WITs Part 01-Roles & PDCA Cycle

TrainAid Global Consultants 2009

After World War II, Japanese companies could not compete in the world market, because even though their products were cheap, they were considered of poor quality. Today, however, Japanese products are known for their quality and reliability.How did this happen?The Japanese companies undertook major steps, such as having their management personally take charge of the quality function; having quality‐related training throughout the company hierarchy; and adopting the QC Circle concept as a means of enabling the workforce to participate in the quality activities of the company.The Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers, organized in 1946, played a major role in the training of management and engineers on quality.It organized in 1949, its Quality Control Research Group (QCRG), which was tasked with studying the international quality control field for information on how to rationalize the war‐torn Japanese industries, how to improve quality of exports, and how to raise the living standards of the Japanese.


The General Headquarters of the United States Armed Forces in that year, invited management of Japanese companies and some members of the QCRG to a lecture by Dr. W. E. Deming on the importance of Statistical Quality Control techniques to the telecommunications industries, like those engaged in telephone equipment, maintenance and related services.The objective of the lecture was to help these industries organize themselves and improve the war‐torn telephone network.


In 1950 Dr. Deming came to Japan upon the recommendation of QCRG to give a detailed lecture on Statistical Quality Control to management of different industries.And in 1954, Dr. J.M Juran, another guru on Quality Control, came to Japan to talk about Quality Control and Management.After intensive study, management and the engineers woke up to the need to follow the recommendations of Mr. Deming and Dr. Juran.They were convinced that for future development they needed to move away from the old concept of quality certification by inspection to a new one of qualitycontrol activities that promoted full employee participation with the objective of ensuring customer satisfaction.However, there was no specialist or lecturer on this subject yet in Japan, so management and the engineers requested JUSE (Union of Japan Scientists and Engineers) to spearhead a national radio‐based campaign on Quality Control for concerned parties, especially foremen of factories.


The engineers started introducing the concept in the workshop and tackled the quality problems with frontline operators, teaching them simple statistical methods that resulted in fewer defective products.The frontline operators were amazed with the results and from then on voluntarily tackled the problems in the workshop with their colleagues.This voluntary activity was the start of QC Circles.


Management recognized that its people are intelligent and must be given opportunities to use their brains as well as their hands.They undertook a massive program of training them and the entire hierarchy on how to manage for quality.Thus, they adopted the QC Circle concept as a means of enabling the workforce to participate in the quality revolution.The first Quality Circle was organized in 1962, and from then on, the QC Circle movement grew, slowly at first, then with increasing speed.


QC Circle activities are carried out as part of Total Quality Management (TQM), with the objective to develop the members’ capabilities to the fullest and make the workshop a pleasant place to work in order that members contribute to the company goal of ensuring customer satisfaction.

The QC Circle provides an opportunity for members to develop their creative thinking as they look for better ways to do their work, which is imperative as customers become more demanding and their needs become more varied and complex.


As the members study and learn together, their full potential is realized.

They understand their work better, they see their importance in the company, they enhance their analytical skills, and they learn new things, not just about their jobs but also about their company: its vision, mission, and goals; its convention; its partners; its suppliers; and the requirements of its customers.

And as the QC Circle matures through the years, the members become involved in the improvement efforts of the company; and for them to participate actively, the various members’ training needs, which become diverse over time, must be addressed.

Therefore, companies that have implemented QC Circles have established a training program for their Circle members.


There are various potential benefits brought by Circle activities: overall the productivity will be enhanced, management’s ability to improve will be developed, and teamwork will be improved through encouragement by both management and colleagues, resulting in higher morale on the frontline operation.

The QC Circle activities are essential for the operators but also for the management, as such activities are designed to improve the relationship between the two.

A typical WITS has between 6 to 10 members, but there are no set limits. Normally it should not have more than 10 members simply because the larger a team, the more challenging it is to ensure that everyone is actively involved and it becomes difficult to coordinate activities.

It is most important that every member be given sufficient opportunity to participate and contribute.

We can form teams within existing work units, or have inter‐departmental teams for better networking to address common cross‐departmental issues.

A typical team is generally made up of Members, managed by a Leader, and represented by a Facilitator who can link the WITS to external resources and champion the WITS to others in the organization.


WITS thrives on Teamwork.

Active participation from all members is crucial.

Every member of WITS should help one another, so that every member can learn from one another and projects can be completed efficiently and effectively.

Note: A new manager within a department should start off as a member, not necessarily a leader until he/she gathers sufficient training or knowledge of WIT tools.


Members contribute ideas, help shape solutions and analyze the data collected.

The WITS leader leads the team, inspires the members and ensures that the team is on track to achieve its goals.

The leader is usually someone who has good knowledge of WITS tools so that he can use the tools to drive consensus, communicate ideas, and improve the rigor of the team's thinking.

A WITS leader is usually a manager or head of a unit/department.


The facilitator is the link between the team and the rest of the organization and plays a multi‐faceted role.

His/her main role is to be the advisor i.e. the person the team turns to when they encounter problems.

Facilitators refer the team to the right sources of information and if need be, arranges for assistance from external experts or obtains resources from outside the team.

The facilitator also plays a role in shaping the culture of the team and improving the quality of learning amongst team members.


The PDCA cycle is a systematic process often used by WITS teams to solve problems.

PDCA stands forPLAN ‐ DO ‐ CHECK ‐ ACTION.


1. It is also known as the Deming Cycle or Control Cycle.2. It is a 4stage problemsolving process to achieve goals and objectives set.3. It is a systematic way for solving problem even for the most simple task.4. It allows a stepbystep approach to problemsolving.

Let's look at the detailed steps in each stage, and describe the improvement tools that can be employed at each stage of the cycle.

The table below shows the various steps as well as the basic and advanced tools that can be used during each step.

Teams need not use all the tools at once, but should assess the situation at hand before selecting the most appropriate tool.


1. Select a problem to tackle.2. Collect data to establish present situations.3. Find ways to solve the problem.4. Choose the best way of doing it.5. Implement the new procedure or method.

The PDCA Cycle helps Quality/Work Improvement Teams (QIT/WIT) members to:

Let's look at the detailed steps in each stage, and describe the improvement tools that can be employed at each stage of the cycle.

The table below shows the various steps as well as the basic and advanced tools that can be used during each step.

Teams need not use all the tools at once, but should assess the situation at hand before selecting the most appropriate tool.



Step Stages Recommended Tools

1 Identify projects/areas for improvement Brainstorming (basic)Affinity diagrams (advanced)

2 Select a project Brainstorming (basic)Affinity diagrams (advanced)

3 Plan the project milestones Milestone or Gantt chart (basic)

4 Collect facts & data on the present statusFlow chart (basic)Check sheet (basic)Pareto diagram (basic)

5 Analyze facts & data

Graph (basic)GraphsHistogram (basic)

Arrow diagrams (advanced)

6 Set target for improvement Approach SMART


Step Stages Recommended Tools

7 Determine possible causes Cause & Effect diagram (basic)Relations diagram (advanced)

8 Determine vital causes

Check sheets (basic)Pareto diagram (basic)Graphs & Charts (basic)Scatter diagram (advanced)

9 Develop alternative solutions for each vital cause

Brainstorming (basic)Tree diagram (advanced)

10 Select the best solution(s) Evaluation analysis (basic)

11 Improved selected solution(s) Force field analysis (basic)

12 Plan the solution(s) implementation Responsibility / Gantt chart(basic)


1. The team brainstorms to decide on a set of project themes which are ‘broad’ statements.These statements can be phrased in a negative or positive sentences.(Positive statements are recorded only if there is no problem in the present situation.)There must not be any vague or solution statements.

2. The project themes could be shortlisted based on the Team’s Motto.They are then ranked using a set of selection criteria and rating scale in the Matrix Diagram.Score the various project by team consensus.

3. Once the most important and pressing problem is selected, the reason for choosing it must be explained.This project theme will be ‘narrowed‐down’ further in Step 3: Grasp The Present Status.


1. The schedule plan shows the approximate length and time required to complete the project.The schedule is to be made known to all members and the management.

2. A Gantt Chart may be drawn to show how many days, weeks or months it will take up to complete each step in the PDCA Cycle.The team must show the ‘Planned’ and ‘Actual’ period for each step.

3. The team must explained why there is a variance in the ‘Planned’ and ‘Actual’ period.The delay or early completion must be due to reasons that cannot be anticipated during Planning.Even when the ‘Planned’ and ‘Actual’ period are similar, members must explained how this is possible.


1. Data should be collected to show the present general population status e.g. ‘Distribution of Personal Equipment In The Production Line’.A Pie Chart could be used.Interpret the Pie Chart accordingly.

2. Data to show ‘how bad’ the present situation is could be collected from a survey, an interview or checking past and present records.A check sheet could be used to consolidate the data collected.

3. A careful thought should be given to determine the most crucial factor based on the 80‐20 principle.A Pareto Diagram may be constructed to check the vital factor(s) from the trivial many.The team may decide to ‘narrow‐down’ on only the vital factor(s), or on any impact area(s) selected.When there are 3 factors or less, make use of the Bar Chart.Here, the team may consider the problem as a whole as there are no trivial many.


1. A target should always be set for the problem at hand after all the background information has been gathered.

2. Setting target gives the team a goal it can work towards.Members may make use of the TET approach to set the target (i.e. Talent, Energy & Time).Conduct experiments to decide on the target whenever possible.Check the trend to determine the lowest indicator.This indicator can be used to establish the reduction expected for each factor.

3. Target should be set in term of percentages and should be realistic and achievable but yet challenging for the team.A serious effort must be made to explain how the target is set.


1. From Step 3, the team may have decided to tackle a vital area (justified by the tallest bar in the Pareto Diagram) or to tackle other impact area(s).

2. A Cause & Effect Diagram may be utilized to identify all the Possible Causes of the problem.The team should isolate the Root Causes (or main causes/true causes) from among all the Possible Causes.These Root Causes must be verified.This can be done through a survey or interview, by checking records or by observations.

3. The team should come up with the Counter‐Measures to eliminate the Root Causes.From the Root Causes, the team should use the Corrective Action Table to determine a few Alternative Solutions.There should be at least 2 alternatives for analysis.All Alternative Solutions must be viable and practical, and the best set of Alternative is chosen as the Proposed Solution.The team must have the plan to overcome any disadvantage(s) for the Proposed Solution.


This is the stage of pilot implementation.

This is where the team has the opportunity to test ideas by putting them into practice.

If teams have any problems in trying to implement the ideas, they should seek the assistance of management.

Keep a careful record of what happens when the team's proposals are implemented.

Monitor the progress closely, and collect the data needed.

Remember, there may be "side‐effects" to the proposal which have not been anticipated, which may be good or otherwise.

Note these as well, as they must be taken into account when assessing the success of the team's proposal.


1. The trial implementation is important to check if the Proposed Solution works.This could be illustrated in the form of a Process Flow Chart.Alternatively, the team could use diagrams, pictures, charts, etc. to elaborate and explain how the trial was conducted.

2. The Proposed Solution when implemented should not disrupt the next step in the work process.Show the dates for the various activities that took place.

3. When implementing a Proposed Solution, Problems Encountered by the team must be identified and members must find ways to overcome the problems faced.This can be explained during the Team’s Project Summation.


This is the stage of evaluation where the team members compare the 'Before and After' results to gauge the extent of the improvements.The results are also compared with targeted results to determine if the objectives have been met.


1. To evaluate the result, a new set of data is collected for the ‘Implement Corrective Action’ period to check the effectiveness of the Proposed Solution.The data should be based on the same norm as the ‘before’ implementation data collected during the ‘Grasp Present Status’ period, to ensure correct comparison of results.Consolidate the new data in the ‘After Check Sheet’.The date stated must be appropriate i.e. Step 6 date will be used for observation or check record, and Step 7 date for surveys or interviews conducted.

2. A Pareto Comparison or a Bar Chart Comparison could be used to present the changes diagrammatically.If the target has still not been achieved, the team may return to any of the earlier step to investigate.Any variance in target set/achieved or how the target set/achieved is similar must be explained.


3. Improvement and benefits made as result of the Proposed Solution implementation can be divided into Tangible Results and Intangible Results.Tangible Results should be quantified.Those benefits to the organization that cannot be quantified should be revealed as Intangible Results.A Radar Chart could be used to evaluate the team’s members performance.The type of elements used can vary from team to team.Show the Team’s Achievement and the Team Self‐Evaluation in the Project Summation of the Project Report.


If the trial implementation shows a significant improvement in the situation, clearly the proposal has been successful and deserves to be implemented. The team should ask itself whether the proposal can usefully be implemented organisation‐wide or Public Service‐wide.Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) will be amended duly to accommodate the new method. Working manuals should be updated, and information on the new system should be disseminated across the departments.This does not mean the end of the action process. The new methodmust be monitored regularly so that it can be improved further whenPossible.


If the trial implementation shows a significant improvement in the situation, clearly the proposal has been successful and deserves to be implemented.

The team should ask itself whether the proposal can usefully be implemented organization‐wide.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) will be amended duly to accommodate the new method.

Working manuals should be updated, and information on the new system should be disseminated across the departments.

This does not mean the end of the action process.

The new method must be monitored regularly so that it can be improved further when Possible.


1. When action taken meets the desired target, the Team should standardize the action taken as ‘Standard Operating Procedure’ (SOP), ‘Standard Administrative Procedure’, Machine Specifications, etc.

2. It should preferably be put in an official manner for future reference.The dates and duration for all activities must be stated.

3. In the Follow‐Up Action, team members periodically monitor the new status of the process to ensure that the desired results are maintained.This can be illustrated using the Follow‐Up Action Table.The dates for all these activities must also be stated.If necessary, further improvements may be made to fine‐tune the new method or procedure.The frequency of monitoring could be reduced over a period of time (e.g. a year later).The frequency could be reduced as the new procedure should have been established.Also, the team members may have another completed project to monitor.


Tools assist in collecting data, analyzing information, organizing priorities, generating alternatives, analyzing risks and developing innovative solutions.Teams who are new to WITS are strongly advised to go through every step in the PLAN, and learn to use the recommended tools.Once the team gains familiarity with the WITS toolkit, they will be in a better position to apply the right tool to different problems.

PDCA is a systematic problemsolving process.It enables the Team to identify and analyze areas for improvement, come up with Alternative Solutions, check if the Proposed Solution works, and ensure that the solution is properly implemented.

The PDCA procedure utilizes the various WIT tools.The tools do not provide the solutions but they aid the Team in noting the facts diagrammatically.This allows members to visualize the problem at hand clearly.

WITs Part 01-Roles & PDCA Cycle

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