In response to Ian Saunders, I provide this list of management and
planning tools used by individuals in my company to reactive and proactive
improvement initiatives:
1) affinity diagram, in two variants: one we refer to as the "Net-Touch,"
and the other as the "Language Processing Method (LP)," a cousin of the
KJ. The later was created by Jiro Kawakita, the former elaborated by the
Center for Quality of Management in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
2) the relations diagram, a network of cause-and-effect relations. Often
used to trace through answers to "why?" questions, e.g. "why is 'what's
happening' happening?" Often used when the situation is too complex for
use of an LP.
3) Matrix diagram, for relating multiple alternatives to multiple
consequences of each. Often used to answer "which?" questions, e.g. "which
things do we have to do to satisfy the customer's requirements?"
4) PDPC (process decision program chart), a diagram of the flow of
alternative possibilities and countermeasures for each. Often used to
design responses to possible setbacks--answers to "what if?" questions.
These are in addition to so-called 7QC tools: check sheets, graph, Pareto,
histogram, scatter diagram, fishbone (cause-and-effect) diagram, and
control chart.
Detailed descriptions, how-to's, applications for these are given in many
books and publications.
Yours in continuous improvement,
--Barry Mallis Manager - Quality and Development MARKEM Corporation Keene, New Hampshire bmallis@markem.com
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