A brief breakdown into the history of quality control management for all business. The pioneers.

W Edwards Deming

W Edwards Deming
credit: ualberta.ca

Deming’s 14 Points on Quality Management, or the Deming Model of Quality Management is a core concept on implementing total quality management. It is a set of management practices to help companies increase their quality and productivity while eliminating waste. Companies before his model were having trouble with cost control. His model helped bring costs down for companies which in turn helped their revenues and gross profits rise. 

These are the 14 points of his model.

1.Create constancy of purpose for improving products and services.
2.Adopt the new philosophy.
3.Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality.
4.End the practice of awarding business on price alone; instead, minimize total cost by working with a single supplier.
5.Improve constantly and forever every process for planning, production and service.
6.Institute training on the job.
7.Adopt and institute leadership.
8.Drive out fear.
9.Break down barriers between staff areas.
10.Eliminate slogans, exhortations and targets for the workforce.
11.Eliminate numerical quotas for the workforce and numerical goals for management.
12.Remove barriers that rob people of pride of workmanship, and eliminate the annual rating or merit system.
13.Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement for everyone.
14.Put everybody in the company to work accomplishing the transformation.

Deming’s work helped the business world today gain more perspective about business processes. He believed a better understanding of a system would help companies maximize their potential and profits. Only looking at the internal views negates the all important external views. By not having a full knowledge of external processes such as finding the right supplier, one can not eliminate waste that costs companies fortunes. Having three suppliers meant you receive your products faster, but what about the quality? The money it costs to not receive a full shipment or those same products having to be returned in mass quantities due to defects. Time costs money and money costs money. 

Joseph M Juran

Quality, according to Juran means that a product meets customer needs leading to customer satisfaction. Quality also means all of the activities in which a business engages in. To ensure that the product meets customer needs. In other words ensuring a smooth quality manufacturing process. Due to his studies of the 80/20 Pareto Principle, Juran was able to put Deming’s theoretical principles into a more practical approach that are helping companies thrive today.  Juran takes a holistic approach to quality and his concept of quality revolves around what is called a quality trilogy. His theory is composed of quality planning, quality control, and quality improvement. Both Deming and Juran both believed their work would eliminate waste via costs. They both believed that even though their approaches were different, companies could maximize their potentials through full understandings of processes rather than looking at one piece of the whole picture. As for contrasting the two, Juran was a practitioner who desired to teach people better management practices. Because of their different approaches Deming’s work tends to appeal to theoretical-minded individuals, whereas Juran’s tends to appeal to the practical-minded. 

Phillip B Crosby

Crosby’s principle, doing it right the first time, was his answer to the quality crisis. He defined quality as full and perfect conformance to the customers’ requirements. The essence of his philosophy is expressed in what he called the absolutes of quality management, and the basic elements of improvement. He had four absolutes of quality management. 

The First Absolute: The definition of quality is conformance to requirements
The Next Absolute: The system of quality is prevention
The Third Absolute: The performance standard is zero defects
The Final Absolute: The measurement of quality is the price of non-conformance

Crosby’s zero defects is a performance method and standard that states that people should commit themselves to closely monitoring details to avoid errors. By doing this, they move closer to the zero defects goal. According to Crosby, zero defects was not just a manufacturing principle, but was an all-pervading philosophy that ought to influence every decision that we make. Managerial notions of defects being unacceptable and everyone doing things right the first time are reinforced. Once again as we have seen with Deming and Juran, Deming’s work has a theoretical approach as where Crosby’s is more practical. The pattern I am seeing is that Deming’s work is the base that laid ground for three other names being researched in this paper. He laid the ground and everyone else has been working to expand and perfect the processes.  Also, Deming was able to address problems whereas Crosby was able to give solutions. Deming believed most failures were caused by management. Crosby was able to give solutions as to how to fix management quality. Integrity, systems, communications, operations, and policies were key to eliminating wasted potential of an organization. 

Arman V Feigenbaum

Feigenbaum’s work was all about total quality control. Two of his biggest concepts were hidden plant and accountability for quality. The concept of a hidden plant is the idea that so much extra work is performed in correcting mistakes that there is effectively a hidden plant within any factory. Accountability for quality is the second concept. Quality is everybody’s job so it may become nobody’s job. The idea that quality must be actively managed and have visibility at the highest levels of management.
By the definition of total quality control one is able to see Feigenbaum’s work expanded and tried to perfect the work of Crosby. He has a lot more in common with Crosby than Deming. Where he separates himself from the other three names wrote about, the problems consisted of it being everyone whereas everyone else put the blame on management first. Basically with Feigenbaum everyone needs to be a team player in all processes and systems for the organization to function. The difference between himself and Crosby is that motivation was a key concept to Crosby. Feigenbaum used Crosby’s work and established total control rather than motivation. This means everyone had an important role to play in order to be successful rather than putting everything on the shoulders of management. 

These theories and principles are all applied today in any form of business. Culinary, retail, etc. What do you see that could improve the system?