Quality Improvement is one component of the Juran Trilogy®. Dr. Juran called the improvement in performance brought about by quality improvement as "breakthrough." It is the meticulous uncovering and diagnosing of the root causes of chronic and costly problems within existing products or processes, thereby setting a new level of control. It devises remedial changes that remove or manage the causes, and implements controls to prevent the problems from reoccurring. Quality improvement goes by many names: performance and continuous improvement, Lean and Lean Six Sigma, performance excellence.
Breakthrough quality improvement is carried out by adhering to a universal sequence of events:
- Identify a business problem-something wrong with a product, service, or process that impacts the performance of the business.
- Establish a project.
- Measure and Analyze the current process to establish precise knowledge or baseline performance.
- Generate and test theories as to the causes of the poor performance.
- Prove root causes of the poor performance.
- Develop remedial improvements-changes to the process that remove or manage the causes of poor performance.
- Establish new controls to prevent recurrence and to sustain the new standards.
- Deal with resistance to change.
- Replicate the result and start a new project.
Whether your organization needs strategic planning, coaching, training, or hands-on practitioners to get your initiative started and infuse your operations with quality, Juran can help by diagnosing, and subsequently remedying, the root causes of chronic and costly problems. Call +1-800-338-7726 or write tina@juran.com.
(800) 338-7726