Content Management and Six Sigma

Dell Joshi

DuPont Company

April 24, 2006

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Agenda
 “Library of the Future” Vision
 Collection Management Strategy
 Six Sigma Methodology
 Voice of the Customer (VOC)
 Pricing Models – Past and Present
 Our Transition
 Emotional Aspects of Transition to Virtual
Environment
 Customer Care and Relationships
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“Library of the Future” Vision:

The World of Information… Anytime, Anywhere
To provide superior library and information services that are aligned with DuPont
corporate directions and contribute to DuPont research and business goals.
“Library Services” -- More than “bricks & mortar” and book stacks.

Access to information Ease of obtaining

needed for the job at information without
hand - anytime, anywhere regard to whether it is
“owned” by DuPont
libraries (“just in case”)
or provided “just in
Integration of internal & time”
external information for
knowledge intensity

Knowledgeable information professionals

provide entrée into the world of information
(guidance, consulting, training, searching)

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Collection Management Strategy

We will use Six Sigma methodology in all decisions
involving Library and Content procurement.
 Change view of “Library”… from information storehouse
to information gateway/conduit
 “Library” = information access and delivery
 agile, responsive, valued

 Content seamlessly integrated into users’ workflow

patterns
 Enhance users’ e-content searching/browsing
experiences via visualization and other features
 Seamless integration of “just-in-case” and “just-in-time”
content
 training is interwoven into workflow
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Collection Management Strategy – Cont’d.

 “Library” collection is heavily e-content

 Routinely measure and evaluate the use of all content to

determine its value

 Find the optimal balance between “subscription owned”

and “transactional document delivery on demand”

 Have a dynamic, core collection of circulating books;

obtain e-books as appropriate

 Maintain small quantity of non-electronic journal archives

(e.g., “hard-to-find,” but used titles that are not available
electronically)

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What is Six Sigma?

 Vision
 Practically flawless execution

 Philosophy
 “The way we do work.”

 Business Improvement & Development

Methodology
 Touches all facets of the business
 Measurable financial impact

 Performance Metric / Goal

 Performance measure
 Yardstick

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More on the Methodology

 Six Sigma focuses on the customer and uses:

 Common Sense
 Project Management
 Problem Solving & Decision Making
 Statistics

 Show me the data! - Six Sigma is data intense.

 Six Sigma methodology has a control plan to
ensure improvements are sustained long after a
project has been completed.

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Getting To Six Sigma - Some Examples

A Six Sigma Score represents 99.99966% accuracy. It translates into:

Seven articles of mail lost per hour

1.7 incorrect surgical operations per week

68 wrong drug prescriptions per year

If you get 99% accuracy in these operations, you would have:

20,000 lost articles of mail per hour

5,000 incorrect surgical operations per week

200,000 wrong drug prescriptions each year

• Not every process needs a Six Sigma accuracy level.

• Business needs dictate the level of accuracy you would need.
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The Customer is the King/Queen!

• Identify the customers
• Ask the customers what they want / need

• Determine needs that are Critical To Quality (CTQs)

- Key measurable characteristics whose
performance standards must be met in order to
satisfy customer needs

• Determine process Outputs that directly relate to CTQs

• Develop specifications for the Outputs to determine Defects

• Determine process Inputs, controls and factors that could potentially impact
the Output

• Identify the critical Inputs, controls and factors that have a significant impact on the
Output
• Tweak these knobs to achieve the desired performance

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Gathering Voice of the Customer (VOC)

Existing Usage Information

Cu ws
Co stome r vie
mp nt e
lain r I
ts
Customer
Via Account Needs /
Focus Groups
Wants
Managers

r t s /
xp e Su
t r y E a t a
s D rv
Indu ndary ey
s
e c o
S
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Right Approach for Library/Content VOC

• For Content Renewals - before you approach end-users
(customers) - do a thorough analysis of the past year’s usage.

• Slice it every way you can so that you can ask the right questions!

 Interview
 Learn about a specific customer’s point of view
 Supports development of hypotheses about customer needs

 Survey
 Measure needs, importance, or performance across a segment or a
group of segments
 Provides quantitative data
NOTE: Averaging survey data is easy, but may not present the correct
picture! Go deeper into the analysis. You may have to analyze usage
data for each user and each title or database.
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Pricing Models – Initial Turmoil

 Publishers…
 felt they were losing control over their content in e-format
 assumed a big increase in usage just because content is easily, readily
accessible in e-format
 had a false security that their content was the “sole source” of
information

 Instead of creatively working on win/win pricing

models, fear took over
 cost of electronic content access was linked to historic print holdings
 This simply did not work for DuPont!

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Pricing Models – User Definition and Bundling

 Suppliers developed complex terms and conditions

 Definition of a user
 Definition of a “site,” especially for large corporations
 Restrictions on sharing information and portability

 Bundling of products was a common practice

 A way to force purchase of unpopular products by linking them with
desired products
 Publishers expected customers to pay for unused licenses
(some still do!)
 Publishers demanded a secured revenue stream,
regardless of the needs of the purchasing parties
 A convenience that no other industry enjoys!

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Pricing Models – Fast Forward to the Present

 Significant progress has been made in last three years
 More flexible pricing models have evolved
 Publishers’ fear that e-access without ridiculous pricing
models would drive them out of business has proven to
be incorrect
 Secured revenue stream – most publishers have realized
their industry is no different from any other industry
 Content usage does not jump just because content is
readily available in e-format
 Granted, some content can be classified as “sole source”
 However, if suppliers remain inflexible, buyers will find
ways to reduce volume and/or restrict use of such content
to manage cost
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Our Transition
 Reduced physical space of main library by 50%
since 2003
 Electronic/Print Cost Ratio from 20:80 in 2003 to
80:20 in 2006
 Library staff reduced by ~25%
 Role of reference desk staff changed dramatically
 Cost of document delivery service did not increase
as anticipated when the collection was reduced
 Especially when the old print content was discarded

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Library Transformation - Emotional Issues

 Emotional issues can be traumatic
 Going virtual is a life-changing event for many librarians and library
staff members
 Some key issues:
 Difficulties in letting go of unused, old print content
 Negative feedback from “old-fashioned” customers about going virtual
 Feeling unappreciated
 Feeling threatened

 The Answer:
 Recognize that change is, and has always been, a part of life
 Be a part of the change and influence your professional destiny
or be a silent spectator and watch change happen

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Customer Care and Relationships

 Observation: Customer feedback is co-related

to their habits regarding information use

 Place major emphasis on coaching and training

users ― be a trusted information advisor

 Provide virtual reference assistance, in addition

to in-person and phone assistance

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More on Customer Care and Relationships

 Customers expect rapid response ― embrace a

pizza delivery model!

 Information professionals have to be knowledge-

able in different disciplines for specialized and
customized customer service

 Information professional situated closer to the

customers

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