Industrial diagnostics

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|Industrial Diagnostics |
|A Systematic Approach to Management Problem-Solving |
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|J. M. Juran |
|Consulting Management Engineer |
|Fellow of the American Management Association.|
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|INDUSTRIAL PROBLEMS classify themselves, for planning purposes, into two major groups: problems of maintaining |
|the status quo, and problems of changing the status quo. The accompanying table outlines the distinctions |
|between the various aspects ofthe two types of problem. |
|It is clear that the steps for maintaining the status quo follow an unvarying sequence: |
|Establishing a standard of performance, whether by executive fiat or by common consent. |
|Setting up a systematic means for measuring and summarizing actual performance,using the "regular" |
|scorekeepers. |
|Interpreting the departures of actual performance from standard, done by the line supervision responsible for |
|meeting the standard. |
|Decision on whatto do about the departures, also by the line supervision. |
|Action to restore the status quo, also by the line supervision. |
|This procedure for holding the status quo has the greatadvantage of being a self-supervising system. The target|
|is set, and some down-the-line supervisor has been equipped with themeans for holding performance on target. |
|If he holds the line, we can rely on meeting budgets, forecasts, schedules and the other predictions on which |
|we based our planning. This is all to the good. |
|The great disadvantage is the static nature of merely holding the status quo. When we hold the status quo we |
|arealso standing still. There are numerous tragic examples of this. The engineers report that the product |
|still performs per specification, but the company loses business to a competitor whose new design outperforms |
|the old models. The sales force reports that the salesmen have met their quotas, but there is no joy; a |
|competitor has created and captured an entirely newmarket for the same product. The plant manager reports that|
|he has held scrap to the "budgeted" level, yet "budgeted" scrap exceeds the company's profit. |
|{bmc figure\SP573_28.dib} |
|Unless the target or standard is properly chosen, holding the status quo can be a cruel delusion, abuilt-in |
|procedure for avoiding progress. Managers can and often do become so preoccupied with procedures that the |
|actual choice of targets receives short shrift. Yet it is clear that a good procedure for meeting the wrong |
|target is a form of self-deception. Neither the good target nor the good procedure for meeting targets is |
|sufficient; they are both necessary....