How does PDCA flow differ from Six Sigma (DMAIC)?
This was selected as Best Answer I used PDCA (PDSA) for many years, implementing the Deming philosophy and TQM. As I began to practice Six Sigma as a methodology for breakthrough process improvement, I used to map DMAIC directly to PDSA at a macro level. I later realized that this works superficially, but that it might not be the most accurate representation of what you do in a DMAIC project. PDSA (Deming changed it from “Check” to “Study” later in his career) is a roadmap of the scientific method, an iterative learning model. It’s not prescriptive; it doesn’t say how or what tools to use to plan a test, or how to implement it, what analysis tools you use to study the results of the test, or how to then act on those results. It is a cycle for continual gains in learning, and continual improvement, and as such has life and utility beyond the boundaries of a project. In contrast, DMAIC is a phase-gated project life cycle. It has a beginning, a defined outcome, a roadmap for completion, a
