Consistent conformance must be achieved before continuous improvement can be robust. It is hard to improve your competitive edge when consumed with fire-fighting. To get it right-the first-time requires positive control of each step.
The need for corrective action can creep into day-to-day processes without being noticed. Like a cold, if the environment is right for one process to catch it, other nearby processes are likely to catch it too. Once in, it grows. The pain soon reaches a point where it can no longer be ignored. The wrong medication can make it worse. Such viruses can be allowed to grow or they can be stopped.
The V-diagram shown below is used to distinguish between real improvements and corrective action. The boxes on the left side represent tiers of requirements. The degree to which that information is clear, concise, valid and readily available is most important. Changes initiated on the left side to make it even better represent real improvements.
Corrective Action - Right Side
Changes initiated on the right side represent reactions to nonconformances. Nonconformances experienced on the right are the result of deficiencies on the left. Whether hardware or software, to fix the right side requires fixing the left side. The product will be right if the process is right. The role of management is to reduce the number of changes initiated on the right side to zero.
Institute of Configuration Management Scottsdale, AZ 85261-5656 Tel: (480) 998-8600 Fax: (480) 998-8923 Email: info@icmhq.com