3. Improving processes

As with the word "system", Deming's understanding of the word "process" is somewhat different from that usually used in QMSs. Indeed, to apply Deming's management philosophy, we won't limit ourselves to the macro-processes often found in QMSs (management, realization or support processes). The term process, and the tools for improving it, can be applied to virtually any activity within an organization. A medium-sized company may have several hundred processes.

Deming developed a tool called the flugram to describe and improve processes. It consists of a flow chart to which he added a column for each function (or department, or entity). This technique was later adapted by the BPMN standard, which uses its own terminology (pool, corridor, task, condition, signal, etc.), with a view to automation (example of a flow chart: the horizontal format instead of columns is...