Total Quality

Management
BITS Pilani Naga Vamsi Krishna Jasti
Mechanical Engineering Department
Hyderabad Campus
 BITS Pilani
Hyderabad Campus

Chapter 5: Continuous Process

Improvement
Topics to be covered
 Introduction
 Process
 The Juran’s Trilogy
 Improvement Strategies
 Types of problems
 The PDSA Cycle
 Problem solving method
 Kaizen
 Reengineering
 Six Sigma
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Introduction
 We must strive to achieve perfection by continuously
improving the business and production processes
 We continuously improve by
– Viewing all work as a process, whether it is associated
with production or business activities
– Making all processes effective, efficient and adoptable
– Anticipating changing customer needs
– Controlling in process performance using measures such
as scrap reduction, cycle time etc.
– Maintaining constructive dissatisfaction with the present
level of performance
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Introduction
– Investigating activities that do not add value to the
product or service, with the aim of eliminating these
activities
– Eliminating non conformities in all phases of everyone’s
work even if the increment of improvement is small
– Using benchmarking to improve competitive advantage
– Incorporating lesson learned into future activities
– Using technical tools like SPC, QFD, BM etc.
 An organization attempt to reach a single minded link
between quality and work execution by evaluating its
constituent to “continuously analyse and improve their
own work, process and their work group”
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Process
 Refer to business or production activity of all
organizations, eg. purchasing, marketing etc.
 Input: 5M, Information
 Output: information, product / service
– Output of one process can be input to other
– Output are designed to achieve certain desirable
outcomes on customer satisfaction.
 Feedback
– Provided to improve the process
 Process
– Interaction of some combination of man, material,
machine, method, measurement and environment to
produce an output, such as product / service

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Process – contd..
– In addition to input and output, a process must have
value added activities and repeatability
– It must adhere to certain conditions imposed by policies
and contract or regulations
 Customer defines the purpose of the organization and
every processes within it
 Organization exists to serve customer, process
improvements must be defined in terms of increased
customer satisfaction
 Frequently the process will cross multiple organization
boundaries and supporting sub processes will be owned by
individuals
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Improvement
What are the basic ways to Improve?
 5 basic ways to improve.
– Reduce resources
– Reduce errors
– Meet or exceed expectation of downstream customers
– Make the process safer
– Make the process more satisfying to the person doing
it
 Reduce resources
– Reports that are distributed to more people than
necessary
– Waste of copying, distribution time, material, user read
time etc.
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Improvement – contd..
 Reduce errors
– Errors are sign of poor workmanship and require
rework
– Errors detected after printout – results in opening a
file, correction and printing again
 Meeting or exceed expectations of downstream
customers
– Better welding – less grinding required – appearance or
finish is good
 Improvement of process by making it safer
– Less accidents and hence lost time, less compensation
– Improve the process to increase the satisfaction of
individual performance
– Ergonomically correct chair
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 The Juran’s Trilogy
 Explain the various components for Process improvement.
 3 components for process improvement – planning,
control and improvement
– Planning
• Marketing determines the external customer while
organizational personnel determine internal
customer
• A Pareto diagram can be used to determine the vital
few customers
• Customer needs are identified, based on their own
words, but real needs may differ, but internal
customer may not tell real needs due to fear
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 The Juran’s Trilogy – contd..
• Develop product / service that respond to customer
needs, meet the needs of organization and supplier
and optimize the cost of stakeholders
• Developed by cross functional team and different
tools like QFD, DoE are used
• Develop process to produce the product, which is
also done by cross functional team
• Product will move from laboratory, prototype to
process environment and process validation is done

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 The Juran’s Trilogy – contd..
– Controlling
• Used by operating forces to meet the product
process requirement
• Uses feedback and have the following steps
– Evaluate actual performance
– Compare actual performance to goals
– Act on difference
• Statistical process control (SPC) and 7 QC tools are
used

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 The Juran’s Trilogy – contd..
– Improvement
• Aims to attain levels of performance that are higher
than current levels
• It is based on the effective infrastructure of quality
council
• Quality council need to identify improvement
project and project teams
• Necessary resources have to be provided
• Process improvement can be incremental or
breakthrough

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 Improvement strategies
 Four strategies – Repair, Refinement, Renovation and
Reinvention. Choosing the right strategy for right situation
is critical
 Repair
– Anything broken must be fixed, so that it functions as
designed
– This level is temporary and it is a short term measure
– Second level occurs, when an individual or team
identifies and eliminates root causes of the problem and
effects permanent solution
– Repair strategy does not make the process better than
original design
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 Improvement strategies
 Refinement
– Involves activities that continually improve the process,
that is not broken
– Improvements happen, but in incremental basis but it
improves efficiency and effectiveness
– It should be integral part of employees
– It relies on doing things quicker, better, easier etc.
– Change may be gradual, no appearance of change
– Benefit is that, it produces little resistance from
employees

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 Improvement strategies – contd..
– Change is gradual, management may not recognize and
reward the employees
– It may not be properly documented or communicated
– Organization program like suggestion system and
empowerment are combination of repair and
refinement
 Renovation
– Strategy results in major or breakthrough
improvements
– Resulting output may appear different from original,
but it is basically the same

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 Improvement strategies – contd..
– Innovation and technological advancements are key
factors in this approach Eg. Process of drilling – hand
and then shifted automatic
– It is more costlier than repair and refinement
 Reinvention
– Most demanding improvement strategy and it happens
because current approach will never satisfy customer
requirement
– Reinvention an reengineering beings by imagining
previous conditions does not exist
– Helps to maintain competitive advantage, but used
sparingly because resistance to change is high
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 Types of problems
 Types of problems are
 Compliance, Unstructured, Efficiency, Process Design and
Product design
 The first three are performance problems, while last two
are design problems and require a new or improved
design
 Compliance
– Occurs when a structured system having standardized
inputs, processes, and output is performing
unacceptably from users view point

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 Types of problems – contd..
– They are identified by comparing with standard or by
feedback from internal / external customer
– Major challenge is to find root cause and take
corrective action
– Diagnosis can be difficult as product are complex
– Standards cannot address all problems, because
interaction of individually acceptable characteristics

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 Types of problems – contd..
 Unstructured
– Resemble compliance problem, but they are not
specified by standards
– Absence of standards may be due to immaturity or to
the need of flexibility in system performance
– Eg. Customer service worker adapt to the behaviour of
customer
– Identification is done by negative customer feedback
– Major challenge is to determine customer needs and
find the cause of poor performance

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 Types of problems – contd..
 Efficiency
– Occurs when system is performing unacceptably from
the viewpoint of owners
– End user is satisfied, but process is more costly than
desired
– Identification of such problems occurs from
benchmarking or operator suggestion

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 Types of problems – contd..
 Process design
– Involve development of new processes and revision of
existing processes
– Many business and production processes are not well
designed and have become obsolete with advances in
technology
– Problem is identified by poor performance, benchmarking
etc.
 Product design
– Involve development of new products and improvement of
existing product
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 Types of problems – contd..
– A major focus is to prevent process and end user problem
by relying on customer needs
– Design work is initiated due to poor product performance
while problem solving is normally used

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 PDSA cycle
 Developed by Shewhart and this was called PDCA cycle
 It was modified by Deming, which is called PDSA cycle
 Effective improvement technique
 Plan: What is to be done?
 Do: Carry out the plan
 Study: Did the plan work as intended?
 Act: Act on result by identifying what worked and what
planned
 Process improvement achieves greatest result when it
operates within framework of problem solving method

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 PDSA cycle – contd..
 In initial stages, quick results are obtained, as solution
are obvious, but in long term, systematic approach is
needed to get better result
 They are several phases in PDSA cycle
 Phases are integrated and are dependent on previous
phases
 Continuous improvement is the objective

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 PDSA cycle – contd..
 Plan
– Identify the opportunity
– Analyse the process
– Develop optimal solution
 Do
– Implement
 Study
– Study the results
 Act
– Standardize the solution
– Plan for future
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 PDSA Cycle – contd..
 Identify the opportunity
– It consists of three parts
• Identify the problem
• Form the team, if it is not existing
• Define the scope

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 PDSA Cycle – contd..
 Problem can be identified from
– Pareto analysis of repetitive external alarm signals like
field failures, complaints, returns etc.
– Pareto analysis of internal alarm signals like scrap,
rework, sorting etc.
– Proposal from suggestion schemes, managers etc.
– Data on performance of competitor
– Comments from customer, supplier, journalist,
government rules etc.
 Problem identified provide opportunity for improvement

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 PDSA Cycle – contd..
 For a condition to qualify as a problem, it should satisfy
three criteria
– Performance varies from established standard
– Deviation from the perception
– Cause is unknown
 Prioritize the problem based on
– Is the problem important and why?
– Will it contribute to attainment of goals?
– Can the problem be defined clearly using objective
measures
– Maximum benefit should be got, solving it with
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 PDSA Cycle – contd..
 Form a team
– Natural work group or cross functional and choosing it
depends on problem
– Team leader is identified and team is selected and
assigned the specific problems
– Goals and milestones are given
– If it is repair or refinement, then individual can be used
 Define the scope
– Failure in problem solving occurs due to poor definition
of problem

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 PDSA Cycle – contd..
– Criteria for good problem statement are
• Describes the problem clearly as it currently exists
and easily understood
• States the effect – what is wrong, when it happened,
where it is occurring and not who is responsible and
why it is wrong
• Focuses on what is known and what is unknown and
what needs to be done
• Uses facts and is free from judgement and
emphasize on the impact of customer
– It should also include authority, expected output, team
members, methods, resources etc.
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 PDSA Cycle – contd..
 Phase 2: Analyse the current process
– Objective is to understand how it is currently
performed
– Key activities are defining process boundaries, output
and customers, input and suppliers, process flow,
materials needed, gathering data and identify root
causes
– Process flow diagram that translates complex work into
easily understood graphic description
– Target performance measures are defined. If
something cannot be measured, it cannot be improved

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 PDSA Cycle – contd..
– If new ones are needed
• Establish performance measures with respect to
customer requirements
• Determine data needed to manage the process
• Establish regular feedback with customer and
supplier
 Collect available data and information
 Data helps to
– Confirm whether a problem exists, enables team to
work with facts, makes it possible to measure the
criteria for baseline, enables team to check effectiveness
of solution
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 PDSA Cycle – contd..
 Data can be collected using check sheet, gauges etc.
 Common item of data and information are
– Customer information like complaints, surveys
– Design information like BOM, drawings, etc.
– Process information like routing, equipment, component
etc.
– Statistical information like mean, median, range etc.
– Quality information like Pareto, scatter diagram, run
chart, control chart
– Supplier information like process variation, sample etc.

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 PDSA Cycle – contd..
 Cause and effect diagram is used, through brainstorming to
list down only possible causes and not solution
 Identify too causes
 Phase – 3: Develop optimal solution
– Establish potential and feasible solution and recommend
best solution
– Creativity and brainstorming play a major role

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 PDSA Cycle – contd..
 Phase – 3 – contd..
– 3 types of solution can happen
• Create a new process
• Modify existing process
• Combine different process
– Evaluation or testing of solutions - to test which has the
greatest potential and the advantages and
disadvantages
– Criteria include cost, feasibility, effect, resistance to
change, training etc. Solution must prevent
reoccurrence BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus
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 PDSA Cycle – contd..
 Phase 4: Implement changes
– Preparing the implementation plan
– Getting approval and implementing it
– A written or oral report is given
• Why will it be done?
• How will it be done?
• When will it be done?
• Who will do it?
• Where will it be done?
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 PDSA Cycle – contd..
– After approval, it is necessary to get consensus among
people, department, functional area etc.
– After implementation, monitoring has to be done
• What information will be monitored?
• Who will take measurements?
• What is required?
• How it will be taken?
• When?

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 PDSA Cycle – contd..
 Phase 5: Study the results
– To check the effectiveness of improvement efforts
– It is necessary to evaluate the results to check for any
fine tuning
– They will check for any unforeseen problem getting
developed
 Phase 6: Standardize the solution
– Once team is satisfied with change, it must be
institutionalized by positive control of the process
– Positrol (positive control) a tool that ensure important
variables are best under control
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 PDSA Cycle – contd..
– It specifies what, who, how, where and when of the
process and it is a updating of maintaining activity
– Operator must be trained on what to do, how to do etc.
– If required job rotation is done, so all people knows
about it
 Phase 7: Plan for future
– Objective of achieving improved level of process
performance, regularly scheduled reviews
– Management must identify future area of improvement
by tracking internal and external customer requirement
– Lessons from problem solving etc should be transferred
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 Kaizen
 A philosophy that defines management role in continuous
improvement by continuously encouraging and
implementing small improvements involving everyone
 Improvements are usually accomplished at little or no
expense without sophisticated technique or equipment
 Focuses on simplification by breaking down complex
processes into sub process
 Kaizen focuses on
– Value added and non value added activities
– Muda: waste of over production, inventory,
transportation, wasted motion, delay, defective parts
etc.
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 Kaizen – contd..
– 5S
– Pokayoke
– Documentation
– Principle of motion study and material handling etc.
 It relies on culture that encourages suggestion by
operators

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 Re-Engineering
 It is the fundamental rethinking and reduced redesign of
business process to achieve dramatic improvements
 Japanese have not only relied on kaizen, but have develop
policy management (Hoshin Kanri) and policy deployment
(Hoshin Tenkai) to set large breakthroughs
 It is always a part of TQM and TQM is not just associated
with incremental improvements

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 What is Six Sigma?
 Six Sigma is the measure of quality that strives for
near perfection.
 It is a disciplined, data-driven methodology focused
on eliminating defects.
 A Six Sigma defect is defined as anything that falls
outside of a customer's specifications. Six Sigma is a
reference to a statistical measuring system, equivalent
to just 3.4 defects per every million opportunities
(Snee, 2003).

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 WHY SIX SIGMA?
 Intense competitive pressures – especially from rapid
globalization.
 Greater consumer demand for high quality products
and services, little tolerance for failures of any type.
 Top management (and stockholder) recognition of the
high costs of poor quality.
 The availability and accessibility of large data bases
and the increasing ability to explore, understand, and
use the data.

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 DMPO & %Accuracy
Defects per Million % Accuracy
Opportunities (DPMO)
One Sigma 691,500 30.85%
Two Sigma 308,500 69.15%
Three Sigma 66,810 93.32%
Four Sigma 6,210 99.38%
Five Sigma 233 99.977%
Six Sigma 3.499.9997%
Seven Sigma 0.020 99.999998%

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 Six Sigma DMAIC : Define
 The purpose of this step is to clearly articulate the
business problem, goal, potential resources, project
scope and high-level project timeline. This information
is typically captured within project charter document.
Write down what you currently know. Seek to clarify
facts, set objectives and form the project team. Define
the following:
A problem
The customer(s)
Voice of the customer (VOC) and Critical to Quality
 (CTQs) — what are the critical process outputs?
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 Six Sigma DMAIC : Measure
 Define performance standards
 The team decides on what should be measured and
how to measure it. It is usual for teams to invest a lot
of effort into assessing the suitability of the proposed
measurement systems.
 Measure current level of quality into Sigma. It
precisely pinpoints the area causing problems.

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 Six Sigma DMAIC : Analyze
 The purpose of this step is to identify, validate and
select root cause for elimination. A large number of
potential root causes (process inputs, X) of the project
problem are identified via root cause analysis (for
example a fishbone diagram).
 The top 3-4 potential root causes are selected using
multi-voting or other consensus tool for further
validation.

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 Six Sigma DMAIC : Analyze
 A data collection plan is created and data are
collected to establish the relative contribution of each
root causes to the project metric, Y. This process is
repeated until "valid" root causes can be identified. 

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 Six Sigma DMAIC : Improve
 The purpose of this step is to identify, test and
implement a solution to the problem; in part or in
whole. This depends on the situation. Identify creative
solutions to eliminate the key root causes in order to
fix and prevent process problems. Use brainstorming
or techniques like Six Thinking Hats and Random Word
. Some projects can utilize complex analysis tools like
DOE (Design of Experiments), but try to focus on
obvious solutions if these are apparent. However, the
purpose of this step can also be to find solutions
without implementing them.
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Six Sigma DMAIC : Control
 Monitor the improved process continuously to ensure
long term sustainability of the new developments.
 Share the lessons learnt
 Document the results and
accomplishments of all
the improvement activities
for future reference

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 Recap
 Introduction
 Process
 The Juran’s Trilogy
 Improvement Strategies
 Types of problems
 The PDSA Cycle
 Problem solving method
 Kaizen
 Reengineering
 Six Sigma
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