PDCA vs DMAIC LSSGB COURSE RECORDING

Summary

In this lesson, Tracy O'Rourke explores two popular improvement methods: PDCA (Plan Do Check Act) and DMAIC (Define Measure Analyze Improve Control). These methodologies, rooted in historical figures like Walter Shewhart and Taiichi Ohno, aim to solve process issues with an iterative approach. PDCA is often associated with Lean practices, while DMAIC is linked to Six Sigma. Both involve analyzing root causes before implementing solutions, and are best suited for process-related problems with unclear solutions. Ultimately, the effectiveness of these methods depends on their application in relevant contexts.

Highlights

• PDCA stands for Plan Do Check Act; DMAIC stands for Define Measure Analyze Improve Control. 🔄
• These methods are used to improve processes with unknown causes. 🔍
• PDCA is popular in Lean; DMAIC is commonplace in Six Sigma. 🛠️
• Understanding root causes is crucial before implementing solutions using these methods. 🎯
• The best improvement method is the one effectively applied by an organization. 🎉

Key Takeaways

• PDCA and DMAIC are both iterative methods focused on process improvement. 🌟
• Walter Shewhart is a key historical figure behind PDCA, which was later adapted by Deming. 📊
• PDCA is more common in Lean practices, while DMAIC is linked to Six Sigma. 🏭
• PDCA's 'Plan' aligns with DMAIC's 'Define, Measure, Analyze' stages. 📝
• Both methods are rooted in identifying and solving root causes of problems. 🌱

Overview

Tracy O'Rourke introduces PDCA and DMAIC, explaining that they represent different improvement methodologies focused on identifying and addressing the root causes of process issues. While PDCA originates from Lean practices, DMAIC is associated with Six Sigma. Both methods have their roots in historical figures like Walter Shewhart and Taiichi Ohno, who contributed significantly to statistical and process improvement.

In detail, PDCA revolves around planning, implementing solutions, checking results, and acting on them. However, DMAIC involves defining, measuring, analyzing, improving, and controlling processes. Despite their differences, these methodologies share a common goal of improving processes by addressing unknown causes. They are best applied when the root issues aren't apparent, not when the solution is already known.

Ultimately, the debate about which method is better is secondary to their application. Tracy suggests that both PDCA and DMAIC are valuable, depending on the context and the experience of those implementing the methods. They are particularly relevant in situations where process issues are suspected, and clear solutions aren't yet identified. Tracy concludes by emphasizing that knowing both approaches equips professionals to handle a variety of process challenges efficiently.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to Improvement Methods The chapter titled 'Introduction to Improvement Methods' covers basic explanations of improvement methods, specifically focusing on PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) and DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control). It highlights that these two methods are part of a broader array of improvement techniques.
• 00:30 - 01:00: History of Improvement Methods The chapter covers the history and evolution of various continuous improvement methods. It mentions the introduction of multiple methods throughout the years and acknowledges influential figures in the field, such as Walter Shewhart, an engineer and statistician who was a mentor to Edward Deming.
• 01:00 - 01:30: PDCA and Its Origin The chapter discusses the origin and development of the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle. It highlights Walter A. Shewhart's introduction of Statistical Process Control and the original concept of PDCA. Further, it mentions Dr. W. Edwards Deming, a student of Shewhart, who modified the cycle to PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act). The chapter also references Henry Ford, known for establishing the Ford Motor Company and pioneering the assembly line technique for mass production, alongside Taiichi Ohno.
• 02:00 - 02:30: PDCA Explained The chapter titled 'PDCA Explained' delves into the concept of PDCA, which stands for Plan, Do, Check, Act. The chapter touches upon the origins of PDCA, linking it to the Toyota Production System and its key figures such as the father of TPS. It briefly mentions the lean enterprise at Toyota. Additionally, the transcript introduces Deming's adjustment to PDCA, known as PDSA.
• 02:30 - 03:00: DMAIC Explained This chapter titled 'DMAIC Explained' discusses the DMAIC methodology, focusing on the 'Plan' stage, which involves clarifying and identifying the root causes of issues. The chapter explains that the 'Do' phase is where solutions or countermeasures are implemented to tackle these root causes. Solutions are chosen based on their potential effectiveness in addressing the identified root causes.
• 04:00 - 05:30: Comparison of PDCA and DMAIC The chapter discusses the similarities between the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) and DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) methodologies. These are both iterative methods aimed at continuous improvement. The PDCA cycle involves continually checking, adjusting, and fine-tuning solutions for ongoing enhancement. Similarly, DMAIC is described as a five-step process focusing on defining, measuring, analyzing, improving, and controlling to achieve improvement.
• 08:00 - 10:00: When to Use PDCA and DMAIC This chapter discusses the appropriate situations for applying two process improvement methodologies: PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) and DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control). It emphasizes understanding existing processes with unknown causes and provides a high-level overview of the steps involved. The steps begin with defining the problem, which can often be challenging. The next step is measurement, which involves establishing a baseline to quantify the problem. During this phase, it's not uncommon to discover that the perceived issue may not exist. This is followed by analysis, where the root causes of the problem are identified.
• 10:00 - 10:30: When Not to Use These Methods The chapter discusses the importance of understanding the root causes of a problem before attempting to solve it. It emphasizes that one should not jump directly to solutions without first identifying potential root causes. This is especially critical in the 'improve phase' of a process. The chapter advises against moving to the improvement stage without a clear understanding of the underlying issues. Only after identifying these root causes can effective experiments and countermeasures be implemented to fix the problem.

PDCA vs DMAIC LSSGB COURSE RECORDING Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 hi i'm tracy o'rourke i'm going to be covering a brief explanation of improvement methods in particular pdca which stands for plan do check act and demaioic which stands for define measure analyze and prove and control in this module so pdca and to make are not the only improvement methods as a matter of fact there are a lot of different kinds of
• 00:30 - 01:00 methods or forms of continuous improvement there's a long history over the years many methods maybe you've been introduced to some of these along the way there's also many grandfathers of quality so let's talk a little bit about them here's some to name a few so walter shoehart he was a engineer and statistician and he was edward deming's mentor
• 01:00 - 01:30 so shoehart introduced the concept of statistical process control but he also introduced the concept of pdca which is plan do check act and deming who was a student adjusted it to pdsa believe it or not plan do study act and we have henry ford we all probably know who henry ford is he created the ford motor company and was the first to run the assembly line technique of mass production and then we have also taiichi ono who
• 01:30 - 02:00 was the is known as the father of tps the toyota production system he worked at toyota and he was an engineer there and was the heart of the lean trans uh lean enterprise at toyota now let's focus back on pdca so pdca stands for plan do check act and some also follow again like i said deming's adjustment which is pdsa
• 02:00 - 02:30 so plan is all about clarifying an issue and what's causing it what's really truly the problem we're trying to solve and what are some of the root causes that might be causing this problem to happen do is where the solutions or countermeasures are implemented to address the root cause and the problem so you often will pick solutions based on what might address the root cause and once you implement those you
• 02:30 - 03:00 actually try to implement those then you keep checking over time and making adjustments fine-tuning or tweaking the solution for continued improvement and so it's it's a cycle and ideally you're completing a learning cycle when you do this kind of work and dimaic is very similar to this method so domaic i already said stands for define measure analyze improve and control it's a five-step iterative method for improving
• 03:00 - 03:30 existing processes with unknown causes so here are the five steps at a high level define the problem or clarify the issue that sometimes can be the hardest part measure you're baselining the issue you're quantifying the problem how is this process performing right now sometimes we discover that really there isn't a problem because it's somebody's perception that there's a problem analyze you move into identifying the root cause of the problem or multiple
• 03:30 - 04:00 causes so really that's the crux of this it's really understanding what is causing the problem before we react we don't just have a problem and then jump to solution we really are trying to understand what the possible root causes might be in the improve phase again you can't move to improve until you know the root causes then you can fix the issue so you can implement experiments you can select counter measures or solutions and they're all dependent on what you
• 04:00 - 04:30 found out in terms of root causes the last step control is about maintaining gains and continuing to pursue perfection making it better and better and better sometimes your first round of improvement isn't as successful as you would like sometimes you have a small incremental improvement and now you want to go for a bigger improvement uh often that's what happens is it's not you don't get the huge results the first time sometimes it's the second go-around that has the biggest impact but ultimately you're continuing to monitor and make adjustments as needed
• 04:30 - 05:00 so now you should have a basic understanding of pdca and domain so let's demonstrate how they line up side by side because i think it probably will make sense so you can see that there's some overlap and the colors will help you indicate which steps are happening within each of the different methods so pdca and to make a line very well pdca is more well known with lean practitioners and demagogue is more well
• 05:00 - 05:30 known and used with six sigma practitioners the p or plan step in pdca aligns with what's happening in the define measure and analyze of demaio so it's the first three phases in domain that line up with the plan part of pdca the d or do in pdca aligns with the i or the improved phase in demaio and the ca or check and adjust or check and act
• 05:30 - 06:00 those steps align with the control phase steps in demaio so you can see that it's very very similar and it's really both of them are root cause methods to analyze and improve processes so what pdca is often broken into even more specific steps and there's lots of schools of thought following the principles of pdca and some of these steps do vary within each but the detail again surrounding those steps
• 06:00 - 06:30 can range the most popular and prevalent method is toyota's business practice or the steps for practical problem solving so you can use these eight steps to study what happens in the pdca cycle and as you can see the first five steps occur in plan and that plan step is front loaded and the amount of time and effort put into plan can make the rest of the steps flow more effectively the do step consists of implementing
• 06:30 - 07:00 counter measures the check or steady step is where you evaluate processes and results and the act or just step is where you standardize success learn from failures and set another target so you can see here that this is the demaic method overview that we discussed earlier so i won't repeat all of this but you can see really now that pdc and domain are almost identical they're both root cause analysis methods they both work
• 07:00 - 07:30 very well in certain situations and there are some that prefer to make and some that prefer pdca and i think a lot of it is what you're comfortable with what are you comfortable with what were you trained on you might have even heard of strong opinions discussing support for one or the other because these methods are so similar you're going to find many schools teach both and call it lean six sigma now because they are so similar i come from the school of thought that
• 07:30 - 08:00 they are both important to know because many companies and organizations have trained one method or the other method or both it's important that you know both and how and why they're similar so that no matter where you go if you go to different organizations whether they do lean six sigma or lean six sigma you're gonna know what that means and how to process it you don't have to figure out why it's different or how it's different so which one is better you might ask
• 08:00 - 08:30 well my opinion is that the best one is the one that's applied the method that is being used and embraced by organizations and people is the best best method to use and that may change depending on where you go so i said that these methods work well in certain situations let's expand on that as our last topic in this module when should you use these two approaches
• 08:30 - 09:00 pdc and make are not for every type of problem they work best for certain kinds of problems so here's a short list for the best time to apply these methods first of all the first one is when you suspect that you've got a process issue there's something going on you think it might be a process issue confusion around that process and so it's worthwhile to explore that current state process the second time to apply these methods
• 09:00 - 09:30 is when you've got a problem and you don't know the root cause you you don't really know why it's happening you have maybe a hypothesis you have a suspicion but you don't really know for sure then you apply this method to really get a better understanding of what the real root cause is the third would be when root causes aren't clear and therefore you don't know what to implement as a solution because you don't know the root causes when problems are persistent if past solutions have not been effective and the last thing probably is
• 09:30 - 10:00 when you're about to embark on something kind of risky and you want it or expensive and you want to make sure that the solution is going to work to solve the problem then you probably really want to back into pdc and domain and really think through is this really the right solution so when not to use it well the best time not to not use this method is when you know the solution in that case just fix it there's no need to
• 10:00 - 10:30 work through problem solving method i wouldn't force fit pdcare to make you know many of you have done your job for many many years if you've seen this problem before and you know how to fix it just fix it don't spend your time uh now wasting your time on the root cause analysis method because you don't need to apply it here i hope that helps and that brings us to the end of this learning module