Proactive vs. Reactive
Proactive statistical process control (SPC) should be nurtured and institutionalized within an organization. Personnel who are proactive take the initiative to look for improvements that may significantly affect customers. Reactive SPC only reacts to problems, often doing so without direction. Reactive SPC is weak because: it is expensive to solve problems while only maintaining the status quo; customers are lost to competitors who are proactive; and it demoralizes those employees who have proactive attitudes. Implementation of proactive SPC may involve these activities: incorporation of SPC into company procedures in such a way that employees have flexibility to change procedures as needed; development of performance measures that assess SPC initiatives; strong encouragement of employees to be involved in SPC, especially through teamwork; establishment of a culture in which it is acceptable to learn from mistakes and to strive for continuous improvement.