The 7 Basic Tools of Quality (or 7 QC Tools) is a collection of data analysis and problem solving tools used in continuous improvement.

They include:
* Cause and effect diagram (or Ishikawa diagram or fishbone diagram)
* Control charts
* Pareto charts
* Scatter diagram
* Histogram
* Check shee...

There is an urge among senior leaders to harvest the gains from CI immediately. It is better, though, to let some of those gains become resources to speed up the pace of improvement.

10% is a good target for the portion of your company's work hours that should be focused on continuous improvement. It strikes the balance between enough to make good gains, without overdoing it and causing chaos on your team.

Jidoka is “autonomation”, or automation with a human touch. It is the concept of setting up machines to identify problems and stop production.
It also entails the premise that any problems discovered should have a quick fix and a permanent solution developed. Jidoka is one of the core pillars of ...

In this latest episode of my "Ramblings" series, I talk about why it is vitally important that continuous improvement is part of a job and not an extra job. Late night kaizens and piles of work on desks after a project make it grossly unappealing for most people. Planning ahead can make it a welc...