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TOPIC 8: Learning Objectives

TOOLS FOR
CONTROLLING &  Able to elaborate the tools used in
quality control & improvement
IMPROVING QUALITY effort.
 Able to illustrate the tools used in
Prepared by: quality control & improvement
effort.
Nurliyana Binti Mohd Shazali
Senior Lecturer
FSPPP UiTM Kampus Seremban
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8.2 Creative Problem Solving

8.1 Introduction
 Problem: any deviation between what “should
be” and what “is” that is important enough to
 Focus on a variety of tools and need correcting:
techniques to help organisations 1. Structured – Just follow the instruction (Installing
in continual process improvement a cupboard).
projects. 2. Semi-structured – Using a custom-made solutions or
ready made solutions or both.
3. Ill-structured - Must be dealt with using custom-
 Numerous methodologies for made, non-routine solutions. Invent a solution and
hope it will be successful.
improvement have been proposed
over the years.  Creative Problem Solving: the activity associated
with changing the state of what “is” to what
“should be” in a new/novel way – using creativity.

8.2.1 CPS Strategy 8.3 The Deming Cycle

1. Understanding the “mess”
(PDCA / PDSA)
2. Finding facts
3. Identify specific problems
4. Generating ideas Act Plan
5. Developing solutions
Customer
6. Implementing solutions Satisfaction

Study/
Check Do

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 A Part of Kaizen philosophy.
 To guide & motivate improvement activities.
 Promoted by Edward Deming.
 Originally found by Walter Shewhart & called
the Shewhart Cycle but renamed as Deming
Cycle by the Japanese in 1950.
 The “Check” was changed to “Study” in 1990 by
Deming with the argument that “Study” is more
appropriate; with only a “Check” one might
miss something (but still, many people use
“Check”).
Plan
1. Define the process: its start, end, & what it
does.
2. Describe the process: list the key tasks
performed & sequence of steps, people involved,
equipment used, environmental conditions, work
methods, and materials used.
3. Describe the players: external & internal
customers and suppliers, & process operators.
4. Define customer expectations: what the
customer wants, when, & where, for both
external & internal customers.
5. Determine what historical data are available on
process performance, or what data need to be
collected to better understand the process.
Do
1. Conduct a pilot study or experiment to test
the impact of the potential solution(s).
2. Identify measures to understand how any
changes or solutions are successful in
addressing the perceived problems.
Study / Check
1. Examine the results of the pilot study or
experiment.
2. Determine whether process performance has
improved.
3. Identify further experimentation that may be
necessary.
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8.3.1 PDCA / PDSA Explanation
 Plan : Recognise an opportunity, and plan the
change
 Do : Test the change
 Check / Study : Review the test, analyse the
results & identify learning
 Act : Take action based on what you learned in
the check step. If the change was successful,
incorporate the learning from the test into wider
changes. If not, go through the cycle again with a
different plan.
Plan
6. Describe the perceived problems associated
with the process; for instance, failure to
meet customer expectations, excessive
variation, long cycle times, & so on.
7. Identify the primary causes of the problems
& their impacts on process performance.
8. Develop potential changes or solutions to the
process, & evaluate how these changes or
solutions will address the primary causes.
9. Select the most promising solution(s).
Act
1. Select the best change or solution.
2. Develop an implementation plan:
what needs to be done, who should
be involved, & when the plan should
be accomplished.
3. Standardize the solution, for
example, by writing new standard
operating procedures.
4. Establish a process to monitor &
control process performance.
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8.3.2 Key Idea 8.4 The Seven QC Tools

The Deming cycle focuses on both 1. Flowchart

short-term continuous improvement
2. Run chart & control chart
& long-term organisational learning.
3. Check sheet
4. Histogram
5. Pareto diagram
6. Cause-and-effect diagram
7. Scatter diagram

8.4.1 Flowchart
 Shows unexpected complexity, problem
areas, redundancy, unnecessary loops, &
where simplification may be possible
 Compares & contrasts actual versus ideal
flow of a process
 Allows a team to reach agreement on
process steps & identify activities that may
impact performance
 Serves as a training tool
Most flow charts are made up of three
main types of symbol:
• Elongated circles, which signify the start
or end of a process;
• Rectangles, which show instructions or
actions; &
• Diamonds, which show decisions that
must be made.

8.4.1.1 Key Idea

 A flowchart or process map identifies the

sequence of activities or the flow of
materials and information in a process.

 Flowcharts help the people involved in

the process understand it much better &
more objectively by providing a picture
of the steps needed to accomplish a task.

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8.4.2 Run Chart

 Monitors performance of one or more

processes over time to detect trends,
shifts, or cycles
 Allows a team to compare performance
before & after implementation of a
solution to measure its impact
 Focuses attention on truly vital changes
in the process

8.4.2.2 Control Chart

8.4.2.1 Key Idea
 Run charts show the performance &
the variation of a process or some
quality or productivity indicator over
time in a graphical fashion that is easy
to understand & interpret.
 They also identify process changes &
trends over time and show the effects
of corrective actions.
 A run chart with two horizontal lines,
called control limit.
 Focuses attention on detecting &
monitoring process variation over time.
 Distinguishes special from common causes
of variation.
 Serves as a tool for on-going control.
 Provides a common language for
discussion process performance.
* *
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8.4.3 Check Sheet

 Creates easy-to-understand data

 Builds, with each observation, a
clearer picture of the facts
 Forces agreement on the definition of
each condition or event of interest
 Makes patterns in the data become
obvious quickly xx
xxxxxx
x

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8.4.3.1 Key Idea

Check sheets are special types of

data collection forms in which the
results may be interpreted on the
form directly without additional
processing.

8.4.4 Histogram

 Displays large amounts of data that are

difficult to interpret in tabular form
 Shows centering, variation, & shape
 Illustrates the underlying distribution of the
data
 Provides useful information for predicting
future performance
 Helps to answer “Is the process capable of
meeting requirements?

8.4.5 Pareto Diagram

8.4.4.1 Key Idea

 A Pareto distribution is one in which

characteristics observed are ordered from
 Histograms provide clues about the largest frequency to smallest.
characteristics of the parent population
 The line above the bar – cumulative values of
from which a sample is taken. defects.
 Basically, Pareto Diagram is a histogram but it
 Patterns that would be difficult to see in shows the distribution from the largest
frequency to the smallest.
an ordinary table of numbers become
 Based on 80/20 rule: separate the important
apparent. from the trivial (unimportant).
 Juran (1992) – “vital few and useful many”.

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 In 80/20 principle – high proportion of

quality issues resulted from only a few
causes, i.e. 80% of the issues comes from
20% of the causes.
 E.g. 80% of the sales comes from 20% of
loyal customers.
 Benefits of using Pareto Diagram:
1. Helps a team focus on causes that have
the greatest impact.
2. Displays the relative importance of
problems in a simple visual format.
3. Helps prevent “shifting the problem”
where the solution removes some causes
but worsens others.

8.4.6 Cause And Effect Diagram

 Enables a team to focus on the content of
a problem, not on the history of the Cause
problem or differing personal interests of
team members. Contributor to
 Creates a snapshot of collective the Cause
knowledge and consensus of a team;
builds support for solutions.
 Focuses the team on causes, not
symptoms.
Effect
Effect

Cause

8.4.7 Scatter Diagram

8.4.6.1 Key Idea
A cause-and-effect diagram is a simple
graphical method for presenting a chain
of causes and effects & for sorting out
causes & organising relationships
between variables.
 Supplies the data to confirm a hypothesis
that two variables are related.
 Provides both a visual & statistical means to
test the strength of a relationship.
 Provides a good follow-up to cause & effect
diagrams.
 3 correlations – positive (increase in x is
related to increase in y), negative (increase
in x related to the decrease in y) & no
correlation (variables have no linear
relationship). *
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8.5 Kaizen
 Definition: gradual & orderly continuous
improvement.
 ‘Kai’ = change & ‘Zen’ = good change for the
better.
 Improvement in all areas of business, ex: cost,
meeting delivery schedules, product
development, etc.
 For a successful kaizen program:
1. Operating practices – new improvement
opportunities e.g. Just-In-Time (JIT).
2. Total Involvement – Top Mgt, Mid Mgt, Supervisor &
Employees.
3. Training – self-development programs that teach
problem solving techniques, small group activities.

b) Kaizen FIVE-step plan = 5S:

8.5.1 Kaizen Implementation
Tools
a) Checklist – includes: personnel, work
procedures, equipment tools, work techniques,
time, systems, materials, work methods,
facilities, software, plant layout, production
level, inventory paradigms.
b) Kaizen FIVE-step plan = 5S:
 The 5S are often useful to firms beginning to
implement quality improvement or just-in-
time processes.
 The primary focus is to create a culture of
waste reduction and minimization.
 The 5S are to be implemented over time –
from 6 months to 2 years – and sequentially.
Implement the first S, then the second S,
and so forth.
1. Seiri - straighten up (organising and throwing away
things you don’t use).
2. Seiton - put things in order (neatness in the workplace).
3. Seiso - clean-up.
4. Seiketsu - personal cleanliness (standardisation).
5. Shitsuke - discipline (repeat the above step).
c) 5W & 1H:
1. Who – Who is doing? Who should be doing?
2. What – What is being done? What should be done?
3. Where – Where is it being done? Where should it be
done?
4. When – When is it being done? When should it be done?
5. Why – Why is it being done? Why do it that way?
6. How – How is it being done? How should it be done?
d) 5-M checklist – Man, Machine, Material, Methods &
Measurement.

8.6 Benchmarking  What is best practices?

Refers to approaches – technology, HR,
Definition: recognized by customers/industry
experts.
‘Measuring own performance
against that of best-in-class
companies, determining how they  What are the reasons for
achieve those performance levels benchmarking?
& using the information as a basis 1. Helps to identify performance gaps.
for own company’s targets, 2. A process of continuous learning
strategies and implementation.’ (sensitive to customers’ changing
needs).

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8.6.1 Types of Benchmarking 8.6.2 Barriers of Benchmarking

 Competitive benchmarking - studying products,

processes, or business performance of 1. Lack of motivation to adopt the
competitors in the same industry to compare practice.
pricing, technical quality, features, & other
quality or performance characteristics of 2. Inadequate information about how to
products & services. adapt the practice & make it work.

 Process benchmarking – focus on key work 3. Lack of absorptive capacity, the

processes – to identify the most effective resources & skill to make & manage
practices in companies that perform similar the change.
functions.

8.7 Engaging the Workforce 8.7.1 Skills For Team Leaders

in Process Improvement
 Conflict management &
resolution
 Technical skills
 Team management
 Shared vision  Leadership skills
 Behavioral skills  Decision making
 Communication
 Negotiation
 Cross-cultural training

8.7.2 Skills For Team Members 8.7.3 Key Idea

 Effective meetings Compared to the technical tools for

 Shared decision making gathering and analysing data, the “soft
skills”— those that involve people — such
as project management & team
facilitation, are more difficult to teach
and learn.