Applying Six-Sigma methodology in constructing the quick response of a case reporting system

Abstract

The results from many poll surveys suggest that there is an increasing rate of Taiwanese who agree that ‘The social security is very bad’ and feel that ‘the social security is not so good’. The crime rate increases annually as the technology and techniques used by criminals advance. Under such conditions, the police administration system has reached the limit of its resources and police personnel have found themselves exhausted from heavy case loading. Nevertheless, the public still feel that ‘social security is not so good’ and their degree of satisfaction remains low. After reporting to the police department when threatened or being victimised, the anxious public would usually hope the police come to the crime scene as soon as possible. In fact, a lengthy interval from reporting time to arrival time, or the response time, may not only increase the dissatisfaction of the public but also result in a lost opportunity for criminal apprehension and case solving. Any task force or apprehension strategy taken afterwards will inevitably waste tremendous social resources. A further loss will be incurred to society should the criminals strike again. A shortened response time will increase public satisfaction and the case-solving rate as well as possibly decrease the time taken to solve the case. This study intends to solve the above problems by adopting the DMAIC process improving method of Six-Sigma, based on George's (2002) concept. First, we will define the problems as well as the critical performance index. Next, we will measure the actual performance and analyse the root cause of the problems in order to present a related countermeasure to improve the present situation. Finally, a control mechanism will be established to maintain its exactness and stability after confirmation of the effectiveness of the countermeasure presented. Hopefully, this 119 case reporting system will both shorten the response time interval and the case-solving time, and increase the case-solving rate. In addition, therefore, it should achieve a high level of public satisfaction.

Keywords:

• Six-Sigma
• quick response system
• process capability index
• cause-and-effect diagram
• cause-and-countermeasure diagram
• radio chart

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank the National Science Council of the Republic of China for financially supporting this research under Contract No: NSC94-2622-E-167-CC3.