Information and Analysis
This component considers the usefulness and management of data that supports the quality system.Major factors are:
-existence of a database and its use in information systems.
-analysis of quality data and information
More information is included in the application guidelines for the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award. The guidelines provide an excellent list of activities needed for a company to achieve continuous quality improvement.For some companies, this may be helpful in getting a vision of what they would like to be. For others, it may be helpful in fine-tuning their quality improvement efforts.
Approach and Improvement
There are many approaches to making improvements. Some are elaborate.Others are very simple. Almost all approaches are tailored to the company using them. Often, these approaches center on the following steps:
- Find the problem to be solved.
-study the conditions or environment around the problem
-develop several solutions to solve the problem
- evaluate the solutions to find the best one.
-implement the best solution and performance measures to evaluate the solution
- compare the actual results against the expected results
-make adjustments for further improvement
The steps need not be in order. Certain steps may be done simultaneously. Many popular improvement approaches are based on what is called the Shewhart Cycle and it is also called the "PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT" cycle after its four stages. This approach is well suited for use by cross-functional improvement teams.
