American Society for Quality

Buffalo Section 0201

Certified Quality Improvement
Associate Overview

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 Continuous Improvement
Techniques

PDSA
Cost of poor quality
Brainstorming
Affinity diagrams

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 PDSA

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 Plan List your action steps along with person(s) responsible
What change are you testing with the and time line.
PDSA cycle(s)?
What do you predict will happen and
why?
Who will be involved in this PDSA? (e.g.,
one staff member or resident,
one shift?). Whenever feasible, it will be
helpful to involve direct care staff.
Plan a small test of change.
How long will the change take to
implement?
What resources will they need? What
data need to be collected?
Do Describe what actually happened when you ran the test.
Carry out the test on a small scale.
Document observations, including any
problems and unexpected findings.
Collect data you identified as needed
during the plan stage.

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 Study Describe the measured results and how they
Study and analyze the data. compared to the predictions.
Determine if the change resulted in
the expected outcome.
Were there implementation
lessons?
Summarize what was learned. Look
for: unintended consequences,
surprises, successes, failures.

Act Describe what modifications to the plan will be

Based on what was learned from made for the next cycle from what you learned.
the test: Adapt modify the
changes and repeat PDSA cycle.
Adopt consider expanding the
changes in your organization to
additional residents, staff, and
units. Abandon change your
approach and repeat PDSA cycle.

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Module Outline:

Cost of Poor Quality

The Hidden Factory

Internal Failure Cost
External Failure Cost
Cost of Field Failures
Cost of Inspection
Cost of Prevention

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What is the Cost of Poor Quality?

7

Cost of Defects and Defectives

Represents cost to the Customer
Internal cost of manufacturing
COPQ is all Waste

Should be defined for the organization

Components vary depending on industry
Manufacturing vs. Service
Influenced by Customer requirements

Preventing poor quality is most economical

Most COPQ is controllable
Some COPQ is unavoidable
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Why attack Cost of Poor Quality?

Provides a means for prioritization

Facilitates alignment to company goals
Allocate resources to controllable costs
Emphasizes doing the right thing all the time
Provides projects focus

Limitations:
COPQ structure needs to be defined
May not solve root cause of problems
Some components difficult to measure
Some important components omitted
Some improper components included
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COPQ is only the tip of the iceberg!

Maintenance and service
Rejects Warranty
claims
Rework
Additional
Scrap labor hours

Opportunity cost if sales Cost to customer

greater than plant
capacity Expediting
Improvement program costs Excess inventory
Lost customer loyalty
Quality engineering
Process control and administration
Vendor control
Quality audits
Inspection/test (materials,
Longer cycle times
equipment, labor)

What is under the water line?

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What is the Hidden Factory?

1
0

Costs of Failures not readily apparent

Catching errors within the process
Rework or correction steps part of the process
Includes supplier failures allowed into the system
Self-Inspection of process output
Operator checks their work prior to hand-off to next process
recipient
Rework cost not obvious, buried within the process
Problems may not be communicated
Errors become accepted
Creates need for extra inspection
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1
Factory Rework Disadvantages:

Costs go up
Time is wasted
Productivity goes down

50% of field failures are from rework

Repair person is the inspector
Repaired incorrect defect
Failure to retest

Product loses robustness, strength and durability

Root causes not detected or addressed
Many defects flow through

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Internal vs. External Failures -

1
2

Most causes are controllable by management.

System allows errors to happen
Both internal & external failures

Factors that allow errors to occur:

Procedures Price vs. cost
Practices Training
Methods Resources
Schedules Priorities
Failures continue unless system changed.
Root cause of deficiencies must be corrected
Ask: How did the system allow this to happen?
What must be done to prevent occurrences?
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3 Internal Failures:

Causes Actions
Internal
Workmanship
Failures Handling Detection
Specifications Catch problems as
Scrap & Rework Process capability early as possible if
Materials there is no way to
Materials correct or prevent it
Supplier selection
Components Correction
Maintenance
Assemblies Change something,
Training
Activities Gauging verify corrective action,
Product holds Set-up turn it on & off
Communications Prevention
Work standards Hold the gains achieved
Business decisions by correction or, dont
Tools / fixtures let it happened in the
Scheduling first place in similar
Yields situations
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External Failures:
1
4

External Causes Actions

Failures Manufacturing error
Customer needs Detection
Warranty Supplier quality/reliability
Catch problems
Service Training before shipment
Application
Returns Audit
Literature/instructions
Concessions Perceived quality
Correction
Reputation Poor screening at factory Fix problems
Epidemic accounts Shipping/packaging/ Warranty
Loss of future
handling Prevention
Design
business How can we avoid
Qualification of in the future
Lawsuits components

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Cost of Prevention
5

Internal Appraisal
and and
External Prevention
Failure
Former Thinking

Quality
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Cost of Prevention (contd.)

6

Internal Appraisal
and and
External Prevention
Failure
New Thinking
4
5
6

Quality

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 Brainstorming

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 Brainstorming rules

Criticism & evaluation are ruled out

Free wheeling is encouraged
Quantity is desired
Combination & improvement are sought

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 Affinity Diagrams -

Clarifies problems and their future affects.

| Best in Team situations

Typical application areas:

| Establish policy
| Planning for market expansion
| Promoting Lean Six Sigma

Use with little or no prior knowledge or experience.

| Organize facts about unknown or unexplored areas
| Forming new ideas
| Breaking away from old paradigms
| Adapting to uncontrollable environment

Alternative method for Root Cause Analysis.

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 Example: Affinity Diagram

How to Operate Lean Six Sigma Improvement Teams

Institute a schedule of periodic mgmt reviews

Create an environment that

Build Lean Six Sigma into mgmt system
encourages improvement
Clarify purpose of
each Team
Hold Mgrs accountable for
Promote 100% participation Lean Six Sigma results
Establish
Leadership
Team
Provide tools for Recognize and
Team self-mgmt reward successes Add tangible Lean Six
Sigma benefits to Strategic
Plan
Clearly state roles of Black Train Black
Belts and Green Belts and Belts and
Identify measures of Green Belts Conduct more
apply consistently
Team effectiveness in all depts. leadership training

Allocate sufficient
resources to Teams
Set long-term goals for Lean Six Sigma
State expectations culture
for each dept.
Hold annual
recognition Share improvements with
conferences business partners

Develop Co-wide
promotion plan Publicize examples
Begin top-level QFD Table
for Teams to follow

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 How to Build Affinity Diagrams:

1. Select the Theme.

a) New ways of thinking; promote Team building.
b) Ignore the existing system.

2. Collect narrative data.

a) Use Brainstorming (Remember Brainstorming Rules).
b) List free-wheeling ideas, without discussion.
c) Continue until new ideas dry up.

3. Transfer data onto cards.

a) Write individual thoughts onto Stickies.
b) Easily understood sentences.
c) Duplication is OK.
d) Post all cards or Stickies at random on wall or chart.

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 Affinity Diagram Steps: (Cont.)

4. Group Cards or Stickies.

a) Individuals group the way they see itno discussion.
b) Let natural groups form; continue until movement stops.

5. Label the Groups.

a) Discuss and agree on idea groupings.
b) Large groups can be split.
c) Clarify and re-sort misunderstood ideas.
d) Single idea groups are OK.

6. Draw the Affinity Diagram.

a) Locate similar groups close to each other.
b) Closeness shows relationship.

7. Develop presentation of conclusions.

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 Post-it Notes

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