Continuous improvement processes

"People are not remembered for the number of times they fail, but for the number of times they succeed."

Thomas alva edison

Foreword

Much is said about continuous improvement processes, the ISO9000 standard, the six sigmas, the five “s”. I have heard many directors, managers and government officials talk about them continuously, without having at least a little theoretical knowledge of them.

The first thing I am going to say is that continuous improvement processes do not belong to an ethereal world far from that of us Mexicans, which is dominated by yellow beings from another dimension, but on the contrary, they are real life processes, that have been successfully applied in Mexico by Mexicans with excellent results.

Among the great philosophers of continuous improvement or total quality management (TQM) processes, Dr. Edward W. Deming stands out from my very personal point of view, whom I consider the Father of Improvement processes. Continue, Dr. Joseph Juran, whom I consider to have "humanized" quality management and Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, who also from my very personal point of view was the one who finally achieved the integration of the work of multidisciplinary teams in the processes of work and finally achieved with his fabulous tool known as the Cause Effect Diagram the breakdown of interdepartmental barriers.

From the 50's in the last century, the real take-off of continuous improvement processes began in Japan, which resulted in the products of that country going from being considered low-quality trinkets, to being considered the best in its class worldwide. Without wanting to do commercials, who would stop buying a SONY television in exchange for another of any brand and characteristics?

Until the 80's it was when America through the Americans discovered the processes of total quality management since they could not compete against Japanese products. To their surprise, they “discovered” that the father of all these processes had been an American they didn't even know, while in Japan he was idolized.

Of course the first thought that crossed their minds was that the new management “techniques” would be easy for them to implement. However, Dr. Deming was in charge of clarifying the picture! Since they were not going to hear words, they were not going to receive a formula to be applied immediately and obtain the desired result in 24 hours because the problem of poor quality and low productivity was very deep in the American culture. They focused on the short term, staff were not trained, they raised insurmountable interdepartmental barriers, the workforce was considered an outcast, so their words had never been considered. On the other hand, managers tended to apply one technique or the other to raise the results,However, in the end the efforts were sterile due to the lack of commitment of the top management with the final objective, which should be beyond financial results.

Within the course, the cultural change that Americans were subjected to in order to access the benefits of continuous quality improvement will be clearly seen.

But now… what about Mexico? What is our culture? Is it related to continuous improvement processes?

In general, Orientals have always valued teamwork and have found many benefits in it. Despite what you think, Americans also work well as a team, and what about Mexicans? We are actually individualists. This is a trait that occurred at some time at the beginning of miscegenation, since it is well known that indigenous Mexicans in general manage their economies and projects collectively. What happened?… well, this is surely a good topic for a sociological dissertation, however from an administrative point of view, it is one of the issues that the Mexican Manager must monitor –Getting his staff work as a team-.

Difficulties continue when we have to accept that the new nobility titles (Engineer, Doctor, Graduate), as well as personal economic position, create a true sociocultural discrimination within Mexican companies, raising barriers between bosses and employees that are insurmountable. It is essential that the management of the company avoid that the workers are treated in a discriminatory way, that the salaries of the executives are offensively high against those of the workforce. Likewise, it is very necessary for the Mexican company to assume an active role in the training of personnel, not only from a technical point of view, but also from a human point of view. It is very simple, a better person brings a better job, a well-treated and well-trained employee can be one of our best salespeople.

Not foreseeing, not planning, using the "Mexican ingenuity" -of course at the last minute- and as a last resort the "there is going" are other obstacles that the Mexican culture must overcome in order to establish continuous improvement processes. This is lack of commitment to purpose.

Of course, the poverty of most of our workers has forced them to live "day to day" obviously worrying about the short term.

The "Tata" syndrome that many of the workers and employers of Mexican companies have, where the employee reaches out with a need and the employer generously covers it with his good will, does not favor productivity at all. Having workers protected or sheltered, just because I like them or because they do me a favor, does not favor teamwork either.

The large offices closed to stone and mud like the old mines, where there is a receptionist who is tougher than a guard from the GESTAPO (Nazi military police recognized for its harshness and cruelty), do not help the communication chief employee, nor do they help to tear down the interdepartmental barriers.

The excessive use and inappropriate use of email in large corporations also prevents teamwork and many times even deteriorates it.

Finally, something more "earthly", the leadership of the Mexican as a supervisor is mostly deficient, because he has not been adequately trained in his technical tasks and because we believe that being a supervisor is being a foreman, when in reality the supervisor, the head of The department and the middle manager play “core” (of American Quarterback football), they have to be leaders within the field and maintain close communication with their employees to avoid obstacles and take advantage of opportunities efficiently, achieving their objectives in a better way.

For Mexico, a country, which some beings from the past and who continue to live today have called to be a country with a mining vocation and that in reality has a logistical vocation due to its extensive coastlines both in the Pacific and in the Atlantic, which has highly advantageous free trade agreements, right next to the world's largest consumer, having quality-oriented and ISO9000 certified companies is so critical that if you don't rush it will lose its enviable global position.

Edward deming

W. Edwards Deming was born on October 14, 1900 in the US, son of Albert Deming. He grew up in a Wyoming homestead during a time when irrigation was threatening the Old West and transportation was by horse-drawn wagon.

At the beginning of the century he moved with his family from Sioux City to Cody Wyoming. Later they moved to the city of Powel, where they settled on a 16-hectare plot of land and in a tar-cardboard hut, they fitted out his father's library and his mother's piano. The father was dedicated to cultivation while his mother gave music classes.

The first years in Powel were very difficult for the family but W. Deming with his business specialized in the sale of insurance, real estate and legal services were able to get ahead: The most difficult thing was the discomfort with which they lived since there was no electricity or drainage. Edward earned 25 cents running errands at a hotel, he made $ 10 a month for lighting the street lamps. Over time the family's situation improved.

In 1917 EW Deming made a trip to Laramie to begin his studies at the University of Wyoming, in the city he found work as a janitor, shoveling snow, work in a soda fountain, and played piccolo in the university choir. In the year 1921 he graduated but decided to stay one more year to study mathematics and physics. A year later, he taught physics in a Colorado mine, earning a master's degree in mathematics and physics. While there he courted a teacher named Agnes Bell who he married in 1923 and they adopted a son Danothy.

In 1924 a professor encouraged him to continue studying at Yale, receiving his Ph.D. in physics. In the summer, he works at the Hawthorne plant of Western Electric in Chicago, where 46,000 people made telephones in an environment of exploitation and low pay. Some of his ideas of management grew out of his experience at Hawthorne, where workers were paid according to what they produced. Deming's main interest was studying nitrogen and analyzing its effects on crops. In 1954 he rejected offers to work in private industry.

His wife Agnes died in 1930. Two years later he married Lola Shupe, a mathematician with whom he had two daughters Diana, who was born in 1934 and Linda was born in 1942. When Deming works in the agriculture department, he meets Walter A. Shewhart a statistician who worked with Bell Telefhone Laboratories in New York and who developed techniques to bring industrial processes into what he called "statistical control."

Dr. Deming was recruited by the Supreme Command of the Allied Forces to conduct a 1951 Japanese census. The country was badly damaged, when Deming came into occupation it had been two years and there was little evidence of physical recovery. Deming tried to familiarize himself with their culture. In 1956 he wrote that his study methods would become Japanese.

Dr. Deming did not know the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (UCIJ) which had been organized for the reconstruction of the country, the situation in Japan was serious as it could not produce enough food to feed the people. It was clear that goods had to be exported in order to have money to buy food. But because of the war in Japan, not only did it lose market, but industrial production was very bad because it had given Japan what Dr. Deming called "negative heritage."

The members of the UCIJ were fascinated by Shewhart's theories, and also with Dr. Deming they were fascinated by his knowledge and his warmth and thought that he might help them in their recovery efforts. In March 1950, UCIJ Executive Director Kenichi Koyanagi wrote to Dr. Deming to give researchers, production managers, and engineers a lecture series on quality control methods. Dr. Deming's answer was yes, arriving in Tokyo on June 16, 1950.

The situation in Japan had improved. On June 19 before a group of 500 people he held the first of twelve conferences. Dr. Deming was concerned about his experience in the United States where statistical quality control had flourished in such a short time.

Dr. Deming encouraged the Japanese to produce with quality, following the method of conducting research and looking to the future to produce goods that would have a market for a long time. In August of that year, the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce invited Dr. Deming to address 50 other industrialists and tell them about his methods and 45 more in Hakone. By the end of the summer, he had reached the management of most of the large companies, in addition to teaching statistical techniques to thousands of technicians.

To show their appreciation, the Japanese established the Deming Prize in 1951, a silver medal engraved with the profile of Dr. Deming, which was awarded in two categories, to an individual for his knowledge in statistical theory and in the other to companies. for achievements obtained in the statistical application.

The Japanese were very grateful to Dr. Deming as he extended his warm cordiality to all the Japanese he met and exchanged frank views with everyone. His noble personality deeply impressed all who learned from him and who came to know him. The sincerity and enthusiasm with which he devoted himself to his courses are still alive and will live forever in everyone's memory.

By 1980, thirty years after teaching his methods to the Japanese, Dr. Deming was discovered in the United States, and he was launched to fame.

In 1982 he published a book for use in his quality, productivity and competitive position courses, a thick, paperback book published by the Massachusetts Center for Advanced Engineering Studies

The beginning of the seminar

Dr. Deming begins his seminar sponsored by the Growth Opportunity Alliance of Greater Lawrence in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts. Including high- and low-tech companies, some firms were known; many people came from the departments designated as "quality assurance" and quality control. There were also engineers, plant supervisors and managers, they came because their companies wanted answers and to be sure of what they could expect from a man they did not know, but had heard of.

In this seminar, all managers were to be scolded as the managerial knowledge of which they were proud, misguided and lacked vision. On his first day, Dr. Deming gave a presentation of his philosophy that revolutionized Japan. The heart of that philosophy was his fourteen points and the seven deadly diseases.

In the afternoon of the second day Deming would conduct an experiment of marbles illustrating the importance of workers in changing the system in which they worked. Much of the third and fourth days would be devoted to giving examples of how statistical methods can be used as a basis for taking or not taking action as the case may be.

Dr. Deming believed that American management required reform. In his welcoming speech he tells them that they will learn how to change. He tells them I am not an economist. I am an expert in statistics, my job is to find out the sources of improvement, the sources of problems, that way they will understand that the change is absolutely necessary. As quality improves, costs will go down. This is one of the main lessons that the Japanese learned and that North American management does not even know about or care about. Instead they are more interested in finance, in creative accounting, but they are ignoring the essential aspects of improvement.

A continuous reduction of errors, a continuous improvement in quality, means lower and lower costs, less rework in manufacturing, less waste of materials, equipment time, tools, human effort.

They have to know how to put it on the market and you have to know how to sell it. Keep the company in business, provide more and more jobs. He also touched on the issue of unemployment and said that unemployment is not inevitable, it is created by man, by management. In Japan when a business dwindles, management avoids cutting staff.

«Constancy of purpose». At this point you must maintain the business, do whatever is necessary to achieve it. When everyone is an individual businessman and the American management style creates it, there can be no teamwork.

The chain reaction was learned by top management in Japan in July 1950. You can talk about quality; but if you don't know what to do about it, it's an empty word. Much of what they learned in the seminar had to do with what is wrong with what appear to be great ideas, but which produce the totally opposite effect of what they were intended to achieve.

In order to improve quality, it is necessary to analyze the materials that enter and that they are the materials that enter everything with which they work. It is also essential to improve the materials and never stop improving them, this means that you have to work with the suppliers. Quality had to be demanded since if it is not done, the desired results will not be obtained. Quality has meaning only in the function of the client, their needs, the purpose for which they are to be used. With this diagram Dr. Deming says that all the materials enter the different points of the production line. You need to continually improve what goes in.

Deming's Fourteen Points and Seven Deadly Sins are as follows:

The Fourteen Points

1. Create consistency in purpose Adopt a new philosophy End the practice of buying at the lowest prices Establish leadership Eliminate empty slogans Eliminate numerical quotas Establish on-the-job training Dismiss fears Breaking barriers between departments Take action to achieve transformation Constantly and always improve the production and service process Give up dependency on mass inspection Remove barriers to appreciate workmanship Vigorously re-educate

The Seven Deadly Sins

1. Lack of consistency in purpose Emphasize short-term earnings and immediate dividends Performance appraisal, merit rating, or annual review Senior management mobility Running a company based only on visible figures Excessive medical costs Excessive warranty costs

Introduction to its 14 points

Points, diseases, and obstacles are a comprehensive recipe for change. Make your own adaptation, which is appropriate for your corporate culture. Dr. Deming says that what management can achieve by applying the fourteen points "is staggering compared to what is achieved otherwise."

The fourteen points

1. Be constant in the purpose of improving products and services

Dr. Deming suggests a radical new definition of the role a company plays. Instead of making money, you must stay in business and provide employment through innovation, research, constant improvement, and maintenance.

2. Adopt the new philosophy

Americans are too tolerant of poor work and surly service.

3. No more relying on mass inspection

North American firms characteristically inspect a product when it comes off the production line or at important stages. Defective products are either thrown away or reprocessed; either one or the other is unnecessarily expensive.

4. End the practice of awarding purchase contracts based solely on price

Purchasing departments have the habit of acting on orders in search of the supplier that offers the lowest price. This often leads to poor quality supplies.

5. Continuously and forever improve the production and service system

Improvement is not achieved right off the bat. Management is obligated to continually look for ways to reduce waste and improve quality.

6. Institute on-the-job training

Too often workers have learned their jobs from another worker who was never properly trained. They are forced to follow instructions that are impossible to understand.

They cannot do their job because no one tells them how to do it.

7. Institute leadership

The job of a supervisor is not to tell people what to do or to punish them, but to guide them. Guidance is helping people do the job better and knowing through objective methods who needs individual help.

8. Banish fear

Many employees are afraid to ask questions or take a position, even when they don't understand what the job is or what is right or wrong.

9. Break down the barriers between staff areas

Frequently, the areas of staff, departments, sections are competing with each other or have goals that collide with each other.

10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations and goals for the workforce

These never helped anyone to do a good job.

11. Eliminate numerical quotas

Quotas only take into account numbers, not quality or methods. They generally constitute a guarantee of inefficiency and high costs.

12. Break down the barriers that prevent the feeling of pride that produces a job well done

People are eager to do a good job and feel distressed when they can't.

13. Establish a vigorous education and retraining program

Both management and the workforce will have to be trained in the use of the new methods.

14. Take steps to achieve transformation

A team of senior executives with an action plan will be required to carry out the mission that seeks quality. The workers are not in a position to do it on their own.

The seven deadly diseases

1. Lack of constancy of purpose

A company that lacks consistency in pursuit of its purpose does not have long-term plans to stay in business.

2. Emphasis on short-term profits

Ensuring increased quarterly dividends undermines quality and productivity.

3. Performance evaluation, ranking on merit, or annual performance review

The effects of these practices are devastating, teamwork is destroyed, rivalry is fostered.

4. Management mobility

Managers who move from one position to another never understand the companies they work for and are never there long enough to make the long-term changes that are necessary to ensure quality and productivity.

5. Run a company based solely on visible figures

The most important figures are unknown and impossible to know.

6. Excessive medical costs.

7. Excessive warranty costs

Promoted by attorneys who work on a fee basis in the event of the unexpected.

Deming management method

Point one: Create constancy in the purpose of improving the product and service.

Management has two kinds of problems, says Dr. Deming: those of today and those of tomorrow, presumably if there is a problem tomorrow for the company that hopes to continue in business. Today's problems have to do with the immediate needs of the company: how to maintain quality, how to match production with sales; budget; the job; profits; the service; public relations.

Dr. Deming says that no company that lacks a plan for the future will be able to stay in business. Employees who work for a company that is investing for the future feel more secure and are less willing to look for another job.

Thinking you have a statement of constancy of purpose encourages companies to think carefully about the future and develop a plan and methods to continue in business. Consistency of purpose means:

1) innovation; 2) investigation and instruction; 3) continuous improvement of product and service; 4) equipment maintenance and new production aids.

Innovation:

It consists of the introduction of a product, by the mere fact of having something new to sell, it must have some benefit. Every plan must answer the following questions to your satisfaction.

What materials will be required? At what cost? What will be the production method? What new people should be hired? What changes will be necessary in the team? What new skills will be required, and for how many people? How will current employees be trained in these new skills? How will supervisors be trained? What will the production cost be? What will the marketing cost be? What will be the cost and method of service? How will the company know if the customer is satisfied?

Invest resources in research and instruction:

In order to prepare for the future, a company must invest today. There can be no innovation without research, and there can be no research without properly trained employees.

Continuous improvement of the product and service:

This obligation to the consumer never ends. Great benefits can be gained from a continual process of improving the design and performance of existing products. It is possible, and really easy, for an organization to go into decline if it erroneously dedicates itself to manufacturing a product that it should not manufacture, although all elements of the company perform with dedication and use statistical methods and all other aids that can stimulate efficiency.

Invest in the maintenance of equipment, furniture and facilities, and in new aids for production both in the office and in the plant:

Obviously a company cannot improve its product with equipment that does not work well nor can they launch a new product using outdated machinery.

You need to invest in these areas.

Point two: Embrace the new philosophy.

Quality must become the new religion. There are new standards. We can no longer afford to live with mistakes, defects, poor quality, bad materials, handling damage, fearful and ignorant workers, poor or no training, continual changes from job to job by executives, and inattentive and surly service.. Companies rarely learn from their customers' dissatisfaction. Customers says Dr. Deming, they don't complain, they just switch providers. It would be better to have customers praising the product.

Point three: No more relying on mass inspection.

The inspection that was done with the intention of discovering the bad products and throwing them away is too late, ineffective and expensive, says Dr. Deming. Quality does not come from inspection but from process improvement.

As a practical matter, it will always be necessary to exercise some degree of inspection, even if it is to find out what is being done, says Dr. Deming. In some cases, a 100 percent inspection may be required for safety reasons. The inspection must be carried out in a professional manner, not by superficial methods, the aim of every company is to abolish quality by inspection. Inspection should not be left to the final product, when it is difficult to determine where in the process a defect occurred.

Point Four: End the practice of awarding purchase contracts based solely on price.

It has three serious disadvantages: The first is that it almost invariably leads to a proliferation of providers. The second is that it causes buyers to jump from supplier to supplier. And the third, that there is a dependence on the specifications, which become barriers that prevent continuous improvement.

The best way to serve a buyer for your company is to develop a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust with a single supplier, in collaboration with the engineering department and other departments, to reduce costs and improve quality. Working with a single vendor demands so much talent and resources that it is incredible that development can be done with two vendors.

Point five: Continuously and forever improve the production and service system.

Improvement is not achieved right off the bat. Management is obliged to continually improve. Says Dr. Deming, "You have to build quality during the design stage," and teamwork is essential to the process. Once the plans are in place, changes are costly and cause delays.

Everyone and every department in the company must agree to implement continuous improvement. This should not be limited to production or service systems. Purchasing, transportation, engineering, maintenance, sales, personnel, training, and accounting all have a role to play.

Management must take the initiative. Only management can initiate quality and productivity improvement. There is very little that workers employed in production can achieve on their own. Eliminating an irritating problem or solving a particular problem is not part of improving a process. By using appropriately interpreted data, smart decisions can be made.

Point six: Institute on-the-job training.

Inadequate training is very hard to erase, says Dr. Deming: This is only possible if the new method is totally different or if the person is being trained in a different class of skills for a different job.

On the other hand, Dr. Deming emphasizes that training should not end while performance has not reached statistical control and while there is a possibility of progress. All employees will have to receive some training in the meaning of the variation and this requires that they have a rudimentary knowledge of control charts.

Point Seven: Institute Leadership

Exercising leadership is the task of managers, heads and supervisors. It is the responsibility of the latter to discover the barriers that prevent workers from taking pride in what they are doing. Rather than helping workers do their jobs correctly, most supervisory personnel do the exact opposite. These days, the job is often as new to the supervisor as it is to the workers, so they are comfortable in a system that imposes amounts or fees on employees.

The boss's job is to guide, help employees do their jobs better. By hiring them, management takes responsibility for their success or failure. Most of the people who do not do their jobs well are not idlers who pretend to be sick so as not to work, but have simply been misplaced. If someone is disabled or unable to perform a job, the manager has an obligation to find a place for that person.

Point eight: Banish fear.

People who occupy managerial positions do not understand what their job consists of or what is right or wrong, they do not know how to find out. Many are afraid to ask questions or take a position. People are afraid to point out problems for fear that an argument will start or be blamed for the problem.

People fear losing their raise or promotion, or worse, their job. He is afraid of being assigned punitive jobs or other forms of discrimination. They fear that their superiors may feel threatened and will retaliate in some way if they are too bold. You fear for the future of your company and for the security of your job. He is afraid to admit he made mistakes.

To achieve better quality and productivity, says Dr. Deming, people need to feel safe. Workers should not be afraid to report damaged equipment, ask for instructions, or call attention to conditions that are detrimental to quality.

Point nine: Tear down the barriers between the staff areas.

When departments pursue different objectives and do not work as a team to solve problems, to set policies, or to chart new directions. Even if people work extremely well in their respective departments, says Dr. Deming, if their goals are in conflict, they can ruin the company. It is better to work as a team, to work for the company.

An example of good teamwork is JIT (Just In Time). With this system, supplies arrive as they are required, so money and storage space are not tied to inventory. But the just-in-time system won't work without teamwork. Fixing blemishes and calming these fears requires the cooperation of all departments.

Point ten: Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and numerical goals for the workforce.

Slogans, Dr. Deming says, create frustrations and resentments. A goal without a method to achieve it is useless. But setting goals without describing how they are to be achieved is common practice among Mexican managers. This is like the technical director of a soccer team that only asks his players to give him all their will, but does not even tell them how they have to accommodate themselves on the playing field.

It is totally impossible for anyone or any group to function outside of a stable system, anything can happen. The task of management, as we have seen, is to try to stabilize the systems. An unstable system makes a bad impression on management. Here it can be added that the Deming Method is not at odds with the administrative method, that is, there must be an organization that supports the responsibility that exists in the plan.

Point eleven: Eliminate numerical quotas.

Quotas or other work standards, such as calculated daily work, Dr. Deming argues, obstruct quality more than any other work condition. Labor standards guarantee inefficiency and high cost. They often include a tolerance for defective items and scrap, which is a guarantee that management will get them.

At times, Dr. Deming observes, management expressly sets a high standard of work, in order to weed out people who cannot meet it. When quotas are set for those who can meet them, demoralization is even greater.

Incentives encourage people to produce quantity rather than quality. They include costs of rejected, repeated, or lower quality work as elements of the equation. In some cases, workers are subject to wage deductions for the defective units they produce.

An appropriate work standard will define what is and what is not acceptable in terms of quality. Quality will increase at an increasing rate from that stage onwards. Rather than assigning quotas to a job, Dr. Deming suggests studying the job and defining the boundaries of the job.

Point twelve: Tear down the barriers that prevent pride in doing a job well.

As quality improves, productivity improves. Managers are often shocked when they find out what is wrong. Workers complain that they do not know from one day to the next what is expected of them. Standards change frequently. Supervisors are arbitrary. They are rarely given feedback on their work until they know about performance reviews or pay raises, and then it will be too late.

Today, people regard it as a commodity that is used when needed. If not needed, it is returned to the market.

A smokescreen is a means that a manager uses to appear to be doing something about a problem. Such programs show a notable tendency to fade, because management never confers any authority on employees or acts on their decisions or recommendations. Employees are even more disappointed.

Point thirteen: Institute a vigorous education and retraining program.

The fact that you have good people in your organization is not enough. She must be continually acquiring new knowledge and new skills that are needed to handle new materials and new methods.

Education and retraining are necessary for long-term planning.

As productivity improves, fewer people will be required in some cases. Some posts may be added, but others may disappear. Make it clear that no one will lose their job due to increased productivity.

Education and training should prepare people for new positions and responsibilities. There will be a need for more preparation in statistics, in maintenance and in the way of dealing with suppliers. Preparation in simple but powerful statistical techniques will be necessary at all levels.

Point fourteen: Take steps to achieve transformation.

All company employees, including managers, must have an accurate idea of ​​how to continually improve quality. The initiative must come from management. The Deming cycle today constitutes the essential element of the planning process.

• Step 1: The first step is to study a process, decide what change could improve it Step 2: Test, or make the change, preferably on a small scale Step 3: Observe the effects Step 4: What did we learn?

To achieve transformation, it is vital that everyone begins to think that everyone's work should provide satisfaction to a customer.

1. Members of senior management must strive to achieve each of the thirteen points above and eliminate deadly diseases and roadblocks. Members of upper management must feel sorry and dissatisfied with past performance and must have the courage to change. They must abandon the beaten path and set out to do new things, even to the point of being marginalized by their colleagues. There must be a burning desire to transform your management style. Through seminars and other means, senior management must explain to a critical mass of the company, why change is necessary and that everyone participates in the change. An adequate number of people in the company must understand the fourteen points, fatal diseases and obstacles. Otherwise, senior management would be lost.Every activity is a process and can be improved. To work in the Shewhart cycle, everyone must be on a team to address one or more specific issues.

The seven deadly diseases and some obstacles.

The seven deadly diseases.

1. Lack of constancy of purpose

Lack of consistency spells ruin for a company. A company that is not consistent in its purposes does not think beyond the upcoming quarterly dividends and has no long-term plans to continue in business.

2. Emphasis on short-term profits

The emphasis on short-term profits is fueled by the fear of a hostile takeover or, as Dr. Deming puts it, by the equally devastating system of leverage to eliminate a partner. And for survival rather than long-term growth.

3. Performance evaluation, ranking according to merit or annual analysis

Performance appraisals stimulate short-term performance, at the expense of long-term planning. They discourage the decision to take risks, foster fear, undermine teamwork, and make people clash for the same rewards. In a team it is difficult to say who did what.

Such evaluations leave people bitter, discouraged, hopeless and, in some cases, even depressed, unable to perform well for weeks after receiving the result of the evaluation, unable to understand why they are inferior, since they attribute to them to people who are part of a group, differences that can be caused exclusively by the system in which they work.

Ranking by merit tends to increase variability in performance, as people with lower rankings try to imitate those with higher rankings.

4. Mobility of senior management

Business schools are devoted to the idea that a good manager can be trained in universally applicable techniques. Mobility from one company to another creates divas that serve to achieve quick results. People need time to learn to work in groups.

5. Run a company based only on visible figures

Visible figures are, of course, important but they are not the only ones

6. Excessive medical costs

In some companies, these are the biggest expense.

7. Excessive warranty costs

Fostered by attorneys who work on a random fee basis.

Some obstacles:

a) Neglect of planning and long-term transformation.

b) The assumption that the solution of problems, automation, mechanical or electrical novelties and new machinery will transform the industry.

c) Obsolete instruction in schools.

d) To depend on the quality control departments.

e) Blaming the workers for the problems.

f) Quality by inspection.

g) False starts.

h) The unguarded computer.

i) Meet the specifications.

j) Inadequate testing of prototypes.

Doing it with data:

For the Deming method to base decisions as much as possible on accurate and timely data, not on wishes or hunches or on experience. Statistical methods are essential for the transformation of North American companies.

Statistical methods help to understand processes, control them, and then improve them. Otherwise people will be forever "putting out fires" instead of improving the system. What statistical methods do is point out the presence of special causes.

Seven useful graphics:

Cause and effect diagram:

Also known as a fishbone for its shape, or Ishikawa diagram, in honor of Kaoru Ishikawa, they are used in a storm of ideas in order to examine the factors that may influence a certain situation. It is a desirable or undesirable situation, condition, or event produced by a system of cause.

Minor causes are often grouped around four basic categories: materials, methods, labor, and machinery.

1. The process of creation itself is educational. Starts a discussion and they learn from each other Helps the group focus on the issue under discussion, reducing complaints and irrelevant arguments Results in an active search for the cause With How often data should be collected It shows the level of understanding. The more complex the diagram, the more specialized the workers will be with respect to the process and can be used for any problem.

Flowchart:

The flow chart is an extremely useful method of outlining what is happening. One way to start is to determine how the process should work, then graphically plot how it is actually happening. By proceeding in this way, flaws such as redundancy, inefficiency, or misinterpretation can be discovered immediately.

Pareto chart:

Pareto diagrams are among the most commonly used graphic techniques. People often talk about "pareto" or say "Let's stop it." This diagram is used to determine priorities. Pareto is sometimes described as a way of separating the "vital few" from the "trivial many."

Line charts (trend):

A trend graph is perhaps the simplest of statistical techniques. The data is presented in graphical form over a period of time, in order to look for trends. In analysis of monthly sales through a year it constitutes a typical application. You can use a trend chart to find out how many minutes it takes to get to work.

Histogram (frequency distribution diagrams):

A histogram is used to measure how often something happens. A well-defined curve can be seen in a histogram.

Dispersion diagram:

A scatter plot is a method of graphically representing the relationship between two variables. In a scatterplot the two variables show a clear relationship.

Control charts:

The need to use control charts to analyze processes is frequently referred to. Preventing People From Chasing Causes Control charts are easy to use, and certainly not beyond the ability of most workers. But sometimes even experts find them extremely difficult to interpret.

A control chart is simply a process chart with statistically determined upper and lower limits, plotted on either side of the process average. The upper control limit and lower control limit are determined by allowing a stable process to run without outside interference and then analyzing the results using a mathematical formula.

Control charts come in two broad categories, and their use depends on the nature of the data. One is for data that can be measured: length, temperature, volume, pressure, voltage. The other is for data that is not measurable, and that in many cases can be counted: defective components, typographical errors, mislabeled items. Control charts graphically show that there is variability in every process.

Deming & TQM

Deming made himself available to corporate America in terms of consultation and individuals through his writing and seminar tours for the next thirteen years of his life. Although she died in 1993, her work still lives on. Mission slogans, such as Ford's "Quality Is First Job", are recognized in the industry; business courses are taught using its principles as integral parts of the curriculum; and the abbreviation TQM (Total Quality Management) is widely known and commonly used throughout corporate America.

Is the world a better place because of Deming? Corporations and industries whose products improve people's lives have found the following to be true: If Deming's principles are in place and work with your business, “quality goes up, costs go down, and savings can pass you by. to the consumer". Customers get quality products, companies earn higher revenues, and the economy grows. On a material, economic plane, the world is certainly a better place thanks to the ideas and teachings of Ed Deming.

KAORU ISHIKAWA THEORY

The quality guru Kaoru Ishikawa, born in the city of Tokyo, Japan in 1915, is a graduate of the University of Tokyo. Ishikawa is today known as one of the most famous gurus of world quality, and in this work I will deepen all his achievements and the tools that gave him so much recognition.

Ishikawa's theory was to manufacture cheaply. Within his philosophy of quality he says that quality must be a management revolution. Quality control is developing, designing, manufacturing, and maintaining a quality product.

Some effects within companies that are achieved by implementing quality control are:

• Lowering prices, lower costs, establishing and improving technique.

Kaoru Ishikawa also reveals to the world her seven basic tools which are:

1. Pareto chart, cause-effect diagram, stratification, check sheet, histogram, scatter plot, Schewhart control chart.

Some of his best-known books are: »What is CTC?», «Quality control guide», «Quality Control Tools».

Kaoru Ishikawa says that to practice quality control (CTC) is to develop, design, manufacture and maintain a quality product that is the most economical, the most useful and always satisfactory for the consumer.

• The CTC is the responsibility of all employees and divisions, it is a group activity and cannot be done by individuals. It requires teamwork. In the CTC, middle managers will be a frequent subject of discussion and criticism. Better be prepared. The activities of the quality circles are part of the CTC.

Conceptual revolution of the CTC

• Quality first, not short-term profits Orientation towards the consumer, not towards the product The next process is your customer: we must break down the barriers of sectionalism Use data and numbers in the presentations: use of statistical methods, Respect to humanity as an administrative philosophy (participation). Interfunctional administration.

The six steps of control

• Determine goals and objectives Determine methods for achieving goals Provide education and training Perform the work Verify the effects of completion Take appropriate action

Ishikawa was a professor at the University of Tokyo and founder of the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (UJSE), which was in charge of promoting quality within Japan during the post-war era. He even promoted quality revolutionary ideas for much of his life. Ishikawa started quality circles at "Nippon Telegraph and Cable" in 1962. He defined customers as internal and external to organizations.

The ASQ established the Ishikawa Medal in 1993 to reorganize the leadership of the human side of quality. The medal is awarded annually in honor of Ishikawa to a person or group who improve the human aspects of quality in a company.

Throughout his career, Ishikawa worked on many things, but always under his philosophy.

Ishikawa key elements

• Quality begins with education and ends with education The first step to quality is to know what the customer requires The ideal state of quality is when inspection is not necessary You have to remove the root of the problem, not the symptoms Quality control is Responsibility of all workers Do not confuse means with objectives Put quality first and then put your long-term profits Trade is the entry and exit of quality Company managers should not be envious when a worker gives a valuable opinion Most of the problems can be solved with simple tools for analysis Information without scattering information is false information

Basic quality troubleshooting

Problem solving methods play a very important role in improving statistical quality. Since the 1960s, workers, laborers, and engineers in Japanese industry have used simple graphs, which are known as the "seven basic tools of quality control" or "The magnificent tools of quality control." These tools are used to analyze the information and present the results of most of your problems.

His story

The cause and effect diagram is also known as the Ishikawa diagram (Ishikawa Diagram), since the creator was Kaoru Ishikawa (1915-1989), it is also known as the fish diagram (Fishbone Diagram) since it looks a lot like the skeleton of a fish, and lastly it is also known as the tree diagram.

Kaoru Ishikawa's diagram is the result (as I mentioned before) of brainstorming where all members of a group offer innovative ideas on how to improve a product, process or service.

The main goal is represented by the trunk of the diagram and the main factors are represented by the branches that emerge from the trunk. Secondary factors are added as stems (on branches).

Creating such a diagram stimulates discussion and generally guides you toward understanding a complex problem. Members of the Japanese quality circle use Kaoru Ishikawa's diagrams to place them in a special area where they are accessible to managers and other groups within a company so that they have a better understanding of what is going on within their company. In the United States, Kaoru Ishikawa diagrams are included in presentations by plant personnel to senior managers or clients.

Cause and effect diagrams are typically produced by brainstorming techniques.

Phillip B.. Crosby theory

North American, creator of the “zero defects” (DC) concept, is one of the greats in the field of quality management and one of the most famous business consultants. He was quality director at the International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT), where he developed and applied the bases of his method.

According to Crosby there are three basic components to establishing and operating quality improvement and problem solving programs:

to. Four fundamentals (mutually complementary)

• Full involvement of management Professional quality management Original programs Recognition

b. Five principles of quality management

• Quality means meeting the performance requirements of the product; It is not elegance, it is not luxury, mere beauty or a high price There are no quality problems, problems arise from poor or lack of quality There are no savings from sacrificing quality The only measure of performance is quality cost The only standard of performance is Zero Defects.

Crosby is not very theoretical and raises a series of points that we will cite later, similar in some cases to the 14 points or steps recommended by Dr. Deming. He developed a concept called the “Absolutes of Total Quality. Although his main contribution to the world of Total Quality is "the Process Diagram"

Crosby Absolute Quality Principles

1. Quality is defined as compliance with requirements The quality system is prevention, getting things right the first time The standard of performance is zero defects The measure of quality is the price of non-compliance

With regard to management, he "established" a model that he calls "preventive management" and defined measuring as a standard system All work is a process

It is necessary to note that, once again, importance is given to the definition of the company's “mission”, something that in Mexico is not done frequently and much less, that mission that expresses the reason for being of an organization is reviewed and answers the question: "What are we here for?"

On the other hand, it establishes which are the permanently successful companies and gives as characteristics the following:

• “People routinely do their jobs well.” “Growth is steady and profitable.” “They anticipate customer needs.” “Change is planned and leveraged.” “Staff are proud to work here.”

The Fourteen Steps of Philip B. Crosby:

Step 1. Commitment to management

A corporate change agent (quality manager, external consultant, or some senior executive) must convince the operational head of the company (such as the CEO) that:

1. Quality is free. Non-quality (defects and errors) consumes (costs) annually between 10 and 20% of sales revenue. This cost can be reduced to 10% on sales in the first 12 months of the program and up to 3% in the long term. The CEO is as responsible for the quality of the company, as for profitability, marketing strategies, productivity or corporate image.

Step 2. Quality Improvement Team

Once the general director is aware of the above, he summons his area directors to:

1. Define quality in the company Rectify your attitude to quality defects and errors Provide some subordinates (third level: managers) to integrate the interdisciplinary quality improvement team Participate in the implementation of the rest of the program.

Step 3. Measurement

In this step, specific quality measures must be defined; first at the corporate level, then by areas and, finally, departmental meters. Each meter will receive wide publicity and will be the control that establishes the progress of quality, under the program.

Step 4. The cost of quality

This step is often the big surprise of the process when estimating the cost of quality. Managers usually underestimate it by only 2% of sales.

The cost of non-quality is usually close to 20% of sales, when the common expenses of inspection and reprocessing of finished products are integrated with the less visible costs of errors and defects: assortment and re-shipment errors, credits and collections, paperwork and computer errors, accidents and insurance, turnover, theft, waste and waste, training, purchasing and manufacturing errors, returns and customer and supplier claims; guarantees and official demands, false freight, bad programming, failures due to poor maintenance, and so on.

Step 5. Create an awareness of quality

Once departmental managers are convinced of the cost of non-quality and their responsibility to improve quality, they can take the first steps towards the public to rectify the false image that prevails among lower management and the workforce. The most important thing now is to change the previous Third World attitude from "there it goes" to the proposal: "For me only total quality."

Step 6. Corrective action

At this point, the quality circles or their equivalent are started: each supervisor, together with their staff, seeks to remedy the errors or defects generated in their department.

Step 7. Plan the Zero Defect Day

In step 9 the "zero defects day" will be celebrated, to enhance it. A subcommittee of the improvement team prepares a celebration plan that brings together effectiveness, cost, and festivity of the event.

Step 8. Staff education

This training has three basic objectives:

1. Engage lower managers in the zero-defect philosophy, conveying the seriousness of senior management's commitment Explain the dynamics of zero-defect day so that they collaborate by enthusing their subordinates Prepare them to motivate and direct their staff upon arrival step 11

Step 9. The day of zero defects

The objective of this step is to transmit to the labor bases the managerial decision not to complacently tolerate more defects, that is, to sentence the official death of mediocrity.

The day is intended to be solemn, joyous and motivating, but above all, the staff must be convinced that this is not a short-term fad. It will be emphasized that the general management values ​​quality as much as profitability or productivity, and that the effort that now begins will be permanent.

Step 10. Set Goals

Each supervisor meets with his staff and sets concrete goals to achieve to prevent defects, during the next 30 to 90 days.

It is important that the goals are measurable, realistic and ambitious.

Step 11. Eliminate the causes of the error

Staff are asked to immediately report any causes of defects that they perceive and cannot correct themselves. Each observation is sent to the improvement team, who must acknowledge receipt within 24 hours; The team will channel the reports to the corresponding department and will ensure that the anomalies reported are corrected. Finally, this team will inform the complainant that their complaint was duly resolved.

Step 12. Recognition

An incentive program is established for significant achievements; the awards will seek more recognition than monetary aspects.

Eventually there should be feedback for all staff, showing the collective benefits that the new attitude to quality has produced; more employment and more security in it, more creative and more satisfying work, better paid positions, and so on.

Step 13. Quality advice

With the expert staff, “quality advisory councils” are formed, which will act as catalysts for the improvement team.

In other words, these operations maintain the original agility and enthusiasm, fighting against the tendency to bureaucratize and mediocrize all innovation.

Step 14. Repeat the whole process

This repetition of the process guarantees its seriousness and its institutionality; that is, the effort was not a whim but a serious and sustained commitment to generate quality

Epilogue

Now what's next? It seems that a continuous improvement process is very difficult for a small company, but it is not.

It's time to get down to business and use what the great philosophers of quality have taught us:

As CEO you have to write what the vision of the company is. It should be a short message in which you indicate what your target market is and what your position will be within that target market. If you have Partners, include them in a meeting to discuss the company's vision.

Once again as CEO you must establish what is the mission of your company in this world. Remember that you must meet the expectations of your shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers and government.

Guess… Once again, as CEO, you must choose a select multidisciplinary group of your employees to form a quality committee that will be in charge of defining the “Quality Plan”.

In its first committee meeting, actions must be defined to meet the expectations of internal and external customers. At this point, statistical information on customer satisfaction should be available. For example, you must collect the compliance or non-compliance of the critical success factors for your clients, such as specifications, delivery times, complete documentation, costs, prices, waste in quantity, false freight, number of complaints, etc. In such a way that the quality committee can assign people responsible for defining preventive and corrective action plans, which include times, costs and available work teams.

The specific work teams should meet, using all the statistical tools at hand, establishing action plans to correct quality failures. One of the members of the Quality Committee must be in charge of keeping a record of all non-conformities with the process (Complaints from internal and external clients as well as discrepancies found in audits).

All departments must form teams to begin to write their procedures, based on the critical success factors of the client or the specifications to be met by the company or department. It should be very clear that the procedures should be written in a master format, that they should include flowcharts and should mention the jobs of those responsible for the execution of the different activities and not their names.

One of the members of the Quality committee should be appointed as the Process Administrator (which will surely absorb a lot of your time, but believe me it is worth it), having the responsibility to record all the procedures in a master list, as well as to collect a copy of the same to create the quality manual of the company.

All approved procedures must be given a registration number depending on the department from which they come. In addition to the copies of the procedures that remain in the manual and in the field, they must be stamped with a legend that says “controlled procedure”, this will indicate that there are copies of it in the general manual of the company and that the appropriate people count with an updated copy of the current procedure.

The committee must meet weekly and monitor that the delivery plan for corrective actions, quality training and prevention, that is to say, write the procedures and provide the employees with the necessary tools for their work is underway.

Once you have done all of this and have your complete manual, set about looking for your ISO9000 certification.

Do not dissolve the committee, require employees and committee members to find ways to improve processes, rewrite procedures at least once a year, there will always be a better way to do things.

Bibliography.

• HOW TO ADMINISTER WITH THE DEMING METHOD Author: WALTON, MARY Editorial: NORMAhttp: //www.unamosapuntes.com Notes from the Faculty of Accounting and Administration of UNAM.