Quality Control Circles Research Articles

Quality Control Circles Technique for Reducing Fine Bored Parts Rejects After Tool Change

This study aims to assess reduction of rejects after tool change in a crankshaft manufacturing industry using Quality Control Circles (QCC) technique. Four months production data of crankshaft was collected and analyzed in 2022 in one of the largest automotive industries in Indonesia. Fine boring process was identified as the largest contributor of rejects. QCC activities were conducted to streamline the type of rejects in fine boring. QCC introduced a new intermediate action in calibrating machine setting after tool change. The results show a significant reduction in the level of rejection from 35% to just 5% of total rejects in the fine boring process after this QCC method was implemented. This result shows that this QCC method, by brainstorming among employees, can continuously improve and solve the problem in the workplace. This QCC method not just reduce the reject rate but also increasing morale, safety maintenance for employee, smoothness in supplying the next process, and reducing the cost (QCDSM). The limitation of this method is high dependency to the knowledge, experience and skill of the QCC team. Development of QCC team in term of new knowledge may lead to future improvement opportunity through development of quality control techniques with incorporation of internet of things or smart devices.

Impact of quality control circles on the quality and outcomes of in-hospital emergency cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Impact of quality control circles on the quality and outcomes of in-hospital emergency cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

An overview of the quality control loops

The main goal of the quality control circles (quality) is to monitor the obstacles facing an institution, to analyze these obstacles and to develop appropriate solutions for them and to improve and develop work productivity. And its development and follow-up and the actual contribution to the development of the institution by showing the human ability in creativity and self-management to solve work problems.

Excellent Medical Quality and Patient Safety are the Mission and Responsibility of Health Care: Assessment of the Eff and Signifi of Mission Three in Medical Centers

<p>醫學中心「任務三：卓越的醫療品質與病人安全」，以2023年參與醫學中心評鑑之14家參與醫學中心為研究對象，凸顯臺灣醫療機構在追求高品質醫療與病人安全方面的成就。各醫院積極建立管理架構與組織策略，包括成立委員會與小組，推動改善活動。領導系統的強化與主管參與教育訓練促進了品質與安全的執行。教育訓練持續進行與精進，提升醫護人員的意識。品管中心主導和品管圈的推動，促進全院性的參與。內省回饋機制推動根本原因分析與改善措施的落實。資訊科技的應用提高了效率與準確性。大量資源投入於品質與安全活動，並普遍應用資訊智慧化與科技支援。醫院間的分享與合作提升了區域醫療水準。我們臺灣醫療機構通過建構組織架構、推動教育訓練、建置內省回饋機制等方式，持續加強品質文化，提供卓越品質與病安的健康照護，並促進整個區域醫療水準的提升。</p> <p> </p><p>Mission Three: Excellent Medical Quality and Patient Safety- highlights the achievements of 14 competitive medical centers in Taiwan in pursuing high-quality health care and patient safety in 2023. Each hospital actively established management frameworks and organizational strategies, including committees and groups, to promote improvement activities. Strengthening leadership systems and supervisor participation in education and training aided the execution of quality and safety measures. Continuous education and training enhanced the awareness of health-care personnel. The leadership of the Quality Control Center and the promotion of quality control circles fostered participation across the hospital. The introspective feedback mechanism promoted root cause analysis and the implementation of improvement measures. The application of information technology improved efficiency and accuracy. Medical centers invested substantial resources in quality and safety activities, with widespread use of information intelligence and technological support. Sharing and collaboration among hospitals elevated regional health-care standards. Through the construction of organizational frameworks, promotion of education and training, and establishment of introspective feedback mechanisms, Taiwanese medical institutions continuously strengthen their culture of quality, thereby providing excellent health-care quality and patient safety while promoting the enhancement of regional health-care standards.</p> <p> </p>

ANALYZING THE IMPACT OF QUALITY CONTROL CIRCLE AND SEVEN TOOLS METHODS ON ENHANCING PRODUCTIVITY

The primary objective of companies involved in the production process is profitability, achieved through optimizing labor, raw materials, and resources. This continual improvement results in a robust production system geared towards generating significant profits. A prevalent method for ongoing refinement is the application of Quality Control Circles (QCC). This research focuses on assessing productivity improvements in the K84 Line Steering Handle following the implementation of QCC methodologies. It aims to understand the factors affecting productivity and applies QCC techniques to enhance efficiency. The research reveals promising findings, indicating that QCC-driven enhancements have substantially reduced cycle times across workstations. This reduction directly contributes to increased production output for the K84 Line Steering Handle. The utilization of QCC methods has proven remarkably effective, elevating efficiency levels from 65% to an impressive 92% and concurrently reducing manpower requirements by 3. In summary, this research emphasizes the transformative impact of QCC practices on productivity, highlighting substantial gains in output efficiency and resource optimization for the K84 Line Steering Handle. The integration of QCC-driven improvements has proven instrumental in achieving these positive outcomes. Keywords: Quality Control Circle, Seven Tools and Productivity

Студенческие lean-клубы: источник непрерывных улучшений деятельности вуза

Educational organizations require a fundamentally new organization of business processes. The transition to blended and distance learning (remote work) is the first reason. The second reason is the problems of Russian higher education that have accumulated earlier. Universities need to improve the efficiency of personnel, eliminate losses, maintain and improve the quality of the educational product. Lean production tools and techniques are suitable for these tasks. Lean production approaches have been used in large industrial plants around the world for many years. The expansion of lean practices to the service and public sector is a current trend. The ideology of lean production is also permeating higher education institutions. The Lean Universities Association contributes to this process. The National Project “Labor Productivity” is also a driver of development. Universities are training personnel for the implementation of this project. The students’ lean-club can be a successful form of interaction with students. Lean-club members will participate in the analysis of processes and generation of ideas for continuous improvement of the university. The activities of the lean-club will improve the work of the university and form a lean thinking among its members. The Kaizen quality philosophy can form the basis of the lean-club’s concept. It involves the gradual but constant implementation of improvements. The main tool will be quality control circles. Their participants will analyze business processes and make proposals for their improvement. Both Kaizen philosophy and lean production are customer focused. Students are customers and consumers of most of the key processes of the university. Building a system of continuous improvement of the university with the participation of students is considered appropriate. Student lean-club members need certain personal and professional competencies to implement projects. The most important competencies are soft skills and basic knowledge of lean production. They do not prevent you from joining the lean-club. Lean-club members can acquire these competencies as they work. Learning in practice, in the process of project activities from simple to complex, seems to be important and valuable.

Application of Quality Control Circle in Improving the Success Rate of Indwelling Needles in Patients

Objective: This study aims to assess the effectiveness of quality control circles (QCCs) in improving the success rate of intravenous indwelling needles among patients. Methods: The study included 1136 patients, that were admitted to the kidney and thoracic surgery wards of the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University from June 2019 to December 2019. The patients were using an indwelling needle each. They were divided into two groups: 1) control group (n = 232), where patients received regular nursing interventions; 2) intervention group (n = 904), where patients received QCC nursing intervention. Result: The fishbone diagram analysis revealed that poor training, lack of indwelling needle-related evaluation sheet, and lack of dynamic assessments were the factors that contributed to indwelling failure. In addition, the average indwelling duration of the intervention group was significantly higher than that of the control group. The success rate of indwelling needles in the intervention group (67.8%) was also significantly higher than that of the control group (48.3%), where p < 0.05. Furthermore, the intervention group (seepage = 19.9%; phlebitis = 6.7%) reported a significantly lower prevalence of the main factors of indwelling needle failure than the control group (seepage = 34.5%; phlebitis = 8.6%), where p < 0.05. Conclusion: The implementation of QCC can effectively reduce the occurrence of complications and nursing risks as well as improve the success rate of intravenous indwelling needles among patients.

The Types of Human Resource Practices and Cultural Effects

Prior studies support that culture as well as institution influences the way a multinational corporation (MNC) subsidiary implements human resource (HR) practices. However, they tend to ignore variations in HR practices. Through an extensive review of the literature, the current paper asserts that the cultural effect on the implementation of HR practices varies depending on the type of HR practices. To support this view, the paper discusses how MNC subsidiaries implement distinct types of HR practices transferred from the MNC parent. The HR practices discussed are: (1) recruitment, (2) employee training and development, (3) performance appraisal, (4) compensation, benefits, and pensions, (5) teamwork, and (6) quality control (QC) circles. The differences in the implementation of HR practices caused by culture seem to be salient in HR practices where personal relationships are essential. Namely, (3) performance appraisal seems to be the most culturally sensitive. (1) Recruitment is also culturally sensitive as culture determines how and whom subsidiaries recruit. However, it is also subject to institutional effects because an MNC parent controls it by setting internal regulations. Cultural effects on (4) compensation, benefits, and pensions cannot be ignored either. Yet, institutional effects seem to be stronger than culture because minimum wages and pensions are regulated by companies and governments. Although culture can influence the time and the types of (2) employee training and development, its impact on this practice seems smaller than that on the previous three practices. Finally, it is hard to grasp the real cultural effects on (5) teamwork and (6) QC circles. When these ‘popular’ HR practices are explicitly codified, they become highly transferable. Thanks to the codification, subsidiaries can ceremoniously implement them by simply copying forms, avoiding cultural effects.

The Application of Quality Control Circles to Reduce the Cost of Non-priced Consumables in Department of Oncology

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of using quality control circle (QCC) techniques to reduce the cost of non-priced consumables in medical oncology. Methods: Analytic statistics were compiled on the performance appraisal form. Aiming at the key points of improvement with respect to the excess cost of non-valuable consumables, the reasons were analyzed, and corresponding measures were formulated to compare the cost before and after the improvement. Results: After the QCC activity, the cost of non-priced consumables decreased from RMB 6.57/bed day to RMB 3.96/bed day. Conclusion: QCC has effectively reduced the cost of non-priced consumables in the oncology department, and it is worthy of promotion.

Contribuição do círculo de controle de qualidade (CCQ) à aprendizagem organizacional: evidências em uma indústria têxtil catarinense

A busca por vantagens competitivas obriga as empresas a trabalharem com uma gestão voltada para a melhoria contínua. Neste cenário, crescente são as organizações que adotam ferramentas como o Círculo de Controle de Qualidade (CCQ), buscando também compreender a Aprendizagem Organizacional (AO) como fator de diferenciação. Conhecido como um modelo onde profissionais trabalham em grupo, o CCQ contribui para desenvolver melhorias. Quanto a AO, Crossan, Lane e White (1999) desenvolveram o modelo “4 I’s”, onde AO ocorre por meio dos processos de intuição, interpretação, integração e institucionalização, nos níveis individual, grupal e organizacional. Este trabalho analisou as contribuições do CCQ à aprendizagem nos níveis individual, grupal e organizacional, percebidas pelos participantes do programa de uma indústria têxtil catarinense. Para isso, foi realizado um estudo de caso, exploratório e descritivo, de abordagens quantitativa e qualitativa, com coleta de dados via aplicação de questionário e análise documental. Os dados foram analisados por meio de softwares (Excel e Minitab), além da análise guiada pelo framework dos “4 I’s”. Como resultados, constatou-se que o ambiente do CCQ oportuniza a aprendizagem nos níveis individual, grupal e organizacional e que não há diferença no nível de percepção entre os perfis de respondentes no contexto estudado.

Development of a Dynamic Model of Quality Control Circles: A Case of ABC Packaging Company

Quality control circles are considered an effective tool in the organization to best utilize the potential of the workforce. The objective behind using quality control circles is to use employees’ brains to generate savings and create an impact on the bottom-line of the company. The framework of the quality control circles shown in Table 2 proposed the structured seven steps strategy to use the workforce's potential for continuous improvement in the organization. Companies confront multi-faceted issues and challenges in the operational processes and corporate excellence thus mainly depends upon the effective and efficient quality controls to overcome the product, process, machine, and material related issues that hamper the production efficiency, quality of the product, and overall productivity of the company. This paper attempts to develop the system dynamics model of quality control circles based on normalized data of the case company. Participation in quality control circles is voluntary in nature and passion to learn and improve is the intrinsic motivation for employees and organizations to join these circles. Employee involvement to participate and produce creative ideas in these circles is the key to the success of these quality-enhancing programs (Jerman et al. 2019) and model outcome depicts the same story. The quality control circle model indicates that a set of inter-related and interdependent skills and behaviors are a necessary condition to increase participation in the quality control circles and productivity of projects under consideration. The computer-based software STELLA is used for programming the model of quality control circles using the generic structures of the company under study. Underlying feedback structures and interactions among various variables makes the model closer to the real-life setting.

The Association between the Participation of Quality Control Circle and Patient Safety Culture.

Promoting patient safety culture (PSC) is a critical issue for healthcare providers. Quality control circles program (QCCP) can be used as an effective tool to foster long-lasting improvements on the quality of medical institution. The effect of QCCP on PSC is still unknown. This was a retrospective study conducted with matching data. A safety attitudes questionnaire (SAQ) was used for the evaluation of PSC. The association between all scores of six subscales of SAQ and the participation QCCP were analyzed with both the Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests. A total of 2718 valid questionnaires were collected. Most participants of QCCP were females (78.9%), nurses (52.6%), non-supervisors (92.2%), aged <40 years old (64.8%), degree of specialist or university graduates (78%), and with work experience of <10 years (61.6%). Of all participants, the highest scores were in the dimension of safety climate (74.11 ± 17.91) and the lowest scores in the dimension of working conditions (68.90 ± 18.84). The participation of QCCP was associated with higher scores in four dimensions, namely: teamwork climate (p = 0.006), safety climate (p = 0.037), perception of management (p = 0.009), and working conditions (p = 0.015). The participation or not of QCCP had similar results in the dimension of job satisfaction and stress recognition. QCCP was associated with SAQ in subjects with the following characteristics: female, nurse, non-supervisor, aged >50 years old, higher education degrees and with longer working experiences in the hospital. In this first study on the association between each dimension of SAQ and the implementation of QCCP, we found that QCCP interventions were associated with better PSC. QCCP had no benefits in the dimensions of job satisfaction and stress recognition.

A Systematic Literature Review of Implementation Quality Control Circle in Manufacturing and Services Industries

A quality control circle (QCC) is a group of workers who do the same or similar work, who meet regularly to identify, analyze, and solve work-related problems. This paper is a literature review on the role of QCC in enhancing work safety in the manufacturing and services industry. This paper explores how quality control circles (QCC) enhance work safety in a firm manufacturing environment. The method used is reviewing inquiry papers that use QCC consistently. The findings of this study can be considered as a roadmap for the successful implementation of QCC in all industries. The results obtained contribute to advances on QCC research for identifying that the concepts sustainable of quality manufacturing and service industries can enable quality to have positive impacts on all the sustainability dimensions in an integrated way, and also supporting the implementation of the quality plan in the following aspects: continues improvement; quality management; management improvement. In essence, these research results will help management make crucial decisions and resource allocations required to make the QCC implementation a succes.

The Study of Quality Control Management that Influence the Implementation of Technical Standards for Class C Hospital Buildings in Tangerang Districs

Based on research issues regarding the implementation of hospital building technical standards that are often ignored, especially from the quality control process so that there is no improvement in quality, the research problems that will be resolved are analyzing the understanding and indicators regarding; quality control management, and the application of technical standards in class C hospital buildings. This study examines the main aspects of quality control management, quality control circles, and PDCA Cycles (plans, actions, checks, actions) as a program in the implementation of factors that affect quality control management. Applying the technical standard of class C hospital buildings was assessed based on the provisions of the ministry of health. As a consideration of this research examines the portrait of the project under study, which is a case study of Class C Hospital in Tangerang Districts and highlights relevant research results in the past 10 years. Qualitative methods sourced from secondary data will be used to study understanding and indicators in discussing research problems. In the results of this study it can be concluded that the factors of quality control management can hinder the application of hospital building technical standards so that it can affect the quality of the building which has an impact on the comfort and safety of building users. This research produces answers to research problems that will provide recommendations for improvement for service users so that it can have a positive impact on the implementation of the project.

The Role of Quality Control Circles in Sustained Improment of Nurses, Handover in Emergency Department

The Role of Quality Control Circles in Sustained Improment of Nurses, Handover in Emergency Department

New evidence on the origins of quality circles

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the contribution of Benzaemon Inoue and Sumitomo Electric Industries (SEI) in the early development of what came to be known as quality control (QC) circles. This paper analyses archival records including journals, books, documents such as the SEI Deming prize-winning submission of 1962 and private letters sent by Benzaemon Inoue to the author Kenneth Hopper. Methodology/Approach: This paper uses the analytically structured history approach. This methodology is used to interpret and document history as an analytic historical narrative and must describe such things as causation, events and concepts. In addition, the narrative must be framed in the context of the time when the events took place. Findings: There are three main findings: firstly, that SEI first developed QC circles and won the 1962 Deming Prize based on QC circles; secondly that SEI used societal and cultural conditions in Japan to encourage participation by the workers in improving quality; and thirdly, that the most important method of participation for SEI was suggestion systems. Research limitations/contributions: The primary data for this paper have been drawn from various archival records, which are for the most part not peer reviewed. Wherever possible, triangulation of evidence has been undertaken to mitigate the inherent risk of bias. The main contribution is an evaluation of the roles of Benzaemon Inoue and SEI in the early development of QC circles and total quality management (TQM). Originality/value: The originality of this paper lies in examining Benzaemon Inoue's and SEI's contribution to the development of QC circles. The importance in the history of quality management of their Deming Prize winning submission of 1962 has been underestimated.

Clinical evaluation of the application of QCC mode in ICU artificial airway nursing

Objective To explore the clinical effect of Quality Control Circles(QCC) mode applied to ICU artificial airway nursing, and to provide optimal and efficient nursing service for ICU patients. Methods A total of 42 patients receiving artificial airway care from January to June 2017 were selected as the control group, and another 45 patients receiving artificial airway care from June to December 2017 were selected as the study group.The control group was given routine care in ICU, while the study group was given QCC mode in the nursing process.Adverse complications in each group were observed and recorded.The nursing service quality and patient satisfaction of each group were investigated.The nursing effect of each group was compared. Results The incidence of airway obstruction, cough, pulmonary infection, airway mucosal bleeding and other conditions in the study group was less than that in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05). The overall incidence of complications (8.89%) was significantly lower than that of the control group (33.33%). Besides, after the establishment of artificial airway, the formation of sputum scab at different time points and the daily sputum aspiration times, the occurrence of abnormal blood oxygen saturation and accidental tube removal were all lower than the control group, and the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05). After questionnaire survey, the nursing quality scores of the study group were significantly higher than those of the control group, and the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05). The satisfaction rate of patients to nursing staff was 95.56%, which was significantly higher than of the control group (69.05%), and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05). Conclusions The implementation of the QCC mode during the nursing of patients with artificial airway in ICU wards can reduce the adverse stimulation and influence of artificial airway, improve the quality of nursing and nursing effect, reduce the risk of complications, improve the clinical efficacy, and benefit the patients' recovery. Key words: ICU ward; Artificial airway; Quality control circle; Nursing

The Innovation of Quality Control Circles: A Clear Disuse in the Last 15 Years in the Mexican Industry

Purpose– The aim of this work is to present a concise analysis of Quality control circles (QCC's) disuse in the Mexican Industry. Design/methodology/approach – A comparative descriptive analysis was carried out on the year of 2000 and 2015, considering a sample of Mexican Industries that implemented the quality control circles, which belong to the Mexican Association of Work in Team A.C. (AMTE). First, in the methodology was realized a classification of the sample studied, later it was divided into two stages: 1) Quantitative variables and 2) Qualitative variables. Findings – Two important factors can be considered to explain the QCC's disuse. (1) The different cultural context. (2) The new and better methodologies currently recommended for the solution of opportunity areas in Mexican Industry. Finally, the few Mexican Industries that uses Quality Control Circles suggest consider a high percentage of employees to guarantee adequate results. Discussion – A first possibility to consider a clear tendency to disappear the QCC in Mexican Industry is due to a different cultural context. A second possibility could be to better methodologies are currently recommended for the solution of areas of opportunity. However, the fact that, apart from the automotive sector and its derivative components, the participation of another industries turnaround has been drastically reduced to almost disappear, as well as for the service companies.

The relationships between shop floor management and QCCs to support Kaizen

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop and redefine the “classic” roles of shop floor management and quality control circles (QCCs) in Kaizen. In specific, it aims to examine the linkage between shop floor management and QCCs, and test the relationships among shop floor management, QCCs and long-term Kaizen improvement outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs qualitative method by using a questionnaire to obtain data from 371 respondents in nine Sino-Japanese automotive joint-ventures. The data are analysed with the method of canonical correlation approach.FindingsThe study identifies important factors to assist the adoption of shop floor management and QCCs for Kaizen. The analysis on the survey indicates that not all the shop floor management tools could help to identify improvement opportunities. QCCs are effective in addressing large problems and challenging current policies in companies, however, they have low impacts on individual learning.Research limitations/implicationsThe data of this study come from nine Sino-Japanese automotive joint ventures. Therefore, the sample selection is limited to these companies. The findings are able to be applied for improving the similar problems which were identified in this study.Practical implicationsThe study has the following practical implications, first is small shop floor problems can be identified and solved rapidly and continuously at source by shop floor management. The second one is QCCs, or other similar group-based improvement approaches take long to be fully addressed and implemented. Third, practical solutions can be achieved from small and gradual changes, and they can prevent the results backsliding to the pre-improvement stage. Finally, QCCs are hardly to achieve a better improvement alone. It requires other Kaizen approaches to support.Originality/valueThis study is probably the first to explore and investigate the implementation of the four building block tools of shop floor management in real business practise, and more specific the first to discuss the relationship among shop floor management, QCCs and long-term improvement outcomes based on empirical data from Sino-Japanese automotive joint-ventures.

Analysis on the status quo of the standardization of insulin pen use in nonspecialist diabetic patients by quality control circle

Objective To explore the role of quality control circle activity in regulating the use of insulin pen in with non-specialist diabetes mellitus. Methods Quality control circle group was set up.The theme of to improve the standard rate of using insulin pen in non specialist diabetes patients was carried out.Through the investigation of the current situation, the causes of nonstandard use of insulin pen were analyzed, and the effect was evaluated after 4 months. Results After quality control circle activity, the patients' standard using insulin pen rate was increased from 24.62% to 75.00%, and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.01). The knowledge of insulin injection of non-specialist nurses was significantly higher than that before activity, and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.01). The activity target achievement rate was 109.26%, and the progress rate was 66.83%.The comprehensive quality score of circle members was better than that before the activity. Conclusions Quality control circle activities can effectively regulate the use of insulin pen in non specialist diabetics, and improve the comprehensive quality of nursing staffs. Key words: Quality control circles; Non specialist diabetes patients; Using insulin pen; Standard rate