Basics of Six Sigma – History of Continuous Improvements

Philip B. Crosby was vice-president of ITT for 14 years. In 1979, he founded Philip
Crosby Associates, lnc. in Winter Park, Florida. Mr. Crosby consulted, spoke, and
wrote about strategic quality issues throughout his professional life. Philip Crosby
started his career as a junior technician testing fire control systems for B-47s. He
eventually moved on to ITT and became one of the first corporate VPs of quality in
the country. He attributed his management training to Harold Geneen and to the
monthly general management meetings.

lt was Philip Crosby’s deep understanding of the concerns of management that made
him akin to top management. The other quality deep thinkers could be viewed as
academicians, but Crosby was considered a businessman. This explained the numbers
of top management that flocked to his quality college.

Crosby believed that quality was a significant part of the company and senior
managers must take charge of it. He believed that the quality professional must
become more knowledgeable and communicative about the business. Crosby stated
that corporate management must make the cost of quality a part of the financial
system of their company.

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Basics of Six Sigma – History of Continuous Improvements

Philip Crosby was a fellow and past president of ASQ. One of his most popular
statements on quality was, “Quality is conformance to requirements.”

Some of Mr. Crosby’s more popular books include:

• Quality Is Free: The Art of Making Quality Certain (1980)

• The Art of Getting Your Own Sweet Way (1981)
• Quality Without Tears: The Art of Hassle-free Management (Crosby, 1 984)
• The Eternally Successful Organization: The Art of Corporate Wellness (1988)
• Leading, the Art of Becoming an Executive (1990)
• Completeness: Quality for the 21st Century (1992)
• Running Things: The Art of Making Things Happen (1992)
• Quality and Me: Lessons from an Evolving Life (1999)

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Basics of Six Sigma – History of Continuous Improvements
Philip Crosby preached four absolutes of quality management:

Quality means conformance to requirements. The requirements are what the

customer says they are. There is a need to emphasize a “do it right the first time”
attitude.

• Quality comes from prevention.

• Opportunities are available to correct problems in the system.

• The quality performance standard is zero defects. One must insist on zero defects.
Otherwise, it is
acceptable to send out nonconforming parts and goods. lf there is a
nonconformance, then action
must be taken to eliminate it and prevent it from occurring again.

• Quality measurement is the price of nonconformance.

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A measurement of quality is needed to get management’s attention, prioritize
problems, correct problems, and to measure progress.

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The Fundamentals of Six Sigma – Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ)
(Continued)

Appraisal costs: The costs, associated with measuring, evaluating, or auditing products or
services to ensure conformance to quality standards and performance requirements.

• Audits
• Document checking
• Drawing checking
• Equipment calibration
• Final inspection
• In-process inspection
• Inspection and test
• Inspection and test reporting
• Laboratory testing
• Other expense reviews
• Personnel testing
• Procedure checking
• Prototype inspection

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• Receiving inspection
• Shipping inspection
• Test equipment maintenance

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Basics of Six Sigma – History of Continuous Improvements

Dr. W. Edwards Deming (1900 - 1993)

Dr. Deming obtained a B.S. from the University of Wyoming, and a M.S. from the
University of Colorado and a Ph.D. in Physics from Yale. Dr. Deming was also
considered the founder of the third wave of the industrial revolution.

Dr. Deming was an honorary member of ASQ. He was awarded the ASQ Shewhart
Medal in 1955. During his life Dr. Deming -published over 200 papers, articles, and
books. Notable books include:
• Quality, Productivity, and Competitive Position (1982)
• Out of the Crisis (Deming, 1986)

W. Edwards Deming was the one individual who stood for quality and for what it
means. He is a national folk hero in Japan and was perhaps the leading speaker for
the quality revolution in the world. He did summer work at the Hawthorne plant
while working on his Ph.D. At the Hawthorne plant he became acquainted with W.

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Shewhart and studied Shewhart’s statistical methods.

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Basics of Six Sigma – History of Continuous Improvements

The World War ll effort enabled Deming to teach classes in statistical methods to
thousands of American engineers, foremen, and workers. The statistical methods
were later credited to be a major factor in the war effort. But, as he would state it,
after the war, all traces of statistical methods were gone in a puff of smoke.

There were several visits to Japan between 1946 and 1 948 for the purpose of census
taking. He developed a fondness for the Japanese people during that time. JUSE
invited Deming back in 1950 for executive courses in statistical methods. He refused
royalties on his seminar materials, and insisted that the proceeds be used to help the
Japanese people. JUSE named their ultimate quality prize after him.

Deming would return to Japan on many other occasions to teach and consult. He was
well known in Japan, but not so in America. Only when NBC published its white
paper, “lf Japan can, why can’t we?” did America discover him. An overnight success
at age 80, W.E. Deming died at the age of 93. During his last 13 years, Deming gave
American industry a dose of strong medicine in quality. His message to America is
listed in his famous 14 points and 7 deadly diseases.

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Basics of Six Sigma – History of Continuous Improvements

The Fourteen Obligations of Top Management:

• Create constancy of purpose for improvement of products and service

• Adopt a new philosophy; we are in a new economic age
• Cease dependence upon inspection as a way to achieve quality
• End the practice of awarding business based on price tag
• Constantly improve the process of planning, production, and service
• This system includes people
• Institute training on the job
• Institute improved supervision (leadership)
• Drive out fear
• Break down barriers between departments
• Eliminate slogans/targets asking for increased productivity without providing methods
• Eliminate numerical quotas
• Remove barriers that stand between workers and their pride of workmanship; the same for
all
salaried people
• Institute programs for education and retraining
• Put all emphasis in the company to work to accomplish the transformation

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Basics of Six Sigma – History of Continuous Improvements

The Fourteen Obligations of Top Management:

• Create constancy of purpose for improvement of products and service

• Adopt a new philosophy; we are in a new economic age
• Cease dependence upon inspection as a way to achieve quality
• End the practice of awarding business based on price tag
• Constantly improve the process of planning, production, and service
• This system includes people
• Institute training on the job
• Institute improved supervision (leadership)
• Drive out fear
• Break down barriers between departments
• Eliminate slogans/targets asking for increased productivity without providing methods
• Eliminate numerical quotas
• Remove barriers that stand between workers and their pride of workmanship; the same for
all
salaried people
• Institute programs for education and retraining
• Put all emphasis in the company to work to accomplish the transformation

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Basics of Six Sigma – History of Continuous Improvements
Seven Deadly Diseases That Management Must Cure:
1. Lack of constancy of purpose: Management must provide a vision and a mission to plan a
marketable product and service to keep the company in business and provide jobs
2. Emphasis on short-term profits: It is observed that the organizations emphasize on short term
profits, while it is goo to have short term profits, the long term interest need to be kept in mind.
3. Personal evaluation appraisal: Don’t quote names in the organization, however, work towards
leading by example. Quoting names lead to devastating effects.
4. Mobility of management; job hopping: Job hopping or unstable management lead to unclear
directions amongst the employees and creates an atmosphere of insecurity amongst all.
5. Use of visible figures for management: Decisions which are taken on hunch with little or no
consideration of figures, that are unknown or unknowable is a major mistake that management
may commit. It needs to be avoided.
6. Excessive medical costs: Most management teams have reactive approach as compared to a
proactive approach. The reactive approach may possibly lead to customer dissatisfaction and
further revenue losses.
7. Excessive costs of warranty: A lot of money is spent on seeking services that may be minimized or
avoided such as the contingency fees of lawyers.
Among other educational techniques, Deming promoted the parable of the red beads, the PDSA cycle,
and the concept of 94% management (system) causes versus 6% special causes.

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Enterprise-wide Deployment – Value and Foundations of Six Sigma

Deming’s philosophy focused on individuals as fellow members of a system, and

treated people as partners, customers, neighbors, and friends. While the Deming
philosophy benefits the individuals in a firm, the company itself should be able to
reap the benefits from this new philosophy. Among the economic benefits to be
gained are:

• Reduction of the economic burden

• Expansion of markets
• Survival of organizations that serve customers

Deming’s Chain Reaction

Deming shared the following chain reaction with Japan in the summer of 1950:

Improve quality  Decrease costs (less rework, (fewer delays)  Productivity

improves  Capture the market share with better quality and price  Stay in
business  Provide jobs.

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Enterprise-wide Deployment – Value and Foundations of Six Sigma

Deming’s philosophy focused on individuals as fellow members of a system, and

treated people as partners, customers, neighbors, and friends. While the Deming
philosophy benefits the individuals in a firm, the company itself should be able to
reap the benefits from this new philosophy. Among the economic benefits to be
gained are:

• Reduction of the economic burden

• Expansion of markets
• Survival of organizations that serve customers

Deming’s Chain Reaction

Deming shared the following chain reaction with Japan in the summer of 1950:

Improve quality  Decrease costs (less rework, (fewer delays)  Productivity

improves  Capture the market share with better quality and price  Stay in
business  Provide jobs.

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Basics of Six Sigma – History of Continuous Improvements

Deming’s chain reaction is summarized by Delavigne and Robertson (1994) as the following
series of events:
• The quality and productivity rise
• Costs decrease
• The time required for development and production is reduced
• Management begins to know their cost, “they have a system”
• Increased division of labor and specialization occurs
• The near-term future is more predictable
• The standard of living rises
• The system has a future and can provide “jobs and more jobs”

As the above sequence is occurring, the marketplace is responding to the firm:

• The customer obtains reduced prices
• There is increased cooperation
• New products and services are provided to the customers
• There are higher levels of customer satisfaction
• There is a reduction of competition for share of the market
Thus, a “chain reaction” of good things can occur through the Deming philosophy.

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Basics of Six Sigma – History of Continuous Improvements

Deming’s chain reaction is summarized by Delavigne and Robertson (1994) as the following
series of events:
• The quality and productivity rise
• Costs decrease
• The time required for development and production is reduced
• Management begins to know their cost, “they have a system”
• Increased division of labor and specialization occurs
• The near-term future is more predictable
• The standard of living rises
• The system has a future and can provide “jobs and more jobs”

As the above sequence is occurring, the marketplace is responding to the firm:

• The customer obtains reduced prices
• There is increased cooperation
• New products and services are provided to the customers
• There are higher levels of customer satisfaction
• There is a reduction of competition for share of the market
Thus, a “chain reaction” of good things can occur through the Deming philosophy.

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