Sunday, March 13, 2011

Dr. Deming's PDCA

PDCA is a core principle of the Hoshin Planning & Control System, i.e The 'Toyota Way' or => The Toyota Management System (TMS).
PDCA is applied to each of the 12 organizational target areas (see previous blog)

P: ---- PLAN:
  1. WHO will lead and assist from cross-functional areas?
  2. WHAT bold objective are we continuing to chase?
  3. WHEN do we start and expect to finish each sub-action item?
  4. WHERE is the actual place of action? We go there now.
  5. WHY, it is because this objective is tied to major organizational 'Policy'. (tbd)
  6. HOW do we proceed, by WHICH sub-actions to move us along?
  7. HOW MANY is our actual measured performance result ( # ) & next target #?
  8. HOW MUCH resources can we apply to this bold objective?
  9. HOW OFTEN does our cross-functional team review its action & result?

D: ---- DO:

  1. DO the sub-action items and get the schedule DONE.

C: ---- CHECK:

  1. MEASURE the actual results achieved ( #'s ) AND measure each sub-action's progress.
  2. COMPARE to the Year-To-Date target # that was set in P: above.
  3. COMPARE currect progress to the sub-actions' schedule as was set in P: above.
  4. EVALUATE good (use circles O's) or bad (use X's)... for this past month?
  5. ANALYSE variation between actual results and target expectations. Use professional 'QC' tools for analysis.
  6. REFLECT deeply ( 5 why's ): did we miss something and so on. Reflect on our own behaviour without excuse. Reflect as a Team. This is the most meaningful differenec between the Toyota-Way and previous ideas of 'Management By Objectives' (MBO). REFLECTION produces 'The Learning Organization'.

A: ---- ADJUST:

  1. CORRECTIVE ACTION to get us back on track.
  2. VERIFY our corrective action frequently.
  3. TEAM-UP as often as possible to assure cross-functional participation.

So, keep this PDCA cycle going like a wheel. Continuous PDCA becomes our culture of continuous improvement and learning - - - - thusly profit will ensue.

Mike Davis, a Toyota exec. www.mma.ca

Starting Hoshin

Starting Hoshin for any organization, we begin by a SWOT analysis of each of the 12 organizational target areas, or 'elements'.
Always keep it simple.
Use measurements.
Find out what others are doing by 'benchmarking'.

Best wishes from a 'Toyota' exec.,