## 3 Applying PDCA Cycle in Packaging for Quality Continuous Improvement
### Plan
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{p{142.3 pt} p{142.3 pt}} \hline \hline  & For spherical shape product, the re are four foam boards which cover all sides and are stuck by tape. The boards are easily broken down. \\ Problem: Styrofoam is damaged during storage or delivery; \\ The flat protectors are easily be shoved away from their initial positions; Using unfriendly environmental material \\ \hline  & For rectangular cuboid type, four L shape Styrofoam are on the top and bottom of the product, the other four foams are placed in the middle. \\ Problem: Styrofoam often is broken down in pieces. This does not only annoy customers but also reduce protection. \\ \hline  & Open one box for checking: Dirty inside nylon covered product \\ \hline  & Outside: Boxes are bent by overloading on the top \\ \hline  & Outside: The carton box is burst/born or scratched by collisions. \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: An analysis example of grasping the actual situation, identify current problems in packaging. untrained employees. For the second major group cause which relates to transportation, the bad road conditions and truck driver steering habit are also possible reasons. The third major group related to the packaging method brings many possible causes of cracks on products. They are inadequate cushions, low-quality carton box, a poor fixing level between product edges and box, and ineffective separations. These potential factors are continuously dug deeper to find the root or initial causes by using 5 Why technique. For example, cracks on the product:  
1 st W: Why are they happening? Possible causes can be bad transportation, storage or packaging  
2 nd W: Why have bad packaging? One reason can be that cushions in the packages are not good enough. 3 rd W: Why using not suitable quality cushions? Because the company uses one type of cushion for all different types of products. Cracks can happen on parts where the cushion is not provided enough or not thick enough, or the shape of cushions is not fit with the product. 4 th W: Why use only one type for all products? Because cushions are not designed and tested for each type of products. There is no instruction for using extra numbers of cushions for different sizes of shapes of products. 5 th W: Why not design and test cushion for each type of product? The design team did simulation testing to saving cost and concluded the current cushions can be used for a wide weight range of the products. After evaluating current problems, finding root- causes, realizing inputs, and desired outputs, the team has to set the target goal to lead the plan in the right direction. Below is the target in this case study. **Target:**_Improving packaging or finding a new solution with environmentally friendly material to tackle the problem of damaged products while providing cost-effective packaging._  
As the analysis above, with some types of products, the cushions inside the packing box are not suitable or not good enough. The design team might not use appropriate or essential methods to test cushions and the packaging method such as the drop tests for impact points. This can lead to two problems: Not being able to conclude exactly the cushion efficiency for different types of products. The cushion design itself (thickness, material, shape, etc.) may protect good for one type of product but not for others. When finding out these root causes, the team has to generate a solution to solve them. Figure 2: Ishikawa diagram for possible causes creating crack. However, the team also needs to consider the cost of producing and testing a current or a new design. 5W2H can be used to clarify all aspects of the problems and concerns and take them into account when developing solutions. Table 3 can be an example of how to make questions by using 5W2H in creating new cushion design, developing the real- testing method, and implementing it. When generating and evaluating the possible solutions, with the 5W2H tool, the team can consider their feasibility, practicality as well as economically.