The PDCA cycle was invented in 1950 by Dr. W. Edwards Deming, an American engineer, statistician and management consultant. He developed the PDCA cycle (also known as the Deming cycle), which aims to identify the factors that cause goods and services to fail to meet consumer standards. The Deming cycle forms the basis of today's ISO9001 quality standards and the principles of Total Quality Management (TQM).
The PDCA cycle Outlines an intuitive framework for improving the quality and effectiveness of processes in many business areas, including lifecycle product management, human resources, and supply chain management. PDCA is an iterative and repetitive cycle for continuously improving processes, products and services.
The four separate phases for the PDCA cycle: Plan, Execute, Check, and Action. In detail, these steps are described as follows:
Plan : The first phase of the PDCA cycle is to recognize the challenges that need to be solved. This includes the gathering of relevant data, the setting of priorities and the identification of procedures needed to achieve the outcomes necessary.
Do : The team will decide to take necessary steps to accomplish the targets set out in the plan after a plan has been developed.
Check - One of the most significant phases of the PDCA cycle is the "check" phase. Detailed checking of the implementation of the proposal and outcomes are done here to assess if the original plan was successful.
Act - The "act" phase, also known as "adjust", is where the mechanism is finally strengthened. The team will continue to adopt and follow the strategy if the PDCA cycle is determined to be a success.
The PDCA cycle is a basic but powerful process at every stage of an enterprise to diagnose and rectify problems. It offers an iterative approach to help project teams identify and evaluate solutions through a continuous improvement cycle.
