Red Bead Experiment

William Edwards Deming was a master of quality improvement. His demonstration called the “Red Bead Experiment” was an amazingly simple, but effective way to highlight some problems in quality management. The example, which he used in many of his seminars, involved a batch consisting of approximately 80% white beads and 20% red beads. A group of willing workers were trained to use paddles that collected samples of beads for quality testing. The workers showed their paddles to managers who would then count the number of red beads- the defects. Red beads were present in each sample regardless of how much training or testing was done. The quality lessons we can learn from this experiment are applicable in all businesses including manufacturing, healthcare, and service industries. Firstly, we can conclude that the problem is often the system, not the workers. In this case, the workers were trained how to scoop up the beads, not how to separate the white from the red. Workers did as they were trained, only to be reprimanded when a high number of red beads were present in a sample. The training provided did not teach workers how to meet the standard (Mann, 1989, p. 65). The causes of variation were not related to the skills’ of the workers. According to Wheeler (2000), the causes of variation were due to statistical chance and workers were going to fail as long as there were red beads in the batch. In order to improve a quality system for products or services, we must start with fixing the system. Methods such as process management and concurrent engineering can help resolve this issue (Evans & Linsday, 2012).
Secondly, management must learn to understand cause and effect. In order to reduce the number of defects or errors, managers may need to realize how much they contribute to a problem. Managers were quick to point out which workers were “good” and “bad” and terminated those who had the most amount of red beads. However, the managers were responsible for the processes, and therefore, they were responsible for the number of defects (Mann, 1989, p. 142). It is crucial to have skilled workers, but it is just as crucial to have competent management who are trained in understanding the differences between assumptions, correlation, and causation (Evans & Lindsay, 2012).
Encouraging workers to do their best when they are not given the proper tools will only lead to unsatisfactory performances. When it became obvious that those with fewer red beads were given positive reviews followed by merit-based raises, an environment of cheating promptly followed. Many willing workers could not understand why they were not performing well despite their efforts. In reality, workers had no control over the system (Mann, 1989, p. 121). Deming believed that slogans and posters were wasteful because extrinsic motivation would not have an impact on the problems. No amount of training or pressure on the lower levels of business will be able to help a seriously flawed system. Workers can only be as good as their management. We need to utilize a total quality approach to resolve issues- this means every function of business and level of personnel must be involved (Evans & Lindsay, 2012). Managers should conduct a design of experiments and select robust and reliable solutions from there. This will ensure a quality product and reduce the number of errors because it solves the problem instead of cheerleading those who are working with the problem. We must also take into consideration that people are not always the greatest source of variation. To improve quality, we must look beyond common sense and investigate reasons why variation occurs. According to Wheeler (2000), systems thinking and statistical methods are incredibly helpful in understanding variation. Wheeler (2000, p. 98) further explains we must treat the disease, not the symptoms. Statistical methods and control charts help us organize information in a way that can be easily interpreted. We can use information from this data to look for existing problems, areas that require improvement, and to help predict future performance (Wheeler, 2000, p. 199). However, it is even more beneficial to prevent variation in the first place. A company should also build a House of Quality from the beginning with a well-developed concept and design for manufacturability.
The “Red Bead Experiment” shows how numerical goals and standards can be meaningless (Evans & Lindsay, 2012). Often times, rigid and precise procedures are not sufficient to produce a desired quality level. The workers, who dealt with the beads first-hand, were never given the opportunity to have any control over the processes or a chance to offer feedback. While most companies have some tolerance for defects and errors, the goal is to reduce those numbers as much as possible. However, it is not possible to reduce those numbers without changing the processes (Mann, 1989, p. 23). Those directly involved with the product or service know the processes best and, therefore, they should be utilized as a great asset for process improvement.
While Deming’s “Red Bead Experiment” depicts a fictional factory’s problems, there are several quality management lessons we can apply to improve real businesses. We should begin investigating a problem by looking at the system, not the workers. The experiment also highlights the importance of management understanding cause and effect relationships. Additionally, we must eliminate “cheerleading” employees to work with broken systems and, instead, resolve the problems in the system. Most importantly, we should use statistics to see where variation occurs instead of pointing fingers at the workers. Lastly, we should ask for feedback from the workers using the system. If a company were to implement all of these lessons, quality of their services or products would greatly improve. Quality improvement leads to more satisfied customers, greater market share, and increased profit margins as a result of less errors.
References
Evans, J., & Lindsay, W. (2012). Managing for quality and performance excellence (9th ed.). Mason, OH: Thomson/South-Western.
Mann, N. (1989). The keys to excellence: The story of the Deming philosophy (3rd ed.). Los
Angeles: Prestwick Books.
Wheeler, D. (2000). Understanding variation: The key to managing chaos (2nd ed.). Knoxville, Tenn.: SPC Press.

References: Evans, J., & Lindsay, W. (2012). Managing for quality and performance excellence (9th ed.). Mason, OH: Thomson/South-Western. Mann, N. (1989). The keys to excellence: The story of the Deming philosophy (3rd ed.). Los Angeles: Prestwick Books. Wheeler, D. (2000). Understanding variation: The key to managing chaos (2nd ed.). Knoxville, Tenn.: SPC Press.