 date of data point (optional)
The application is accessed utilizing a uniform resource locator (URL) or location and opened utilizing a web browser or other suitable software, such as Netscape Navigator™ or Internet Explorer™. From a home page such as home page 500 shown in FIG. 5A, the user clicks on a selection entry 501 or an icon, such as “Quality”. To access the PCMS application, a user clicks on the words “Process Control Management System” 511 as shown in screen shot or web page 510 of FIG. 5B. To access the QN application, the user clicks on the words “Quality Navigator” 512. PCMS is discussed below in connection with discussions of FIGS. 5-15, and QN is addressed below in connection with FIGS. 16-18. There is discussion of these figures which of course overlaps, for example, the discussion of PCMS and QN maintenance in connection with FIGS. 12A-15B.
After the user is satisfied with the chart list, from the “Select Control Chart” drop down menu 524, the user selects the chart that he or she wants to work with. BRS.Eighth.np is the chart shown in exemplary screen 530 of FIG. 5D. The user then selects an action from “Select Action” drop down menu 532 and clicks “Go” button 534. The action “View Chart-Small” is shown highlighted in FIG. 5D as the action to be selected.
FIG. 5E illustrates an exemplary “View Charts” page 540 which would be displayed in response to the action “View Chart-Small”. The View Charts Page format of FIG. 5E is used to display the control charts. The scroll bars 541 and 542 at the bottom of the chart are used to view all of the data points. At the bottom of the page 540, notice that the chart list 524 has followed from the home page 520. If a user wishes to view another chart on the chart list, simply select that chart, and click “Go” button 543.
A “right click” on control chart 545 of FIG. 5E results in screen 550 shown in FIG. 5F. A pop up window. 552 is displayed. Table 1 below describes the functionality for each item in the pop up window 552.
Properties Opens the Properties Dialog box
Data Copies the data for the chart to the pasteboard
Bitmap Copies the chart to the pasteboard in bitmap format
Metafile Copies the chart to the pasteboard as a metafile. Paste to
Legend Shows the dates as the legend for the chart
Series Shows the line legends
Data Editor Displays the data used to draw the chart. The user can edit
Toolbar Displays the chart toolbar at the top of the chart. The
Fonts Allows the user to change the fonts for the chart labels,
The date and time for the point are entered in “Date” column 624 in the format MMIDD/YY 00:00. If you leave off the time, it will default to 12:00 AM. Hours after 12 noon are expressed in military time, for example 2:00 PM would be 14:00. For xj_r, xbarj_r, xbar_s, np, and c charts, the value for the data point is entered in a “Value” column, such as column 626 in FIG. 6B or column 632 for exemplary Insert Data Points by Group page 630 of FIG. 6C. For p and u charts, enter the number of defects in first column 631, and in second column 632, enter the total number of opportunities. “Save Data” button 628 is clicked to actually insert the data points into the database. After the data points have been inserted, the results of the insert are displayed. This display informs the user how many data points were successfully inserted and how many errors there were. If you make an error in a chart with subgroups, xbar_or xbar_s, the system will not insert the remaining points because the subgroup numbering will be incorrect. There may be several reasons a data point will not be inserted into the database. For example, the login ID used to login did not have edit rights to that chart, the date entered is already in the database, the data is not in a valid format, the number is not numeric, or in the case of p charts, the number of defects is greater than the number of opportunities.
As an alternative to the direct entry of raw data addressed above, a user may wish to import data from another existing source, such as an Excel™ spreadsheet, for example. To this end, an “Import from Excel” page 640, as shown in FIG. 6D, is provided and utilized as described below. It will be recognized that the PCMS system may be readily adapted to import data from other sources.
Next, deleting data is addressed. To this end a “Delete Data” page 710, as shown in FIG. 7A, is provided. In text boxes 712, the user enters the dates for the points to be deleted. The time must also be entered if it is different from the default time of 12:00. After the dates have entered for all of the points to be deleted, delete points button 714 is clicked. The designated points will not be deleted if the data entered was in an invalid format, the login ID does not have the right to delete points, or the date does not exist in the database. Chart list 715 is used to delete points from other charts or select another action which is executed by, clicking “Go” button 716.
Another aspect of the present invention is the inclusion of the feature of evaluating points for automatic exclusion where those points are recognized as drastically different. To this end, an “Exclude Data” page 720 shown in FIG. 7B is preferably employed. It is presently recommended that most users use an auto exclude feature, which can be set using a “Maintain Charts” page. This feature will automatically exclude any drastically different points from the calibration calculations but still include the points in the chart. Rather than this automatic approach, a user can manually force the point to be excluded by entering the “Point ID” for the points in text boxes 722 provided on page 720. The “View Data” page 560 is used to find the database “Point ID” number for the data point. The user can navigate to other charts using the chart list or perform another action using the action list.
Proper chart maintenance is another important aspect of the present invention. An exemplary “Maintain Charts” page 900 is shown in FIG. 9. Maintenance is discussed briefly immediately below and at greater length in an extended maintenance discussion further below in connection with FIGS. 12A-15B. Briefly, the attributes of a chart are edited on the “Maintain Charts” page 900. A left column 902 in the displayed table indicates the name of the attribute. Table 2 below further describes the available attributes. A center column 904 lists the current value in the database for the attribute. Lastly, a right column 906 includes text boxes where a new value for the attribute is entered by a user. To submit changes to the attributes, “Save Changes” button 908 is clicked. The attributes of another chart are changed by selecting that chart from the chart list 910 and clicking the “Go” button 912. “Calibrate” button 914 forces the database calibration routine to run if it is needed. Finally, “Rename” button 916 allows the renaming of the charts on the chart list 910.
Chart_title The title displayed on output at the top of the
Chart_label_v The vertical axis display label
Chart_label_v_alt The vertical axis display label for p and u
Chart_label_h The horizontal axis display label. This field
supports a “wildcard” string of “&date” which
of “weekly plot - &date” might display to
the user as: “weekly plot - May 1-Jun. 15”
auto_calibrate This switch turns on and off automatic calibration
Auto_email This switch will turn on and off the automatic
Email_during— During the calibration process (usually 10 to
calibrate 30 points), email notifications will be sent on
Auto_feed This switch cannot be modified by users. It is
“feeds”. Once a chart has been updated
Owner_group Online users of the PCMS Engine will be
associated with user groups. When a chart “owner
group” is set, only users within that group may
Sample_size Sets the sample or sub-group size. For XbarS
(XbarS & XbarR) and XbarR charts, the engine will accumulate
Retain_x_i_points When on, the engine will keep all sub-group
(XbarS & XbarR) points stored in the database. If off, the engine
Calibrate_from— The minimum number of points required for
points the calibration routine to compute limits.
Calibrate_to_points The maximum number of points the engine will
Calibration_cutoff— The date at which control limit calibration
date of computation begins. The default is NULL at
Calibration_cutoff— The chart point at which calibration begins.
point Actually, calibration is determined by point
Use_general_p— When on (“Y”), causes the engine to
rule (p charts) apply specific “p” chart control limits.
Use_general_u— When on (“Y”), causes the engine to
rule (u charts) apply specific “u” chart control limits.
Use_pct_rule Causes the engine to apply the 25 percent rule to
(P & U charts) the chart which flattens the control limits.
general rule is off (“N”), this rule
Pct_rule_pct (Default 25) The actual percentage value
(P & U charts) used in the “25 percent rule”.
Display_pct_rule Display the 25 percent rule control
(P & U charts) limits (generally a flat line) rather
Delete_to_point Sets the maximum number of points to
Ucl Sets the upper control limit value.
(auto_calibrate must be “N”)
Lcl Sets the lower control limit value.
Mean Sets the control chart mean value (center line).
Notify_on_outlier An email will be sent on a single outlier
Notify_on_2_of_3 An email will be sent when 2 of 3 points
Notify_on_runs An email will be sent when a run is
Notify_on_trends An email will be sent when a trend up or
Notify_on_4_or— An email will be sent when 4 out of 5 points are
5_B detected between 1 and 2 sigma on the same side
“N” since we do not want to track it at this time.
Notify_on_14— An email will be sent when there are 14 points
alternate in a row which alternate up then down.
Notify_on_15— An email will be sent when 15 points in a row fall
inside_1 within 1 sigma, “hugging” the center line.
Rng_notify_on— An email will be sent on a single outlier
outlier (range chart, condition.
Rng_notify_on_2— An email will be sent when 2 out of 3 points
of_3 (range chart, are outside 2 sigma.
Rng_notify_on— An email will be sent when a run is detected
runs (range chart, above or below the center line.
mg_notify_on— An email will be sent when a trend up or down
trends (range chart, is detected (7 points in a row, up or down).
Rng_notify_on_4— An email will be sent when 4 out of 5 points
of_5_B (range chart, are detected between 1 and 2 sigma on the same
XbarR & XR) side of the center line. The current default for this
is “N” since we do not want to track it at
mg_notify_on_14— An email will be sent when there are 14 points
alternate (range in a row which alternate up then down.
Rng_notify_on_15— An email will be sent when 15 points in a row fall
inside_1 (range within 1 sigma, “hugging” the center line.
Sdev_notify_on— An email will be sent on a single outlier
outlier (Std.dev condition.
Sdev_notify_on_2— An email will be sent when 2 out of 3 points
of_3 (Std.dev are outside 2 sigma.
Sdev_notify_on_ An email will be sent when a run is detected
runs (Std.dev chart, above or below the center line.
sdev_notify_on— An email will be sent when a trend up or down
trends (Std.dev is detected (7 points in a row, up or down).
sdev_notify_on_4— An email will be sent when 4 out of 5 points
of_5_B (Std.dev are detected between 1 and 2 sigma on the same
chart, XbarS) side of the center line. The current default
for this is “N” since we do not
sdev_notify_on_14— An email will be sent when there are 14 points in
alternate (Std.dev a row which alternate up then down.
sdev_notify_on_15— An email will be sent when 15 points in a row fall
inside_1 (Std.dev within 1 sigma, “hugging” the center line.
high_or_low_only Values [“H” (highside), “L” (lowside),
“N” (no, or not on)] The engine
center line. For example, if set to “H”,
auto_exclude_hvp Automatically excludes high value points.
zero_lcl_on_nonzero Sets the lower control limit to zero when all
Date Format Select from the drop down the format of the
Number of Enter a number here to indicate when to
Decimals displayed truncate the data point on the display of
Source the chart. This entry does not alter the
Input notes may be provided as discussed below utilizing an “Input Notes” page 1000 shown in FIG. 10. A user may readily annotate comments for data points using the page 1000. A comment is entered in a blank text box, such as box 1002, next to a data point and a “Save” icon 1004 is clicked. Then, when viewing the chart in MS IE, the point will be displayed with a character next to it in blue. At the bottom of the chart, the annotation for that point will be displayed. Annotations should be carefully made, as the more annotation, the less room available on a page to actually display the chart.
uw.branch.data.p1.albany underwriting core process, branch uw level 1,
ps.cash.kms.p2 policy servicing core process, cash processing
pd.sl1 .q1 product development core process, only one
Consider the example where the calibration_cutoff_point has been set to 51. Setting this value means that new control limits will be calculated beginning at point 51. The calibrate “from” and “to” values are actually relative values, relative to the cutoff point which begins at I for a new chart. Suppose at the time the cutoff point is set to 51, there were only 55 points on the chart. The engine would not compute new control limits yet because there are actually only 5 points to be used in the calculation and the calibrate “from” value is 10. Until the 60th point is added to the chart, the old limits will remain. Once the 60th point is added new control limits are computed and will continue to adjust until the 80th point is added to the chart. At that time, the limits will again be “locked in”.
For example, consider the chart “UWKNOWL.cautapprov.00??”which exists for presently existing branches where the “??” represent the branch number. An auto add mask has been defined “UWKNOWL.cautapprov.0%” as a type “p” chart and a user to receive notification. If a new branch comes into the system so that there is no chart setup for the new branch number, the PCMS engine will create the new chart “on the fly”. If the chart mask was setup to automatically add a new chart which may fall into a group of charts which use aliases, an indicator flag on the mask table can be set to create an alias at chart creation time. In this case, the chart name and alias name would be made the same. The user would have to intervene and perform a rename on the chart to an appropriate name. The alias would, however, remain and become active. In such a case, the auto add email notification would remind the user that a rename should occur.
As discussed in depth below, for performing PCMS and QN maintenance tasks, a process maintenance home page 1200, as shown in FIG. 12A, is preferably provided. The process maintenance home page 1200 allows authorized personnel to accomplish six tasks:
Task 1 above relates to PCMS maintenance and tasks 2-6 relate to QN maintenance. The user enters the process maintenance site by first selecting the appropriate business unit from a drop down list 1202 and then clicking on one of the above six tasks from the list in menu bar 1204 at the top of the PCMS maintenance home page 1200. Upon clicking on “Process”, an exemplary process maintenance page 1210, as shown in FIG. 12B, is displayed. The icons on the top left of the web page 1210 control navigation. An upward left pointing arrow 1212 returns a user to the process maintenance home page 1200. A floppy disk or store icon 1214 allows the user to save the modifications, updates or deletions that have been made.
If “Top Level Indicators” were selected rather than “Process” from menu bar 1204 of page 1200, then an exemplary TLI maintenance page 1220, as shown in FIG. 12C, is displayed. To modify an existing Top Level Indicator (TLI), select radio button 1221 beside “Modify Existing Top Level Indicators.” Next, select the TLI to be modified from drop down box 1222. This selection will copy the name of the TLI to be modified from the drop down box to text box 1223 beside “Top Level Indicator.” As shown in FIG. 12C, both boxes 1222 and 1223 show the selection “$ Impact to Customer”. The user then changes the name of the TLI in the textbox 1223. All TLI names must be unique and cannot exceed 80 characters in length. To save the modifications that have been made to the existing TLI, click on disk icon 1224.
If “L Charts” was selected from menu bar 1204 of page 1200, then an exemplary L charts page 1230, as shown in FIG. 12D, is displayed. In the presently preferred embodiment, three additional icons are relevant to the L charts page 1230. A print icon 1231 allows the user to print the L chart without the navigational icons and drop down boxes appearing. Clicking on this icon 1231 opens a new copy of the user's web browser with the selected L chart displayed. No modifications may be made on this copy of the chart. It can be used for printing purposes only. A downward arrow or “drill down” icon 1232 takes the user to the processes or Ps which are one level down within the same process as addressed further below. Once a user has “drilled down” one level, an upward arrow icon, such as arrow 1262, replaces the downward arrow 1232, as seen in FIG. 12G. This icon allows the user to return to the first level of the starting process. A drop down box 1233 next to “Starting Process” lists all processes that have been defined within the PCMS. The indicators for the selected process are displayed along the vertical axis. Similarly, drop down box 1234 next to “Linked to” lists all processes, compliance indicators, and top level indicators (TLI) to which the starting process has been linked. The individual indicators associated with these processes or TLIs are listed along the horizontal axis. If the starting process is a core process, it can be linked to TLIs. “Federal Compliance” and “State Compliance” appear in the “Linked to” drop-down box for all processes. By choosing one of these options, the user is able to identify a process as one that must be monitored under federal or state compliance guidelines.
Once a core process has been linked to the TLIs, other processes may be linked to the core process. In order to establish-these links, the user must “drill down” one level by clicking on a downward icon. As illustrated in page 1260 of FIG. 12G, this drilling down will transfer the core process indicators from the vertical to the horizontal axis. In addition, indicators that have been linked to the core process will be listed along the vertical axis. The name of the process each indicator is associated with is listed in parentheses next to the name of the indicator in blue. As will be discussed in further detail below, one can quickly view the relationship between this process and the core process by clicking on the name of the process in parentheses. Just as was the case for adding a new indicator when linking a core process to the TLIs, one adds an indicator when linking a process to a core process by clicking on add icon 1262. Clicking on this icon 1262 opens an Indicator maintenance page, 1270 shown in FIG. 12H.
Utilizing the drill down icon, such as icon 1232 of FIG. 12D, a user can “drill down” one level from any starting point. As has been illustrated above with Loss Mitigation, the indicators associated with this core process can be linked to the TLIs. Then, by “drilling down,” various subprocess indicators can be linked to the indicators of that core process. One way for a user to add an additional level of subprocesses is to select the original subprocess as the new starting process. If a user selects “Recovery Promissory Notes” as the new starting process in drop down box 1233 of FIG. 12D, this process can be linked to Loss Mitigation. The resulting L chart is a subset of the one created when Loss Mitigation was linked to the TLIs and then the user “drilled down” one level. That is, this newly created L chart shows only the linkages between one process, such as Recovery Promissory Notes and Loss Mitigation whereas the former L chart showed linkages between all subprocesses, including but not limited to Recovery Promissory Notes and Loss Mitigation. While the L charts convey the same information with respect to the new starting process, the key distinction is that by starting with a new process, one is able to “drill down” one level from this process and thus add a second level of subprocesses below the core process.
Alternatively, the user may click on the words describing the related subprocess. For example, on the screen of FIG. 12E, the user may click the words “Loss Mitigation (Mertes)” 1243 in parentheses following the outcome indicator Q1 to continue to drill down. In either this case or the previous case, FIG. 12I is displayed and can be further drilled down utilizing the drill down icon 1282 to display screen 1290 of FIG. 12J.
Screen pages 1280 and 1290 of FIGS. 12I and 12J, respectively, illustrate further exemplary aspects of the drill down process. The first screen page 1280 shows the indicators from the first level subprocess Recovery Promissory Notes that are linked to Loss Mitigation. The second screen page 1290 shows this linkage “drilled down” one level so that there are indicators linked to the first level of indicators within Recovery Promissory Notes thus forming a second level of subprocesses below the core process level. Adding subprocesses at this level is the same as adding subprocesses at either of the two levels discussed above. It is important to note, however, that the “Associated Process” one selects from drop down box 1272 on the Indicator Maintenance page 1270 will be the same for the new indicator being added as it is for the process to which the new indicator is being linked.
The Indicator Maintenance page was discussed above in connection with adding new indicators. However, the page also provides additional information and allows the user to accomplish other tasks in relation to a specific indicator. For a page 1300 shown in FIG. 13, unlike the case when a new indicator is being added, row values have been filled in for the tables labeled “Parents” 1302 and “Children” 1304. In terms of “Parents”—those indicators closer to the core process to which the indicator in question is linked—the given indicator has only one. As for “Children”, the indicator has three—that is three other indicators are at a level lower and are linked to the indicator in question. Checkboxes 1305, 1306 and 1307 beside the names of the child indicators and “Move To” text box 1308 work together to allow a user to move indicators listed as “Children” to another process by selecting one or more of the checkboxes and clicking the disk icon to save the changes. One additional change on this page from the way it appears when adding a new indicator is the ability to delete the indicator. This functionality is accomplished by clicking on an “X” or delete icon 1309.
If at page 510 shown in FIG. 5B, the user had clicked on or selected “Quality Navigator” 512, then a first quality navigation page 1610 as shown in FIG. 16A is displayed to the user. The user selects a business unit from a menu 1612. For the example to be discussed, the user-selects “Mortgage Insurance-US” 1614 resulting in quality navigation page 1620 shown in FIG. 16B being displayed.
In this display, the user is reminded that he or she is working with the Quality Navigator and that Mortgage Insurance-US 1622 has been selected. The display 1622 is the beginning of a nested list concisely reminding the user of the navigation steps taken. The page 1620 also provides the user with a listing 1623 of processes to select from. The exemplary list of page 1620 shows “All Processes”, “Core Processes”, “Federal Compliance”, “State Compliance” and “Top Level Indicators”. On page 1620, Core Processes has been highlighted and upon its selection, page 1630 of FIG. 16C is displayed to the user. Now a tab 1631 indicates that the display is for core processes, an updated nested list 1632 reminds the user that Mortgage Insurance-US and Core Processes have been previously selected, and a menu of core process 1634 is presented for selection. In this listing, “Underwriting” 1636 has been highlighted for selection.
The quality navigator of the present invention provides a ready tool for users to assess performance in real time by isolating both problems and successes while identifying their root causes. Focussing on the percentage late underwriting decisions rollup (Q5) chart 1645, the user wishes to “drill down” or to look at the underlying causes for the peaks 1655-1657 in the chart 1645. By highlighting Q5 from menu 1643, a display page 1710 as shown in FIG. 17A is generated. In nested list 1711, Q5-% Late UW Decreasing is now seen under Underwriting. Children chart names 1712 for chart Q5 are now shown. The Q5 chart 1645 of FIG. 16D is now displayed as a parent chart 1713 with the children charts 1714, 1715 and 1716. By clicking on arrow 1717, additional children charts can be displayed. By visually comparing peaks of the charts 1713, 1714,1715 and 1716, the user sees that the data for the % Late Response NPC chart appears to directly impact late underwriting decisions.
an intranet or Internet communications channel connecting the plurality of user workstations and the central server; wherein the central server further comprises executable software for chart generation and chart maintenance; tables for storing data definitions; and a database for storing business data from a plurality of geographically remote data sources, said central server being operable to automatically create control and run charts and transmit said charts over said communications channel as requested by a user utilizing one of said plurality of user workstations; and
automatically displaying the chart with said number of data points.
US09564012 2000-03-31 2000-05-03 Methods and apparatus for providing a quality control management system Active US6704015B1 (en)
US19354600 true 2000-03-31 2000-03-31
US09564012 US6704015B1 (en) 2000-03-31 2000-05-03 Methods and apparatus for providing a quality control management system
US6704015B1 true US6704015B1 (en) 2004-03-09
ID=31890880
US09564012 Active US6704015B1 (en) 2000-03-31 2000-05-03 Methods and apparatus for providing a quality control management system
US (1) US6704015B1 (en)
US20070271723A1 (en) * 2006-05-24 2007-11-29 Corey Junell Door Threshold Vacuum
US8543552B2 (en) * 2012-02-01 2013-09-24 International Business Machines Corporation Detecting statistical variation from unclassified process log
US7472452B2 (en) 2006-05-24 2009-01-06 Corey Junell Door threshold vacuum
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:BOVARNICK, ELLEN;DOBBINS, RICHARD DALE;REEL/FRAME:010786/0120
Free format text: ATTACHED DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT;ASSIGNOR:GE CAPITAL MORTGAGE CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:014712/0742