As a result, numerous printers in the  UK who have already gone down the ISO accreditation route will have come into contact with PDCA, but many may not be aware that they’ve used this methodology, whose roots can be traced back to the  early 1930s. 

So for the uninitiated what is PDCA, how does it work, what sort of businesses might benefit from using it and what are the main upsides to embracing this methodology?

What is it?

Put in the simplest of terms, PDCA is a four-step management technique that’s used by businesses for the control and continuous improvement of processes and products. Although many people attribute the foundation of the concept to Dr Walter Shewhart, who published a seminal quality control book in 1931 called Economic Control of Quality of Manufactured Product, PDCA is more commonly associated with W Edwards Deming, a pioneering US consultant who advised Japanese industry following the end of the Second World War. As a result of Deming’s efforts PDCA is sometimes referred to as the ‘Deming Learning Cycle’.

The key principle of PDCA is to “avoid the ‘just do’ habit we all make and so we fail to plan, check effectiveness and revise our plans – ie: we fail to learn,” explains Matthew Peacock, director at lean consultancy Active PPP. “Repeatedly doing the same thing and expecting a better outcome is quite a good definition of madness. PDCA teaches us to break this habit.”

How commonplace is it?

It’s pretty ubiquitous globally and in the UK. Any organisation that holds ISO certification, such as ISO 9001 quality management, or ISO 14001 environmental management, will have followed the PDCA cycle. There are more than one million ISO 9001 certifications issued globally alone and the UK printing industry has a healthy number of certified companies.     

Whatever you do don’t confuse it with lean

Although the PDCA methodology might  be commonly associated with Deming, it shouldn’t be too closely associated with lean, according to Deming’s grandson Kevin Cahill, from the W Edwards  Deming Institute. 

“My grandfather was not involved in lean and did not endorse it,” says Cahill. “He taught and applied a philosophy known as the System of Profound Knowledge (SoPK). It takes into consideration key elements that lean ignores. While he utilised the PDCA cycle with great success it was within the context of an understanding of SoPK, and he believed that understanding needed to be considered for the PDCA cycle to have success.”

That said, PDCA does overlap with some lean methodologies such as Six Sigma and other business improvement techniques including 8D (eight discipline problem solving) and DMAIC (define, measure, analyse, improve and control). 

“PDCA has the same basis as the scientific method – in essence: hypothesise, test, analyse, revise,” says Peacock. He explains that every successful lean project uses PDCA as a basic underlying principle. “Lean without PDCA is like science without the scientific method. Without PDCA it ain’t lean and without the scientific method it ain’t science,” adds Peacock. 

How does it work? 

The basic principles underpinning the methodology are pretty self-explanatory. You ‘Plan’, then you implement the plan (‘Do’), you then ‘Check’ the results and compare them with your expected outcomes. Finally, you ‘Act’ – or ‘Adjust’ – accordingly, if there are any discrepancies between the results you achieved and what you wanted to achieve.

Wayne Pearce, director at Eaglet Business Systems, a consulting company that specialises in auditing and training for UK and international standards such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, explains how this methodology might be put into practice by a regular business. 

“In a business cycle, which could be any length of time, but usually quarterly or annually, a business will ‘Plan’ something, which could be a new process, procedure, product or system, with appropriate resources (human, technology, financial, time, etc) and then ‘Do’ it – whatever it is/was,” says Pearce. “After they have done it they will ‘Check’ to see how well it performed against the ‘Plan’. After the ‘Check’ they will then ‘Act’ on any findings – good or bad – which ‘should’ lead to improvement.” 

If the process/procedure/product or system has been a success then the ‘Act’ phase could alternatively be replaced by the word ‘Standardise,’ argues Peacock. 

“In other words, if a plan works well then do it the same way next time,” says Peacock. “Standardising processes may seem in conflict with continuous improvement, but in fact standardised processes are the foundation for improvement because it means that the true effect of making changes at the ‘Plan’ phase of the next cycle can be ‘Checked’. If the change is successful it is then standardised in the ‘Act’ phase to lock in the improvement.”

What sort of firms is it suitable for?

The PDCA cycle is relevant for all businesses, says Pearce. “Typically organisations aiming for ISO certification will usually be business-to-business rather than business-to-consumer. Every type of business to business organisation has a company in their sector that has ISO certification,” he adds.

Although PDCA may work well for any organisation operating in the printing industry, the key to implementing it successfully is “management commitment and having the structures in place to make it part of the operating DNA,” according to Philip Tugwell, associate director at MCP Consulting & Training, a business improvement consultancy.

What’s the best way of implementing it?

Companies can appoint external organisations like Active PPP, Eaglet or MCP that specialise in implementing these methodologies. Pearce advises business owners choose their final certification body first and then ask the body to recommend a suitable consultant. Depending on the complexity of the plan it’s possible for a company to handle the implementation themselves, he adds. 

“If a company wanted to gain ISO certification they would normally either send a suitable person to a training course to allow them to learn the key elements and then they could do it internally, but most SMEs would take on a consultant to help them,” says Pearce. 

Larger organisations are more likely to have the capability to tackle implementation themselves, but the person tasked with overseeing the process needs to be chosen with care. 

“Normally we advise our clients that the directors appoint the best person for establishing and realising the plan,” says Pearce. “For example, a sales plan would probably be overseen by the best sales manager, an operational plan would likely be the ops manager for the area of business. ISO implementation is often given to the operations directors to oversee and they would delegate each part of the business to the most appropriate person.” 

Despite the fact that PDCA is a relatively straightforward methodology that can be implemented by organisations quite quickly and easily, to maximise effectiveness “it should be part of a business-wide improvement programme, which would need help from an experienced provider who can coach and guide the implementation of the process,” says Tugwell.

What are the benefits?

The most obvious upside of implementing PDCA is that it teaches companies to plan more effectively, says Pearce. “A robust plan, whatever the desired outcome, will save a lot of wasted time, money, headaches, grief and frustration later,” he explains. “If the goal is ISO certification the key benefit is the doors opening up to tenders with larger commercial organisations (ie: those higher up the supply chain), or with public sector, such as local government or NHS contracts.”  

However, like all business methodologies company owners shouldn’t fall into the trap of believing that it’s a panacea for all ills. As Graham Ross, lean consultant, explains: “One story I like is when a lean consultant asked an audience what PDCA stood for and the intelligent audience replied ‘Plan Do Check Act’. The lean consultant then replied ‘no, it’s Please Don’t Change Anything’.” 

Case study: GI Solutions

When Leicester-based GI Solutions wanted to move to the next stage of business growth just over a decade ago the company started to explore the possibility of implementing different business improvement methodologies. One option that immediately stood out for the company was the benefits associated with the continual improvement cycle of the different ISO certification schemes, of which Plan Do Check Act (PDCA) forms the vital backbone. 

Today, Gi Solutions is certified to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 27001 and OHSAS 18001, and also uses lean manufacturing principles and Ishikawa (the ‘fishbone’ process) methodologies as part of its continual improvement programme, which is overseen by business improvement manager James Matchett.

“Using the ISO system we were able to capture the great new developments and environmental improvements we were already undertaking at GI Solutions,” says Matchett. “The ISO structure provided the process for setting objectives and targets and monitoring success. When GI Solutions implemented our ISO 9001 quality management system we discussed the key business metrics which supported our continuous improvement strategy. We set quality objectives based on the issues we believed impact our business the most.”

Matchett says that at the beginning, when GI decided to create a quality management system, it appointed an experienced consultant to guide the business through the certification process. 

“This was back in 2004 when we found external support useful for implementing ISO 19001 to the high standard required,” he says. “The consultant worked in conjunction with our senior management team to  deliver a good understanding of the ISO requirements at all levels of the business and to ensure the business benefit was fully realised. The project was run by our operations director with weekly management meetings to monitor progress and ensure compliance.”

The company also established its own business improvement department responsible for implementing its continual improvement plans – the department was completely independent of the GI production team. 

Following implementation of its new quality management programme the company enjoyed a number of different benefits, according to Matchett. These included the ability to target improvement projects based on the results of its data capture, provide support to areas of the business that required additional resource and identify areas of best practice within the business and then deploy this across the company. 

In addition, GI increased operational efficiencies by ensuring information was ready and correct when required and diverted 99% of business waste away from landfill to alternate methods of disposal. These efforts didn’t go unnoticed by the company’s customers with client compliments increasing year on year. 

For Matchett, the key to GI’s successful implementation was getting buy in from the top down. “The achievement and maintenance of ISO 9001 needs full senior management commitment so it is vital the whole business buys into the process and the need for the certification,” he says. “If all employers are engaged the methodology becomes embedded into your business culture. In order for a business to improve it has to analyse what are the key issues that are affecting its performance. We engage with our employees through our weekly newsletter, a monthly company magazine, regular departmental meetings and once a quarter all employees attend a briefing given by our managing director on current business performance.”