PDCA - "Plan-Do-Check-Act."
"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere." - Albert Einstein
Plan-Do-Check-Act, or PDCA, is an iterative, four-step management approach used in business for process and product control and continuous improvement. In honor of W. Edwards Deming, who is widely regarded as the founder of contemporary quality control, it is often referred to as the Deming Cycle or Deming Wheel. But Walter A. Shewhart was the one who invented it initially. The cycle is a methodical set of actions for acquiring important information and skills for an ongoing process or product improvement. Additionally, PDCA is frequently used in a variety of industries to solve issues, increase efficiency, and improve the quality of processes and products. Below is an explanation of every phase in the PDCA cycle:
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Plan: Identify a problem or opportunity for improvement and plan a change. During this phase, you define the problem, gather relevant data, and brainstorm potential solutions. This stage often involves setting objectives, detailing the necessary resources, and determining the timeline for the change.
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Do: Implement the change on a small scale. This step is about testing the potential change to observe the results. It is an experimental phase, often done on a small scale to minimize potential negative impacts.
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Check: Review the test, analyze its results, and identify learnings. In this phase, you will compare the results against the expected outcomes to ascertain any differences. It is a stage to understand if the changes are yielding the desired improvements or not.
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Act: Based on what you learned from the "Check" phase, decide on the next steps: whether to implement the change on a broader scale or go back to the "Plan" phase and refine the change. If the solution was successful, you might decide to scale it or opt for refinement and run through the PDCA cycle again.
The PDCA cycle is a widely used method in various sectors such as quality management, business process management, and lean manufacturing, as it fosters a culture of continual improvement and flexibility.