A PDPC maps a plan, anticipates what could go wrong, and defines preventive or contingency actions before execution begins.
Definition
A Process Decision Program Chart (PDPC) is a planning tool that expands a goal or plan into steps, identifies potential problems at each step, and defines countermeasures or contingencies. It helps teams prepare for failure modes before implementation.
PDPC is one of the new seven management and planning tools and is especially useful for complex or high-risk plans.
History
PDPC developed in Japanese quality planning practice as organizations needed structured methods for implementation risk. It complements tree diagrams, activity networks, FMEA, and project risk management.
When to Use
Use PDPC when implementing a major change, launch, event, project, corrective action, or deployment where foreseeable obstacles could prevent success. It is useful before Kaizen events, equipment moves, process changes, and customer-facing changes.
Step-by-Step
- Define the goal or implementation plan.
- Break the plan into major activities and tasks.
- Ask what could go wrong at each task.
- Identify causes, triggers, and warning signs.
- Define prevention actions and contingency responses.
- Assign owners and decision points.
- Review with people who will execute the plan.
- Update the plan during execution as new risks appear.
Examples
- Equipment move: The team plans contingencies for utility delays and validation failures.
- Kaizen event: The facilitator anticipates missing data, unavailable operators, and delayed materials.
- Launch: A process change includes fallback rules if first-pass yield drops.
Common Pitfalls
- Listing risks without owners or actions.
- Only involving planners, not executors.
- No trigger for when to activate a contingency.
- Ignoring low-probability high-severity risks.
- Creating a chart too late to change the plan.
- Failing to update after lessons learned.