Deming Circle: what is this business strategy?

A review of the characteristics of the Deming circle, a very useful business strategy.

In the business world there are a multitude of techniques and strategies to follow in the search for success and maximum efficiency.

One of these resources is the Deming CircleThis article explores its characteristics and what makes it a method to be taken into account in order to achieve the goals that our organization sets for itself.

What is the Deming circle?

Deming's circle, or Deming cycle, is a business strategy whose objective is to constantly improve all production and organizational processes. through a four-phase circular plan: first, plan, then do, then check, then act, and finally act, and then go back to the first, and so on. It is also known as PDCA cycle, as this is the acronym for the four phases (plan, do, check, act).

The name Deming circle comes from its creator, the American statistics professor Edwards Deming. However, in some manuals the term Deming-Shewart circle can be found, since Edward Deming's mentor, Walter A. Shewart, was the one who devised the basis of this mechanism, although it was his student who later developed it in depth, and it was first exported to Japan during the 50s of the last century.

The key to the success of Deming's circle is that is a system based on self-assessment, to find the strengths and weaknesses of the organization itself, so that we can preserve the strengths and at the same time design a plan to improve those in which we are currently weaker.In this way, we can preserve the strong points and at the same time design a plan to improve those in which we are currently weaker, so that in each cycle of application of the program we should experience an improvement over the previous experience. This is why this strategy is also known as a spiral of continuous improvement.

Phases

We have already mentioned that the Deming circle is made up of four distinct phases, which follow one another in a cyclical manner, so that in reality the process never ends, since it is always possible to improve a little more, even if it is more difficult or even more difficult to do so.The process never really ends, since it is always possible to improve a little more, even if it is increasingly difficult or the improvement is logically smaller. Let's look at each of these phases in detail.

1. Planning

This is the initial phase of this process. The first thing we have to do is to plan, and to do this we have to identify all those procedures that we believe are not quite optimal and can therefore be improved.. It is also the time to set goals that will guide the process, as this will be the final objective we want to achieve. Likewise, we must be clear about the methods we will follow to reach the goal we have set.

In order to identify the possible improvements that we can make, we can follow different ways. One of them is through different work teams. Another would be to find alternatives to the methodology currently used, in search of more efficient ones. It will also be essential to take into account both the requirements imposed by our customers and our organization's own policies, since both entities will mark the red lines within which we will have to move.

At this stage it is important to make use of a planning tool, in order to establish a methodology to follow during our production. to follow during our production, as well as to design the processes taking into account theand to design the processes taking into account the requirements we have seen. Some of the most used planning tools in the Deming circle are the simple brainstorming, the Poka-yoke method (Japanese method to avoid mistakes), the Gantt chart (which shows the time forecast that the tasks will occupy).

One could also use the QFD method, or Quality Function Deployment (QFD), another method that seeks to maximize the quality of the work to be done.another method that seeks to maximize the quality of the final product by taking into account a series of parameters. Likewise, it is also common to rely on failure mode or effects analysis, or FMEA, another methodology based on finding the possible errors we may be making in the production process. These are just a few examples, as there are a multitude of techniques that can be used.

2. Make

The next phase of the Deming circle is predictable, since it consists of carrying out everything we have planned in the previous point. consists of carrying out everything that we have planned in the previous point, so we would move from theory to practice.It is important to apply the measures that had been planned in the previous step. It is important to apply the measures that had been decided, verifying that this is being done and collecting all the data of the procedures, as they are required for the subsequent phase. Sometimes it is convenient to start with a series of small changes, or in a specific sector of the organization, to check their effectiveness.

Although this would be the most optimal methodology, as it allows us to verify whether the proposed changes are along the lines we are looking for and show a successful trend, this is not always possible and, depending on the characteristics of our company, we will sometimes have to impose changes on the complete set of procedures, so we will have to adapt to those modifications that are feasible. If the test can be carried out, it must be representative in order to be able to extrapolate the results..

3. Check

Once the changes that we had set at the beginning have been implemented, it is time to check whether they have generated the results that we had expected or whether, on the contrary, we have achieved different results, either worse or better. This is why it is necessary to collect the data we mentioned in the previous phase. In order to evaluate whether the results match the forecasts, we can make use of different tools, depending on our needs.

The simplest is the checklist (the classic check-list).. We could also use the Ishikawa diagram, or fishtail diagram, because of the shape it generates. It is a Japanese method to show graphically the analysis of a problem and its solution. A correlation diagram can also be chosen to connect some variables of our processes with others. The Pareto diagram or A-B-C distribution is also frequently used to establish the importance of different elements.

Another method would be the scorecard or dashboard, where different indicators would be shown (indicators of the process).Another method would be the scorecard, where different indicators (or KPIs, Key Performance Indicators) would be shown, so that it is visually easier to analyze the different variables and thus be able to decide between different alternatives. As in the first phase, these are some of the possible tools that we can use, but always bearing in mind that there are more and that we must choose the one that best suits our needs.

4. Act

We have already drawn up a plan, carried it out and checked its effectiveness. A final phase remains to close Deming's circle, and that is to act. This means that, once the changes have been implemented and the results have been analyzed, we must fix those changes that we have proven to be effective, taking into account those that have not been as successful as we expected We have already seen that what we are looking for is continuous improvement.

Other authors refer to this as the adjustment phase, and indeed, what we must do at this point is to adjust the strategies that we had set, in order to continue optimizing the processes and thus achieve better and better results. The important thing is to distinguish this phase from the second (doing), since in the first phase the changes were applied, and in the second phase the circle is closed, after having verified the results of these changes.

In order to make the improvements, we can help ourselves with tools such as the affinity diagramThe objective of the affinity diagram is to collect those elements that have a common denominator in order to be able to organize ourselves more efficiently. Another method is value analysis, which helps us to discern the value of a certain component. We can also count on the Kaizen method, a Japanese formula that seeks improvement through small changes. As always, these are just a few examples, as there are more alternatives.

Advantages

Thanks to the Deming circle, the industry that applies it can achieve a series of advantages that make the choice of this methodology worthwhile.

The first of these would refer to production timeswhich should generally be reduced, since a series of chain procedures have been improved, enabling the same product to be produced using less time than before.

Likewise, We would also improve quality by eliminating various errors that contaminated our production process. that contaminated our production process.

The third advantage, equally or more important than the previous one, is that manufacturing costs will have been reducedThe Deming circle seeks to increase efficiency in each cycle in which we apply it, so that once the four phases are completed, we should be able to generate our product or service in a more profitable way than at the beginning. All of these are compelling reasons to decide to apply the Deming circle in our company.

Bibliographical references:

• Gupta, P. (2006). Beyond PDCA-A New Process Management. Quality progress.
• Johnson, C.N. (2002). The benefits of PDCA. Quality Progress.
• Sobek II, D.K., Smalley, A. (2011). Understanding A3 thinking: a critical component of Toyota's PDCA management system. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group.