Lessons learned from development and implementation of a strategic life cycle model

A strategic life cycle model, coined triple "A" (adolescence, adult and aging), has been developed in 2000 at Nortel networks to drive repair outsourcing and to allocate resources freed up from outsourcing to accelerate quality growth of new products. A three-layer TOP (triple "A" - organizing people) strategy was then established to drive the implementation of the triple "A" effectively. The far-ranging impact of the triple "A" upon plant layout as well as roles and responsibilities is reviewed in this paper. For one of the pilot products, the cost avoidance due to early resolution of quality problems is estimated to be in excess of $7 million. The factors that have contributed to the success of this model are briefly discussed, and there are several key lessons learned from the implementation process. These include: a paradigm shift on the concept and value of repair, quantum improvement requires preventing "birth" defects in the design phase, synergy between various initiatives, mathematical correlation to expand the capability of the triple "A". Lastly, it is suggested that further research be done to explore the application of the model to practically all-human endeavors as a basis of continuous quality improvement. To substantiate this suggestion, the paper briefly sketches the concept of the triple "A" at several levels: vision (perspective), science (predictive), and engineering (prescriptive).