Seven Basic Quality tools documents
Definition of Quality Management -- it is a method for ensuring that all the activities necessary to design, develop and implement a product or service are effective and efficient with respect to the system and its performance. It is also a principle set by the company to endure the continuous advocacy of quality services and products, or the further improvement of it.
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Hoshin Kanri Planning Process
Christina C. Udasco, Mini - Tutorial 470W, Due: 02 April 01Original text on freequality.org
In today’s business world, the goal of any
organization is to survive in the market, by having a strong competitive
advantage and by meeting the expectations of the customers. In order to achieve that goal, the
organization needs to establish a long-term strategic plan that is achievable
as well as contribute toward improving the organizations business process. One strategic plan that has been proven to be
successful and can be used by an organization would be the Hoshin Kanri
Planning Process.
The Hoshin Kanri Planning Process has been
used as a tool in Japan since the 1960’s to implement policy. Hewlett-Packard was the first company to use
the Hoshin plan in 1976 and to this day have been successful. Hoshin is Japanese for a compass, a course, a
policy or a plan indicating purpose or vision to an existence. Kanri is Japanese for management control and
when translated into English means policy deployment. The objective to the Hoshin plan is to ensure
that all the employees in the organization understand the long-term goal and
work together on a specific plan in order to make the organizations goal a
reality.
The way the Hoshin Kanri process works is by
the organization having a vision or goal.
The organization must plan out various ways to accomplish that goal, in
a way that everyone in the company is involved.
Management and the employees must work together by way of a catchball,
meaning reporting and providing feedback to one another. The catchball is then followed by a
Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. The cycle of
Plan-Do-Check-Act involves measuring the progress to the goal that was set in
the beginning of the year, to record the actual results-to-date, to take note
of all the problems between the results and the plan, and lastly state the
impact on the strategy for the coming year.
The Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle is extremely important to continuously
improve the performance of the organizations business process.
The elements involved in the Hoshin plan is
having an objective focus, to develop plans that adequately support that
objective, to review the progress of those plans, to make changes to those
plans as required, make continuous improvements of the key business processes,
and lastly to make the plan a vehicle for organizational learning. It involves the understanding and the use of
the 7 Basic Tools of Quality (B7), which include Histograms, Pareto charts,
Cause-and-Effect Diagrams, Check Sheets, Scatter Diagrams, Flowcharts and
Control Charts. The organization must
also understand and use the 7 New Tool of Quality (N7), which were developed by a committee of the Japanese Society for QC
Technique Development as a result of research.
The 7 New Tools have their roots in Japanese practice and dates back
before World War II. The 7 New Tool of
Quality include the Affinity Diagram, Interrelationship Diagraph, Matrix
Diagram, Tree Diagram, Prioritization Matrices, Process Decision Program Chart
and an Activity Network Diagram.
The Hoshin Planning Process can be used in
any organization that involves projects or teamwork. It will help teams work faster and assist
them in obtaining a solution to their given problem. By using the Hoshin process, organizations
can eliminate any waste time by breaking down various steps one by one. Lastly, Hoshin can bring the organizational
teams and management closer by using the catchball, therefore allowing everyone
in the organization to be involved and to work together in order to accomplish
their goal.
To better understand the Hoshin Kanri
Planning Process, reading as well as actually using the Hoshin process is
required. Yojo Akao, the author of Hoshin
Kanri: Policy Deployment for Successful TQM, gives readers a Japanese
perspective of the strategic business process, while many other leaders in
total quality management provide the necessary tools needed to accurately
accomplish the Hoshin Kanri. There are
also many books that are available as well as many web sites that interested
users of the Hoshin Kanri may use to gain insight on the successful Hoshin
Kanri Planning Process. Hoshin Kanri is
an extremely helpful tool that organizations may use to improve their
processing plan and gain an even better competitive advantage in the business
industry. It will also help them in
reaching their customers expectations and allow them to survive and thrive in
their market. Hoshin has been a very
successful tool for many companies and when used correctly may enhance any
organizations business process and help them achieve a greater sense of total
quality management for their organization.
Bibliography
Akao, Yoji., ed.
(1991). Hoshin Kanri: Policy
Deployment for Successful TQM, Productivity, Cambridge MA.
Dean, Edwin (1991). Hoshin Kanri:
Perspective of Competitive Advantage.
http:www.mijuno.larc.nasa.gov/dfc/hp.html
Brassard, Michael and
Diane Ritter (1995). The Memory
Jogger II, GOAL/QPC, Salem NH
Foster, Thomas (2001). Managing Quality:
An Integrative Approach, Prentice Hall, Upper
Saddle River NJ.