## 3 Applying PDCA Cycle in Packaging for Quality Continuous Improvement
### Plan  
The first step in the PDCA cycle is Plan. This step includes defining problems and collecting all relevant data. Then the team has to find out the problems' root causes to develop an actionable \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{1}{c}{**PDCA**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**FlowStep**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Stage**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Methods and Techniques**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Goal**} \\ \hline \multirow{8}{*}{Plan} & \multirow{2}{*}{1} & Problem definition & Interviews & Clearly defining problems of \\  & & and clarification & Questionnaire & current packaging methods \\  & & & Analyze quality report & Define customers’ requirements \\ \cline{2-5}  & \multirow{2}{*}{2} & \multirow{2}{*}{Data collection} & Check sheet & Investigating the current situation, \\  & & & Observation record & obstacles, specific characteristics \\  & & & & of the problem \\ \cline{2-5}  & \multirow{2}{*}{3} & \multirow{2}{*}{Analysis} & Brainstorming & Discovering all possible causes, \\  & & & 5 Whys technique & the n figuring out root causes \\  & & & Ishikawa diagram & & Generating and evaluating \\  & & & & potential countermeasures to \\  & & & & 5W2H technique & eliminate root causes \\  & & & & Gantt chart & Conceiving detail plan with \\  & & & & clearly time bounds to block \\ \hline \multirow{8}{*}{Do} & \multirow{4}{*}{5} & \multirow{4}{*}{Material testing} & Market research & \multirow{4}{*}{Finding eco-friendly materials for \\  & & & Cost comparison & packaging which meet the \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & Implementing tests to & technical requirements and at the \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & check/compare durable ability, & acceptable price \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & resist bursting, the strength & of materials \\ \cline{1-1} \cline{2-5}  & \multirow{4}{*}{6} & \multirow{4}{*}{Design} & Brainstorming and & \multirow{4}{*}{New packaging design to \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & affinity diagram & eliminate/block root causes \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & evaluation and & & Apply solutions to real products \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & Computer aided design & Prototype \\ \hline \multirow{8}{*}{Check} & \multirow{2}{*}{7} & \multirow{2}{*}{Check} & Brainstorming & \multirow{2}{*}{Checking if it out, return to the \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & Drop tests & & Do phase \\ \cline{1-1} \cline{2-5}  & & & & Do systems & Do systems \\ \cline{1-1} \cline{2-5}  & \multirow{2}{*}{8} & \multirow{2}{*}{Record} & Comparison and evaluation & \multirow{2}{*}{Analyzes and compares \\  & & & techniques & experiment results with the \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & Data collection & target goals \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{Act} & \multirow{2}{*}{9} & Standardization & \multirow{2}{*}{Flow chart} & \multirow{2}{*}{Standardize the improvements \\  & & and conclusion} & & & Sharing learnings and \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & & & Chal for further steps \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Research methodologies. tested plan. However, identifying the key stakeholders and understanding customers' expectations are mainly focused first of all. Since the PDCA requires many steps from defining, planning, testing, analyzing, etc., a multidisciplinary or cross-functional team should be established. This team includes members who have different main functions, who can communicate and interact with each other frequently toward the main goal. The Plan phase normally consumes more time than others due to it should be done very carefully in clarifying the problem, finding and analyzing the root causes, developing solutions or countermeasures in an action plan. Problem clarification-root cause analysis: The crack report of a GPEM industry partner shows the increasing percentage of the cracked packages from the pre-shipment stage to customers' storage checking. Cracks appear on the rim, body, and also the bottom of products. These problems happen to different types of products. In general, the higher percent of failure ratio, the more cost penalty the manufacturer has to pay.