The PDCA cycle in manufacturing: from idea to proven outcome.
The PDCA cycle, also called the Deming cycle, is a four-step method (plan, do, check, act) for testing an idea or a change in production before you roll it out. In SolveR every cycle gets an outcome, even when the outcome is to drop the idea, and the test stays in the knowledge base for the next person who has the same idea.
When to use PDCA, and when not to
You pick PDCA when you have an idea or a change that needs testing first: a shorter cycle time, a different parameter, a new sequence of work. The cycle runs at a small scale, on one shift or one line for example, and only the check tells you whether to roll the change out everywhere. Some teams also run a bigger internal problem through PDCA and follow it up at the morning meetings.
A production example, today and with SolveR
A typical case: a trial of a shorter drying time for painted parts in the oven, so the line does not have to wait.
| Today | With SolveR |
|---|---|
| The idea comes up at the morning meeting. Nobody writes down what the shorter drying time should improve or how it will be judged. | Before the trial, the case holds the idea, the expected effect and the check: paint adhesion on the parts from the trial. |
| The trial runs on one shift, and the results stay in the shift leader's notebook or in Excel on one computer. | The trial runs on one shift, and the results of the check go into the same case. |
| When the result is unclear, the idea is dropped without a word or rolled out everywhere without a check. | The cycle gets an outcome: keep, adjust or drop the shorter drying time, and the decision is recorded with its reason. |
| A few months later someone suggests the same idea and the trial starts again. | The trial stays in the knowledge base. When someone describes the same idea, the earlier trial and its outcome come up. |
At the meeting we show PDCA on one of your own cases.
What you get: an outcome for every cycle
Every idea gets an outcome, even when the outcome is to drop it. The record of the cycle shows what you set out to achieve, what you did, what the check showed and what you decided. A dropped idea stays useful too: the next person knows why you did not roll it out. When the idea works, the next step is the standard: the change goes into the work instruction.
What SolveR does
It records the cycle in the standard PDCA format your engineers and auditors already know. It suggests causes and actions from your plant's closed cases and shows the source of each suggestion. The engineer decides.
Four steps: plan, do, check, act
- PLANPlanThe idea, the target and how you will check it
- DODoA trial at a small scale
- CHECKCheckThe result against the expected effect
- ACTActKeep, adjust or drop
If the target is not met, you run the cycle again with an adjusted plan.
One knowledge base: a test the next engineer can find
A closed cycle goes into the knowledge base as a test with its outcome, next to the confirmed causes and the actions that worked in other methods. When someone describes a similar idea or problem, this test and what it showed come up as well. So the same idea is not tested twice, unless something has changed since. Every method writes into the same base. What one case teaches applies to all of them.
You can also ask Brain. The How it Works page shows what goes into the base and what comes out.
Questions about the PDCA cycle
What is the difference between PDCA, 8D and DMAIC?
PDCA tests an idea or a change in four steps before you roll it out. 8D is the answer to a customer complaint, a safety issue or a problem that keeps coming back, with a team and a confirmed root cause. DMAIC is a project for process variation when the cause is unknown and has to be found in the data. In SolveR all three write into the same knowledge base.
What does a PDCA cycle look like in a production example?
The example on this page is a shorter drying time for painted parts. Plan: dry for a shorter time so the line does not wait, and check the paint adhesion. Do: a trial on one shift. Check: compare the adhesion on the trial parts with what you expected. Act: keep, adjust or drop the shorter drying time.
Is the PDCA cycle the same as the Deming cycle?
Yes. The Deming cycle is another name for the PDCA cycle. It is named after W. Edwards Deming, who built the model on the ideas of Walter Shewhart.
How does the Check step show whether the change worked?
The check compares the result of the trial with the expected effect you wrote into the plan, using the same measure. If the plan has no measure, the check has nothing to compare against, so that is the first thing you write down. Practitioners name a skipped check, and a cycle that ends without a decision, among the most common mistakes.
What happens when the test does not work?
The cycle ends with the outcome "drop", recorded the same way as a success. The test stays in the knowledge base, so the next person with the same idea sees what you tried and why it did not work. If the idea came close to the target, you run the cycle again with an adjusted plan.
Other methods
Every team picks the method that fits the problem, and one knowledge base stands behind all of them.
Bring an idea you want to test to the call.