Design a Flowchart

* Running Head: DESIGN A FLOWCHART FOR A PROCESS

Design a Flowchart for a Process

Wm. David Lawson

University of Phoenix

OPS 571; Operations Management

John T. Opincar

May 7, 2010

Design a Flowchart for a Process

I have selected the process of creating a damage claim file when ATT requests information from my company about a damaged phone line. I work for a utility locating company and ATT is our big client here in Houston. My job as Claims Manager requires me to have these damaged lines investigated and a report filled out. When ATT requests the information I have to create a file that has the report, copies of the locate requests, copies of the photos taken when the locate request was performed, and copies of the damage photos taken during the investigation. Creating this file may only take a few minutes when all documentation and evidence is clearly at hand.

There are several factors that affect the efficiency of creating these files. The first factor is when the damaged line was not reported to us when it happened. Once the requests come in if there was not a report then one has to be created and the damage has to be investigated. The file cannot be created until this is done. The second factor is when the locate technician does not take photos of the work done on the locate request or the photos did not download to the company server. When this happens we have to search the hard drive of the locate technicians laptop and this requires pulling them out of the field or going out into the field to get them. These are the main two factors out of several. We will focus on these at this time.

The metric that I will use is the time it takes to create one of these files. I create several of these on a daily basis and they use up a lot of the time I have to get other duties accomplished. I will monitor the time it takes to create each file. This is for new creation and not for updating existing files.

The flowchart is used to show the ideal...