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Introduction to Six Sigma
Introduction
‘Quality must be managed; it does not just happen’ (John S.
Oakland). There have been a lot of theoretical studies about how
to improve quality. Quality gurus like Deming, Juran, Crosby,
Ishikawa, and Taguchi present different theories of quality
management.
Philip Bayard Crosby (June 1926 – August 2001)
• Philip Bayard Crosby was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, USA.
He was instrumental in popularizing the concept of ‘Zero
Defects’. He established Philip Crosby Associates in 1979 to
teach the significance of “zero defects” quality and the need for
building processes which do things right the first time.
• Quality measurement
• The cost of quality
• Quality awareness
• Corrective action
• Zero defects planning
• Supervisor training
• Zero defects day
• Goal setting
• Error cause removal
• Recognition
• Quality councils
• Do it over again
• Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force, asking for zero
defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial
relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong
to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work force.
• Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor. Substitute leadership.
• Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management by numbers,
numerical goals. Substitute leadership.
• Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship.
The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality.
• Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right
to pride of workmanship. This means, inter alia, abolishment of the annual or
merit rating and of management by objective.
• Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.
• Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The
transformation is everybody’s job.
Quality Gurus and Their Contribution
to Quality
Dr. Armand V. Feigenbaum
• Dr. Armand V. Feigenbaum is an American quality control guru. He did his
master’s degree and Ph. D from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT). Feigenbaum now serves as the president and CEO of General Systems
Co.
• He developed the concept of Total Quality Control, which was later referred to as
Total Quality Management (TQM). His two famous books are Quality Control:
Principles, Practice, and Administration and Total Quality Control.
• According to him, ‘Total quality control is an effective system for integrating the
quality development, quality maintenance, and quality improvement efforts of the
various groups in an organization so as to enable production and service at the
most economical levels which allow full customer satisfaction’.
• To him, the word ‘control’ includes four steps:
• Establishing quality criteria
• Evaluating conformance to standards
• Acting when standards are not fulfilled
• Planning to make improvements in the criteria
• Quality circles
Ishikawa developed the concept of ‘Quality Circles’ in 1962,
which is widely used in Japan. A quality circle is a volunteer
group which consists of employees who, under the leadership of
their team manager are prepared to recognize and evaluate
work-related issues, and provide their suggestions for the better
performance of the company.
• 7QC tools
Although ‘Seven Tools of Quality’ is the term used by Ishikawa,
all these tools are not developed by him. The seven tools such
as Pareto diagram, cause-and-effect diagram, stratification,
check sheet, histogram, scatter diagram, graphs and control
charts are very simple and can be used to solve more than 90
percent of the problems.
• Control chart
The control chart, also referred to as Shewhart chart or process-
behavior chart, was developed by Shewhart in the 1920s. It is
the most important tool employed in statistical process control to
determine whether a process is under statistical control or not.
Shewhart invented this tool to distinguish between common and
special causes of variation.
• PDCA cycle
PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle is sometimes referred to as the
Shewhart Cycle or Deming Cycle. Walter A. Shewhart developed
the concept of PLAN, DO, and SEE. Later Deming elaborated
this and made it popular.
John S. Oakland
• John S. Oakland is a British quality expert. He served as head of
the European Centre for Total Quality Management at the
University of Bradford Management Centre in Britain. His
contribution to the development of quality in Britain is noteworthy.
• According to him, ‘quality is meeting the customer’s
requirements’ and ‘quality starts at the top’. He considers the
pursuit of quality as the basis for the success of any company.
• Oakland opines that quality has emerged as the most significant
competitive weapon and total quality management (TQM) is a
means of managing for the future.
Conclusion
• Philip B. Crosby
• Dr. W. Edwards Deming
• Dr. Armand V. Feigenbaum
• Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa
• Dr. Joseph M. Juran
• Walter Andrew Shewhart
• Dr. Genichi Taguchi
• Shingo Shigeo
• John S. Oakland