PDCA

plan, do, check, act

The Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle (Deming or Shewhart cycle) is the basic loop of improvement: plan the change, try it on a small scale, check the result with data and then standardise it or adjust.

ISO 9001 builds the process approach on PDCA together with risk-based thinking.

Common mistake

Stopping after “Do”. Without the check step with data and the act step of standardising, nothing is learned.

Calculate it

A3 Report: Lean A3 report with photos and PDF, from background to results.

Related terms

• Continual improvement: recurring activity to enhance performance
• Process approach: managing activities as linked processes