DMAIC is a far superior process improvement framework / methodology than PDCA, right ?

With the utmost respect to my fellow professionals I cannot for the life of me understand why they still want to promote PDCA when in fact DMAIC is a much more well balanced, logical, easier to teach, easier to follow methodology.  For a start the word 'Plan' is too generic a word.  Are we not 'Planning' and 'Refining the plan' all the way through a project ?  You will recognize that 'Plan' is an activity the is only one activity recognised the PMBOK of the Project Management Institute,  started in the 'Initiate' phase.  The project plan is constantly being updated.   In fact 'Define' is a what we are trying to do as a first step in any project.  Define the problem we are trying to solve.  Define the stakeholders. Define the project team.  Define the scope.  Define a high level plan.
The next biggest issue I have with PDCA is that the word 'Do' and the word 'Act' are so similar in meaning.  Why do we have One Quarter of the Methodology ( 1 letter out of 4 ) describing the activity of moving onto the next thing ?  Would not the word 'Close' be better ?  Do we really need to take up 25% of the letters for this step ?  In DMAIC the word 'Control' is a far better description of the post-Implementation step.    I believe the Walter Shewhart and W. Edwards Deming would both agree that DMAIC is a better description of what we really need to be doing in a Process Improvement project.
Can you really defend PDCA when it goes up against DMAIC ?   I would be interested to hear how you can do that ?

England's National Health Service ( NHS) training for Lean

I just finished reading through the official training document the 'Healthcare Leaders' in the Northumberland and Tyne and Wear National Health Service ( NHS), England  for what they call their 'Continuous Improvement System' 

Just a couple of point that the NHS may want to consider changing to make this a more effective training course and document.

1. The training is extremely focused on 'the Toyota way' and the Toyota Production System ' ...I think this a mistake....and actually will put off many students...

     Lean Six Sigma has been an evolution from many, many sources.   Yes, Toyota implemented the principles very well and had large success from it,  and added to and improved the Body of Knowledge,  however  many of the methods, tools and techniques had been around for decades before.

• Adam Smith ( Division of Labour 1776 )
• Frank G Woollard (  Morris Motors 1925 )
• Walter Shewhart  ( Western Electric and Bell Labs 1930 )
• Fredrick Winslow Taylor  ( Principles of Scientific Management )
• W, Edwards Deming 
• Joseph Juran

2.  There was not enough emphasis on the 'People' side of Lean. The importance of 'Respect for the Worker' as a Problem Solver, team member etc   Making work EASIER for the worker  ( Shigeo Shingo) ,  and using their 'Understanding the Gemba' are all very important.

In fact John Bicheno (  University of Buckingham ) in his book

The Lean Toolbox: The Essential Guide to Lean Transformation ( Amazon.com)

   now lists his Lean Principles as  

1. Value

2. Value Stream

3. Flow

4. Perfection ( Kaizen )

5. People

Also see the discussion on  'Lean vs Fake  Lean'  which the University of Connecticut  Professor Bob Emiliani has been so good in promoting.    Prof Emiliani makes the case that Lean without making it for the benefit of the workers and focus on the involvement of the workers will fail.

see  http://www.bobemiliani.com/back-story-real-vs-fake-lean/

3. Not enough mention of Data collection, Data analysis and Data Driven Decision making.     This I realize is not 'pure lean'  however it is very important in problem solving,  and analysis in getting the the Root cause of the symptoms of problems.   This should be part of any training on Continuous Improvement.

History of Lean Thinking Presentation : Venetian ship builders, Carthaginian navy 18 th century RN frigate gun WW2 Boeing B17.'

⚡Presentation 'Accreditation| certification | community. Lean Thinking Evolution Venetian ship builders Carthaginian navy 18 th century RN frigate gun WW2 Boeing B17.'



I highly recommend this overview presentation showing the history and high level concepts of Lean.  Great job by ICS who put this together !  

Lessons of 60 years ago for Worker moral / happiness...still valid today

Frank Woollard and William R Morris of Morris Motors Ltd  understood the importance of having a happy and motivate workforce way back in the 1930s,  In his book 'Principles of Mass Flow Production' (1954) he devotes a whole chapter to it, stressing the importance of the process being improved for the benefit of the workers and the customers alike. Chapter 19 is called ' Human Relations' and he specifically addresses the fact that displacement of labor is NOT the goal of improving processes and instead is a consequence of poor process and products that result in reduced customer demand. He also address the problems of monotony due to division of labor. He writes on page 185 'They ( management ) realize that most men, if not women, want a job which is an interesting one, if possible, that will challenge their skills'. He also writes ( p 185) 'Monotony can also be relieved to a very large extent if the operator knows what part he is playing in the whole business'. and he goes on ...'help operators to feel that they are in the picture: that they are not merely performing inconsequential tasks at the bidding of some incomprehensible dictator' .... Enlightened stuff indeed ...and considering that in the West in 2016 we have still not overcome this feeling by workers that they are disconnected from the overall goals of the company or that they are taken for granted. In the UK right now we have a Junior Doctors Strike....in France there is the Air Traffic Controllers strike....both symptoms that management has not learned to do what Woollard told us was important back in 1954.

The 4 P's of The Toyota Way applied to Lean Six Sigma

The "Toyota Way" as documented in Toyota Motor Corporation Annual Report, 2003, and by University of Michigan professor Jeffery Liker (2004) has at its core the '4 P's' of 'Philosophy, Process, People/Partners and Problem Solving.'

These 4 P's are also the essential components of Lean Six Sigma and a good way to remember what the essence of Lean Six Sigma is all about.

The 4 P's  are a good learning tool for new students of Lean Six Sigma.

They are just as applicable to business improvement in Service as in Manufacturing.  See the above diagram.   I have attempted to include all the essential components of Lean Six Sigma in the above diagram although this, of course, is not a fully comprehensive list of all Lean Six Sigma tools and techniques.

• Project Management
• Lean Thinking
• Lean Manufacturing

The Rise-and-Fall ( and rise again) of British Lean Manufacturing

British Lean Manufacturing was at the top of its game in 1935 with the Morris Motor Company and Frank G. Woollard having implemented Just-in-Time, Workers-as-problem-solvers,  Flow-Production and Rapid-Change-Over methods**.  Cycle-Times and Cost-per-unit were being halved and halved again**.  Defects were being caught and fixed upstream at the root cause**.  Customers around the world wanted British products and were happy with them.  Life was good for Lean British productivity and manufacturing in 1935.  What the #%@ happened then ?? Why do the Japanese get all the credit for Lean ?  Well, a event started in 1939 called World War 2,  and post-war change in British culture and governments has a lot to do with it. It has taken Britain and British culture over 60 years to recover back to its Lean roots of 1935!   Here is how...

In 1939, companies such as Morris Motors changed over to mass production of military vehicles, planes etc with no true market forces at play, no commercial customers or true cost considerations. Getting out as many Spitfire Planes and Enfield Rifles at any cost was the name of the game. After WW2 Britain had at least a decade of re-building and re-focusing ( helping Japan rebuild for example )  in which production was understandably below optimal.  Then in the 1960's and 70's Britain's Labour Party, socialists tendencies and workers Unions gained a strong control on the British management and working culture, and the Labour government under Harold Wilson ( Prime Minister 1964 -70 and 1974-76) were more focused in support of workers pay and working conditions, than they were about productivity, quality of products and making sure the customers of British products and services were happy.   Productivity declined in the 1960's and 70's this is indicated in this graph    http://www.smmt.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/Productivity-of-UK-motor-industry.jpg   Quality also declined and the customers of British products around the world ( including Brits)  stopped buying them.  Lean methods did not stand a chance because the focus was too much on workers rights and conditions and not enough on the products, process and the customer.  It was a vicious circle of course because lost production and customers meant factory closures, more unemployment and falling wages.    In the meantime Japan did not have the burden of a socialist culture which put workers rights ahead of the product, the process and the customer.  So Japan caught up very quickly in Lean thinking and methods, and applied it in an effective way that the British culture would not allow.  ( A little help from the best brains from the USA, Deming, Juran et al didn't hurt also ! )  This is how Britain lost its advantage in discovering lean methods and why we now teach 'Lean' as a starting in Japan.  ( **Reference to Morris Motors and Lean Methods made from Frank G. Woollard's 1955 book 'Principles of Mass and Flow Production'  and the Reprint Edition including 'Notes on British Methods of Continuous Production' 1925, with Commentary and Analysis by Bob Emiliani, PhD