document_title: PDCA

question_text: the first step of the pdca cycle is

question_tokens: the first step of the pdca cycle is

text: PDCA

text: Meaning[edit]

text: This section contains instructions, advice, or how-to content. The purpose of Wikipedia is to present facts, not to train. Please help improve this article either by rewriting the how-to content or by moving it to Wikiversity, Wikibooks or Wikivoyage. (October 2017)

text: Plan[edit]

text: During the plan phase, establish the objectives and processes necessary to deliver results in accordance with the expected output (the target or goals). By establishing output expectations, the completeness and accuracy of the specification is also a part of the targeted improvement. When possible start on a small scale to test possible effects.

text: Do[edit]

text: During the do phase, implement the plan, execute the process, make the product. Collect data for charting and analysis in the following check and act steps.

text: Check[edit]

text: In the check phase, study the actual results (measured and collected in do phase above) and compare against the expected results (targets or goals from the plan phase) to ascertain any differences. Look for deviation in implementation from the plan and also look for the appropriateness and completeness of the plan to enable the execution, i.e., the doing. Charting data can make this much easier to see trends over several PDCA cycles and in order to convert the collected data into information. Information is needed for the next step: act.

text: Act[edit]

text: If the check phase shows that the plan phase which was implemented in do phase is an improvement to the prior standard (baseline), then that becomes the new standard (baseline) for how the organization should act going forward (new standards are thus said to be enACTed). Instead, if the check phase shows that the plan phase which was implemented in do phase is not an improvement, then the existing standard (baseline) will remain in place. In either case, if the check phase showed something different than expected (whether better or worse), then there is some more learning to be done... and that will suggest potential future PDCA cycles. Note that some who teach PDCA assert that the act phase involves making adjustments or corrective actions, but generally it would be counter to PDCA thinking to propose and decide upon alternative changes without using a proper plan phase, or to make them the new standard (baseline) without going through do and check steps.

text: About[edit]

text: PDCA was made popular by W. Edwards Deming, who is considered by many to be the father of modern quality control; however, he always referred to it as the "Shewhart cycle". Later in Deming's career, he modified PDCA to "Plan, Do, Study, Act" (PDSA) because he felt that "check" emphasized inspection over analysis.[4] The PDSA cycle was used to create the model of know-how transfer process,[5] and other models.[6]

text: The concept of PDCA is based on the scientific method, as developed from the work of Francis Bacon (Novum Organum, 1620). The scientific method can be written as "hypothesis–experiment–evaluation" or as "plan–do–check". Walter A. Shewhart described manufacture under "control"—under statistical control—as a three-step process of specification, production, and inspection.[7]:45 He also specifically related this to the scientific method of hypothesis, experiment, and evaluation. Shewhart says that the statistician "must help to change the demand [for goods] by showing [...] how to close up the tolerance range and to improve the quality of goods."[7]:48 Clearly, Shewhart intended the analyst to take action based on the conclusions of the evaluation. According to Deming, during his lectures in Japan in the early 1950s, the Japanese participants shortened the steps to the now traditional plan, do, check, act.[8]:88 Deming preferred plan, do, study, act because "study" has connotations in English closer to Shewhart's intent than "check".[9]

text: A fundamental principle of the scientific method and PDCA is iteration—once a hypothesis is confirmed (or negated), executing the cycle again will extend the knowledge further. Repeating the PDCA cycle can bring its users closer to the goal, usually a perfect operation and output.[9]

text: Another fundamental function of PDCA is the "hygienic" separation of each phase, for if not properly separated measurements of effects due to various simultaneous actions (causes) risk becoming confounded.[10]

text: PDCA (and other forms of scientific problem solving) is also known as a system for developing critical thinking. At Toyota this is also known as "Building people before building cars".[11] Toyota and other lean manufacturing companies propose that an engaged, problem-solving workforce using PDCA in a culture of critical thinking is better able to innovate and stay ahead of the competition through rigorous problem solving and the subsequent innovations.[11]

text: Deming continually emphasized iterating towards an improved system, hence PDCA should be repeatedly implemented in spirals of increasing knowledge of the system that converge on the ultimate goal, each cycle closer than the previous.[citation needed] One can envision an open coil spring, with each loop being one cycle of the scientific method, and each complete cycle indicating an increase in our knowledge of the system under study. This approach is based on the belief that our knowledge and skills are limited, but improving. Especially at the start of a project, key information may not be known; the PDCA—scientific method—provides feedback to justify guesses (hypotheses) and increase knowledge. Rather than enter "analysis paralysis" to get it perfect the first time, it is better to be approximately right than exactly wrong. With improved knowledge, one may choose to refine or alter the goal (ideal state). The aim of the PDCA cycle is to bring its users closer to whatever goal they choose.[2]:160

text: When PDCA is used for complex projects or products with a certain controversy, checking with external stakeholders should happen before the Do stage, since changes to projects and products that are already in detailed design can be costly; this is also seen as Plan-Check-Do-Act.[citation needed]

text: Rate of change, that is, rate of improvement, is a key competitive factor in today's world.[citation needed] PDCA allows for major "jumps" in performance ("breakthroughs" often desired in a Western approach), as well as kaizen (frequent small improvements).[citation needed] In the United States a PDCA approach is usually associated with a sizable project involving numerous people's time,[citation needed] and thus managers want to see large "breakthrough" improvements to justify the effort expended. However, the scientific method and PDCA apply to all sorts of projects and improvement activities.[2]:76


document_title: Battle of the Bulge (film)

question_text: what tanks were used in the battle of the bulge movie

root

text: Battle of the Bulge (film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: It is December, 1944. Military Intelligence officer and former policeman Lt. Col. Daniel Kiley (Fonda) and his pilot, Joe, are flying a reconnaissance mission over the Ardennes forest. Spotting a German staff car the plane buzzes the car and photographs the officer. Alarmed, the chauffeur flees the car leaving the engine running. "Petrol is blood," rebukes the German officer, marking a theme of the film, the German shortage of fuel.

tag: p

text: In a subterranean lair, it is revealed the officer is Col. Martin Hessler (Shaw), a fictional Panzer tank commander loosely based on SS-Standartenführer Jochen Peiper. Hessler is briefed by his superior, Gen. Kohler (Werner Peters), on a new German attack, piercing west against the American lines. Kohler points out a clock with a 50-hour countdown, which is the time allotted for the operation, beyond which Germany has no resources for full-scale attack. At the same time German soldiers disguised as American troops, led by Lt. Schumacher (Ty Hardin), are tasked with seizing vital bridges and sowing confusion behind the Allied lines.

text: Meanwhile, Kiley returns to headquarters where he warns that the Germans are planning one more all-out offensive. His superiors, Gen. Grey (Robert Ryan) and Col. Pritchard (Dana Andrews), dismiss it out of hand: all available intelligence points to Germany not having the resources and manpower to launch another attack. Hoping to uncover more proof, Kiley visits a US infantry position on the Siegfried Line under command of Maj. Wolenski (Charles Bronson). A patrol led by Lt. Weaver (James MacArthur) and Sgt. Duquesne (George Montgomery) capture some young and obviously inexperienced German soldiers. Kiley concludes that experienced German troops have been replaced by these men and withdrawn for an offensive, but Pritchard dismisses this as well.

text: Hessler launches his attack the next day. Awakened by the noise of German tanks, Wolenski leads his men into the wooded area of the Schnee Eifel, where they try to fight them off but are overrun. A group of Allied tanks led by Sgt. Guffy (Telly Savalas) also attempts to slow the Panzers, but their tanks' weak guns and thin armor make them ineffective, forcing him and his crew to retreat.

text: Lt. Schumacher and his disguised troops capture the only bridge over the Our River capable of carrying heavy tanks. Hessler continues his spearhead toward Ambleve, while being observed by Kiley. Schumacher later takes control of a vital intersection of three roads connecting Ambleve, Malmedy and the Siegfried Line. He sabotages the road signs, and the rear echelon of Wolenski's troops take the wrong road to Malmedy; almost the entire unit is captured and massacred. Lt. Weaver manages to escape, but Duquesne is killed. US soldiers become suspicious when they witness Schumacher's "military police" lay explosives incorrectly on the Our bridge, and his masquerade is revealed.

text: Hessler's tanks and infantry storm Ambleve, finally taking the town. Although many Americans, including Wolenski, are captured, Grey, Pritchard, Kiley and others escape to the River Meuse. American forces regroup and begin to reorganize for a counterattack. Facing the dangers of a foggy night, Col. Kiley conducts an aerial reconnaissance in an attempt to locate the main German spearhead. He orders the pilot to shut off the engine and glide in an attempt to listen for enemy tanks. Suddenly, through a gap in the fog, he spots Hessler's tank column heading toward American lines. Kiley radios in the coordinates, but his plane is hit by German fire and crashes near an American fuel depot.

text: Meanwhile, Gen. Grey's forces, with the Meuse at their back, prepare to fight off Hessler. The outgunned, outarmored American tanks are systematically destroyed, but at the cost of the Germans burning up much of their fuel. Guffy, Weaver and the surviving Americans head to the depot.

text: Aware of the fuel shortages, Hessler leads a detachment toward the depot to capture its stocks. Weaver and the stragglers arrive first. Weaver recognizes Lt. Schumacher, who is still posing as an American MP and whose men have taken control of the depot, but Schumacher doesn't recognize him. At Weaver's signal, he and his men open fire on the disguised Germans, killing them all. The US defenders flood the road with gasoline and set it ablaze. Nearly all the German tanks are destroyed in the fire, including Hessler's. The remaining Germans give up the attack, marching back to Germany.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Henry Fonda as Lt. Col. Daniel Kiley
Robert Shaw as Col. Martin Hessler
Robert Ryan as Gen. Grey
Dana Andrews as Col. Pritchard
George Montgomery as Sgt. Duquesne
Ty Hardin as Lt. Schumacher
Pier Angeli as Louise
Barbara Werle as Elena
Charles Bronson as Maj. Wolenski
Hans Christian Blech as Conrad
Werner Peters as Gen. Kohler
James MacArthur as Lt. Weaver
Karl-Otto Alberty as Maj. Von Diepel
Telly Savalas as Sgt. Guffy
Steve Rowland as Eddy
Robert Woods as Joe
Charles Stalmaker as Maj. Burke

tag: ul

text: Historical inaccuracies[edit]

text: This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

tag: table

text: The final tank battle is a rough depiction of the Battle of Celles on December 26, 1944, where the U.S. 2nd Armored Div. smashed the German 2nd Panzer Division. The film creates the false impression that large numbers of American tanks sacrificed themselves against the heavy Tiger IIs and in the process lured the enemy off course, which caused them to run out of gas. In reality, they were already stranded. The tanks used (despite the claims of the producer in an interview which is one of the DVD extras) are not historically accurate; although the M24 Chaffee light tanks used in the scene were World War II-era vehicles, they were not in use in the scale shown in the film and were relatively rare. Unfortunately, the US M47 Pattons as representing German King Tiger tanks and the M4 Shermans as represented by the aforementioned M24 Chaffees contributed much to the myth or 'meme' of the 'superior size and firepower which US armor had to contend with.' But in WWII, that was actually the task and work of the (mobile) artillery.

text: Aside from the initial American encounters with the German offensive, there is some absence of cold weather and snow, which were the conditions in which the real battle was fought. There is no trace of snow at all in the film's major tank battle scene, nor were some battle scenes fought in flat and bare territory, considering the mountainous, forested and grassy nature of the Ardennes. The film was shot on location in the Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range and Madrid, Spain.

text: The sequence with Lt. Schumacher and his men was based on Operation Greif, the plan to parachute English-speaking Germans using American equipment behind American lines to sow confusion and capture the bridges.

text: Absent from this movie is the response by Gen. George Patton, whose Third Army relieved the siege of Bastogne. Also, there are no African-Americans in the movie even though the 761st Tank Battalion (The Black Panthers) played a role in Patton's Third Army. Indeed, there is no reference to British forces in the area, although British troops were largely kept behind the Meuse River and thus almost entirely out of the fighting. Also not mentioned is Gen. Eisenhower's decision to split the Bulge front in two, ceding temporary command of two American armies to Field Marshal Montgomery in the northern half of the Bulge; the film implies a totally American operation. There was also no mention of the role of Allied air power hitting the Germans hard at the first sign of clear weather.

text: The film's opening narration, by William Conrad, does mention both Montgomery and Patton, but is inaccurate, saying:

text: to the north, stood Montgomery's Eighth Army. To the south, Patton's Third Army.

text: In fact, Montgomery's northern command was actually the 21st Army Group. The Eighth Army, Montgomery's previous command, was actually in Italy at the time of the Battle of the Bulge. Although Patton was in charge of Third Army during the battle, this army was part of a much larger American force in the south. Third Army was one of four American armies that constituted the 12th Army Group under Gen. Omar Bradley.

text: The film recaptures the major aspects of the battle, depicting how the inexperienced replacement American units stationed in the Ardennes were initially overwhelmed, and how confused the situation became. It points out the superiority of heavy German tanks, along with their major weakness — a lack of fuel. Some early scenes, showing discussions among German officers, accurately depict the Third Reich's desperation to cut U.S.-British supply lines and neutralize the Allies' huge logistical advantage.

text: Production[edit]

text: Screenwriter Bernard Gordon claims to have rewritten John Melson's original screenplay.[3] Some of the original choices for director were Richard Fleischer, who turned it down and Edward Dmytryk, with whom Jack L. Warner of Warner Bros. refused to work.[4] Technical advisor on the film was Maj. Gen. (then Col.) Meinrad von Lauchert, who commanded the German tank division that made the most headway in the actual battle.

text: For an economical price and with no restrictions, the Spanish army provided an estimated 500 fully equipped soldiers and 75 tanks and vehicles, some of World War II vintage.[5]

text: Reaction[edit]

text: Former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower came out of retirement and held a press conference to denounce the film for what he considered its gross historical inaccuracy.[6]

text: The film was one of the most popular movies at the British box office in 1966.[7]

text: Later releases[edit]

text: The original VHS release of the film for home video use was heavily edited to fit in one VHS tape (to reduce costs to the consumer) and used a full screen "pan and scan" technique often employed in network telecasts of widescreen motion pictures. The 1992 Laserdisc and 2005 DVD releases, however, run at their full length and are presented letterboxed in the original 2.76:1 aspect ratio. A Blu-ray release followed in 2007, though the aspect ratio says it is 2.35:1 on the back of the cover, the actual aspect ratio of the film is the original 2.76:1 like the previous DVD release. A more recent Blu-ray release states the correct aspect ratio.

text: Comic book adaption[edit]

text: Dell Movie Classic: Battle of the Bulge (June 1966 )[8][9]