Quality Gurus

To better understand how TQM and Six Sigma work, it is helpful to review various individuals’ roles in developing quality programs. Each person, or guru, added upon the original work of previous individuals. For example, even though Deming is considered the founder of TQM, he actually applied many of the statistical models of Walter Shewhart who, before World War II, worked as an engineer for Western Electric and Bell Telephone Laboratories.

W. Edward Deming

As we learned earlier in this topic, Deming’s work was the foundation for TQM.

Deming was from Iowa and went to the Universities of Wyoming and Colorado before earning his doctorate in physics at Yale. His initial attempts to apply his statistical methods consisted of using sampling methods to perform an accurate U.S. census in 1940. However, like so many people, his life would take a dramatic change with the beginning of World War II. His methods were applied to help the war effort by improving manufacturing techniques.

After the war, he began working with the U.S. Occupation Force in Japan. Again, his techniques were applied across industries in Japan while working with the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers. The result of many years of teaching and revising his tools led to the creation of TQM as we know it today. Some of Deming’s most famous contributions included but were not confined to his 14 points, the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) loop, SPC, and Quality Function Deployment (QFD).

Figure 3.3: Dr. W. Edward Deming (1900–1993)

Deming’s success in Japan created significant demand for him to help American industries. From 1980, Deming worked to help various companies and individuals by teaching them TQM across the United States. His teaching seminars were famous for illustrating his points and methods. He ended up writing numerous books and articles throughout his career. But, it was near the end of his life that he became something of a business celebrity. There are numerous quality awards named after him in the United States and Japan. Deming’s 14 points are summarized below.

Joseph M. Juran

Juran was a contemporary of Deming. He was born in Romania but immigrated to the United States as a child with his parents. After earning a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota, he joined Bell Laboratories in the 1920s. Later, he would move to Western Electric, where he worked throughout World War II. After the war, he worked as a management consultant and as a professor at New York University. He, too, went to Japan to aid the recovery and worked with the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers.

Figure 3.4: Dr. Joseph M. Juran (1904–2008)

While Deming was focusing more on SPC at that time, Juran was focused on the philosophy of quality. He wrote the bestselling Quality Control Handbook in 1951. This book encapsulated Juran’s concept of having management adopt a genuine quality approach or philosophy. While he was in Japan during the mid-1950s, Juran conducted seminars with Japanese business leaders and managers. Another quality guru, Kaoru Ishikawa, stated that Juran’s lectures and seminars took quality from something young engineers talked about in statistical terms and made it a national phenomenon.

Juran was also popular in the United States as the quality movement took hold. As a result, he created the Juran Institute in 1979 to help companies improve their quality process. The institute is still in operation today and offers services in lean manufacturing, Six Sigma training and certification, business process improvement, and other services.

Philip Crosby

Crosby became a quality guru through a slightly different path. After serving in the U.S. Navy in the Korean War, he worked for several companies in manufacturing. Then, from 1965 to 1979, he worked for the ITT Corporation, eventually becoming the Vice President and Director of Quality. With his practical experience, he wrote his first book, titled Quality is Free, published in 1979. After the success of his book, he left ITT to start a consulting company to help companies incorporate quality into their processes.

Figure 3.5: Philip Crosby (1926–2001)

He is best remembered for the concept that “zero defects” should be the standard. His idea of creating a zero-defect process would save a company more money than the cost of implementing it. In addition, his philosophy was one of “Do it right the first time.” This insight will save you the cost of rework and returns. Hence, the improvements in quality were effectively “free” to the company. Finally, he agreed with Deming that customer requirements were the key to quality. His concept of zero defects would mean that customers received higher-quality products and had fewer returns or complaints.

Taiichi Ohno

Much of the initial interest in quality was in post-war Japan. For example, Taiichi Ohno was an industrial engineer from Nagoya Institute of Technology.

He began working for Toyoda Spinning and Weaving Works (which evolved into Toyota) in 1932. He would be promoted many times within the company, reaching the rank of Vice President and eventually moving to a Toyota subsidiary around 1980.

Figure 3.6: Taiichi Ohno (1912–1990)

Mr. Ohno is remembered for many contributions but is most recognized for two major additions to quality and lean. First, his concepts and drive shaped Toyota’s manufacturing processes. He is credited as the father of the Toyota Production System (TPS) or “Toyota Way.” Many of the concepts addressed in the previous chapter on lean came from the TPS.

Second, he also developed the idea of “muda,” or waste. He identified the seven ways an organization creates waste in its business processes. Once identified, the company should strive to eliminate the waste. The combination of the TPS, muda, just-in-time, and other concepts from Mr. Ohno is the foundation of today’s lean manufacturing.

Kaoru Ishikawa

Another famous Japanese engineer was Kaoru Ishikawa.

After graduating from the University of TATIUC in chemical engineering, Ishikawa served in the Japanese Navy and later worked for the Nissan Liquid Fuel Company. From there, he joined the faculty at the University of Tokyo. In addition, he was active in the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers. This point is where he joined the Japanese quality movement. He started by applying the works of Deming and Juran in post-war Japan.

Figure 3.7: Kaoru Ishikawa (1915–1989)

He was much more than a translator and quality follower. He added two significant contributions to the quality body of knowledge. First, he created the concept of “quality circles.” These quality circles are groups of similar workers coming together to address improvements and present them to management. A second major item that he created was the Cause and Effect diagram. This tool helped organizations understand the underlying root of problems and identify common causes. We discuss this tool in more depth in a later section.

Other Key Quality Gurus

These five gurus are often identified as the key gurus that started the quality movement. However, many others contributed as well. Walter Shewhart helped improve SPC by incorporating control charts into the quality process. Shigeo Shingo added the concept of “poka-yoke,” which means to mistake-proof the process. Genichi Taguchi is known for designing methods and experiments to improve the quality and reduce the cost of the processes. Armand V. Feigenbaum is known for the concept of total quality control and talked about the “hidden plant,” where failure to perform an action correctly the first time wastes a large portion of a plant’s capacity.

These individuals and many others helped increase the knowledge, tools, and concepts of today’s quality and lean processes.

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