QCC

 What is a Quality Control Circle (QCC)?

The QCC concept starts with the assumption that the causes of poor quality performance are not known, and that there is need for analysis to discover what actually causes the poor performance (other programs largely assume that the work force could do better but is holding back for no good reason). The QC Circle recognizes the need for prior training in use of the tools of analysis. The basic thinking process is:

• we don't really know the cause of our quality troubles; we don't even know which are the main troubles. Hence,
• we must teach people how to analyze the trouble pattern to identify the main troubles. Also,
• we must teach people how to list the suspected causes of the main troubles, and how to discover which are the real causes. Then
• we must help people to secure remedies for these real causes. Finally,
• we must teach people how to hold the gains through modern control

All workers reap the benefit of participation:

• By attending the QC Circle meetings, they acquire the ability to speak in public.
• They make more friends and this contributes to a more cheerful atmosphere in the workshop.
• They become more conscious of the importance of their jobs and their responsibility, and through the awareness of this importance, have more pride in their jobs.
• They improve their personality and acquire the ability to concentrate on solution of problems. These experiences with the QC Circle they apply in their home life.

QCC vs QIT

When a problem is inter-departmental in nature, it should be assigned to a Quality Improvement Team (QIT). This is quite different from the QCC, as is seen in the following comparison:

How the QCC Started

Gurus in the USA

The seed courses were Deming's lectures in statistical methodology (1950) and Juran's courses on Management of Quality Control (1954).

The QCC Movement in Japan

The Japanese were not content to conduct this training for engineers and the supervisory levels. Instead, the Japanese leave a good deal of planning and creativity to be carried out by the production force. The broad based Quality Control Department, with its arrays of Quality Control Engineers, Reliability Engineers and still other specialist categories, so commonly found in America, is a minority organization form in Japan. The Japanese approach has been to teach quality control methodology to managers in all areas. With such a broad base of training, the need for a broadly-based Quality Control Department is diminished, as is the need for specialist engineers.

Results in Japan

By April 1966, there were already over 10,000 such circles in Japan, and every one of them exhibited the following characteristics:

• average savings of about $3000 each
• collectively achieved $30 million in improvements
• this has been done without pre-emptying the time of the managers and engineers, who remain free to devote themselves to inter-departmental and upper level projects
• much analysis of sporadic troubles, and much done to reduce variation and to prevent recurrence
• more and sharper control tools have been made available to the factory floor: clearer interpretation of standards; more complete instrumentation; better data feedback; control charts.

How the QC Circle Movement Spreads

The concept makes its way into a hospital through awareness of successful results. With training, a Circle identifies a problem to be solved, tackles it and solves it. It then tackles another, and another. The record of successful internal solutions breeds other QC Circles within the same hospital, and the movement spreads. Hospitals organize in-house conferences of their QC Circles, providing opportunity for publicizing results and for giving recognition to the Circles who achieved the results.

The Role of the Hierarchy

While participation in the QC Circles is voluntary, the existence of such Circles raises practical questions of how to coordinate the work of the Circles with that of the hierarchy. When the company is large, and the QC Circles number in the hundreds, this coordination can become complex, since the grain of the two structures runs in different directions. To date, the experience gained has already identified some helpful principles of coordination. One of these is a dual approach to selection of projects. Projects for the QC Circles are proposed in two ways:

1. By the Circle itself, based on its job knowledge plus the collective creativity of the members.
2. By the management hierarchy. For example, the company goal may be to cut rejects from 5 percent to 2 percent. Breaking this goal down into sub-objectives can result in projects for QC Circles.

Special Features of QCC in Changhua Christian Hospital

Although the Japanese movement had great success in introducing basic quality control methods to front-line employees, we must be careful of not 'throwing the baby out with the bath water'. Goal setting too often relies on an arbitrary percentage change suggested by members, rather than benchmarking current best practice. There is little or no mention of recent trends to evidence-based medicine (EBM). Sampling and analysis tend to be limited by lack of experience in statistical analysis, with invalid sampling techniques leading to questionable reports of 'improvement'. Rarely is outside help sought in designing the quality improvement program.

The differences that we bring to the QCC movement are:

• Emphasize the process of question selection, by prolonging the initial step of identifying current problems so that all sources are consulted (complaints line, medicolegal cases, satisfaction surveys, and employee resignation analyses). De-emphasize subjective processes such as brainstorming at this stage.
• EBM during the data gathering stage with a literature review emphasizing the levels of evidence where possible. Acquire data on best practice and benchmark competitors at this stage.
• Goal setting. Move away from subjectively setting an arbitrary percentage, and use 'half-life' statistics to promote 'improvement' and 'continuity'
• Statistically valid sampling techniques for data sampling and outcome measurement