Modified Deming Cycle - PDCAS

 

PDCA is popular as Deming cycle.

https://asq.org/quality-resources/pdca-cycle

Some strongly argue that Deming wanted PDSA.

https://deming.org/explore/pdsa/

In LinkedIn there was a discussion on this issue. After thinking over it, now I feel, PDCAS cycle is more appropriate for two activities which are the focus of this cycle. 

One is control of an activity done according to the plan. It is required as even if the manager who developed the plan is doing the activity, the input he has given has to be checked and the resulting output has to be checked. The deviations require control actions, if deemed necessary. Within a PDCA cycle, of any important plan, there may be multiple DCA cycles. It depends on the activities to be done as part of the plan. Also the plan will specify the number of times the output is to be produced following a routine. Still a check may be required each time, or after specified cycles to make sure that inputs and outputs are as per plan.

The second purpose is the improvement. Improvement requires the study of the past activities and thinking over it combining with additional knowledge from accumulated theory. So before every time a new plan is made, study of the previous experience is necessary to improve the process. Such a study can even indicate the need for research to understand process better.

In the functions of industrial engineering proposed by me, I indicated the study step as review. Based on review, research may be undertaken, engineering may be done or management is modified as per the conclusions of the review for the next plan.

I recommend the modified Deming cycle - PDCAS for improvement of productivity or quality or another operations performance measures.

(C) K.V.S.S. Narayana Rao

First published 5 February 2021

Bibliography

https://www.isixsigma.com/dictionary/deming-cycle-pdca/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDCA

https://www.creativesafetysupply.com/articles/history-of-the-kaizen-pdca-cycle/