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What is a quality guru?
A guru, by de nition, is a good person, a w ise person and a teacher. A quality guru should be all of these,
plus have a concept and approach to quality w ithin business that has m ade a m ajor and lasting im pact. The
gurus m entioned in this section have done, and continue to do, that, in som e cases, even after their death.
The gurus
There have been three groups of gurus since the 1940s:
Early 1950s Americans who took the messages of quality to J apan
Late 1950s J apanese who developed new concepts in response to the Americans
1970s-1980s Western gurus who followed the J apanese industrial success
It is beyond the scope of this site to go into great detail on each of the gurus, their philosophies, teachings
and tools; how ever, a brief overview of their contribution to the quality journey is given, supported by
several references.
The Americans who went to J apan:
W Edwards Demingplaced great im portance and responsibility on m anagem ent, at both the individual and
com pany level, believing m anagem ent to be responsible for 94% of quality problem s. H is fourteen point
plan is a com plete philosophy of m anagem ent, that can be applied to sm all or large organisations in the
public, private or service sectors:
C reate constancy of purpose tow ards im provem ent of product and service
A dopt the new philosophy. W e can no longer live w ith com m only accepted levels of delay, m istakes
and defective w orkm anship
C ease dependence on m ass inspection. Instead, require statistical evidence that quality is built in
End the practice of aw arding business on the basis of price
Find problem s. It is m anagem ents job to w ork continually on the system
Institute m odern m ethods of training on the job
Institute m odern m ethods of supervision of production w orkers, The responsibility of forem en m ust
be changed from num bers to quality
D rive out fear, so that everyone m ay w ork effectively for the com pany
B reak dow n barriers betw een departm ents
Elim inate num erical goals, posters and slogans for the w orkforce asking for new levels of
productivity w ithout providing m ethods
Elim inate w ork standards that prescribe num erical quotas
R em ove barriers that stand betw een the hourly w orker and their right to pride of w orkm anship
Institute a vigorous program m e of education and retraining
C reate a structure in top m anagem ent that w ill push on the above points every day
The Original Quality Gurus
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H e believed that adoption of, and action on, the fourteen points w as a signal that m anagem ent intended to
stay in business. D em ing also encouraged a system atic approach to problem solving and prom oted the
w idely know n Plan, D o, Check, Act (PD CA) cycle. The PD C A cycle is also know n as the D em ing cycle,
although it w as developed by a colleague of D em ing, D r Shew hart.
It is a universal im provem ent m ethodology, the idea being to constantly im prove, and thereby reduce the
difference betw een the requirem ents of the custom ers and the perform ance of the process.
The cycle is about learning and ongoing im provem ent, learning w hat w orks and w hat does not in a
system atic w ay; and the cycle repeats; after one cycle is com plete, another is started.
Dr J oseph M J urandeveloped the quality trilogy quality planning, quality control and quality
im provem ent. G ood quality m anagem ent requires quality actions to be planned out, im proved and
controlled. The process achieves control at one level of quality perform ance, then plans are m ade to
im prove the perform ance on a project by project basis, using tools and techniques such as Pareto analysis.
This activity eventually achieves breakthrough to an im proved level, w hich is again controlled, to prevent
any deterioration.
Breakthrough Pareto Analysis
Holding the gains
project-by-project
ACT PLAN
DO CHECK
Plan what is needed
Do it
Check that it works
Act to correct any problems or
improve performance
Quality Control Quality Planning
Quality Improvement
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Juran believed quality is associated w ith custom er satisfaction and dissatisfaction w ith the product, and
em phasised the necessity for ongoing quality im provem ent through a succession of sm all im provem ent
projects carried out throughout the organisation. H is ten steps to quality im provem ent are:
B uild aw areness of the need and opportunity for im provem ent
Set goals for im provem ent
O rganise to reach the goals
Provide training
C arry out projects to solve problem s
R eport progress
G ive recognition
C om m unicate results
Keep score of im provem ents achieved
M aintain m om entum
H e concentrated not just on the end
custom er, but on other external and
internal custom ers. Each person along
the chain, from product designer to
nal user, is a supplier and a
custom er. In addition, the person w ill
be a process, carrying out som e
transform ation or activity.
Armand V Feigenbaumw as the originator of total quality control, often referred to as total quality.
H e de ned it as:
An effective system for integrating quality development, quality maintenance and quality
improvement efforts of the various groups within an organisation, so as to enable production and
service at the most economical levels that allow full customer satisfaction.
H e saw it as a business m ethod and proposed three steps to quality:
Q uality leadership
M odern quality technology
O rganisational com m itm ent
The J apanese:
Dr Kaoru Ishikawam ade m any contributions to quality, the m ost notew orthy being his total quality
view point, com pany w ide quality control, his em phasis on the hum an side of quality, the Ishikaw a diagram
and the assem bly and use of the seven basic tools of quality:
Pareto analysis w hich are the big problem s?
C ause and effect diagram s w hat causes the problem s?
Strati cation how is the data m ade up?
C heck sheets how often it occurs or is done?
H istogram s w hat do overall variations look like?
Scatter charts w hat are the relationships betw een factors?
Process control charts w hich variations to control and how ?
H e believed these seven tools should be know n w idely, if not by everyone, in an organisation and used to
analyse problem s and develop im provem ents. U sed together they form a pow erful kit.
CUSTOMER SUPPLIER
PROCESS
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O ne of the m ost w idely know n of these is the Ishikaw a (or shbone or cause and effect) diagram .
Like other tools, it assists groups in quality im provem ents. The diagram system atically represents and
analyses the real causes behind a problem or effect. It organises the m ajor and m inor contributing causes
leading to one effect (or problem ), de nes the problem , identi es possible and probable causes by
narrow ing dow n the possible ones. It also helps groups to be system atic in the generation of ideas and to
check that it has stated the direction of causation correctly. The diagram m atic form at helps w hen
presenting results to others.
Dr Genichi Taguchi believed it is preferable to design
product that is robust or insensitive to variation in the
m anufacturing process, rather than attem pt to control
all the m any variations during actual m anufacture.To put
this idea into practice, he took the already established
know ledge on experim ental design and m ade it m ore
usable and practical for quality professionals. H is
m essage w as concerned w ith the routine optim isation
of product and process prior to m anufacture rather than
quality through inspection. Q uality and reliability are
pushed back to the design stage w here they really
belong, and he broke dow n off-line quality into three
stages:
System design
Param eter design
Tolerance design
Taguchi m ethodologyis fundam entally a prototyping m ethod that enables the designer to identify the
optim al settings to produce a robust product that can survive m anufacturing tim e after tim e, piece after
piece, and provide w hat the custom er w ants. Today, com panies see a close link betw een Taguchi m ethods,
w hich can be view ed along a continuum , and quality function deploym ent (Q FD ).
Shigeo Shingo is strongly associated w ith Just-in-Tim e m anufacturing, and w as the inventor of the single
m inute exchange of die (SM ED ) system , in w hich set up tim es are reduced from hours to m inutes, and the
Poka-Yoke (m istake proo ng) system . In Poka Yoke, defects are exam ined, the production system stopped
and im m ediate feedback given so that the root causes of the problem m ay be identi ed and prevented
from occurring again. The addition of a checklist recognises that hum ans can forget or m ake m istakes!
PROBLEM
or EFFECT
CAUSES CAUSES
Level
of
quality
Robust product design
Parameter design
Statistical process control
Product inspection
Quality control procedure
and stage of evolution
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H e distinguished betw een errors, w hich are inevitable, and defects, w hich result w hen an error
reaches a custom er, and the aim of Poka-Yoke is to stop errors becom ing defects. D efects arise because
errors are m ade and there is a cause and effect relationship betw een the tw o. Zero quality control is the
ideal production system and this requires both Poka-Yoke and source inspections. In the latter, errors are
looked at before they becom e defects, and the system is either stopped for correction or the error
condition autom atically adjusted to prevent it from becom ing a defect.
Western Gurus:
Philip B Crosby is know n for the concepts of Q uality is Freeand Zero D efects, and his quality
im provem ent process is based on his four absolutes of quality:
Q uality is conform ance to requirem ents
The system of quality is prevention
The perform ance standard is zero defect
The m easurem ent of quality is the price of non-conform ance
H is fourteen steps to quality im provem ent are:
M anagem ent is com m itted to a form alised quality policy
Form a m anagem ent level quality im provem ent team (Q IT) w ith responsibility for quality
im provem ent process planning and adm inistration
D eterm ine w here current and potential quality problem s lie
Evaluate the cost of quality and explain its use as a m anagem ent tool to m easure w aste
R aise quality aw areness and personal concern for quality am ongst all em ployees
Take corrective actions, using established form al system s to rem ove the root causes of problem s
Establish a zero defects com m ittee and program m e
Train all em ployees in quality im provem ent
H old a Zero D efects D ay to broadcast the change and as a m anagem ent recom m itm ent and
em ployee com m itm ent
Encourage individuals and groups to set im provem ent goals
Encourage em ployees to com m unicate to m anagem ent any obstacles they face in attaining their
im provem ent goals
G ive form al recognition to all participants
Establish quality councils for quality m anagem ent inform ation sharing
D o it all over again form a new quality im provem ent team
Tom Peters identi ed leadership as being central to
the quality im provem ent process, discarding the w ord
M anagem entfor Leadership. The new role is of a
facilitator, and the basis is M anaging by w alking
about(M B W A ), enabling the leader to keep in touch
w ith custom ers, innovation and people, the three m ain
areas in the pursuit of excellence. H e believes that, as
the effective leader w alks, at least 3 m ajor activities
are happening:
Listening suggests caring
Teaching values are transm itted
Facilitating able to give on-the-spot help
LEADERSHIP
(MBWA)
Customers Innovation
People
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H aving researched successful A m erican organisations, he concluded that any intelligent approach to
organising had to encom pass, and treat as interdependent, seven variables, in w hat becam e know n as the
M cKinsey 7-S Fram ew ork, designed to force explicit thought about both the hardw are and softw are of an
organisation:
Conclusion
There are m any other m anagem ent gurusw hose philosophies and ideas ll w hole books on their ow n,
and several of these are im portant to quality m anagem ent. The ones included in this section are those
w hose reputation is prim arily for their w ork in quality and excellence.
W hen em barking on, or continuing along, a quality journey w ithin your organisation it is advisable to take
note of the m essages from all of the prom inent quality gurus, w ho have m ost in uenced the path of quality
in the last 50 60 years.
H ow ever, be aw are that there are contradictions betw een the gurusapproaches, as w ell as m any com m on
features. It is im perative that the approach you take is purpose built and tailored to suit your organisation
and its current and future needs. The total organisational excellence m odel (TO E), discussed in the
Im plem entation section, can help w ith these issues.
STRUCTURE
SHARED
VALUES
STAFF
SYSTEMS STRATEGY
SKILLS STYLE
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