A Work Suspension Vignette

I wrote this a few years back for a Dept Of Energy conference.

NOTE: Do not put this in for the running for the money. If Marc sends me money, I am just going to have to turn it over to the US Government as this work was funded by my job.

Steve's paper for the Department of Energy is a great example of how to do an improvement project. Although he did not use the PDCA terminology it has all of the elements of it. A few key items should be noted:

- The project had a stated purpose.
- Steve noted the importance of the analysis process beginning with data retrieval. They devised a data gathering system early in the process and used it throughout the improvement effort.
- Using an easy to understand control chart and a couple of Pareto charts, statistical analysis was used to identify where the problems might be and set a base line to measure against to show when they had been resolved.
- The project did not involve quick fixes and took patience. Note that the data was for 1994-2001. The initial improvement took place in the first 2 years as demonstrated by the control chart but they continued to collect data to make sure it stayed fixed and to identify new opportunities.

If Covers are out there trying to find out how to apply statistical principles and quality concepts, I think Steve has provided a good model.

Bill Pflanz

Bill Pflanz said:

Steve's paper for the Department of Energy is a great example of how to do an improvement project. Although he did not use the PDCA terminology it has all of the elements of it. A few key items should be noted:

Click to expand...

Bill Pflanz said:

- The project had a stated purpose.
- Steve noted the importance of the analysis process beginning with data retrieval. They devised a data gathering system early in the process and used it throughout the improvement effort.
- Using an easy to understand control chart and a couple of Pareto charts, statistical analysis was used to identify where the problems might be and set a base line to measure against to show when they had been resolved.
- The project did not involve quick fixes and took patience. Note that the data was for 1994-2001. The initial improvement took place in the first 2 years as demonstrated by the control chart but they continued to collect data to make sure it stayed fixed and to identify new opportunities.

If Covers are out there trying to find out how to apply statistical principles and quality concepts, I think Steve has provided a good model.

Bill Pflanz

Amen! Especially to the part
- The project did not involve quick fixes and took patience. Note that the data was for 1994-2001. The initial improvement took place in the first 2 years as demonstrated by the control chart but they continued to collect data to make sure it stayed fixed and to identify new opportunities.

One of the most difficult parts about improvement projects is that they often require patience to see and confirm improvement.

Click to expand...

Nice report.

Have you identified what the "other" is from 2001.

It seems like you corrected your problem within the first two years but the operators found additional variables in the process.

Looking forward to revison 1

cncmarine said:

Nice report.

Have you identified what the "other" is from 2001.

It seems like you corrected your problem within the first two years but the operators found additional variables in the process.

Looking forward to revison 1

Click to expand...

Yes, since the time of this report the facility did embark on an effort not to use "other". Currently every suspension has been assigned a code, and there are no "others".