There are a wide range of quality improvement tools and techniques, below are a list of some of them. We will be touching on all of these in this blog. At the end of this blog are links that will take you to free downloadable excel templates for many of these tools.
- PDCA Plan Do Check Act
- DMAIC Define Measure Analyze Improve Control
- SIPOC Suppliers, Input, Process, Outputs, Customers
- KISS Keep It Simple Stupid
- SMART (Metrics) Specific Measureable Accountable Realistic Time related
- SWOT (Strategic evaluation) Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats
- PESTL (Strategic impacts) Political Environmental Social Technological Legal
- National Housing Quality Award NHQA
- Organizational Self-assessment
- Quality Management Systems
- Flowcharting (Process Mapping)
- Cause and Effect (Fishbone) Charts
- Force field diagrams
- Mind Mapping
- Basic charts, histograms, run charts, check sheets, pareto diagrams
- Kan Ban
- Poke Yoke
- Kaizen Blitz
- Audits
- Preventive Maintenance
- Benchmarking (metrics) and Benchmarking Relationships
- 8D
- 5S Sort Straighten Shine Standardize Sustain
- A3
- Voting scoring tools
- Corrective & Preventive action
- Voice of the Customer
- Value Stream Mapping
- Reduction of waste (MUDA)
- Idea generation
- Customer Satisfaction and surveys
- Employee Satisfaction and surveys
- Partner Satisfaction and surveys
- Supplier (plant) evaluation
- Reward & Recognition
- Change Concepts
- Theory of Constraints
FLOWCHARTS
Flowcharts are a particularly powerful, yet simple tool for process improvement. The simplest type is simply to use boxes to represent steps in a process like in the diagram below. Create a ‘as is’ good, bad and the ugly process map of a key current process you want to improve. Ensure you place a time in days or hours of how long each step takes. Then create a new and improved version. Focus on reducing steps, creating concurrent work for example. Ensure you have a representative from all involved in the process to ensure the maps are accurate and that everyone had input into change and improvement!
To make a more complex process map each step or box can represent a particular aspect of a process as shown in this diagram.
FREE DOWNLOADS
If you want to create your own process maps or flowcharts use this link to get a free downloadable excel template for flowcharts
http://www.asq.org/learn-about-quality/process-analysis-tools/overview/flowchart.html
Other free downloadable templates in excel for tools are available via this link
http://www.asq.org/learn-about-quality/tools-templates.html
Basic quality concepts
http://www.asq.org/learn-about-quality/basic-concepts.html
Process view of work links to books etc
http://www.asq.org/learn-about-quality/process-view-of-work/overview/overview.html
Two other websites to look at for more information on quality are
NAHB Research Center, Builder and Trade Quality Certification
http://www.nahbrc.com/builder/quality/certifiedbuilder.aspx
The American Society for Quality (ASQ)
NEXT TIME, Part 3 Recommended Improvement Books