Plan / Do / Check / Act (PDCA) cycle was first developed in the works of Walter Shewhart and later popularized by W. Edward. Deming, who himself referred to it as the Shewhart cycle. Since then, the PDCA cycle has most frequently been called the Deming cycle, Deming Wheel or Deming Cycle.
The PDCA Cycle is the foundation of the ISO9001 set of standards for the implementation of a quality control system which aims to optimize quality management.
The PDCA cycle provides for the problem solving process in the four steps " Plan - Do - Check - Act ". The idea in the "Plan" step is to define the process to be improved. The "Do" step is to implement the plan and measure its performance. The team then took these measurements to assess whether they were getting the expected results. This is called the inspection ("Check") step. Next is the "Act" step. The team decides what changes need to be made to improve the process; then the whole cycle starts over.
Plan - The first stage of the plan must identify the problem and the root cause of the problem. Once a problem is identified, a corrective action plan must be developed.
Do- take corrective action at this stage. When implementing the plan, data must be collected for future reference.
Check - Based on the data collected during the DO phase, this step is to check the results.
Act - If the previous steps successfully resolve the problem, the process can be standardized and fully implemented. This means that this process can serve as a reference for solving similar problems in the future. This cycle should be repeated to promote continuous improvement. Otherwise, you need to find an alternative solution and repeat in the next cycle.
The PDCA loop provides a clear and repetitive process to continuously improve the efficiency of business processes. This is the ability it gains by repeating itself over and over again and can prove beneficial to any organization. You should never be content to achieve your first set of goals in a PDCA loop, you must move forward in the PDCA cycle in the future and continue to improve to drive your business and yourself.
