Quality and productivity Improvement process

ADS Foundations of Continuous Improvement
Continuous improvement is based on the teachings and philosophy of W. Edwards Deming. Deming is credited with helping Japanese industry recover from WWII and pursue a strategy of exporting goods of high quality at affordable prices. This combination of quality and low cost was thought impossible because people took for granted thatquality was only achieved at high cost. The foundations of Deming’s teachings consisted of three principles:

1. Customer satisfaction. Focusing on satisfying customers’ needs should be paramount in workers’ minds. This requires an attitude of putting the customer first and a belief  that this principle is the object of one’s work. 
2. Management by facts. To encourage scientific thinking, objective data must be collected and presented to management for decision making. This approach requires formal data gathering and statistical analysis of the data by the quality improvement teams.
3. Respect for people. A companywide quality-improvement program assumes that all employees have a capacity for self-motivation and for creative thought. Employees are given support, and their ideas are solicited in an environment of mutual respect.

Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Cycle 
Deming’s approach to quality recognizes that checking or inspecting for quality is too late and instead one should focus on the process. Deming’s approach, represented by a wheel, consists of four steps: plan, select and analyze the problem; do, implement the solution; check the results of the change; and act to standardize the solution and reflect on the learning. As shown in Figure 8.1 , the Deming wheel is a repetitive cycle with quality improvements resulting from continuous incremental turns of the wheel.

Plan. Planning begins with the selection of the problem. Problems will appear as changes to important customer indicators, such as rate of defections or complaints. Narrow the project focus and describe the improvement opportunity. The current process is documented, perhaps with a flowchart, and data are collected. The possible causes are brainstormed and, using data, agreement is reached on the root cause(s). Develop an action plan that includes a workable solution, measures of success, and the implementation targets agreed upon.

Do. Implement the solution or process change perhaps on a trial basis. Monitor the implementation plan by collecting data on performance measures and noting progress against milestones.

Check. Review and evaluate the result of the change. Check that the solution is having the intended effect and note any unforeseen consequences.

Act. Reflect and act on learning from the experience. If successful, the process changes are standardized and communicated to all involved workers with training in

the new methods as needed. In some cases this could include external participants such as customers and suppliers. Celebrate the success and repeat the PDCA cycle on another problem.

Problem Solving
A systematic approach to solving problems is central to a worker-empowered program of continuous improvement in quality and productivity. The principal objective of continuous improvement is eliminating the cause of problems so they do not recur. A problemsolving approach based on Deming’s PDCA cycle is described in Table 8.1 .

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