Continuous Quality Improvement

So what exactly is continuous quality improvement? What does it do? And who does it
affect? Continuous quality improvement, or CQI, is a management philosophy that
organizations use to reduce waste, increase efficiency, and increase internal (meaning,
employees) and external (meaning, customer) satisfaction. It is an ongoing process that
evaluates how an organization works and ways to improve its processes.

The underlying philosophy of continuous quality improvement is that when problems

arise it is generally a result of poor work design, unclear instructions, or the failure of
leadership, not the people performing the processes. But for those organizations that
utilize continuous quality improvement - as most do in some form or another nowadays -
how they improve their products and processes permeates the culture of an
organization; it's not just for the management team to worry about.

The philosophy behind CQI stresses the need for teamwork among all levels of
employees and maintains that all employees are valuable members of the team.
Assuming that employees are doing the day-to-day work that keeps the organization
running, they are better equipped to suggest changes than perhaps the leaders are,
who often are dealing with more bureaucratic matters. As such, employees are
encouraged to analyze their work processes and make suggestions as to how to
improve them for the good of the company.

Although a primary reason for cultivating a CQI work environment is to increase

efficiency and, in many cases, profits, continuous quality improvement also encourages
accountability by creating an environment in which all employees become personally
invested in their organization. As all employees are invested in the process, everyone in
the organization - as well as customers - are affected, hopefully, for the better!
LEAN
Lean management is when a company strives for constant improvement while
considering their customers' values. In this lesson, we will discuss the importance of
lean management and the core principles that help companies thrive when using this
style of management.
Why Lean Management?
Have you ever fallen in love with a company's product, but discovered that it was
impossible to find when you wanted it? Lean management focuses on the customers
while eliminating any waste within the business process. In other words, lean
management is about keeping the customers happy.
Lean managers push to improve products and production times by eliminating waste.
The main goal of lean management is how to make the best of any and all changes
while focusing on the needs of customers. In this lesson, we're going to concentrate on
the core values, or principles, of lean management.

Lean Management Principles

As we discuss the principles of lean management, keep in mind that the main goal of
these principles is the value of the customers. When a company centers their business
plan on the values of the customers, they can ensure their focus has little to no wasted
time or resources.

Know your customers

Know and understand the values of customers. By knowing your customers' wants and
needs, you will keep them happy and gain new customers, as well. Customer
satisfaction is the key to success in any business.
Identify each step
Identify each step in the business process, consider each one, and remove steps that
do not meet the values of customers. This step is where we begin to slowly get rid of
waste. This means improving production time by eliminating unnecessary steps.
Re-evaluate
Re-evaluate the business process with corrected steps. Once the process has been
corrected, make sure you find customer value in each step of the process. This will
ensure the business isn't wasting any time or resources on unnecessary steps.
Monitor and evaluate
Meeting each principle will help ensure that customer values are met. This will also
keep wasted time at a minimum and eventually eliminate it.

SIX SIGMA

Serena has a big problem. She owns a company that produces motors for airplanes, but
every once in a while, their motors stall mid-flight. It only happens in one out of every
thousand planes, but that's still too often. After all, every time it happens, people's lives
are at risk.

Serena needs to find a solution to this problem as soon as possible. One of her friends
has recommended that she try Six Sigma, which is a problem-solving program for
businesses. It focuses on identifying problems and using a systematic, scientific
approach to solving them.

To help Serena solve the problem of the stalling airplane motors, let's look at the heart
of Six Sigma: the DMAIC process.

DMAIC

Serena has to figure out the cause of her stalling airplane motors, and she's heard that
Six Sigma might be the solution. But she still doesn't know exactly what the process is
for Six Sigma. The Six Sigma process is often abbreviated DMAIC, which stands for
define, measure, analyze, improve, and control.

Define

The first step in the process is to define the problem and goals of the intervention. In
this case, Serena's problem is that some of her airplane motors stall and she wants to
reduce the times this happens. If she can avoid it all together, that would be perfect.
Measure

Next, Serena needs to measure the problem. This involves figuring out how often the
problem occurs. In Serena's case, this is one in every thousand planes. Serena will also
want to gather information on when the problem occurs, for example, what the stalling
motors have in common.

Analyze

After that, Serena will want to analyze the results to find the cause of the problem. She'll
want to look at the measurements she took in the previous step and look for patterns
through statistical analysis. For example, she might discover that the stalling motors are
all made of the same materials, or that they are made with the same construction, or
that they are all installed in low temperatures. She will need to look at all the data she
has and analyze it to find the most likely cause of the stalling motors.

Improve

The fourth step in the DMAIC process is for Serena to improve the process by
implementing a change based on research. Whatever Serena identifies as the cause of
the problem in the analyze step, she'll want to change in the improve step. For example,
if she decides based on her analysis that the materials are a key problem for the
airplane motors, she might want to change the material she uses.

Control

Finally, Serena will want to control the outcome by continuing the program. Serena
needs to do two things in this step. First, she'll want to keep changes in place. That is,
once she changes the materials and finds that the number of stalling motors goes down,
she won't want to go back to her old materials. That would cause the stalling problem
again!