Out of the Crisis.Org

[Louis Altazan]

In part three we discussed the Study phase of PDSA [Plan, Do, Study, Act.] The study phase is extremely important and must be done totally objectively. If not the entire process will fail. We cannot decide ahead of time what we think will happen and then ignore results that contradict our theory. This may seem like common sense, but is very often done in practice.

The final phase is to Act. This means take action based on the results. In the case of a positive outcome, this may involve expanding the concept. For instance the example from our previous segments, the storage closet. Since the area was less cluttered, we chose to expand the concept. This can also be another PDSA. For example we add one more closet, see if that area is more orderly and judge if performance increases.

With a high enough confidence level we may also move to add closets to all bays. The Act depends on several factors. The confidence level, how critical the problem is, resources available and several other things. In our example the confidence level was very high and the resources were available. We moved from the original concept.

The original closet concept

To the expanded concept without hesitation.

The expanded concept

We further expanded the concept to include work benches, wash stations and personal storage.

Work bench

The shop now stays much cleaner, almost no clutter and our production figures increased as well. Had the results of the first closet not upheld our theory, different action would have been required. We would go back to the plan phase, taking what we had learned and modify our theory.

Many times learning why our plan was not successful is as important as a successful result. The point is by formulating a theory of what we think will happen and testing it, knowledge is gained. By simply acting, without a theory we depend on chance.

PDSA, when used with statistical process control (SPC) greatly increases our chances of improvement. At the same time our risk are minimized. This process can be successfully used for almost anything. Examples could be as diverse as the effect of changing business hours or the addition of a new scan tool.

Thanks for following this series, I hope it has been of help.

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Louis Altazan
Owner/Manager AGCO Automotive Corporation
Baton Rouge, LA