PDCA

The PDCA, namely Plan-Do-Check-Act, represents a fundamental management tool to continuously improve
processes in a certain organization. This model, invented to realize a certain change, is part of the concept
of lean manufacturing which aims to delete all the waste and scraps in the manufacturing processes, to
evolve the concept of mass production. The method is divided into four different phases that allow the
team to avoid recurrent mistakes and improve processes. Its improvement structure is cycle-based and
composed of the following phases: proposing a change in a process, implementing the changes, measuring
the results, and taking appropriate actions.

The first draft of this approach has been proposed by the American Walter Shewart, a physician passionate
about statistics and quality improvement. The study has its basis in the scientific method developed by
Galilei based on developing ideas via observation, testing them through experiments and finally refining
them. The Shewart cycle was initially composed of three phases (Specify, Produce, and Inspect) leading to
iterative changes for the product development. Subsequently, the Shewart cycle was further developed by
Edward Deming, nowadays known as “Deming Wheel”. The concept behind the latter relates to product
quality, innovation and learning by doing over the product life cycle. The first step is designing the product
with appropriate testing. Next, one must make it and test it in the production line and laboratory. Later, the
product is put on the market and sold. Finally, the designer must test the product on the market, acquire all
feedback about possible improvements and redesign it to enhance the customer's appreciation. In the early
50s, Deming presented his idea to the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) which popularized
his program as the Plan Do Check Act cycle, also known as PDCA.

The PDCA is one of the approaches used for continuous improvement in industries. Its application ranges
from quality control during the design and can be adopted during the whole production process. As already
anticipated, PDCA is an acronym for Plan Do Check Act, which is the four phases of this cycle.

 Plan: this phase is needed to study improvement opportunities and which of those has the priority.
The current situation of the process is analysed by looking at data, and problem causes are
determined together with possible solutions to solve those issues. During this phase, objectives are
defined together with actions needed to reach them and correlated risks. Moreover, it is possible
to define key performance indicators (KPIs) to analyse in the successive phases.
 Do: This stage comprehends the implementation of the action plan and the selection and
documentation of the information. The latter is essential for future analysis and evaluation of the
proposed plan. The planning step previously defined is executed. Every solution is implemented for
a trial period and solutions are drawn if forecasted objectives are reached.
 Check: In this step, the results of the “Do” phase are analysed to assess whether the improvement
actions are indeed effective, and the objectives achieved. The solutions are monitored for a longer
period to verify whether they can be applied or not. Objective and quantitative parameters are
needed to assess the process improvement compared to previous cycles. Moreover, at this stage,
one can identify problems of failures to be adjusted later. Several support tools can be used to
achieve this objective such as Pareto charts.
 Act: This stage aims to implement the corrective actions necessary to adjust the failures detected in
the previous step. In case the objectives have been reached this phase aims to standardize the
improvement after having repeated the proof and retested the data. In case not, a new project is
started from the first stage.

The PDCA analysis can be supported with several quality tools to achieve the desired outcome. Examples
include Failure Mode Analysis and Effects (FMEA), statistical process control (SPC), Quality Function
Deployment (QFD), the flowchart, and Six Sigma.
Continuous improvement is required in every field of the industry, hence PDCA applies to several processes.
Examples might be education (e.g., for improving teaching methods), services (e.g., to improve customer
satisfaction), and health care (e.g., to reduce medical errors). This chapter focuses on the application of this
methodology in the manufacturing industry. One can make an example of a specific product which contains
imperfections in round pieces. The first phase would be to analyse the problem of the lathe machine
utilized and the evaluation of buying more modern machines (PLAN). For a month, both the old and new
machines run to compare the results (DO). A decrease in imperfections is detected (CHECK). The plant will
fully substitute the old machine department (ACT) to achieve a better result.

A practical way to create a PDCA plan is implementing it with other methods, to plan the different phases.
An example can be establishing a PDCA plan with the aid of 5W2H, to formulate questions and execute
activities. The 5W2H method has its basis on the following questions:

 What: What needs to be done?

 Why: Why is the action necessary?

 Where: Where to perform the activity?

 When: When and with what deadline?

 Who: Who executes it?

 How: How will it be done?

 How much: How much does it cost?

5W2H helps the PDCA planning phase with what needs to be done, why it is necessary, where and when it
will take place, who will be involved, how it will be executed, and how much it will cost. During the check
phase, answers to the formulated questions are analysed.

Although PDCA is widely recognized as a method for a continuous enhancement offering several benefits, it
also comes with some drawbacks. Here a list of both these aspects.

Advantages

 High flexibility: PDCA can be used in different environments with many applications.
 Simple yet powerful: PDCA is a simple model which requires only few instructions but also a
powerful tool to achieve large improvements. Small changes lead to an overall better performance.
 Iterative: the cyclical structure invites continuous improvement. By repeating the cycle, one can
progressively enhance their processes over time.
 Structured and data centric approach: The steps are predefined, and all the decisions are made
based on the data gathered rather than intuition or guess.
 Employee engagement: The employee becomes actively engaged in identifying problems and
finding solutions. This can have a positive impact on team chemistry and give employees a sense of
belonging, motivating them to work harder.

Disadvantages

 Difficult to implement: Despite the simplicity, the implementation is not easy. Sometimes, the
decomposition in smaller problems might not work, especially when fast change is required. This
model needs time to be effective, thus it will not work for urgent problems.
 High persistence required: this model requires continuous commitment and high perseverance from
all the parts of the business. More than one iteration is required for the model to be useful.
  Short-term focus: Sometimes this strategy looks only to short term goals and objectives, neglecting
a longer horizontal perspective.
 Overemphasis on process improvement and resistance to change: PDCA focuses more on improving
processes and may not look at other areas such as innovation and strategic planning. Moreover,
employees or stakeholders may not embrace the proposed changes implementation.

CASE STUDY

Literature shows an explicative example of how the PDCA technique can be used in the manufacturing
industry to increase production quality and augment the overall production rate. The problem to be solved
focuses on the welding defects in electronic boards and their components. Either the single component or
the assembly might cause problems while performing electrical tests. All the parts must refer to quality
standards utilized in electronics which determine the minimum acceptable quality while utilizing welding in
electronics. Each problem to solve must involve the utilization of different useful tools to analyse the
problem. For instance, the Pareto chart is a useful tool to detect the most frequent defect in a process or
product. The Pareto rule states that most problems usually correlate to a limited number of causes. Hence,
it helps to identify the best improvement opportunities. First, it decomposes a problem into smaller
categories. Next, it identifies the key categories and shows where to focus the efforts. This tool is utilized to
determine the most frequent defects in the welding process. A second tool used in the analysis is the
flowchart, which helps to decompose the steps of production making it easier to interpret the whole
process.

During the planning, the department of the wave welding process in the Manual Finish area was evaluated.
This involved developing a flowchart and layout of the Manual Finish area, as well as gathering data on
defect occurrences over the past five months. Prevalent defects were determined through a Pareto chart.
Subsequently, the defect data were stored in a database to identify product models with both high defect
rates and customer demand. This allowed for the prioritization of improvement opportunities.

The do phase comprehended updating the process sheets for the set of electronic boards, adjusting the
parameters for different product models, and evaluating/improving the design conditions. During the check
step, the results were compared while implementing the correction proposed in phase 2. The act phase
changed the whole procedure by standardizing the wave welding process.

The first phase identified solder bridges, damaged components, missing components, and others as 80.8\%
of defects. Moreover, it studied in which product the defect was more frequent contributing to target the
most problematic procedure to improve. Phase three analysed the results after the implementation of the
corrective measures over one month. These led to an overall diminution of defects, increased quality (less
touch of electronic plates, hence less wear out) and higher production rate (less time dedicated to each
plate). The fourth phase consists of proposing the changes to the managers who approve, based on the
results, the changes in the welding process, and standardizing the procedure for all the models. Applying
the PDCA method in this case study decreased defects up to 79\% while increasing the capacity, at the same
time, of 20\%.
BIBLIO

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*Moen-Norman-2009 PDCA.pdf

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PDCA Cycle: What Are the Stages and How Does It Work? See Examples | Blog SYDLE

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What Is PDCA? Today's Most Popular Continuous Improvement Cycle (fieldcheck.biz)