Management Commitment
The PDCA Cycle
The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle, also known as the Shewhart Cycle or the Deming Cycle, is a popular model for continuous improvement. As the name indicates, it consists of 4 distinct steps:
1. Planning, which refers to the act of identifying opportunities for improvement and identifying ways of achieving these improvements?
2. Doing, which refers to the actual implementation of the actions needed to effect the change;
3. Checking, which refers to the act of verifying whether the implemented changes resulted in the desired improvements?
4. Action, which is what one does in response to the effects observed.
5. In step 4, if the effects observed are the desired improvements, then the actions implemented are made permanent and even deployed more widely. If the effects are negligible or even negative, the cycle is repeated using a different plan of action.
Employee Empowerment
Ø Training
Ø Suggestion scheme
Ø Measurement and recognition
Ø Excellence teams
Decision Making
Ø SPC (statistical process control)
Ø The 7 statistical tools
Ø TOPS - Team Oriented Problem Solving)
Continuous Improvement
Ø Systematic measurement
Ø Excellence teams
Ø Cross-functional process management
Ø Attain, maintain, improve standards
Client Focus
Ø Supplier partnership
Ø Service relationship with internal clients
Ø Never compromise quality
Ø Client driven standards