Design and assessment of quality control loops for stable business processes Robert Schmitt (2) a, *, La ´ szlo ´ Monostori (1) b,c , Henrik Glo ¨ ckner a , Zsolt Ja ´ nos Viharos b a Laboratory for Machine Tools and Production Engineering (WZL), RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany b Fraunhofer Project Center for Prod. Mgmt. and Inf., Computer and Automation Research Institute, Budapest, Hungary c Department of Manufacturing Science and Technology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary 1. Introduction In light of intense international competition companies must excel in order to prevail. At the same time, they are obliged to decrease production and labor costs while increasing both product quality and productivity. An aggravating factor is the dynamic, crisis-shaken environment in which companies are operating today. Hence they are currently dealing with barely predictable and constantly changing conditions from the planning level down to the shop floor [1,2]. To survive in today’s volatile market companies need to improve the robustness of their processes vis-a ` -vis internal and external disturbances [3,4]. Uncontrolled business processes in lack of adequate feedback mechanisms tend to instability in case of unanticipated disturbances or target adjustments. Furthermore, the dynamic behavior of business processes is scarcely known to companies and it often varies over time, due to personal and organizational changes. The depicted problems are well-known in cybernetics. In order to cope with disturbances in technical systems, closed control loops are implemented. However, control technology proves that wrong or less precisely designed control loops tend to amplify a system’s oscillation caused by disturbances and may even result in its collapse. Control theory differentiates between feed-forward and feedback control. Only the second one allows for an adequate compensation of disturbance and sufficient robustness within the controlled system. To cope with the above- mentioned challenges the implementation of closed quality control loops is proposed for business processes [5–7]. As examples such as the Deming-cycle (plan-do-check-act), Six Sigma’s DMAIC-cycle (define–measure–analyze–improve–con- trol) and ISO 9001 show, feedback mechanisms are well-known in the field of quality management. Nonetheless, the structured design of quality control loops in companies is still a problem. The above-mentioned circumstances require a new cybernetic approach for the design and assessment of reactive processes in quality management [8–10]. 2. Cybernetic approaches The theory of cybernetics originates from the theoretical – that is, logical, conceptual and mathematical – analysis of self- regulation, autonomy, hierarchy of organizations and functioning in organisms [11]. First Wiener published findings from the application of cybernetics in order to depict complex relations within systems [12]. Early cybernetics, however, did not differ- entiate between technical (machines) and socio-technical systems (organizations). This, as one of the main points of criticism, led to a new thinking considering the human being as an inherent part of a control system [13]. Subsequently, cybernetic thinking was applied in various branches of science. Today’s vast variety of definitions and conceptions for cybernetics reflects this broad application; see [12,14–18]. Kaufmann differentiates between three main branches of cybernetics which have evolved since 1965 – the scientific and technological branch, the humanistic and physiological branch as well as the branch of economic and social sciences – with quality management being a sub-branch of the latter [19]. According to Glaserfeld, cybernetics is ‘metadisciplin- ary, which is different from interdisciplinary, in that it distils and clarifies notions and conceptual patterns that open new pathways of understanding in a great many areas of experience’ [11]. Hence, cybernetics provides a language for describing and understanding the dynamic behavior of complex systems. Based on this under- standing, cybernetics can be used as a foundation to develop solutions to both technical and organizational challenges. 3. Towards controlled entrepreneurial quality International standard EN ISO 9000:2005 defines quality as the ‘degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology 61 (2012) 439–444 A R T I C L E I N F O Keywords: Quality Quality control Performance A B S T R A C T Due to their open and dynamic character, business processes in lack of adequate feedback mechanisms tend to become unstable in case of unanticipated disturbances or target adjustments. In order to face this challenge and to ensure entrepreneurial quality the implementation of quality control loops is proposed, whose design is derived from cybernetics. The paper discusses requirements for the characteristics of quality control loops and presents a new approach for their assessment implemented in software. The developed tool also serves as a knowledge exchange platform since it provides an opportunity for exchanging standardized control loop elements. ß 2012 CIRP. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: R.Schmitt@wzl.rwth-aachen.de (R. Schmitt). Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology journal homepage: http://ees.elsevier.com/cirp/default.asp 0007-8506/$ – see front matter ß 2012 CIRP. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cirp.2012.03.055