Deming circle: what is this business strategy?

Within the business world there are many techniques and strategies to follow to seek success and maximum efficiency.

One such resource is the Deming circle, a method that we will explore in this article to fully understand its characteristics, and what makes it a method to take into account to achieve the goals that our organization sets propose.

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What is the Deming circle?

The Deming circle, or Deming cycle, is a business strategy whose objective is to constantly improve in all productive and organizational processes through a four-phase circular plan: first, plan, then, do, then check, and finally, act, to go back to the first, and so on. It is also known as the PDCA cycle, since these are the acronyms of the four phases in English (plan, do, check, act).

The name of Deming's circle comes from its creator, the American statistics professor, Edwards Deming. However, the term Deming-Shewart circle can be found in some manuals, since Edward Deming's mentor Walter A. Shewart, was the one who devised the bases of this mechanism, although it was the student who developed it in depth later, and was first exported to Japan, throughout the 1950s. Last century.

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

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Phases

We have already advanced that the Deming circle is composed of four different phases, which occur cyclically, so in reality the process never ends, since you can always improve a little more, although each time it is more difficult or the improvement is smaller, logically. We are going to see each of these phases in detail.

1. To plan

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

To identify the possible improvements that we can make, different ways can be followed. 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 clients and our own policy of our organization, since both entities will mark the red lines inside which we must move.

In this phase it is important to make use of some planning tool, in order to set a methodology to follow during our production, in addition to designing the processes taking into account the demands that we saw. Some of the most used planning tools in Deming's circle are the simple brainstorming method, the method Poka-yoke (Japanese method to avoid errors), the Gantt chart (showing the forecast of time that the chores).

You could also use the QFD method, or quality function display, another method that seeks to maximize the quality of the final product taking into account a series of parameters. Likewise, it is also frequent to rely on modal analysis of failures or effects, or FMEA, another methodology that is based on finding the possible errors that we may be committing in the process of production. These are just several examples, as there are many techniques that can be used.

2. Make

The next phase of Deming's circle is foreseeable, since consists of carrying out everything we have planned in the previous point, so we would go from theory to practice. 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 area of ​​the organization, to test its effectiveness.

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

3. Check

Once the changes that we had set at the beginning have been applied, it is time to check if they have generated the results that we had anticipated or if, on the contrary, we have achieved different ones, either worse top. That is why the data collection to which we pointed in the previous phase is necessary. In order to evaluate whether the results fit with the forecasts, we can make use of different tools, according to our needs.

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

Another method would be the dashboard or dashboard, where different indicators (or KPIs, by its name in English, Key Performance Indicators) would be displayed, so that visually it is easier to be able to analyze the different variables and thus be able to decide between different alternatives. As it happened in the first phase, all 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, we have carried it out and we have verified its effectiveness. There would be a final phase to close Deming's circle, and this is none other than acting. This means that, once the changes are in place and the results have been analyzed, those that we have verified to be effective should be set, taking into account those that have not been as successful as we expected for the next cycle of the Deming circle, as we have already seen that what is sought is continuous improvement.

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

In order to make the improvements, we can help ourselves with tools such as the affinity diagram, whose objective is to collect those elements that have a common denominator in order to organize ourselves in a more efficient way. Another method is the 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.

Advantage

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

The first of them would refer to production times, which should generally be reduced, by having improved a series of processes in the chain, which allow to achieve the same product using less time than before.

Equally, we would improve the quality, by eliminating different errors that contaminated our production process.

The third advantage, equal or more important than the previous one, is that manufacturing costs will have been reduced, since Deming's circle seeks to increase efficiency at each cycle in which we apply it, so that once After completing the four phases, we should be able to generate our product or service in a more profitable way than at beginning. These are all compelling reasons for deciding to apply the Deming circle in our company.

Bibliographic 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.