Plan-Do-Check-Act-Anticipate Cycle

[Polly Pure Bread]

I don't think "spiral" is appropriate. A spiral starts at a central point and moves progressively away from it (or in reverse, moves towards the central point, where it terminates) but in any case the ends don't meet, and it proceeds (theoretically at least) infinitely. I think Juran's usage was an attempt to differentiate his point from that of Shewart just for the sake of differentiation.

I think “spiral” is possible if there would be a linked from 1 complete cycle to other cycles. Let say cycle 1 (operational management step 1, 2, 3… etc.) to cycle 2 (tactical management 1,2,3… etc.) to cycle 3 (strategic management 1,2,3… etc.).

 

[Jim Wynne]

The idea behind PDCA is that there is no such thing as a "complete cycle" in that once you're done with "Act" you start over again at "Plan." In your examples there are several concurrent PDCA cycles occurring, none of which can be appropriately depicted as spirals or helixes.
This is all beyond the point, however, which is that the additional "A" doesn't serve a useful purpose.

 

[Polly Pure Bread]

I mean continuous cycle, not complete cycle. But where is the preventive action in plan stage?

This is how I understand the cycle:

Plan – setting quality objectives
Do – Execution of plan, monitoring,
Check –Audit/review to verify effectiveness of plan and execution
Act – address lapses or re-plan

 

[Stijloor]

Plan!!!!

 

[howste]

I mean continuous cycle, not complete cycle. But where is the preventive action in plan stage?

This is how I understand the cycle:

Plan – setting quality objectives
Do – Execution of plan, monitoring,
Check –Audit/review to verify effectiveness of plan and execution
Act – address lapses or re-plan

That's a pretty limited definition for plan. How do you "execute" objectives? If all you have is objectives established, with no anticipation of how to successfully achieve them, you are doomed to fail.

Example:
Plan: I want to catch fish at the lake (objective).
Do: I head toward the lake. Unfortunately I haven't anticipated the need for equipment such as a fishing rod, hooks, bait/lures, etc. I also ran out of gas on the way there because I didn't anticipate this failure mode. When I eventually got to the lake, I was given a ticket for fishing without a license.
Check: I checked and found that I caught no fish.
Act: I decide I'd better do a real plan next time, including anticipating how I would achieve the objective.

Don't you think that methods, controls, resources, etc. are part of the plan as well?

 

[Yarik]

According to a friend if we are going to consider the potential problem analysis (I guess he is referring to 8.5.3 Preventive action), E.W. Deming PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle’s methodology is lacking. It should be PDCAA (Plan-Do-Check-Act-Anticipate) cycle. Do you agree with the proposed methodology? I’ll appreciate your thoughts on this.

I don't think that PDCA cycle is lacking anything. IMHO, analysis of potential problems is just a part of the "Plan" step - the step when you are supposed to find/pick a problem to be solved and implement a solution that appears to be most appropriate. Whatever your friend means by "anticipation", it does not look like a true "peer" to the four existing steps - it looks more like one of the ways to discover a problem (hence, a part of the "Plan" step).

 

[Ehsan Heidari]

I don`t get your meaning about "anticipation". would you explain it & it`s correlation with PDCA?
I think in Plan you must think about your goals, so anticipation the results of goals that you set the first time it`s important part of PLAN stage.On the other hand in the ACT you must to comparison goals and their result!
Totally I believe in "anticipation" is a part of plan.

 

[Pankaj Kumar]

According to a friend if we are going to consider the potential problem analysis (I guess he is referring to 8.5.3 Preventive action), E.W. Deming PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle’s methodology is lacking. It should be PDCAA (Plan-Do-Check-Act-Anticipate) cycle. Do you agree with the proposed methodology? I’ll appreciate your thoughts on this.

Do you think Shewart & Dr.Deming did not anticipate your suggestion to include extra 'A' for anticipation?!! IMHO it is trying to find fault where none exist.

Pankaj

 

[Polly Pure Bread]

Ok I’m with you that ‘anticipate’ is part of the plan. However, there is no emphasis on ANTICIPATION given the definition below, thus it’s a good idea for the additional ‘A’.

PLAN
Establish the objectives and processes necessary to deliver results in accordance with the expected output. By making the expected output the focus, it differs from other techniques in that the completeness and accuracy of the specification is also part of the improvement.
DO
Implement the new processes. Often on a small scale if possible.
CHECK
Measure the new processes and compare the results against the expected results to ascertain any differences.
ACT
Analyze the differences to determine their cause. Each will be part of either one or more of the P-D-C-A steps. Determine where to apply changes that will include improvement. When a pass through these four steps does not result in the need to improve, refine the scope to which PDCA is applied until there is a plan that involves improvement.

 

[Jim Wynne]

There is a great deal of information that's not emphasized or explicitly stated in PDCA. This is the essential folly of DMAIC, which takes a simple concept, assumes that people are too blind to see the bloody obvious and adds needless complication (as if, for example, we're not perceptive enough to know that some form of measurement might be necessary). If a plan is made without anticipating things that might go wrong with it, you have a poor plan and probably a poor planner. You can tack on all 26 letters of the alphabet and it won't change the fact that some things are (or should be) self-evident. If people don't know how to plan, teach them.