What to know when establishing an in-company quality circle (Part 2)

Quality circles are built on the philosophy: “Each person will be more interested and proud of their work if they have the right to participate in the decision of their job or how to do it”. Thereby, the potential for quality improvement in your organization will be revealed.

In a precision component fabrication and assembly plant in the Southeastern United States, for example, a circle of quality (QC) was initiated and established by the management; while other QC is encouraged to build on a voluntary spirit and managed by the employees themselves. With around 47 QC established over a 3-year period, management research shows that the QC they run directly has fewer members, solves more work-related problems and solves much faster than self-initiated QCs.

However, the difference in problem-solving performance between the two forms of QC disappeared after management controlled the QC scale. The organization of many QC meetings has resulted in lower completion rates and slow execution speed in management-initiated QCs. QC with the support of top management (participating in many QC meetings) will solve significantly more problems than those without. On the other hand, this gap is also narrowed through reducing the number of meetings as well as the number of members in each QC.

Workers who participate in highly dynamic QC have lower failure rates, higher QC meeting attendance rates, and less waste. Membership numbers of QCs tend to decrease significantly over a period of three years, and large QC usually last longer than small QC. A significantly reduced number of QC members is a harbinger of QC failure.

In general, the number of members is a key factor determining the performance of the QC. The number of 3 – 12 members can be considered as the standard number to help the participating employees have enough space for development. Here are some of the innovative tools that have been used in the QC case study:

– Causality diagram (sometimes called Ishikawa or “herringbone” diagram)

– Pareto disability rate chart

– Process mapping, using data collection tools such as test sheets

– Graphical tools like histograms, histograms, scorecards and pie charts

– Control chart

– Scatter chart and correlation analysis

– Flow chart

Some of the common benefits your organization can achieve with applying QC:

• Contribute to strengthening the organization
• Create a meaningful work environment and each person’s role is respected
• Exploiting the potential of the members of the organization
• Employees are enhanced in their knowledge of how to solve problems themselves
• Improve employee relationships with each other and with the person in charge
• Reduce waste, improve organizational quality awareness, increase labor productivity and improve employee income
• Improve product efficiency as well as product and service quality

Productivity and Quality Office