TQM Tools Application
In this activity, you will apply some of the tools to examine errors during the turnaround of aircraft for a large, fictional airline.
This chart provides the number of errors reported for a seven day period for the events completed during the turnaround process.
Errors Reported in a Seven Day Period
Event Sun Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Total
Total 9 29 11 11 8 9 21 98
Jet bridge delayed 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 9
Baggage belt broken 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 3
Refueling delayed 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 3
Galley servicing delayed 4 10 5 6 4 4 9 42
Cabin cleaning delayed 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2
Cabin not properly cleaned 3 10 5 3 3 2 7 33
Baggage loading delayed 1 2 0 1 0 1 1 6
Complete the steps in each section and then submit your assignment for grading. Submit one spreadsheet containing a tab for each TQM tool used. Include all recommendations, interpretations, and suggested actions in the spreadsheet. Current APA formatting and references are not needed for this activity.
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STEP 1: DEVELOP A HISTOGRAM AND PARETO CHART
Use Excel and the error data to develop a histogram and Pareto chart. Review the charts and draw conclusions from the data. What actions would you suggest to reduce the number of errors?
A histogram shows the frequency of occurrences of a variable. For this exercise, we want to look at the total errors by day so your Histogram should have 7 bars, one for each day of the week. For the Pareto chart, you should also have seven bars, one for each of the events.
STEP 2: BUILD A CAUSE-AND-EFFECT DIAGRAM
Pick one of the seven events in the Errors Reported in a Seven Day Period chart and build a fish-bone cause-and-effect diagram.
Hint: check out this video for some more information on how to create a cause-and-effect diagram: How to create cause-and-effect diagrams (YouTube 3:16). (Links to an external site.)
STEP 3: PRODUCE A SCATTER DIAGRAM
Continue with your examination of ways to reduce the error rate. Use the Servicing Delay vs. Support Staff data to produce a scatter diagram comparing the galley servicing delay versus the number of staff you are short of on each respective day.
