5.2 Introduction

In previous topics, you learned about the philosophy and benefits of using quality and lean processes improvements. Now it is time to start the process of implementing change. As with any new endeavor, such a process can be challenging and even a little scary. The good news is that Dr. Deming—a leading management thinker in the field of quality—understood that most of the workers involved in the Total Quality Management (TQM) process were likely to have limited math training. As we move forward to the tools section, you will learn that many of the essential data collection and analysis tools are relatively straightforward.

Let’s assume for a minute you are a big baseball fan. Growing up, you played in a little league, followed the major league, and had a fantasy team. You constantly heard and talked about batting averages, hits, runs, wins, and losses. These were fundamental parts of the game, after all! Each of those averages is a type of data and uses basic statistics. There, we said the scary word—“statistics”! When you compare player one’s batting average against player two’s, you are collecting data. Data you used to make a choice. Which player do you want on your real or fantasy team?

Taking this into account, are all baseball statistics the same? In modern baseball, maybe we use slugging percentage or the total number of bases as our comparison. Deciding which statistics to use and collecting that data are the first steps to making educated decisions. This philosophy applies within the business world.

To use another example, imagine you’re a college student without a car in a major city—something that may already apply to you! Each day, you ride the bus from your apartment to the university. Over time, you naturally learn many of the little tricks to make this trip run more smoothly. You’ve learned that at certain times of the day the buses run late so you have to build in extra time, or that on rainy days, there are fewer riders so you don’t need to worry about missing a bus because it is too full. Finally, you’ve learned that after 7 pm, there are fewer buses and you have to either leave before then or ensure you are at the stop at the proper time to avoid a long wait between buses. Without realizing it, you are again collecting data on the process of getting to and from the university. In turn, you are making small decisions about your riding process that impact your bigger schedule.

The basic tools of lean process design are similar to both the bus and baseball examples. The tools provide a systematic method to collect data and then use that data to help you make educated decisions. These tools come in several levels of difficulty—some cases are as simple as counting, most are tools that the average high school student can easily perform, and then there are a few tools that require a greater level of skill to apply. All of these collection tools, however, will help you with the lean process by showing you how to collect and organize data.

Remember, collecting and analyzing data is a process in and of itself!