PROCESS IMPROVEMENT ‎CYCLE

PROCESS IMPROVEMENT CYCLE
Total Quality Management (5575)
ASSIGNMENT # 2
HUMA WASEEM
ROLL # BR564185
COL MBA
AUTUMN SEMESTER 2019
Submitted to: Asif Ali Zar
DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY ISLAMABAD
HUMA MALIK
2020

CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION - DEFINITION OF TERMS . . 1
2. QUALITY . 2
3. TOAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM) . .. 3
4. PROCESS .. 3
5. PROCESS MODEL .. 4
6. PROCESS QUALITY 5
7. MODEL FOR PROCESS ANALYSIS . 6
8. PROCESS IMPROVEMENT TECHNIQUES . 8
8.1. LEAN TOOLS .. 8
8.1.1. FIVE (5) S . 8
8.1.2. VALUE STREAM MAPPING . 9
8.1.3. KAIZEN .... 10
8.2. SIX SIGMA TOOLS .. 11
8.2.1. DMAIC ... 11
8.2.2. DMADV .. 12
8.2.3. CAUSE AND EFFECT ANALYSIS . 13
8.2.4. SIPOC ANALYSIS 13
8.2.5. PROCESS MAPS / PROCESS FLOWCHARTS .. 14
8.3. OTHER TOOLS - BPMN PROCESS MAPS 15
9. APPROACHES TO PROCESS IMPROVEMENT .. 16
10. CONTINUOUS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT (CPI) .. 19
11. TOYOTA MODEL FOR PROCESS IMPROVEMENT .. 20
12. ROLE OF KAIZEN 21
13. KAIZEN BLITZ (EVENT) 23
14. POKA YOKE OR MISTAKE-PROOFING .. 24
15. FAILURE MODE AND EFFECTS ANALYSIS (FMEA) .. 24
16. BENCHMARKING .. 27
17. CONCLUSION . .. 29
REFERENCES ... .. 29

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1. INTRODUCTION
DEFINITIONS OF TERMS:
ISO 9000 defines Quality as:
generally (Hoyle, 2007)
Online Business Dictionary describes as below:
and significant variations. It is brought about by strict and consistent commitment to certain
standards that achieve uniformity of a product in order to satisfy specific customer or user
requirements.
ISO 8402-1986 standard defines quality as the totality of features and characteristics of a
product or service that bears its ability to sa
If an automobile company finds a defect in one of their cars and makes a product recall,
customer reliability and therefore production will decrease because trust will be lost in the
BD, 2020)
According to BS 7850: 1992 standard Total quality management (TQM) is:
A management philosophy and company practices that aim to harness the human and material
resources of an organization in the most effective way to achieve the objectives of the
organization. (Hoyle, 2007)
Process is defined as:
more resources (employee time, energy, machines, money) to convert inputs (data, material,
parts, etc.) into outputs. These outputs then serve as inputs for the next stage until a known
effective process would be one in which the interrelated activities use behaviours and
(Hoyle, 2007)
Business is defined as:
(Hoyle, 2007)
Online Business Dictionary defines as:
cycle time reduction, and identification and elimination of causes of below specifications quality,
process variation, and non-value-

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Business Process Improvement (BPI) as:
-
value adding activities and costs through incremental enhancements. Also called functional
2. QUALITY
Quality is determined by the extent to which a product or service successfully serves the purposes of the
user during usage (not just at the point of sale). Price and delivery are both transient features, whereas the
impact of quality is sustained long after the attraction or the pain of price and delivery has subsided.
The word quality has many meanings:
A degree of excellence.
Conformance with requirements.
The totality of characteristics of an entity that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied
needs.
Fitness for use.
Fitness for purpose.
Freedom from defects, imperfections or contamination.
Delighting customers.
In ISO 9000:2000, quality can be expressed as
fulfils a need or expectation that is state The
is present in the generally accepted definition of quality in the Oxford English Dictionary and is
illustrated in Figure 1. The diagram expresses three truths. (Hoyle, 2007)
Needs, requirements and expectations are constantly changing.
Performance needs to be constantly changing to keep pace with the needs.
Quality is the difference between the standard stated, implied or required and the standard
reached.

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3. TOAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM)
TQM in an organization is defined by and supports the constant attainment of customer satisfaction
through an integrated system of tools, techniques and training. TQM focuses on continuous improvement
of organizational processes resulting in high quality products and services. The ideal goal of TQM is do
things right the first time and every time. The customer is the ultimate judge of quality.
The three aspects of TQM are counting, customers and culture f quality
begins from the initial contact with the company and continues throughout the life of the product. All
departments of the organization must strive to improve the quality of their operations. Value based
approach relies on service dimensions like reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles.
and total involvement. Elements of TQM speak about leadership, education and training, support
structure, communications, rewards and recognition, and measurement or metrics. The critical success
factors hinges on areas of managerial action and planning that must be practiced to achieve quality
management in a business unit. The critical success
factors are very essential for TQM and if it fails, the
process gets terminated. Performance evaluation is
quality performance, acceptance of responsibility for
quality by major department heads, consideration of
quality as first priority, discussing quality related issues
in meetings and degree of comprehensiveness of
quality plan. The ability of an organization to adapt to
change in the business environment to capture best
practices and achieve and maintain competitive
performance is also critical for TQM to be successful.
level of performance of the plant.
Total Quality Management (TQM) is the art of
managing the entire process to achieve excellence.
(Vijayakumar, 2013)
4. PROCESS
A process is a set of interrelated and interacting activities or operations to be carried out in a given
sequence along with the corresponding set of resources to be committed, through which some input is
converted into some output. The activities are all in relation to a particular task to be performed and/or a
particular outcome to be achieved. That way, the activities are interrelated. Further, these activities are
interacting in the sense that any of these is affected by some preceding activity(ties) and affect some

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subsequent activity(ties). A simple process may appear to involve only one operation. However, it is
possible to identify the activity elements even in a simple process. An activity is carried out by a man
with or without a machine or a similar device using some material or physical resources to convert some
input hard or soft into some output. Sometimes, a machine by itself carries out an activity.
(Mukherjee, 2019)
5. PROCESS MODEL
The following is a user-friendly process model that can facilitate process analysis which is essential for
process control and subsequent process improvement.
This model is equally applicable to manufacturing and also other business processes. Some of the
characteristics mentioned in the model are technology determined, some are input-driven, some others are
equipment-dominated, while a few could be operator-decided. Items of information about market
requirements or stocks of raw materials or work-in-progress or finished goods awaiting final inspection or
delivery schedules for different customers and the like may be processed (summarized or tabulated or
plotted) with the help of a calculator or a graph paper to result in an actionable report illustrates an
activity. However, one can break up this simple activity into elements like examining the input data for
consistency or completeness, deciding on the type of summary to be prepared, drawing the table or the
graph, etc.

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A step in manufacturing like assembling some components into a sub-system:
Designing a product to possess some desired features and functional properties
Calibration of production or test or inspection equipment against duly certified reference
standards
Inspection of incoming materials or in-process semi-finished items or finished products
Maintenance of equipments and facilities, including inspection, repair of failed parts and
replacement of failing parts
Carrying out a market survey to assess the demand for a new product
Providing services to customers on request or as a part of service contract
Securing payment against a pending bill
Any process can possibly be segmented into sub-processes, each to be separately analysed. However, for
the purpose of process improvement, the process chosen should not be too narrowly defined, since in such
a case any improvement in the process will hardly have any impact on the overall process concerned or on
business. At the same time, if the process chosen for analysis and improvement be too wide in its
coverage, it will be pretty difficult to work out a significant improvement. Thus, the process to be
considered should strike a balance between these two situations.
The assessment of a process in relation to the need for improvement arises from the fact that a process
can be looked upon as a sequence of value-adding operations or tasks and a process plan is expected to
spell out the nature and extent of value addition to be effected by a process in terms of functional value or
aesthetic/prestige value added to the output of the process or to the final product through this output. The
process plan takes due care of customer requirements, considering both internal as well as external
customers. And requirements, particularly of external or final customers, may not be always explicitly
stated and may remain implicit as expectations over above explicitly stated needs. And a process has to
meet both needs and expectations of the customers, through appropriate improvements, whenever
needed. (Mukherjee, 2019)
6. PROCESS QUALITY
Process Quality is generally assessed in terms of the quality of process performance as compared to
requirements spelt out in the process plan. And performance takes care of both the quality of conformance
in terms of the agreement between process execution and corresponding specifications in the process plan
as well as in terms of the output measures or values compared with the targets set up in the plan. Analysis
of costs associated with the execution and outcomes of a process yields a fair idea about process
(performance) quality. (Mukherjee, 2019)
There are seven generic ways of measuring process quality in relation to the corresponding process
plan. These are:
1. Defect resulting from non-conformity with plan requirements and leading to process output
not being accepted for the next-in-line process (or for packaging and dispatch). Defects may
require.

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2. Rework to rectify the non-conformity so that process outputs are defect-free. In some cases
depending on the number and nature of defects in a work item we may have to.
3. Reject the work item and do it over again. These three measures relate to the outcome of the
process as can be detected during process inspection.
Associated with process execution, one may encounter situations characterized by
4. Work Behind Schedule or Delayed Start of the process element beyond the point of time
stipulated in the process plan Such a situation could arise because of rework or rejection followed
by repeat execution of the previous process element. In the absence of sufficient cushion time,
such a situation is likely to cause.
5. Late of the process output either in terms of the execution time being more than the specified
time or because of work behind schedule caused most of by delayed arrival of the work item from
the previous segment of the process.
6. Lost Items items of work executed but corresponding outputs not properly preserved and not
available for use at the times these are wanted. Sometimes, jobs done on a computer may get lost
in the absence of a simple command
7. Items Not Required repeat performance of the same work item like a count or a check more
than once, particularly in situations where one count or check is adequate, or some redundant
work items not essential in carrying out the process and not adding any value to the process
output are not too uncommon.
Apart from these seven generic ways to assess process quality in an inverse fashion process quality is
also revealed in the process cost, considering both cost of conformance to process plan as well as costs of
deviations or non-conformance leading to poor quality.
In some situations, process quality should go beyond yield or cost or wastes to cover energy consumed
or emission per unit of product. (Mukherjee, 2019)
7. MODEL FOR PROCESS ANALYSIS
The selected business process (not necessarily a manufacturing or even a service process) should be first
mapped properly to delineate its
a) initial and terminal boundaries;
b) hard and soft inputs fed into the process as inputs and hard as well as soft outputs coming out of
the process;
c) suppliers or providers of inputs internal and also external, depending on the process and
customers internal as well as external to receive and act upon the output(s);
d) the process of transformation of the input into the output;
e) specifications for the inputs and targets for the output(s).
This exercise is usually referred to as Process Mapping.

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A detailed process map can reveal value-adding and non-value-adding activities in the process. Such a
detailed process map can provide four different perspectives about a process being considered for
possible improvement, as indicated below.
Perceived Process What you think the process is.
Is Process What the process really is currently.
Should Be Process What the process should be to satisfy the customer(s).
Could Be Process What the Process could be through appropriate actions.
extent to which the gap between these two entities can be bridged depends the nature and extent of
resources which can be committed to planning, executing and monitoring and also correcting the process
as is now. Vale stream mapping also known as a material and information flow mapping is a variation of
process mapping that looks at how value flows through a process and to a customer and how information
flow facilitates the work flow. A process (particularly processes which involve quite a few steps or
activities) is essentially a flow of activities. In this context, value is what customers want or need, and are
agreeable and even able to pay for. On the other hand, waste is an activity that consumes resources, but
creates no value for the customer. (Mukherjee, 2019)
Activities in a process can be classified into three categories,
(1) value added (or, value-adding) which have to be performed
(2) non-value-added or wastes (also muda) which have to be either completely eliminated to at
least reduced without affecting the process and
(3) activities which do not directly contribute to any value but have to be retained for the sake of
business, e.g. inspection, audit, use of control charts sometimes referred to as business-value-
added activities.
In cases of new products or services, it may be difficult to distinguish between value-added activities and
non-value-added activities, and we should carry out some focus group surveys or some similar exercises
and should not depend on internal customers.
A value stream consists of all activities, both value-added and non-value added, required to bring a
product from raw material into the hands of a customer, a customer requirement from order to delivery,
and a design from concept to product launch. A value stream consists of product and service flows as well
as information flow. Non-value-added and unnecessary steps that can be eliminated without consequences
to business and the customer are sometimes referred to as muda of type II. The purpose of using a value
stream as it exists now along with a desired value stream where non-value-added activities are absent or
rarely come across is to pinpoint steps or phases where muda exists and effort should be made to
eliminate or reduce such steps or phases, resulting in a cheaper and faster process that meets customer
requirements. (Mukherjee, 2019)

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8. PROCESS IMPROVEMENT TECHNIQUES
There are many process improvement methodologies to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies in the
processes.
Lean Tools
Six Sigma Tools
Other Tools - BPMN Process Maps
8.1. LEAN TOOLS
Lean tools are used to eliminate wasteful process steps or activities that do not add any value.
The 8 types of waste
1. Defects
2. Overproduction
3. Waiting
4. Non-utilized talent
5. Transportation
6. Inventory
7. Motion
8. Extra-processing
Getting rid of these wasteful steps in the processes will help to improve product quality, reduce lead time
and reduce total cost.
Here are three Lean tools that can be used to improve the business processes.
Five (5) S
Value Stream Mapping
Kaizen
8.1.1. Five (5) S
An organized office environment is essential to efficient processes. With the 5S methodology,
you can create a clean, safe, and productive environment for your team.
Generally used in: All types of industries, from manufacturing to small businesses
Useful for:
promoting safety
lowering costs
increasing process/team efficiency
driving out waste from manufacturing processes
Documentation:
Photographs (of workspaces before and after implementing 5S)
Team activity documents or checklists
Evaluation forms to check the status of the first 3 steps
List of guidelines to keep the office organized and clean
Ease of use: As it does not require any technical analysis, it can be used by everyone at work
How to use: The steps needed to follow when implementing 5S are Sort, Straighten, Shine,
Standard and Sustain. (Athuraliya, 2018)

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8.1.2. Value Stream Mapping
A value stream map is a graphical representation of the flow of materials and information that
are needed to bring your product or service to your customer.
Generally used in: Manufacturing industry
Useful for:
Identifying waste within and between processes
Gaining insight into the decision-making and the process flows
Identifying and prioritizing areas for improvement
Setting measurable goals for improvement tasks
Documentation:
Current state map showing how you serve your customers at present
Future-state map showing how the process will look like once the changes are made
Ease of use: The mapping process can take up to 3 days to complete, but with the right team, it
can be done faster. (Athuraliya, 2018)

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8.1.3. Kaizen
Kaizen is a technique that calls for the constant improvement of every function of your business.
It can be implemented through the PDCA cycle.
Generally used in: Management departments, but also by those in quality control circles, waste
disposal analyzers and common workers
Useful for:
Improving processes, quality of
products/ services and customer
satisfaction
Improving team productivity
and job satisfaction
Promoting better safety and
faster delivery
Documentation:
Reports of the current situation
of the workplace
attitude towards job satisfaction
Kaizen strategy plan aiming to
improve team productivity
Ease of use: s an ongoing process
and requires the active contribution of
the entire company
How to use: Follow the steps below in each stage of the cycle for optimal results. (Athuraliya,
2018)

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8.2. SIX SIGMA TOOLS
Six Sigma ocesses to
the process. By doing business gets to
Increase customer satisfaction
Reduce cycle time
Reduce defects
Few six sigma tools that are widely used to improve processes in businesses are...
DMAIC
DMADV
Cause and Effect Analysis
SIPOC Analysis
Process Maps / Process Flowcharts
8.2.1. DMAIC
DMAIC is a 5-step method (a direct descendant of the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle) that is used to
improve current processes. the
customer expectations or not performing well, DMAIC can help to figure out why and find long-
term solutions to the problem.
Generally used in: All types of industries, especially by teams working on projects
Useful for:
Improving processes or products
Finding solutions for problems within processes
Cutting excess costs and time
Documentation:
Project charter
Process map with process inputs and outputs
Data on the performance of the project
Documentation of the new solution
Ease of use: It can be rolled out in a matter of month or over the course of a year
How to use: Following are the steps one should take to implement the DMAIC method.
(Athuraliya, 2018)

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8.2.2. DMADV
DMADV, also known as Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) is used to create new processes at Six
Sigma quality level. If the existing processes do not meet the required quality levels even after
other words, create a new and better process.
Generally used in: All types of industries, especially in manufacturing
Useful for:
Developing a new process/ product
Reducing the errors in a product line
Improving customer satisfaction
Increasing profits
Documentation:
Information on historical process/ product data
Customer feedback/ reviews
Ease of use: This methodology can be rolled out over the course of several months or even
years
How to use: Follow these steps to implement DMADV. (Athuraliya, 2018)

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8.2.3. Cause and Effect Analysis
fishbone diagram or Ishikawa diagram. It is a technique that can be used
to visually display the causes of a certain issue or effect.
Generally used in: All types of industries.
Useful for:
Identifying and analyzing all possible causes for a problem/ effect
Facilitating team problem-solving brainstorming sessions
Documentation: Documents on information related to the issues that are being analyzed
Ease of use: Can help a team identify and analyze causes of a problem in a single brainstorming
session. (Athuraliya, 2018)
Fishbone Diagram
8.2.4. SIPOC analysis
The SIPOC analysis is a technique that helps organize data on people and things that are
involved in your business processes.
Generally used in: Manufacturing industry
Useful for:
Identifying all relevant elements needed for a process improvement project
Define complex projects that are not properly scoped
Understanding the process during the define phase of DMAIC
Documentation:
Supplier: the people, departments, organizations etc. that provide you the input needed
to carry out a process
Input: raw material, equipment, forms or information and even people that are needed to
carry out a process
Process: a graphic of the process steps

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Output: a list of things the process provides to the internal and external customer
Customer: a list of internal and external customers who will be receiving your outputs.
Ease of use: The 5 columns are filled during a brainstorming session. As long as the relevant
information is provided by the team, the diagram can be completed and analyzed quickly.
How to use: Gather your team and list down the above information in a diagram/ table like the
one below. (Athuraliya, 2018)
8.2.5. Process Maps / Process Flowcharts
Process maps graphically represent each step of a process. And they are an essential part of
process documentation.
Generally used in: All types of industries, from manufacturing to marketing
Useful for:
Understanding how processes work
Identifying process areas that need change
Documentation:
Information available on the process that is being mapped
Job descriptions and responsibilities of those who are involved in the process
Ease of use: To map a process, you need the participation of those who are involved. Gathering
them in one place, mapping the process and analyzing it may span over a few days, especially if
the process is complicated.
How to use: Gather your team, brainstorm the process steps, identify process boundaries, put
the steps in a sequential order, draw the process map and verify that the map is accurate.
(Athuraliya, 2018)

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8.3. Other Tools- BPMN PROCESS MAPS
A Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) map is the standardized way to create visual
models of your business processes.
Generally used in: All types of industries, especially by business analysts
Useful for:
Breaking down business processes for easy analysis
Identifying errors within processes
Designing entirely new processes
Helping stakeholders understand how the business is run
Documentation: Information on the inputs, outputs, etc. of the business process
Ease of use: If you are familiar with the standards of BPMN, drawing the diagram can be done within
a day, as long as you have a clear idea of how the process spans out. (Athuraliya, 2018)

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9. APPROACHES TO PROCESS IMPROVEMENT
The plan for a process to be improved may itself require improvement, besides improvement in its
execution. In fact, process planning in keeping with the objectives and targets and in conformity with
constraints on resources is a very important task in process improvement. And as is true for planning in
general or for any targeted feature, several concepts, tools and techniques are available for the purpose of
planning a business process, to illustrate, it is better to go outside the realm of manufacturing or
production to some critical process like realization of the billed amount from a customer. The plan here
should about non-
payment, how quickly and effectively does one respond to any queries or some missing documents like
test and inspection results or to some complaints raised by the customer, how and when should the
any provision of penalty for late payment without any ostensible reason
for holding back the payment, and the like.
Organizations which frequently use some of the following practices tend to have better performance
manifested in improved quality. However, most organizations do use these approaches only occasionally.
These practices are: Cycle-Time Analysis, Process Value Analysis, Process Simplification, Strategic
Planning and Formal Supplier Certification programme.
One of the earliest and most discussed approaches for improving process quality is contained in the
famous Deming Cycle, also referred to as the Deming Wheel.
Deming Cycle (PDCA)
PLAN Establish performance objectives and standards
DO Measure actual performance (NOT JUST execute)
CHECK
Determine the gap between actual performance and
performance objectives/standards
ACT
Take appropriate action to bridge the gap and make the
necessary improvements

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This representation relates to a given process to be executed by an organization. A somewhat more
comprehensive explanation of the terms has sometimes been preferred. And in that context, the tasks
denoted by the four words are as follows.
PLAN
Establish the objectives and the processes necessary to deliver
results in accordance with customer requirements and organizational
policies
DO Implement the processes
CHECK
Monitor and measure process features against policies, objectives
and requirements for the outputs and report the results obtained
ACT Initiate actions to continually improve process performance
The four words or, better, constructs in the Deming Wheel can be interpreted in different ways,
possibly depending on the context. Of course, there has to exist a reasonable balance of emphasis on the
four constructs.
in the context of process control, means to specify how a given process should
be performed and how deviations from such a plan can be assessed quantitatively. The process
should be controlled at the specified levels or values in respect of inputs, equipments, working
environment and also output. However, in the context of process improvement to result in a
greater conformity to the desired
means to improve operations by finding out what is going wrong, causing non-conformity with
standards and proposing solutions.
does not simply mean to execute the process but really implies that one
solves the problems causing deviations from the standards on a small or experimental scale first,
to see whether the changes suggested in the solution will work or not. It is learning by doing,
using trial-and-error to develop a perception about what will eventually lead to an improvement
in process performance.
means to see whether the changes are achieving the desired results and modifying or
refining them, if necessary. This
have connotations of putting changes into effect in an organization, a sense of pulling people in
the direction of making quality improvements.
means to implement changes on a larger scale, to make them routine, to roll them out to
the whole organization, a push activity.
Some authors point out an seem to be more active,
schedule the activities, understand the current situation, set the target, analyse the problem and plan
the results further
and plan countermeasures; if the objectives have been met, one has to formalize and standardize the

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measures adopted. At this stage, the whole exercise is to be reviewed and measures for further
improvements in process are to be planned. (Mukherjee, 2019)
PDSA cycle has been dovetailed into the seven phases of corrective action which also phases are
dependent on previous phases and define a cycle. Phase 1 is to identify the opportunity for improvement
followed by the second phase to analyse the selected process and the third phase to develop the optimal
solutions correspond to P in Deming Cycle. D in the cycle is the fourth phase to implement the solutions
found in the previous phase. Phase 5 involving a study of the results on implementation of the
improvement actions corresponds to Do in Deming Cycle. The last element in Deming Cycle covers two
phases, viz. standardize the solution for sustained use and plan for the future. For understanding and
solving a quality problem towards achieving the twin objectives, the essential approach is to study the
pattern of variation in the pertinent area, and properly quantify this variation.
For this purpose, the following seven simple tools of statistical process control can be taken advantage
of
Cause-and-Effect Diagram or Fishbone Diagram or Ishikawa Diagram;
Check sheet to properly and comprehensively record variations;
Pareto Diagram to prioritize the causes in terms of their effects;
Histogram to get a visual display of the pattern of variation;
Stratification to segregate data according to relevant groupings;
Run Chart to detect recurrences of some type of defect or abnormality;
Scatter Diagram to comprehend the nature and extent of cause effect relations.
However, analysis of the patterns of variations and the causes behind those are more efficiently detected
by appropriate statistical tools like Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to identify groupings of the
observations or measurements which differ significantly among themselves in respect of the mean values,
Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) to identify significant covariates or concomitants which provide
some explanation of variations revealed through ANOVA, Regression Analysis to find out the role of
explanatory covariates and the like. Dealing with joint variation in several quality characteristics, we can

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gainfully make use of appropriate tools for multivariate data analysis like clustering or principal
component analysis or multi-dimensional scaling. (Mukherjee, 2019)
10. CONTINUOUS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT (CPI)
By definition, Continuous process improvement (CPI) is the act of implementing improvements to a
product, service or process. These changes can either be incremental (over time) or breakthrough (all at
once).
The key here is continuous - rocess
once, pat yourself on the back, and call it a day. Once you succeed with a process improvement initiative,
you need to periodically look back and see whether there are any changes you could make. Think,
adopting new hardware, software, methodology, etc.
Enforcing continuous process improvement in your company is up to you
To help you with actually improving processes, you can use one of the many continuous improvement
tools (Tallyfy, 2020).
Process Mapping
DRIVE- Define Review Identify Verify Execute
Root Cause Analysis
The 5 Whys
PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act) Cycle
DMAIC
Continuous process improvement
up with products and services that can be successfully marketed to customers with high expectations and
easy access to a wide array of alternatives. This is a systematic approach to make both incremental as well
as breakthrough improvements in processes. Through this, we take a hard look at the existing process in
all relevant details and discover ways to improve the process elements. The end result is a faster, better,
more efficient and cost-effective way to produce goods and services. CPI is not a one-time investment. If
the goal is to achieve total customer satisfaction, both internally and externally, CPI has to be an ongoing
affair, a way of life.
Every quality philosophy speaks of process improvement and several distinct approaches to continuous
process improvement though not differing much among themselves in the essential content. Possibly the
PDCA (Plan-DO-Check-Act) Cycle due to Deming has been the most discussed and deserves a special
mention. However, the role of customers (internal or external) has not been explicitly mentioned in the
Deming Cycle, though a process that fails to provide full satisfaction to its customer(s) should be taken up
as the opportunity to improve and to
as a difference between a process to be regarded as an opportunity to improve and one that fails to satisfy
the customer(s) is the fact even a process that currently satisfies the customer(s) may be less efficient than
expected and should be improved upon to enhance its efficiency. And there could be some process that

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fails to satisfy the customer(s) but cannot be taken up for improvement conveniently if a third party like a
supplier is involved and an extra effort may be needed to cause improvement in such a process. It must
first be admitted that improvement takes place through corrective actions and preventive actions.
Preventive actions are proactive in nature and should result in an improved process plan which then
should be followed during process execution, while corrective actions are to be taken during process
execution whenever deviations from the process plan are detected. A robust process design that prevents
deviations during process execution exemplifies a preventive action to improve process quality. Of the
several approaches towards CPI, a very workable one is provided by the SAMIE model.
SAMIE is an acronym for Select, Analyse, Measure, Improve and Evaluate. Each phase in this model
consists of steps that will guide the potential user through a CPI cycle. Of course, the SAMIE model can
improvement efforts and organizational requirements.
Phase: Select
1. define key requirements for core
customers
2. identify the process to be improved on a
priority basis
Phase: Improve
1. set process improvement goal(s)
2. develop and implement improvement
measures on a trial-run basis
Phase: Analyse
1.
2. establish process performance measures
Phase: Evaluate
1. assess impacts of process improvements
2. standardize process and monitor ongoing
process improvements
Phase: Measure
1.
2. identify and quantify process performance
gaps
SAMIE does not differ much from the Six Sigma methodology using the DMAIC (or DMAIS)
approach. The apparent difference that shows up is that SAMIE explicitly involves the step to evaluate or
to assess cost-effectiveness of a proposed improvement (really a change or a solution to the problem
analysed) before proceeding to standardize process at the changed level. Even in DMAIC, the last stage of
controlling or standardizing does involve this assessment, though not explicitly emphasized.
The SAMIE approach need not be confined only to processes that are currently not performing
satisfactorily. It can be applied even for processes which are currently productive. Here our target could
be to achieve excellence. The most important step is development of improvement measures. For each
step, the actions to be taken and the common tools to be used are also indicated. As expected, most of
these run through all improvement exercise plans in some form or the other. (Mukherjee, 2019)
11. TOYOTA MODEL FOR PROCESS IMPROVEMENT
Process improvement is concerned with making a process better, cheaper or faster. Better in that it
delivers higher levels of satisfaction to its stakeholders, particularly customers. Faster in that it does so as
quickly as possible to increase responsiveness. Cheaper in that, it does it to the highest levels of

21
efficiency. The emphasis is on the elimination of all non-value-adding activities and the streamlining of
the core value-adding ones. This approach can be summarized as ESIA: Eliminate, Simplify, Integrate
and Automate.
Eliminate: )
in processes. Waste or non-value-adding activities add cost to processes by consuming resources
like time, physical and material resources and money but do not add value and so we need to
work to eliminate these wastes. Besides these wastes are Mura or waste of unevenness or
inconsistency and Muri or waste of overburden. In fact, Mura and Muri often lead to muda. Any
process improvement exercise should eliminate or reduce these mudas. There are many categories
of waste.
The first seven items in this list of mudas are derived from Ohno within the Toyota production
system.
1. Transport, e.g. movement of product between operations and locations which do not
change and features of the product;
2. Inventory in terms of work-in-progress items and stocks of finished goods and raw
materials that a company holds;
3. Motion or movement of material that does not change form, fit or function of the
product;
4. Waiting, e.g. a semi-finished item waiting for the machine to finish.
Simplify: Having eliminated as many of the unnecessary tasks as possible, it is important to
simplify those that remain. The search for overly complex areas should include the following
items.
1. Forms
2. Procedures
3. Communication
4. Technology
5. Flows
6. Processes
7. Duplication of tasks
8. Reformatting or transferring information
9. Inspection, monitoring and controls
10. Reconciling
The reduction or elimination of these non-adding value steps is the first target for any structured
process improvement initiative.
Integrate: The simplified tasks should now be integrated to affect a smooth flow in delivery of
the customer requirement and service task.
1. Jobs
2. Teams
3. Customers
4. Suppliers
Automate: Information technology and relevant process technology can be very powerful tools
to speed up processes and deliver higher quality customer service. As well as core processes, the
following items should be considered for automation:
1. Dirty, difficult or dangerous jobs
2. Boring, repetitive tasks
3. Data capture
4. Data transfer
5. Data analysis

22
Automation should only be applied to processes that are completely specified in all relevant
details and are such that the existing resources available, specially the human resource, do not
permit convenient implementation of the processes. (Mukherjee, 2019)
12. ROLE OF KAIZEN
Kaizen is a Japanese word that means Doing
everyday defines Kaizen slow, gradual, but constant improvement continuous improvement in any
area that will eliminate waste and improve customer (both internal and external) satisfaction. Kaizens
continuously prove process performance.
In fact, Kaizens involving many skilled employees sometimes contribute more to process improvement
intermittently by seniors and highly rated professionals.
The three structural components of Kaizen are (1) Perceptiveness, (2) Idea Development and (3)
Decision, Implementation and Effect. The first component relates to close look at current situations in
minute details and admission of problems there. Problems may be obvious and noticed by all, or lying
hidden and noticed by very watchful eyes. Awareness about problems and dissatisfaction with the present
situation motivate the second component, viz. Idea Development. One has to look for causes, prioritize
them if needed, think about the problem from all aspects and try out solutions based on new perspectives.
The outcome is a concrete improvement proposal. The third component emphasizes on implementing and
following up the results of implementation of the proposal. (Mukherjee, 2019)
A problem is the launching pad for Kaizen. Problems could be:
Something that bothers us;
Something that causes inconvenience;
Something that has to be solved;
A discrepancy between the current situation and our objectives;
A discrepancy between our targets and actual results.
Problems could be noticed easily or discovered through vigilant eyes, or could be dug out (in case of
Preventive Kaizen) or even could be created when new standards are accepted. Kaizens are important
both in process planning and also in process implementation. Even, workplace improvement which
contributes to process improvement can be effected through Kaizens on the basis of suggestions given by
those who work and also those who frequently visit the workplace. (Mukherjee, 2019)
Five S of Kaizen
Five S of Kaizen is a systematic approach which leads to foolproof systems, standard policies, rules and
regulations to give rise to a healthy work culture at the organization.
SEIRI - SEIRI stands for Sort Out. According to Seiri, employees should sort out and organize
things well.
and so on. Throw what all is useless. Keep aside what all is not needed at the moment.
Items which are critical and most important should be kept at a safe place.

23
SEITION - SEITION means to Organize. Research says that employees waste half of their
precious time searching for items and important documents. Every item should have its own
space and must be kept at its place only.
SEISO - The word SEISO means shine the workplace. The workplace ought to be kept clean.
De-clutter your workstation. Necessary documents should be kept in proper folders and files. Use
cabinets and drawers to store your items.
SEIKETSU-SEIKETSU refers to Standardization. Every organization needs to have certain
standard rules and set policies to ensure superior quality.
SHITSUKE or Self Discipline -
to rules and regulations. Self-discipline is essential. Do not attend office in casuals. Follow work
procedures and do not forget to carry your identity cards to work. It gives you a sense of pride
and respect for the organization. (MSG, 2020)
13. KAIZEN BLITZ (EVENT)
A recent format of the Kaizen exercise which is more target-oriented, time-bound (usually taking a
week) and concentrated activity by a small group of workers using simple tools, more or less aligned to
Lean Six Sigma, Kaizen Blitz or Kaizen Event has come to be widely accepted in the process
improvement philosophy.
A Kaizen event involves a set of specific actions with clearly defined goals for improvement may not
be very ambitious along with the results obtained, verified and implemented. Starting with the objective
to change the status quo in a process to avoid wastes or remove some glitches, the exercise terminates in
an event to celebrate the new standard developed through the (usually) week-long effort. It involves a set
of planned, simple and direct actions by small team dedicated to running the event throughout its course
without interruption. It proceeds with the assurance that resources needed for the event will be available
right now. If the change from the present state to an improved one seems to take longer-than-a-week
effort, the problem will be split into two or more elements to be resolved in two or more Kaizen events. It
should be noted that a Kaizen event includes implementing the change, assuring that the change can be
managed and checking the improvement results after the change has been implemented before the
changed state is taken as the new standard. (Mukherjee, 2019)

24
14. POKA YOKE OR MISTAKE-PROOFING
Poka-yoke is a technique for avoiding simple human error in the workplace. Also known as mistake-
proofing, goof-proofing, and fail-safe work methods. Poka-yoke is simply a system designed to prevent
inadvertent errors made by workers performing a process. The idea is to take over repetitive tasks that
rely on memory or vigilance and guard against any lapses in focus. Poka-yoke can be seen as one of the
three common components of Zero Defect Quality Control performed by Japanese companies (source
inspection and feedback are the other two).
Dr. Shigeo Shingo, a renowned authority on quality control and efficiency, originally developed the
mistake-proofing idea. Realizing its value as an effective quality control technique, he formalized its use
in Japanese manufacturing as the poka-yoke system. One hundred percent inspections catch unacceptable
products but do nothing to improve the process. Shingo was emphatic that the purpose of this system be
to improve the process not sort out defective parts.
Today, this concept is in wide use in Japan. Toyota Motor Corporation, whose production system Shingo
helped design, averages twelve poka-yoke devices per machine in their manufacturing plants, thus
validating the concept as beneficial to industry. The potential benefits are:
elimination of set-up errors and improved quality
decreased set-up times with associated reduction in production time and improved production
capacity
simplified and improved housekeeping
increased safety
lower costs
lower skill requirements
increased production flexibility
improved operator attitudes. (Encyclopedia of Management,2020)
15. FAILURE MODE AND EFFECTS ANALYSIS (FMEA)
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a structured approach to discovering potential failures that
may exist within the design of a product or process. Failure modes are the ways in which a process can
fail. Effects are the ways that these failures can lead to waste, defects or harmful outcomes for the
customer. Failure Mode and Effects Analysis is designed to identify, prioritize and limit these failure
modes. FMEA is not a substitute for good engineering. Rather, it enhances good engineering by applying
the knowledge and experience of a Cross Functional Team (CFT) to review the design progress of a
product or process by assessing its risk of failure.

25
There are two broad categories of FMEA, Design FMEA (DFMEA) and Process FMEA (PFMEA).
Design FMEA (DFMEA): explores the possibility of product malfunctions, reduced product life, and
safety and regulatory concerns derived from:
Material Properties
Geometry
Tolerances
Interfaces with other components and/or systems
Engineering Noise: environments, user profile, degradation, systems interactions

26
Process FMEA (PFMEA): discovers failure that impacts product quality, reduced reliability of the
process, customer dissatisfaction, and safety or environmental hazards derived from:
Human Factors
Methods followed while processing
Materials used
Machines utilized
Measurement systems impact on acceptance
Environment Factors on process performance
Why Perform Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA): Historically, the sooner a failure is
discovered, the less it will cost. If a failure is discovered late in product development or launch, the
impact is exponentially more devastating. FMEA is one of many tools used to discover failure at its
earliest possible point in product or process design. Discovering a failure early in Product Development
(PD) using FMEA provides the benefits of:
Multiple choices for Mitigating the Risk
Higher capability of Verification and Validation of changes
Collaboration between design of the product and process
Improved Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFM/A)
Lower cost solutions
Legacy, Tribal Knowledge, and Standard Work utilization
Ultimately, this methodology is effective at identifying and correcting process failures early on so that
you can avoid the nasty consequences of poor performance.
When to Perform Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA): There are several times at which it
makes sense to perform a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis:
When you are designing a new product, process or service
When you are planning on performing an existing process in a different way
When you have a quality improvement goal for a specific process
When you need to understand and improve the failures of a process
In addition, it is advisable to perform an FMEA occasionally throughout the lifetime of a process.
Quality and reliability must be consistently examined and improved for optimal results.
How to Perform Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA): FMEA is performed in seven steps,
with key activities at each step. The steps are separated to assure that only the appropriate team members
for each step are required to be present. The FMEA approach used by Quality-One has been developed to
avoid typical pitfalls which make the analysis slow and ineffective. The Quality-One Three Path Model
allows for prioritization of activity and efficient use of team time. (Q-1, 2020)

27
There are Seven Steps to Developing an FMEA:
1. FMEA Pre-Work and Assemble the FMEA Team
2. Path 1 Development (Requirements through Severity Ranking)
3. Path 2 Development (Potential Causes and Prevention Controls through Occurrence Ranking)
4. Path 3 Development (Testing and Detection Controls through Detection Ranking)
5. Action Priority & Assignment
6. Actions Taken / Design Review
7. Re-ranking RPN & Closure (Q-1, 2020)
16. Benchmarking
where all stage tricks and hurried realignments are visible.
The Essence of Benchmarking : The essence of benchmarking is the continuous process of comparing
-in-class organizations.
The purpose is to learn how the achieved excellence, and then setting out to match and even surpass it.
The justification lies partly in the question: meone who
However, Benchmarking is not a panacea that can replace all other quality efforts
or management processes. (Ross & Perry, 1999)
Levels of Benchmarking: There are three levels of benchmarking:
1. Internal benchmarking (within the company)
2. Competitive or strategic benchmarking (Industry and competitors)
3. Benchmarking outside the industry
There are three sets of benefits:
1. Cultural Change
2. Performance Improvement
3. Human Resources
1. Cultural Change: Benchmarking allows organizations to set realistic, rigorous new
performance targets, and this process helps convince people of the credibility of these targets. It
helps people to understand that there are other organizations who know and do job better than
their own organization.
2. Performance Improvement: Benchmarking allows the organization to define specific gaps in
performance and to select the processes to improve. These gaps provide objectives and action
plans for improvement at all levels of organization and promote improved performance for
individual and group participants.
3. Human Resources: Benchmarking provides basis for training. Employees begin to see gap
between what they are doing and what best-in-class are doing. Closing the gap points out the need
of personnel to be trained to learn techniques of problem solving and process improvement.
(Ross & Perry, 1999)

28
Theoretical model to implement a benchmarking program: Organizations that benchmark, adapt the
process to best fit their own needs and culture. Although number of steps in the process may vary from
organization to organization, the following six steps contain the core techniques:
1. Decide what to benchmark.
2. Understand the current performance of your organization.
3. Do proper planning of what, how and when of benchmarking endeavor.
4. Study others well (the practices or system you wish to benchmark)
5. Gather data and learn from it.
6. Use the findings.
Some prominent beneficiaries of Benchmarking: Within a decade following its introduction,
benchmarking had distinguished itself as an important tool for performance improvement in corporate
America. In several highly publicized cases, benchmarking corporations were learning and benefiting
from what would have seemed unlikely partnerships in the pre-benchmarking era.
Xerox learned from L.L. Bean, a clothing store catalogue retailer
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) from a seemingly illogical set of partners that included
Scott Paper, Campbell Soup, Whirlpool, Boeing, Hewlett-Packard, and Apple.
(Ross & Perry, 1999)

29
17. Conclusion
Process improvement holds the key to quality improvement and eventually to improvement in
organizational performance, when applied to all business processes core as well as support. And the
key to process improvement lies these days with improved process planning, given that competence in
implementing a process plan is already in place. Process planning has to be target-oriented and, at the
same time, resource-based. It should take due advantage of relevant tools mostly quantitative and of
relevant information about processes to be improved from sources wherein such processes are carried
out.
During process execution, appropriate preventive actions including devices have to be introduced to
prevent the process failing to meet plan requirements and, that way, to meet requirements of internal
and/or external customers.
Such requirements have often to be found out from the voice of the customer and not just visible or
directly available. Improved process monitoring to detect deviations from an improved process plan as
soon after such a deviation takes place also plays an important role.
Improvement in process design contributes the most to improved process quality. And this improvement
preceded process implementation, followed by process monitoring and control, and process changes for
the better. Improving process design can take advantage of many inputs and also various techniques.
REFERENCES
Athuraliya, A. (2018). The Easy Guide to Process Improvement Techniques. Cinergix. Retrieved from
https://creately.com/blog/diagrams/process-improvement-methodologies/
BD. (2020). Quality. BusinessDictionary.com. Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/
Encyclopedia of Management. (2020). Poka-yoke. Retrieved from
https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Or-Pr/Poka-Yoke.html#ixzz6I5x8EGu3
Hoyle, D. (2007). Quality Management Essentials. Amsterdam: B-H, Elsevier.
MSG. (2020). Total Quality Management. Management Study Guide. Retrieved from
https://www.managementstudyguide.com/what-is-kaizen.htm
Mukherjee, S. P. (2019). Quality: Domains and Dimensions. Gateway East, Singapore: Springer.
Q-1. (2020). Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA). Quality-One International. Retrieved from
https://quality-one.com/fmea/
Ross, J. E., & Perry, S. (1999). Total quality management: Text, cases, and readings. CRC Press.
Tallyfy. (2020). Process Improvement. Retrieved from https://tallyfy.com/continuous-process-
improvement/
Vijayakumar, C. (2013, May 08). Total Quality Management and Continuous Improvement. Ramco
[blog]. Retrieved from https://blogs.ramco.com/total-quality-management-continuous-
improvement

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