Cqi, Lean, Six Sigma
Cqi, Lean, Six Sigma
Cqi, Lean, Six Sigma
So what exactly is continuous quality improvement? What does it do? And who does it
affect? Continuous quality improvement, or CQI, is a management philosophy that
organizations use to reduce waste, increase efficiency, and increase internal (meaning,
employees) and external (meaning, customer) satisfaction. It is an ongoing process that
evaluates how an organization works and ways to improve its processes.
The philosophy behind CQI stresses the need for teamwork among all levels of
employees and maintains that all employees are valuable members of the team.
Assuming that employees are doing the day-to-day work that keeps the organization
running, they are better equipped to suggest changes than perhaps the leaders are,
who often are dealing with more bureaucratic matters. As such, employees are
encouraged to analyze their work processes and make suggestions as to how to
improve them for the good of the company.
SIX SIGMA
Serena has a big problem. She owns a company that produces motors for airplanes, but
every once in a while, their motors stall mid-flight. It only happens in one out of every
thousand planes, but that's still too often. After all, every time it happens, people's lives
are at risk.
Serena needs to find a solution to this problem as soon as possible. One of her friends
has recommended that she try Six Sigma, which is a problem-solving program for
businesses. It focuses on identifying problems and using a systematic, scientific
approach to solving them.
To help Serena solve the problem of the stalling airplane motors, let's look at the heart
of Six Sigma: the DMAIC process.
DMAIC
Serena has to figure out the cause of her stalling airplane motors, and she's heard that
Six Sigma might be the solution. But she still doesn't know exactly what the process is
for Six Sigma. The Six Sigma process is often abbreviated DMAIC, which stands for
define, measure, analyze, improve, and control.
Define
The first step in the process is to define the problem and goals of the intervention. In
this case, Serena's problem is that some of her airplane motors stall and she wants to
reduce the times this happens. If she can avoid it all together, that would be perfect.
Measure
Next, Serena needs to measure the problem. This involves figuring out how often the
problem occurs. In Serena's case, this is one in every thousand planes. Serena will also
want to gather information on when the problem occurs, for example, what the stalling
motors have in common.
Analyze
After that, Serena will want to analyze the results to find the cause of the problem. She'll
want to look at the measurements she took in the previous step and look for patterns
through statistical analysis. For example, she might discover that the stalling motors are
all made of the same materials, or that they are made with the same construction, or
that they are all installed in low temperatures. She will need to look at all the data she
has and analyze it to find the most likely cause of the stalling motors.
Improve
The fourth step in the DMAIC process is for Serena to improve the process by
implementing a change based on research. Whatever Serena identifies as the cause of
the problem in the analyze step, she'll want to change in the improve step. For example,
if she decides based on her analysis that the materials are a key problem for the
airplane motors, she might want to change the material she uses.
Control
Finally, Serena will want to control the outcome by continuing the program. Serena
needs to do two things in this step. First, she'll want to keep changes in place. That is,
once she changes the materials and finds that the number of stalling motors goes down,
she won't want to go back to her old materials. That would cause the stalling problem
again!