Frameworks for Quality Improvement
Frameworks for Quality Improvement
A framework has been defined as: a generic structure of interlinked activities that will support a particular approach for achieving an objective and may be modified or adjusted as required to adapt to circumstances by adding or deleting items:[1]A consistent, structured approach for improving quality provides a common language for individuals and teams to improve products, processes and services within an organization or a community. Some commonly used frameworks used to guide improvement projects follow.
Model for Improvement[2]
The Model for Improvement provides a framework for developing, testing, implementing, and spreading changes that result in improvement. The Model can be applied to the improvement of processes, products, and services and improving aspects of one's personal endeavors. The Model attempts to balance the desire and rewards from taking action with the wisdom of careful study before taking action. The Model for Improvement is based on three fundamental questions:
What are we trying to accomplish? How will we know that a change is an improvement? What changes can we make that will result in improvement?
and a "Cycle" for learning and improvement. Variants of this improvement Cycle have been called the Shewhart Cycle, Deming Cycle, and Plan Do Study Act Cycle. The Cycle promotes a trial and learning approach to improvement efforts, with encouragement to test an idea rather than do extensive analysis. The Cycle is used for learning, to develop changes, to test changes, to implement changes, and to spread changes. It is useful as a framework for small, simple projects and large system projects. By encouraging early testing of ideas in the specific environment of interest, the Model allows the intervention to gradually be modified and than optimized to the uniqueness of the system where implementation is taking place.
The foundation of the PDSA cycle rests on the normal iteration of learning from deductive to inductive reasoning. Both of these learning journeys are built in the PDSA cycle. Skillfully building knowledge by making changes and observing or measuring the results is the foundation of improvement. By repeating learning cycles, we can eventually categorize most circumstances for applying the theory, making the theory useful for predictions in future situations. [3]
Juran’s Universal Sequence for Quality Improvement[4]
Based on his years of experience in quality improvement projects, Joseph Juran observed that improvement in a variety of contexts and environments was carried out following a “universal sequence of events”:
1. Identify a problem—something wrong with a product, service, or process that impacts the performance of the business
2. Establish an improvement project
3. Measure and Analyze the current process to establish knowledge of baseline performance Diagnostic Journey (from symptom to cause)
4. Analyze the symptoms
5. Generate theories as to the causes of the symptoms
6. Test the theories
7. Establish the causes Remedial Journey (from cause to remedy)
8. Develop remedies
9. Test and prove the remedies in operations
10. Deal with resistance to change
11. Establish controls to hold the gains
This sequence puts emphasis on understanding how the current process or product performs and identify causes of the problem (that is, the diagnostic journey) before beginning to think of remedies.
Six Sigma DMAIC [5] (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) is a basic component of the Six Sigma methodology. Six Sigma was developed in Motorola in the late 1980’s and built on Juran’s Universal Sequence. As developed at Motorola, MA (Measure-Analyze) was the diagnostic journey, IC (Improve-Control) was the Remedial Journey, making it MAIC[6]Later General Electric placed a Define in front of MAIC, making it DMAIC . The Six Sigma methodology has evolved into a number of distinct versions. For example, one version is called “Lean Six Sigma” to incorporate the ideas of lean improvement.
Although there are many different versions of the five steps of the Six Sigma roadmap for improving existing processes only. The following are typical definitions of the five steps:
1. Define the process improvement goals that are consistent with customer demands and the organization’s strategy.
2. Measure the current process (defect focus) and develop baseline for future comparison.
3. Analyze to verify relationship and cause-and-effect of factors. Attempt to identify all factors that could be relevant.
4. Improve or optimize the process based upon the analysis. Transition to standard processes.
5. Control to ensure that any variances are corrected before they result in defects
The DFSS [7] roadmap stands for “Design for Six Sigma”. There are many different versions of DFSS in the literature and application with different steps defined differently. DFSS was developed for improvement projects directed at design or re-design of a product or service. One popular DFSS methodology is called DMADV, which has parallels to DMAIC. The five steps of DMADV are defined as:
1. Define the project goals and customer (internal and external) requirements.
2. Measure and determine customer needs and specifications; benchmark competitors and industry.
3. Analyze the process options to meet the customer needs.
4. Design the process to meet the customer needs.
5. Verify the design performance and capability to meet customer needs.
Seven-step Method Problem Solving Model[8]
The Seven-step Method also called “Seven-Step Practical Problem Solving”, provides a disciplined framework for completing an improvement. This model was promoted to go beyond Plan-Do-Check-Act cycles to provide:
• A framework with which we can visualize progress through a project,
• Check-steps that allow us to see that we are not trying to proceed too quickly through part of the improvement process without having gained sufficient understanding, and
• A means of documenting a project.
This model is directed primarily at eliminating quality problems, as opposed to the design or redesign of products or processes. The following are typical of the description of the seven steps in the model:
Step 1 Define Project Purpose and Scope
Step 2 Current Situation
Step 3 Cause Analysis
Step 4 Solutions
Step 5 Results
Step 6 Standardization
Step 7 Future Plans
Toyota’s “Eight Steps to Practical Problem-Solving” [9] process is a similar model with the following steps:
1. Clarify the problem
2. Breakdown the problem
3. Set the target
4. Investigation of root cause - 5-Whys
5. Develop countermeasures
6. Implement countermeasures
7. Monitor results and process
8. Standardize
FOCUS-PDCA[10]
FOCUS-PDCA is a framework developed in the late 1980’s as a way to better utilize PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) on improvement projects. The framework is designed for both problem solving and for process improvement. The following steps of the framework follow from the name:
Find a process to improve Organize a team that knows the process Clarify the current knowledge of the process Understand the causes of process variation Select the process improvement
Plan improvement, data collection (key quality characteristics and other)
Do improvement, data collection, and data analysis
Check data for process improvement, customer outcome, lessons learned.
Act to hold the gain, to reconsider owner, and to continue improvement.
The 8D Problem Solving Methodology[11]
The 8D Problem solving methodology (8D = 8 Disciplines) was developed in Ford Motor Company in the mid-1980’s to be used by their suppliers to improve the resolution of problems. It appears in a variety of forms used to define eight disciplines. Sometimes it is defined as a 9 step problem solving process:
•D0 preparing for 8D
•D1 Assembling the team
•D2 Describing the Problem
•D3 Developing Interim Containment Actions
•D4 Defining the Root Cause
•D5 Choosing Permanent Corrective Actions
•D6 Implementing Permanent Corrective Actions
•D7 Preventative Actions
•D8 Recognition of the Team
Because the 8D model is designed to solve specific problems that arise, more emphasis is placed on containing the problem (discipline 3) than most other frameworks. The idea is to implement intermediate actions that will protect the customer from the problem until permanent solution can be developed and implemented. This framework also makes recognition of the improvement team for their effort an explicit part of the method.
The QC Story[12]
The QC Story (or Quality Improvement Story) was developed in Japan by the Union of Japanese Scientist and Engineers (JUSE) Research Committee. It has been used extensively by QC Circles to document their journey on improvement projects. Having a common structure and language helps people working on a project tell their “story” to management and other parties interested in their project. There are seven steps to “telling the QC story”:
1. Situation: Identify the problem or opportunity for improvement (Plan and Problem definition)
2. Observation and Data: Understand the situation
3. Analysis: Find out the main causes
4. Action: Eliminate the causes
5. Study: Confirm the effectiveness of the action
6. Standardization: Permanently eliminate the causes
7. Conclusion: Review activities and plan for future work
The seven steps in the QC story do not necessarily describe the specific order in which the problem was solved. Since problem solving usually requires a great deal of iteration, during the project it is often necessary to go back to a previous step as new data are found and analyses provide additional insight. However, when it comes time to report on what was done, the Seven-step format provides the basis for telling the story in a way that makes it comprehensible to all levels of management, suppliers, and customers.
Lean Improvement[13]
Lean Improvement has been defined as “a systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste (non-value-added activities) through continuous improvement by flowing the product at the pull of the customer in pursuit of perfection.” Lean approaches have been adapted from the Toyota Production System (TPS). There is not a specific roadmap for a lean project but the lean improvement approach is based upon five principles:
• Defining value from the customer perspective
• Identifying value streams – the activities required to provide the customer with a product or service
• Making the value added steps flow smoothly
• The customers “pull” the products and services when needed
• Everyone is pursuing perfection
Some key definitions are:
• Value: What the customer is willing to pay for; an activity that changes form, fit, or function
• Non-Value Add: No added value based on customers definition but must be done under the present conditions (e.g., walking over to the printer, putting together binders), and
• Waste: What the customer is unwilling to pay us to do
A lean approach focuses on continuously reducing waste in operations and in product and services and continuously enhancing the value proposition to customers.
See Also Lean Problem Solving Quality Management Six Sigma References
References[edit]
- ↑ Watson, G. Engineering the Process of Continual Improvement. Presentation to the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm Sweden, October, 2016.
- ↑ Langley. et.al, Gearld (2009). The Improvement Guide: A Practical Approach to Enhancing Organizational Performance 2nd. San Franciso: San Francisco: Jossey-Bass 2009. p. 24. ISBN 978-0470192412. Search this book on
- ↑ Langley. et. al., Gerald (2009). Langley J. et.al. The Improvement Guide: A Practical Approach to Enhancing Organizational Performance 2nd Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass 2009, p.82. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. p. 82. ISBN 978-0470192412. Search this book on
- ↑ Juran, Joseph, Godfrey A.B. (1999). Quality Handbook, 5th ed., New York: McGraw-Hill, 1999. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 5.39. ISBN 0-07-034003-X. Search this book on
- ↑ Gitlow H., Levine D (2004). Six Sigma for Green Belts and Champions: Foundations, DMAIC, Tools, Cases, and Certification. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0134048571. Search this book on
- ↑ Godfrey A. B. and Kenett R., Joseph M. Juran (12 June 2007). "Perspective on Past Contributions and Future Impact. Quality and Reliability Engineering". Wiley InterScience).
- ↑ Brue, G. (2003). Design for Six Sigma. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 0071413766. Search this book on
- ↑ Goal/QPC (2000). Problem Solving Memory Jogger: Seven Steps to Improved Processes. Salem, NH: Goal/QPC. Search this book on
- ↑ Goldsmith, R. (2014). Toyota’s 8-Step to Problem Solving. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Search this book on
- ↑ Caldwell, C. (1995). Mentoring Strategic Change in Health Care: An Action Guide. Milwaukee: ASQ Press. ISBN 0873892240. Search this book on
- ↑ Beachell, E. (1987). Team Oriented Problem Solving. Detroit: Ford Motor Company. Search this book on
- ↑ Walton, M. (1990). Deming Management at Work. Perigee Trade. ISBN 039913557X. Search this book on
- ↑ Womack J., Jones D. (1996). Lean Thinking,. Productivity Press. ISBN 0684810352. Search this book on
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