Sec 05 Quality Improvement Process

E QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROCE

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WHAT IS IMPROVEMENT?

tion of beneficial change ; the attainment of unprecedented levels of p

nsist of such actions as:

ures that provide greater customer satisfaction and hence may increase income. the cycle time for providing better service to customers. ce customer frustration over having to deal with multiple personnel to get servic

at create chronic waste may consist of such actions as:

sses s

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WHAT IS IMPROVEMENT?

proach for evolving new models of products, year after year. Under this organized

e a part of the business plan. ins a business surveillance over these projects. evelopment departments are equipped with personnel, laboratories, and other resour or carrying out the essential technological work. to progress the new developments through the functional departments. s structure favors new product development on a year-to-year basis.

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WHAT IS IMPROVEMENT?

uction of Chronic Waste .

the urge to reduce chronic waste has been much lower than the urge to increase sa

ss plan has not included goals for reduction of chronic waste. lity for such quality improvement has been vague. It has been left to volunteers resources have not been provided, since such improvement has not been a part of

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QUALITY IMPROVEMENT : THE BASIC CONCEPTS

mprovement is not only a new responsibility, it is also a radical change in the st

All improvement takes place project by project and in no other way. {A Project i

g industries. g processes.

rs .

he effects have extended to all parameters:

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QUALITY IMPROVEMENT : THE BASIC CONCEPTS

rms: d of annual quality improvement. how to serve on improvement teams, how to use the tools, and so on. f the chronic waste and provide remedies to eliminate the causes.

s usually involve fine-tuning the process. In most cases, a process that is alread

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QUALITY IMPROVEMENT — SOME INHIBITORS

o conclude that improvement initiatives are inherently doomed to failure. Such con

dset may be based on the outmoded belief that the way to improve quality is to in

requires capital investment. In this sense, it does cost more. less—a lot less.

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QUALITY IMPROVEMENT — SOME INHIBITORS

ation. In the role-model companies, it was different. In every such company, the up

ay of life—far more than is evident on the surface. it is a mega-change that dist

nges is the threat to jobs and/or status. Reduction of chronic waste reduces the n

ailure to go forward puts all jobs at risk. Therefore, the company should go into

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CURING UPPER MANAGEMENT APPROVAL AND PARTICIPATION

rate of annual quality improvement. This finding suggests that advocates for qual

ty. Awareness also can be created by showing upper managers other opportunities, s

t support because no one has quantified the ROI. Such an omission is a handicap to

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CURING UPPER MANAGEMENT APPROVAL AND PARTICIPATION

he majority are scattered throughout the various overheads. As a result, quality s

d

rom various departments, especially Accounting and Quality. It runs into a lot of

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CURING UPPER MANAGEMENT APPROVAL AND PARTICIPATION

vLanguages in the Hierarchy . v Languages in different levels of a typical hierarchy. At the apex, the principal language of the top management team is the language of money. At the base, the principal language of the first-line supervisors and the work force is the language of things. In between, the middle managers and the specialists need to understand both the principal languages—the middle managers should be bilingual. It is quite common for chronic waste to be measured in the language of things: percent errors, process yields, hours of rework, and so on. Converting these measures into the language of money enables upper managers to relate them to the financial measures that have long dominated the management

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CURING UPPER MANAGEMENT APPROVAL AND PARTICIPATION

n markets, develop new products, buy new equipment to increase productivity, make

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MOBILIZING FOR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

his council is to launch, coordinate, and “institutionalize” annual quality improv

management’s agenda.”

ng the intention to go into annual quality improvement.

job loss due to quality improvement. Most upper managers have been reluctant to f

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QUALITY IMPROVEMENT GOALS IN THE BUSINESS PLAN

assigned to specific individuals or teams who are then provided with the resource

any population that contributes to a common effect , a relative few o

abular data are presented in graphic form. these graphs contains three elements:

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THE NOMINATION AND SELECTION PROCESS

ew) and multifunctional in their scope. At lower levels, the nominations are small

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THE NOMINATION AND SELECTION PROCESS

means are used to stimulate nominations for quality improvement projects:

workplace. They are exposed to many local cycles of activity. Through this exposu a partnership approach based on:

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PROJECT SCREENING

gestive capacity of the organization. In such cases, an essential further step is

cludes:

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PROJECT SELECTION

en become an official part of the company’s business.

ufficient. assigned to tackle the resulting bite-sized projects. This approach shortens the

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PROJECT SELECTION

hops, hospitals, and so on. In such companies, a quality improvement project that i

many different misspelled words, many different customer orders, and many differe

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MISSION STATEMENTS FOR PROJECTS

d end result of the project. On approval, this statement defines the mission of th

oject. b description.

t the team, and to request data and other services germane to the project.

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MISSION STATEMENTS FOR PROJECTS

The reality is that the absence of perfection is due to many kinds of such defici

exclude) from mission statements:

data about the present level of performance as well as stating the intended goal. team, such as theories of causes of the problem or leading questions. The stateme

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MISSION STATEMENTS FOR PROJECTS

ave been reluctant to come back to the quality council for a revision of the miss

ements if revision is needed. This same point also should be emphasized during th

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THE PROJECT TEAM

almost invariably multifunctional izational mechanisms for dealing with such multifunctional problems are multifunc

ppropriate if applied to quality control; However, improvement, certainly for multi

he organization chart. This can be a handicap in the event that teams encounter an

owners, by local managers, or by others. Whatever the origin, the team is empowered

banded on completion of the project. Such teams are called ad hoc, meaning “for th

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THE PROJECT TEAM

statement. The basic responsibilities are to carry out the assigned mission and t

ed. The selection process includes consideration of :

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THE PROJECT TEAM

ndures the effects.

ive data collection and analysis. owledge or other services.

products and processes. Such projects require team membership fro m the lower leve

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THE PROJECT TEAM

e workplace, workers can observe local changes and recall the chronology of events

e about causes. They have ideas for remedies. In addition, it has become evident t

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THE PROJECT TEAM

g their subordinates to do, what kind of training is needed, how many hours per we intentioned efforts to establish annual quality improvement.

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TEAM ORGANIZATION

sponsor—the quality council or other supervising group. Alternatively, the team

for completing the team’s mission. and finish on time. the team meetings. utes, reports, and so on are prepared and published. sponsoring body. ht: am activities. ers to contribute. onflicts among members. rk to be done between meetings. ibilities requires multiple skills, which include A trained capability for leading subject matter of the mission. QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROCESS and the associated tools.

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TEAM ORGANIZATION

the sponsor or, more usually, by the team leader. Either way, the secretary is usu

ion. utes, reports, and so on. unication with the rest of the organization. for team members and others.

s the team leader and secretary.

am meetings. partment. and expertise. es and ideas for remedy. the theories and ideas of other team members. ing assignments for homework.

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FACILITATORS

m mission. (The literal meaning of the word facilitate is “to make things easy.”) T

includes skills in team building, resolving conflicts, communication, and managemen

source of facilitators is line supervisors. There is a growing awareness that ser

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HE UNIVERSAL SEQUENCE FOR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

journeys: g the symptoms, theorizing as to the causes, testing the theories, and establishing

the remedies, testing and proving the remedies under operating conditions, dealing

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HE UNIVERSAL SEQUENCE FOR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

tness for use or nonconformance to specification. Other names include “error”, “di

dence of a defect. A defect may have multiple symptoms. The tion of both defect and symptom.

tion as to reasons for the existence of defects and symptoms. vanced to explain the presence of defects.

r the existence of a defect. Often there are multiple causes, in o principle—the vital few causes will dominate all the rest.

contributor to the existence of defects and one that must be remedied before ther

f studying symptoms, theorizing as to causes, testing theories, and discovering cau eliminate or neutralize a cause of defects.

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THE DIAGNOSTIC JOURNEY

nce of defects and errors comes in two forms:

es, or “I don’t feel well.” Understanding such expressions is often hindered becaus

s own eyes). Scientific autopsies can furnish extensive objective knowledge about

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FORMULATION OF THEORIES

ies is called “brainstorming .” Potential contributors are assembled for the spec

, they are discussed and then prioritized by vote.

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FORMULATION OF THEORIES

to visualize the interrelation of the theories. In addition, an orderly arrangeme

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FORMULATION OF THEORIES

v •Tabular arrangement. • • • • • • • • •Cause-and-effect diagram. Ishikawa diagram or fishbone diagram

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FORMULATION OF THEORIES

rk methods, materials, and equipment.

or testing theories and to arrive at a consensus. This approach has proved to be e

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TEST OF THEORIES

ake a proper choice requires an understanding of the methods of data collection a

rs in the technology nevertheless to contribute usefully to the project. Thus the

team members are familiar with some of the steps, but few are familiar with the e

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TEST OF THEORIES

erently stable, the data are then compared with the terms of the specification. T

ts back to their origins in the process. There are multiple forms of such process

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TEST OF THEORIES

within-piece variation is reduced. The middle example is one in which within-piec

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TEST OF THEORIES

s method has been used in widely varied applications.

causation such as design, process, worker, and so on. Possible relationships are ex e plotted against data on the suspected cause. eir order of frequency. This ranking is then compared with the incidence of the su

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TEST OF THEORIES

theories. This is called “cutting new windows” and takes several forms:

w windows may consist of making measurements at intermediate stages of the proces

ocessing; many nondissectible features do not even come into existence until all s

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TEST OF THEORIES

iment may be conducted either in a laboratory or in the real world of offices, fa

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TEST OF THEORIES

her projects require extensive data collection and analysis. In such cases, the pr

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RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS ; LESSONS LEARNED

emember the past are condemned to repeat it.” The definition becomes: The Santayan

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RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS ; LESSONS LEARNED

esses are of a mass production nature, and they process various products The resu drowning in data. The data analysis is often simple enough to be done locally by

hundreds of cycles per year—a few per month or week. Compared with mass producti been comparatively few in number, but the opportunities abound.

down to one cycle in several years. Application of the Santayana review to low-fre

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THE REMEDIAL JOURNEY

remedial journey begins. While each remedy is unique to its project, the manageria

edy then depends on the extent to which the proposals meet certain essential crit

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THE REMEDIAL JOURNEY

of existing facilities.

epted requires special skills in dealing with cultural resistance

nd to the effect on external customers’ costs.

in the jurisdiction of some functional department that then becomes the remedial

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THE REMEDIAL JOURNEY

operty. For such defects, there are special remedies:

erial, use of exotic materials, design for misuse as well as intended use, fail-saf

n severe tests versus normal tests then provides a prediction of failure rates.

ave their origin in manufacture.

recently by a remarkable growth in the technology: nondestructive test methods, a

s can be notoriously fallible. To find rare but critical defects, use can be made

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THE REMEDIAL JOURNEY

remedy developed in one

this has shortcomings:

ver fully met. t rather than in the operating environment. ely controlled test conditions. ance of supervisors and engineers.

has led some companies to require that the project team remain attached to the pr

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THE REMEDIAL JOURNEY

this, it may be necessary to conduct periodic audits to ensure that the change r for training, control, and audit. Transfer to operations should include transfer

uating actual performance, comparing this with the standard, and taking action on

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HUMAN ERROR : DIAGNOSIS AND REMEDY

human beings—managers, supervisors, professional specialists, and the work force.

es on controllability and the result was: Management - controllable : over 80 percent Worker - controllable : under 20 percent

ivation. However, recent research has shown that there are multiple species of wor

ication.

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HUMAN ERROR : DIAGNOSIS AND REMEDY

the error pattern exhibits randomness. Conversely, data that show a random patter

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HUMAN ERROR : DIAGNOSIS AND REMEDY

gns, countdowns, redundant verification, cutoffs, interlocks, alarm signals, automa

gue and monotony by use of job rotation, sense multipliers, templates, masks, overl

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HUMAN ERROR : DIAGNOSIS AND REMEDY

ome essential technique, skill, or knowledge needed to prevent errors from happeni

rs. ect types—those types for which the missing technique is essential. consistently make more defects than workers who possess the technique. This consi h the performance of the superior workers because they (the inferior workers) do n

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HUMAN ERROR : DIAGNOSIS AND REMEDY

r performances. worker-to-worker differences. ces, study the work methods used by the best and worst performers to identify thei to discover the beneficial knack that produces superior results or the negative k f the best through appropriate remedial actions such as:

mers in use of the knack or in avoidance of damage. that the process embodies the knack. n ways that force use of the knack or that prohibit use of the negative knack. dits to hold the gains.

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HUMAN ERROR : DIAGNOSIS AND REMEDY

. However, the campaign makes no provision to solve some quality problems well kno

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HUMAN ERROR : DIAGNOSIS AND REMEDY

is the law of the situation—one person should not give orders to another person;

graphic description of the knack.

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HUMAN ERROR : DIAGNOSIS AND REMEDY

mmunication Errors . are numerous subspecies of these, but a few of them are especially troublesome:

unication omitted. unication inhibited. smission errors: Identical words have multiple meanings

dies

nslation. glossary. ndardization. surement. ole for upper managers.

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RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

f life.” In addition, the advocates should try to discover precisely what their pr

technology was not as effective as design analysis by a human being. Interviews t

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RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

s of the road for dealing with cultural resistance .These rules are widely applic

g. ions. make the change more acceptable. ect alternative is to drop the proposal. Human beings do not know how to plan so a

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RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

irst agree on the exact point at which the road began to fork.” When this was don

cide whether the formula was valid or not.

the research needed to establish the necessary facts. “With the facts at hand, th

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THE LIFE CYCLE OF A PROJECT : SUMMARY

tion. s defined in a mission statement and is assigned to a project team. meets, Reviews the progress made, Agrees on the actions to be taken, Assigns respo c journey establishes the causes. journey provides the remedies and establishes the controls to hold the gains. istributed to team members. ce, the teams learn to identify lessons learned that can be applied elsewhere in t

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THE NONDELEGABLE ROLES OF UPPER MANAGERS

ve. It is not enough to create awareness, establish goals, and then leave all else

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PROGRESS REVIEW

tivities that do not receive such review cannot compete for priority with activit

rtance individually that the upper managers want to follow them closely. The remai

projects. At higher levels of organization, the evaluations extend to judging the

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RECOGNITION

acknowledgment.) Recognition tells recipients that their efforts are appreciated. I

REWARDS

salaries, salary increases, bonuses, promotions, and so on resulting from the annua

from recognition. The crucial difference lies in whether the work is voluntary or

or performance, which is voluntary . .

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UMMARY OF RESPONSIBILITIES FOR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

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