Quality Basics

6th Edition
Chapter 4-5
Quality Improvement: Problem Solving

Copyright © 2018, 2012, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chapter 4:
Quality
Improvement:
Problem
Solving
  Information concerning the problem(s) may have come from a
number of different sources, departments, employees, or
customers.
 Management should participate in the recognition and
PLAN identification of problems, since they are ultimately responsible
for seeing that problems are isolated and solved.
 Problem solving takes time and money. For this
reason, management must determine why the issue is important
and why the current situation is unacceptable.
 To begin the problem-solving process, creating
a well written problem
statement is critical.
A WELL
WRITTEN The problem statement should
identify that a gap exists between
PROBLEM what is and what should be
STATAMENT occurring.
IS A CRITICAL It should be concise and should address
the
five W (who, what, where, when,
and why). Who is experiencing the problem?
What problem are they experiencing? Where and
when does the problemoccur? Why does the
problem occur?
 The search for a root cause is the goal
of problem-solving.

 Developing a problem statement is

crucial to ensure that everyone is
aware of what the problem is.

 Problem statements should never

jump to a conclusion or a solution.
Clearly written problem statements
ensure that the right problem gets
solved.
Step 2. Plan: Form an Improvement Team

 interdisciplinary problem solving or quality improvement team must be created.

 This team will be given the task of investigating, analyzing, and finding a solution to the problem
situation within a specified time frame.
 This problem-solving team consists of people who have knowledge of the process or problem
under study.
 The team may consist of people from engineering, manufacturing, purchasing, sales, and/or
design departments, perhaps even an outside vendor or a representative from the customer
base.
 During the problem-solving process, team members must possess a variety of skills, including
problem-solving skills, planning skills, facilitation and communication skills, and feedback and
conflict management skills.
Step 3. Plan: Develop Performance Measures

 Measures of performance enable problem solvers to answer the question, How

will we know the right changes have been made? Adding valid, reliable
measures significantly enhances the decision-making process.
 Useful measures or metrics provide information in a way that compares
performance against a requirement.
 They must compare what actually happened with what was supposed to have
happened.
Measures of
Performance
 Companies use customer-oriented measures to determine whether
their plans and strategies keep the existing customers satisfied, bring
in new customers, and encourage customers to return.
Useful
These measures may include response times, delivery times,
measures or product or service functionality, price, quality, or other factors.
metrics Measures pertinent to the internal workings of an organization
provide concentrate on the internal business processes that are critical for
achieving customer satisfaction.
information
These measures focus on process improvement and productivity;
employee and information system capabilities; and employee
satisfaction, retention, and productivity.
 Do our employees have the
right equipment or information
to do their jobs well?

Employee and
information Do they receive recognition and
system support?
capabilities;
What are their skills and
competencies? What will be
needed in the future?
 Measures should be well-crafted.
Spesific
Measurable
SMART
Assignable
Realistic
Timely.
  Specific means that a measure needs to refer to a
specific important issue.
 Measurable means that the measure can actually be
counted or otherwise verified.
 Assignable refers to who will actually take, track, and
SMART utilize the measure.
 Realistic means that the measure can be taken and used
given the organization’s resources.
 Timely refers to the need to have a measure that is
usable when the organization needs to use it.
  Quality improvement team sets out to clearly define the problem
and its scope.
 Defining the problem involves identifying customers, both internal
Step 4. Plan: and external who are impacted by the problem or process.
Clearly Define  Following this, customer needs, wants, requirements, and
expectations must be identified and prioritized.
the Problem  Then clearer statement of the problem can be written.
 This problem statement should define the gap between what is
and what should be.
 Several techniques exist to help team members determine the true
Step 4. Plan: nature of their problem.
Clearly Define
the Problem The most basic of these is the checksheet. From a check sheet, a
Pareto chart can be created.
Flow Chart
Control Chart
Check Sheet
Histogram
Pareto Diagram
Cause and Effect Diagram
(Ishikawa diagram)
Scatter Diagram
Chapter 4:
Quality
Improvement: Measures of Performance Measures of Performance answer
the question: How do we know?
Problem Measures of Performance provide information How do we know the right changes have been
about a system, process, activity, or product made?
Solving that allows users to compare performance
against requirements.
How do we know we are doing the right thing
the right way?

The 7 Quality Control (QC) Tools Explained with an Example! -YouTube

https://asq.org/quality-resources/seven-basic-quality-tools
 are data recording devices that collect data
(events) according to category.
Cheek Sheet A check sheet is a data recording device that
is essentially a list of categories.
Categories, a check or mark is placed on
the check sheet in the appropriate
category.
Check sheets are often used in
conjunction with other quality assurance Check Sheets
techniques.
The information from these sheets will
help the team focus their problem-
solving efforts.
 The Pareto chart is a graphical tool for ranking causes of
problems from the most significant to the least significant.

the Pareto principle for use in problem identification.

Also known as the 80–20 rule. It is stating that 80 percent of

Pareto Chart problems come from 20 percent of causes.

To encourage management to focus their improvement

efforts on the 20 percent “vital few.”

Where can you this chart? These charts are applicable. any
problem that can be separated into categories of occurrences.
 Select
• Select the subject for the chart. Problems, a department or a process.

Determine
• Determine what data need to be gathered. Determine if numbers, percentages, or costs are going to be tracked.

Gather
• Gather data related to the quality problem.

Use
• Use a check sheet to gather data.

Determine
• Determine the total number of nonconformities and

Calculate
• calculate the percent of the total in each category.

A Pareto chart is constructed using the following

steps
6) Determine the costs associated with the nonconformities or defects.

7) Select the scales for the chart. Y axis scales are typically the number of A Pareto chart
occurrences, number of defects, dollar loss per category, or percent. The x axis
usually displays the categories of nonconformities, defects, or items of interest. is constructed
using the
8) Draw a pareto chart Draw a Pareto chart by organizing the data from the following
largest category to the smallest.
steps
The largest bars represent
9) Analyze the chart or charts.

the vital few problems.

 Pareto Charts

 graphically rank
causes of problems
from the most
significant to the
least significant.
Question
  In the previous step, the processes affecting the
customer’s needs, wants, expectations, and
requirements were identified. Once the processes
Step 5. Plan: have been identified, they must be documented and
analyzed to establish a baseline of the current
Document and situation. This sounds like a lot to do, but it is critical
work.
Analyze the
 A baseline provides an answer to the question:
Problem/Process
 How is the process currently performing? Without a
good baseline, problem analysis may be a waste of
time.
 Activity
Transportation
Process maps
(flowcharts) are
Inspection
graphical
representations
?
of all the steps
involved in an
activity, a Delay
process or a
system.
Storage

https://sparxsystems.com/enterprise_architect_user_guide/14.
0/guidebooks/tools_ba_decision_tree_diagram.html
 Process maps are powerful communication tools that provide a clear
understanding of how business is conducted within the organization.

Identifying and writing down the process in pictorial form helps people
understand just how they do the work that they do.
Process
Map(Flow Process maps have the ability to accurately portray current operations
Charts) and can be used to evaluate these operations. A process map also
identifies the activities that have been added to the process over time
in order to adapt older processes to changes in the business.
Process maps are equally powerful for communicating the proposed
changes to the process.
Why do we need to use a process
chart?
Flowcharting is effectively used in the first stages
of problem solving because the charts enable
those studying the process to quickly understand
what is involved in a process from start to finish.
Problem-solving team members can clearly see
what is being done to a product or provided by a
service at the various stages in a process.
Problem or non-value-added activities nested
within a process are easily identified by using a
flowchart.
 Defects,
Overproduction,
Waiting,
Transportation,
Waste includes
Inventory,
Extra motions,
excess processing,
under-utilization of assets including employees.
 • Define the process boundaries (start and finish)
• Define the process by observing the process
• Sort the steps into the order of their occurrence
Creating a flow in the process.
chart • Place the steps in appropriate flow chart symbols
• Create the chart
• Analyze the chart by evaluating the steps for
completeness, efficiency, and possible problems
(non-value-added activities)
 Begin by analyzing the flow and identifying waste in
the existing process.
 Follow up with a plan detailing the improvements
and changes necessary to create a more perfect
process.
 Decide to Phone
Yes Schedule
get a job interview?
phone No Accept Yes
No interview position?

Decide what Schedule Maybe

type of job interview
Practice
to get interviewing Wait allotted
time for other
offers
Create Practice
resume interviewing
Have phone
interview

Make counter
Research Go to offer
companies interview
Send “Thank
You” note

Yes
Send “Thank Did they
Decide where You” note Accept?
to apply Yes Real
interview?
No

Send out Wait No Contact other

resumes and For Yes Companies
Made an Yes Continue to
cover letters Responses And inform
offer? negotiate?
Them you are
No longer available
No No
Yes Follow-up
Wait More
For interview? No Interviews
Responses scheduled? Start new
Yes job!
No

Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 is a basic graphical representation of the
process using symbols as process steps
connected with arrows to show
relationship.
 Create a flowchart for solving a
financial aid problem at your school.
Value stream process mapping builds
on flowcharting by adding more
The focus is on eliminating waste
information about the process. Like
and non-value-added activities.
process mapping, value stream
starts with a flowchart and adds
process mapping is a systematic
details such as inputs and outputs
technique used to study a process to
related to each step in the process.
identify ways of simplifying the
process, system, or procedure.
 Determine Possible Causes
 Brainstorming:
 Brainstorming’s purpose is to generate a list of
problems, opportunities or ideas from a group
of people.
 The length of time allotted to brainstorming
varies; sessions may last from 10 to 45
minutes.
 The result of the session will be a list of ideas,
problems, or opportunities to be tackled.
After being listed, the items are sorted and
ranked by category, importance, priority,
benefit, cost, impact, time, or other
considerations.
 Created by Kawakita Jiro, an affinity diagram
helps organize the output of a brainstorming
session.
 This type of diagram works well when a team is
working through a complex problem involving
a large amount of information.
 It is best used when the issue being discussed
is complex or hard to understand.
 It is a tool that gathers large amounts of language
data (ideas, opinions, issues) and organizes them
into groupings based on their natural relationships.
 The Affinity process is often used to group ideas
generated by Brainstorming.
 Affinity diagram works well when a team is
working through a complex problem
involving a large amount of information.
 1. State the issue or problem.
2. Brainstorm and record ideas on 3-by-5-inch cards or sticky notes.
This step may be done together as a team, or separately.
Participants may make their comments out loud or write them
down silently.
Create Affinity 3. Arrange the cards or sticky notes into piles according to similar
topics.
Diagram
4. Name the piles by studying their contents and developing a
summary statement of the contents of the pile.
5. Create the affinity diagram.
6. Discuss the diagram, the summarized topics, and how they
relate to the problem. Draw conclusions from the information that
solves the problem or provides further areas to investigate.
 Brainstorm
State Arrange Name Create Discuss Draw
and record
State the Brainstorm Arrange the Name the Create the Discuss Draw
issue or and record cards or sticky piles by affinity conclusions
problem. ideas on 3-by- notes into studying their diagram the from the
5-inch cards piles contents and diagram, information
or sticky according to developing a that
notes. This similar topics. summary the
solve the
Affinity step may be
done together
statement of
the contents
summari
zed problem
as a team, or of the pile.
diagram separately.
Participants
topics, or
provide
and how
may make
their they further
comments relate to areas to
out loud or investiga
write them the
down silently. problem. te.
https://balancedscorecard.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/affinity.pdf
Step 6.
Plan:  Affinity Diagram

Determine  Affinity Diagrams help organize the output of brainstorming

sessions.

Possible
Causes
 Brainstorm reasons why a customer may not feel
the service was adequate at a department store.
Create an affinity diagram to organize your results
 Cause and Effect
Diagrams:

Cause and Effect

Diagrams
identify and
organize causes
for problems.
 Clearly identify the effect or the problem. The
Identify succinctly stated effect or problem statement is
placed in a box at the end of a line.

Identify the causes. Discussion ensues concerning the

potential causes of the problem. To guide the discussion,
Identify attack just one possible cause area at a time.
construct a Brainstorming is the usual method for identifying these
causes.
cause-and-
effect diagram Build Build the diagram. Organize the causes and sub
causes in diagram format.

Analyze the diagram. At this point, solutions will

need to be identified. Decisions will also need
Analyze to be made concerning the cost-effectiveness
of the solution as well as its feasibility.
 1.Define the Problem: Begin by clearly defining the problem
or effect that you are trying to analyze. This should be the
central "fishbone" of your diagram.
2.Identify Categories: Label the branches extending from the
central spine of the diagram with categories that are relevant
to the problem. Common categories include "People,"
"Processes," "Materials," "Equipment," and "Environment."
Cause and These categories can vary depending on the specific
problem.
Effect Diagram 3.Brainstorm Potential Causes: In a group setting,
brainstorm potential causes within each category. Encourage
open and free-flowing discussions to capture as many ideas
& 5Why? as possible. Write each potential cause as a sub-branch
extending from the appropriate category.
4.Use the 5 Whys: For each potential cause identified, ask
"Why?" multiple times (typically up to five times) to dig deeper
and uncover root causes. This helps you move beyond
surface-level causes and get to the underlying issues.
 5. Collect Data: If available, gather data or evidence to
support or refute each potential cause. This might involve
reviewing records, conducting surveys, or analyzing
historical data.
Cause and 6. Evaluate Causes: Assess the significance and credibility
Effect Diagram of each potential cause. Consider factors like the
frequency, impact, and controllability of the cause.
Some causes may have a more substantial effect on the
problem than others.
& 7. Prioritize Causes: Use a prioritization method (e.g., a
Pareto Chart Pareto chart) to rank potential causes based on their
importance and impact. Focus on the causes that are most
likely to have a significant effect on the problem.
Cause and 8. Develop an Action Plan: Once you've identified and
prioritized the causes, create an action plan to address
Effect Diagram them. Determine what corrective actions or changes are
needed to mitigate or eliminate the causes.
& 9. Implement Solutions: Put your action plan into practice.
Monitor and measure the results to ensure that the problem
is being addressed effectively.
5 Why 10. Continuous Improvement: Regularly review and update
your Cause and Effect Diagram as you make progress in
addressing the causes. Continue to refine your approach
& and monitor the problem's status.
Pareto Chart
Cause & Effect
Diagram
  Identify the Causes. Rather than use the traditional
methods, materials, machines, people, environment, and
Cause & information, this team felt that the potential areas to
search for causes related directly to the latch.
Effect
Diagram  For that reason, they chose these potential causes:
broken, misadjusted, binds, inoperative, loose.
  In summary, the key difference lies in their
primary purposes and structures. The Cause and
Cause and Effect Diagram is used to analyze the causes of
Effect a specific problem, while the Affinity Diagram is
used to organize and group ideas or information
&Affinity based on their relationships or similarities.
Diagram  Both are valuable tools in different problem-
solving scenarios.
  A local store selling pet food and supplies has
noticed that its customer base is shrinking.
Naturally, this concerns the manager and owner.
Together they have studied the market and
determined that there is no new competition in the
area. Based on some random conversations with
GROUP 4-5 customers, they feel the issue might revolve around
customer service. Since customer service
perceptions are based on employee actions, the
manager and owner have decided to involve all of
their employees in creating a cause-and-effect
diagram for the problem: Customers are dissatisfied
with their experience at our store. Create your own
cause-an effect diagram for this problem.
  An excellent technique for finding the root cause(s) of
a problem is to ask “Why” five times.
 Regardless of the number of causes or their relationships, the causes
Why-Why should be written on the diagram in a single, clear statement.

Diagrams  Developed by group consensus, the WHY-WHY diagram flows from

left to right. The diagram starts on the left with a statement of the
problem to be resolved.
 This investigation is continued through as many levels as needed until a
root cause is found for each of the problem statements, original or
developed during the discussions.
  organize the thinking of a problem-solving
group. Asking why creates a chain of
Why-Why symptoms leading to the true cause of a
Diagrams problem.
 WHY-WHY process

 The WHY-WHY process is not meant to locate solutions; it is used primarily to identify the
root causes of problems.
 Once identified, these causes need to be investigated by measuring and organizing the
data associated with the process.
 Measuring the process will help refine the investigators’ understanding of the problem and
help sort out relevant from nonrelevant information.
 Create a WHY-WHY diagram for this problem statement: Customers leave
the store without making a purchase.
 • The data are separated
into classes in the
histogram. Each
interval on a histogram
Histogram is a shows the total
number of
graphical observations made in
summaries of each separate class.
Histograms display the
the frequency variation present in a
distribution of set of data taken from
a process.
the data

Interpreting a histogram (video) | Khan Academy (For Example)

  Data are organized in a histogram to allow those investigating the
A histogram is process to see any patterns in the data that would be difficult to
see in a simple table of numbers.
a graphical
 The data are separated into classes in the histogram.
summary of  Each interval on a histogram shows the total number of
the frequency observations made in each separate class.

distribution of  Histograms display the variation present in a set of data taken

from a process.
the data  Histograms are covered in more detail in Chapter 5.
GROUP 8
  Scatter Diagrams
Step 6. Plan: Determine  Scatter Diagrams are graphs that
are used to analyze the relationship
Possible Causes between two different variables.
  1. Select the characteristic, the independent variable,
you wish to study.
 2. Select the characteristic, the dependent variable,
that you suspect affects the independent variable.
To construct a
 3. Gather the data about the two characteristics.
scatter
 4. Draw, scale, and label the horizontal and vertical
diagram, use axes. Place the independent variable on the x axis and
these steps: the dependent variable on the y axis.
 5. Plot the points.
 6. Interpret the scatter diagram to see if there is a
relationship between the two characteristics.
 Scatter Diagram
Scatter  https://youtu.be/MqCj4OqSCMU
Diagram  https://youtu.be/qscgK78No70
 The local ice cream shop keeps track
of how much ice cream they sell
versus the noon temperature on
that day. Here are their figures for
the last 12 days:

GROUP 9-10 Run scatter plot, and find whether

relationship between sales &
Temperature.
 Identify, Select, and
Implement
the Solution
 Once the cause has been
identified, it is time to do
something about the problem
by answering the question:
How will we improve?
 Force-Field Analysis
 Force-Field Analysis
identifies and organizes
the forces that
alternately drive and
restrain actions in a
complex situation.
Force-Field  These easy-to-develop charts help a team determine the positive
Analysis or driving forces that are encouraging improvement of the
process as well as the forces that restrain improvement.

Force-Field Analysis
Lewin's Force Field Analysis Model –YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKR4uf74WWA
  Once implemented and given time to operate, problem-
solving actions are checked to see if the problem has truly
been solved. During the Study stage we study the results and
ask: Is the solution we’ve chosen working? What did we learn?
Step 8. Study: To determine if the solution has worked, the measures of
Evaluate the performance created in Step 3 should be utilized to track the
Solution improvements.
 Control charts, histograms, and run charts can be used to
monitor the process, both before and after.
 Remember, the measures of performance will show whether
the gaps between the desired performance level and the
previous performance level have been closed satisfactorily.
  The final stage, Action, involves
making the decision to adopt the
change, abandon it, or repeat the
problem-solving cycle.
 This key step ensures continuous
improvement.

Step 9. Act:
Ensure
Permanence
Step 6. Plan: Determine
Possible Causes
 Control Charts and
Run Charts
 Control charts and
run charts
graphically show
the performance
of a process over
time (Chapter 5).
Control Chart

 A control chart is a statistical chart that tracks data over time and provides
information about process centering and process variation.
 It has upper and lower control limits that are based on statistical calculations. It
is used to determine process centering and process variation and to locate any
unusual patterns or trends in the data.
  A run chart displays sequential observed data over
time. Time values are reflected on the x axis. The y
axis records the data being measured.
Run Charts
 The run chart is very good at reflecting trends in
the measurements. (Chapter 5).
  Improvement projects are easy to
identify. A review of operations will
Step 10. Act: reveal many opportunities for
Continuous improvement. Any sources of waste,
Improvement such as warranty claims, overtime,
scrap, or rework, as well as production
backlogs or areas in need of more
capacity, are potential projects.
Scatter Diagram
 https://youtu.be/MqCj4OqSCMU
 https://youtu.be/qscgK78No70
Force-Field Analysis
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKR4uf74WWA
7 Quality Basic Tools
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ0aTwP7DA4