Quality Circles

The concept behind quality circles is widely believed to have been developed in Japan in 1962 by Kaoru Ishikawa as a method to improve quality, though it is also argued that the practice started with the United States Army soon after 1945, whilst restoring the war torn nation, and the Japanese adopted and adapted the concept and its application. A quality circle is a volunteer group of employees from the same work area who meet together to discuss workplace improvement. The circle is empowered to promote and bring quality improvements through to fruition. Though quality circles are not the silver bullet solution for quality improvement, with the right top end management commitment, resources, and organisation, they can support continuous quality improvement at shop floor level. Because of the social focus of a Quality Circle group, they can not only improve the performance or an organisation, but also motivate and enrich the work lives of fellow employees. A typical Quality Circle group will display a good approach to: * Analysing the context of a problems and its situation * Define exactly what the problem is and the relationship between its component parts * Identify and verify that the causes are indeed causes, ensuring that solutions address the real problem * Define, quantify and measure the impact of a given problem * Understand the quality objectives * Create a solution to a given problem Quality Circle groups generally address issues such as improving safety, improving product design, and improving manufacturing process. Because Quality Circle groups remain intact from project to project they have the advantage of consistency, though they retain the option to call in expertise or request training when needed. Techniques used by a Quality Circle group will usually consist of process capability flow charts, lot sampling, brainstorming, cause and effect analysis, reverse engineering, value analysis, and pareto analysis. Japanese Quality Circles demonstrated the effectiveness of worker teams in identifying and solving process problems in their own work areas. However the more serious quality problems from non-manufacturing organisations often arise in activities that span more than one department or function.

A Quality Circle

A Quality Circle is a volunteer group composed of workers (or even students) who meet to discuss workplace improvement, and make presentations to management with their ideas, especially relating to quality of output in order to improve the performance of the organization, and motivate and enrich the work of employees. Typical topics are improving occupational safety and health, improving product design, and improvement in manufacturing process.

The ideal size of a quality circle is from eight to ten members. Quality circles have the advantage of continuity; the circle remains intact from project to project. (For a comparison to Quality Improvement Teams see Juran's Quality by Design[1]. Quality circles were first established in Japan in 1962, and Kaoru Ishikawa has been credited with their creation. The movement in Japan was coordinated by the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE). The use of quality circles then spread beyond Japan. Quality circles have been implemented even in educational sectors in India and QCFI (Quality Circle Forum of India) is promoting such activities. There are different quality circle tools, namely: * The Ishikawa diagram - which shows hierarchies of causes contributing to a problem * The Pareto Chart - which analyses different causes by frequency to illustrate the vital cause * The PDCA-Deming wheel - Plan, Do, Check, Act, as described by W. Edwards Deming

Notes on fishbone diagram

First, a large writing area is put up in the center where everybody can see it. This writing area could be a flipchart or a whiteboard. The problem that needs to be addressed is defined. All team members have to be very clear about what exactly the problem is. The problem statement is described clearly and succinctly in the fish head portion. To set the ball rolling and to ensure logical control over the brainstorming process, the following fundamental blocks are listed to begin with: manpower, machines, methods, materials and environment - in case of a problem related to manufacturing; and equipment, policies, procedures and people - in case the problem facing the team relates to administration and service. Of course, when listing them, it should be clarified that these blocks are suggestive and not exhaustive. These blocks along with any other identified are major branches connecting to the spine. Each member of the team then gets a chance to come up with what they think is the cause of the problem. Per turn, only one cause may be contributed by every member, else they simply "pass" if they can't think of any cause in any particular round. Each cause thus identified is then "hung" on the branch of the category that it belongs to. For example, if "Moisture Content" is a major cause, then "Dryer's RPM" is a cause that is hung on to moisture content. In case the cause happens to be the cause of another cause which is already present, then it must be hung on the branch of the latter. For instance, "Materials" is a major branch that goes to the spine of the problem of "Recurrent pipe leakage". "Defective measurement tools" is a branch that connects to materials. "Lack of suppliers" or "Substandard supply of tools" is a cause that hangs on to defective measurement tools. It is also possible that one cause may be placed on several branches.

The brainstorming session ends when a time comes where everybody passes.

Benefits of Quality Circles - November 2nd, 2010 Team Work: It helps to eradicate inter-team conflicts and clashes and enhance the concept of team spirit. Positive Attitude: Employees start working with a positive attitude towards work, assuming it as their own work. They develop a Can Do and I care attitude. Personality advancement: Quality circle practice helps to learn new skills and also brings out the hidden potential of employees. Positive working environment: It improves the organizational working environment and involves employees in every process, right from a small decision to a big deal. Increased productivity: It helps in increasing overall productivity of organization by improvement of work processes and reduction of excessive costs. They increase operational efficiency, improve quality, and promote innovation.