Quality Management - Lecture 8

Abhinaya Shankar
Book Rec Monday
“Psychology of Money” by Morgan Housel
Types of Problems
1) Compliance
2) Unstructured
3) Efficiency
4) Process Design
5) Product Design
1) Compliance
● Compliance problems occur when a structured system having standardized inputs,
processes, and outputs is performing unacceptably from the user’s viewpoint.
● These problems are identified by comparing with standards or by feedback from the
internal or external customer.
● The major challenge is to determine the root cause of the nonconformity and then take
corrective action.
● Diagnosis can be difficult, because products and processes are quite complex.
● Standards cannot address all of the potential problems due to the interaction of
individually- acceptable characteristics.
2) Unstructured
❏ Unstructured problems resemble compliance problems except that they are not specified
by standards. The absence of standards may be due to system immaturity or to the need
for flexibility in system performance.
❏ Identification of unstructured problems is usually brought about by negative customer
feedback.
❏ The major challenges are to determine customer needs and to diagnose the causes of
poor performance. Because of customer variability,
❏ it is difficult to determine why a product or service was unacceptable.
❏ Organizations need to treat each customer as an individual and maintain a database on
acceptable and unacceptable behavior.
3) Efficiency
● Efficiency problems occur when the system is performing unacceptably from
the viewpoint of its owners or operators.
● The end user is satisfied; however, the process is more costly than desired, or
working conditions are not acceptable.
● Problem solving is directed towards reducing cost and providing safe working
conditions.
● Identification of such problems occurs from benchmarking and operator
suggestions.
4) Process Design
❏ Process-design problems involve the development of new processes and
revision of existing processes.
❏ Many business and production processes have not been well designed or have
become obsolete with advances in technology.
❏ Identification of problems is prompted by poor performance, the knowledge
that we can do better (benchmarking), or the introduction of new products.
❏ It requires that user needs and relevant constraints be identified.
5) Product Design
● Product-design problems involve the development of new products and the
improvement of existing products.
● A major focus is to prevent process and end user problems by relying on
customer needs.
● Although design work can be initiated as a result of poor product performance,
problem solving usually occurs as a natural part of a competitive environment.
● A major challenge is translating, in a timely manner, user needs and
constraints into product attributes and specifications, usually using quality
function deployment (QFD).
Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) Cycle
Problem- Solving Method
Phase 1 : Identify the opportunity

1. Identify the problem

2. Form the team
3. Define the scope
When does a condition qualify as a problem?

1. Performance varies from an established standard.

2. Deviation from the perception and the facts.
3. The cause is unknown;if we know the cause,there is no
problem.
Prioritizing a problem using selection criteria
1. Is the problem important and not superficial and why?
2. Will problem solution contribute to the attainment of goals?
3. Can the problem be defined clearly using objective measures?
Drafting a good problem Statement
● It clearly describes the problem as it currently exists and is easily
understood.
● It states the effect—what is wrong, when it happens, and where it is
occurring, not why it is wrong or who is responsible.
● It focuses on what is known,what is unknown,and what needs to be
done.
● It uses facts and is free of judgment.
● It emphasizes the impact on the customer.
Charter
1. Authority. Who authorized the team?

2. Objective and Scope. What are the expected outputs and specific areas to be improved?

3. Composition. Who are the team members and process and sub-process owners?

4. Direction and Control. What are the guidelines for the internal operation of the team?

5. General. What are the methods to be used, the resources, and the specific milestones?
Phase 2 : Analyze the current process
1. Define process boundaries, outputs and customers, inputs and
suppliers, and process flow
2. Determine levels of customer satisfaction and measurements needed
3. Gather data
4. Identify root causes
Establishing a channel for input
1. What problem or operation do we want to learn about?
2. What are the data used for?
3. How much data is needed?
4. What conclusions can be drawn from the collected data? 5. What action
should be taken as a result of the conclusion?
Root Cause Analysis
1. Examine the most likely cause against the problem statement.
2. Recheck all data that support the most likely cause.
3. Check the process when it is performing satisfactorily against when it is not by using the who,
where, when, how, what, and why approach.
4. Utilize an outside authority who plays “devil’s advocate” with the data, information, and
reasoning
5. Use experimental design, Taguchi’s quality engineering, and other advanced techniques to
determine the critical factors and their levels.
6. Save a portion of the data used in the analysis to confirm during verification.
Phase 3 : Develop the optimal solution
Establishing potential and feasible solutions and recommending the best solution
to improve the process.

● Create new processes

● Combine different processes
● Modify the existing process

Goal : Reducing cycle times, lowering inventory levels, and searching for
non-value-added activities
Phase 4 : Implement the changes
Preparing the implementation plan, obtaining approval, and implementing the
process improvements.

● Why will it be done?

● How will it be done?
● When will it be done?
● Who will do it?
● Where will it be done?
Phase 5 : Study the results
● Monitoring and evaluating the change by tracking and studying the
effectiveness of the improvement efforts through data collection and review of
progress.
● It is vital to institutionalize meaningful change and ensure ongoing
measurement and evaluation efforts to achieve continuous improvement.
Phase 6 : Standardize the solution
Phase 7 : Plan for the future