Food-Service-Manual-for-Health-Care-Institutions

Food Service Manual for Health Care Institutions
70
General History of Quality Management
In the 1930s, Walter A. Shewhart provided a scientific foundation for quality control measurement
in industry and manufacturing. He believed that efforts should focus on identifying
and correcting problems during the manufacture of products rather than on correcting the final
product. Shewhart is credited with designing the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle shown in
Figure 4.1.
W. Edwards Deming, who was originally trained as a statistician, began teaching statistical
quality control in Japan shortly after World War II. He is recognized internationally as a
primary contributor to the Japanese quality improvement program. Deming advocated that the
way to achieve product quality is to continuously improve the design of a product and the
process used to manufacture it by reducing waste. He expanded the PDCA cycle, defining each
of the four quadrants in Shewhart’s model and providing specific suggestions to foster improvement
(Figure 4.2). He was a prominent pioneer in the quality movement, maintaining that 90
percent of variations in quality are due to systemic factors such as procedures, suppliers, and
equipment not under employees’ control. He thought that it was management’s responsibility
to reduce variation and to involve employees in the continuous improvement of system
processes.
Deming also is credited with the use of statistical process control tools that are the foundation
of total quality management (TQM). In Causey’s handbook An Executive’s Pocket
Guide to QI/TQM Terminology (1992), TQM is defined as “a continuous quality improvement
management system, directed from the top, empowering employees and focused on
Figure 4.1. Shewhart’s PDCA Cycle for Process Improvement
Act
Revise
practice
Adopt the
change
Check
Results
Lessons
learned
Plan
Set goals
Design
Do
Data collection
Analysis