Basic Fundamentals of Quality
The Quality Champion
The champion is not a blue-sky dreamer, nor an intellectual giant. The champion might even be
an idea thief. But above all, he’s the pragmatic one who grabs onto someone else’s theoretical
construct if necessary and bullheadedly pushes it to fruition . . .
Champions are pioneers, and pioneers get shot at. The companies that get the most from
champions, therefore, are those that have rich support networks so that their pioneers will
flourish. this point is so important it’s hard to overstress.
No support system, no champions.
No champions, no innovation.
Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman, Jr.
In Search of Excellence
What is Total Quality Management?
The term was first used by the Naval Air Systems Command in 1985 to describe
its Japanese-style management approach to quality improvement. (Quality
Glossary compiled by Karen Bemowski, Quality Progress, February 1992, pg.
28)
“TQM is a management approach to long-term success through customer
satisfaction. TQM is based on the participation of all members of an organization
in improving processes, products, services and the culture they work in.”
(Quality Glossary compiled by Karen Bemowski, Quality Progress, February
1992, pg. 28)
“Quality is judged by customers. Thus, quality must take into account all product
and service features and characteristics that contribute value to customers and
lead to customer satisfaction, preference, and retention.”
(Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award 1998 Criteria for Performance
Excellence, U.S, Department of Commerce, pg. 40)
 William F. Pflanz (2001)
Basic Fundamentals of Quality
"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a
means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us."
--Western Union internal memo, 1876.
A Brief History of Quality
The earliest quality engineer was probably the first Homo Sapien to
smooth a wheel or sharpen a tool to free it from blemishes thereby improving its
rolling ability or increasing is its cutting power. These skills were practiced and
then taught to future generations. Unfortunately, these quality efforts were
before written history. The first known attempts at quality management can be
traced to Sun-Tzu, Aesop and Socrates.
Sun-Tzu lived in China sometime during 480-221 B.C. and documented
the politics and war of that period. In his translated work The Art of War (
Translated by ----), Sun-Tzu documented the political and leadership disciplines
that were needed to survive, grow and improve in a warring state. These same
principles used in war could also be cast in business and strategic terms
applicable to current quality management philosophy. Sun-Tzu’s book has 13
sections which are summarized below in business terms.
1. If the goal is reasonable and worthwhile then the time to act is now. It is
necessary to understand your own strengths and that of your competitor.
2. Understand the cost and the alternatives then commit to action with no looking
back.
3. Plan your attack depending on the final objective.
4. A supportive environment is required to achieve success. Remove elements
that allow backsliding.
5. Identify your competitors, make plans that include them, enlist the help of
others.
6. The competitor must not be allowed to gain an advantage. Remain strong and
avoid weaknesses.
7. Indirect actions such as logistics lead to success. Competition within your own
forces is dangerous. The focus must be on the competitors and tomorrow’s
customers.
8. Avoid being overtly cautious, reckless or attached to the status quo.
9. Self-control and discipline develop from determination.
10. Only challenge when success is certain.
11. Be aware of current conditions and the actions required.
12. Enlist help from the outside, make every action count.
13. Use information to create success and avoid defeat.
Aesop lived in Greece around the 6th century B.C. His parables provide
insight into people’s conduct and their morals are related to many current quality
 William F. Pflanz (2001)
Basic Fundamentals of Quality
management beliefs. For example:
United we stand, divided we fall - Describes the need for a shared vision
and appeals to the use of self-directed work teams, quality circles and other team
concepts.
You may share the labor of the great, but not the spoils - Rewards must
be fair and given on a regular basis. It must be understood how one can achieve
the rewards.
Please all, and you please none - There must be a vision with a defined
scope that is attainable. Understand the customer’s requirements and only offer
what can be delivered.
The Greek philosopher Socrates lived from 470 BC to 399 BC. His works
include various quality management concepts. For example:
1. Repetitive questioning of Why? until the root cause is obtained.
2. Through democracy all voices are heard and this empowerment leads
to continual improvement.
3. Development of a technique of walking around and asking questions
until both the teacher (management) and the student (employee) learn answers.
(Quality Management, Bruce and M. Suzanne Brocka, Homewood, Ill. Richard Dl
Irwin, Inc. 1992)
In the Middle Ages, weapons of war - armor, swords, shields - were made
by highly trained craftsman. Medieval guilds were formed to provide training for
apprentices to learn the techniques to become master craftsman. The training
was long and demanding. The apprentices had to demonstrate evidence of their
ability to create high quality products. The products were custom fitted for each
buyer. The better the fit and the higher the quality of materials, the more likely it
was for a craftsman to increase business.
Quality control had its beginning with the dawn of manufacturing of
products and the ensuing competition to obtain business. With competition,
consumers could choose to purchase the best product. When a manufacturer
improved its product, the consumer preferentially chose to purchase from that
supplier. Procedures were taught to apprentices to maintain quality and improve
the process.
The modern era of quality movement has occurred in three waves of
Industrial Revolution. The first wave occurred in the early 19th century with
simple automation; the second wave occurred with assembly concepts in the late
19th century, and the third wave is occurring with the information revolution.
Statistical quality control is relatively new. It had its roots in the science of
 William F. Pflanz (2001)
Basic Fundamentals of Quality
statistics which began a few centuries ago in the areas of physics, biology and
social sciences. When sampling theory was developed in the 1920’s, statistical
theory was applied to quality control resulting in the birth of the current
methodology for quality control.
Paradigm Pioneers
Does the future belong to only those people who create the next paradigm? No, . . . if you understand the role of a
special group of people who are crucial in driving the new paradigm from rough concept into practical application.
Paradigm shifters . . . need this group of people - a group of people so important that, without them, the new paradigm will
emerge slowly if at all, a group of people willing to accept high risk in order to open the new way . . . I call them paradigm
pioneers.
Joel A, Barker
The Paradigm Pioneers
The Leaders in Quality
A number of key quality leaders were responsible for the evolution of the
modern quality era.
Frederick W. Taylor (1856-1915)
Frederick W. Taylor began the revolution for quality control after the Civil
War when manufacturing moved from local trades into factories making steel,
glass, textiles and other industrial goods. Trained as an engineer, Taylor
proposed that the methods for doing work should be based on scientific study.
The standards for a day’s work, selection and training of workers, and piecework
payment should be based on scientific studies and were developed by specialists
in industrial engineering. The responsibility for the execution of the plans and the
control to meet the standards belonged to the foreman and workers. Time
studies were done to determine daily production quotas at which the workers
would be paid incentives to reach those goals.
Since the workers of that day lacked technological literacy, the new Taylor
management system achieved significant improvements in productivity and was
widely adopted by American industry. Piecework was common and the
incentives were used to maximize production. Today, workers are bettereducated and less reliant on piecework. With the rise of labor unions, workers
obtained more control through collective bargaining on the issues of pay and
work conditions. Although Taylor laid the foundation for quality management,
some of the negative aspects of his methods continue today since it lacked the
benefits of worker participation in improving processes. By removing the worker
from responsibility for quality and improvement, the standards set previously by
skilled craftsman were lost in the new industries.
(Joseph M. Juran, The Taylor System and Quality Control, Selected Papers,
 William F. Pflanz (2001)
Basic Fundamentals of Quality
1973)
The Taylor System
• Separation of planning from execution
• Great increases in productivity
• Negative effect on quality
• Negative effect on human relations
• Emergence of inspection departments
• Done because of technological illiteracy of workforce
• Now education levels have been raised, employees are underutilized asset
• Now need worker participation and teamwork
(From Juran Seminar “ A Day with ....)
A control chart is a decision-making device that gives the user information about the quality of
product resulting from a manufacturing process. – Walter A. Shewhart, Bell Labs, May 16, 1924.
Walter A. Shewhart (1891-1967)
The modern quality movement is considered to have started on May 16,
1924 when Walter A. Shewhart wrote a one page memo that included a drawing
of what was probably the first control chart. The memo described a method for
using statistics to improve quality in telephone manufacturing. Shewhart worked
for Bell Labs, a division of Western Electric, at that time. At West Electric’s
Hawthorne Works, Shewhart used and taught statistical methods. His
techniques taught when a process should be left alone and when action should
be taken. The concept of random variation was defined to set limits on when
intervention should occur. The development of the control chart allowed workers
to monitor their work and predict when an action was needed to control quality.
Shewhart continued to improve the statistical methods and in 1931 he published
his statistical quality control book Economic Control of Quality of Manufactured
Product.
W. Edwards Deming (1900-1993)
W. Edwards Deming is widely regarded as one of the founding members
of the modern quality movement. Deming graduated from the University of
Wyoming with a BS in physics and from Yale with a Ph.D. in mathematical
physics in 1928. Deming was familiar with Shewhart’s work in sampling and
control charts and began using them in understanding quality improvement.
During and after World War II, he worked for the U.S. Census Bureau. In 1950,
Deming went to Japan to conduct a population census and lectured top business
leaders on statistical quality control. Throughout the 1950’s Deming traveled to
Japan to promote quality for the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers
(JUSE) who established Japan’s highest honored quality award - the Deming
Prize - in his honor. (Quality Management: Implementing the Best Ideas of the
Masters, Bruce Brocka and M. Suzanne Brocka, Irwin Professional Publishing,
 William F. Pflanz (2001)
Basic Fundamentals of Quality
New York)
Deming was extremely critical of U. S. management for the continued use
of Taylor’s management style. One of his first steps for improving quality is for
management to remove the barriers that rob the workers of their right to do a
good job. Inspection of incoming or outgoing goods and service is too late,
ineffective, and costly. Inspection neither improves quality nor guarantees it. In
Deming’s celebrated book Out of the Crisis, his Fourteen Points are explained in
detail. He also lists the Seven Deadly Diseases that are harming U. S. industry
and the Twelve Obstacles that prevent it from improving. His book on The New
Economics provides guidance on the transformation into a new style of
management through the application of profound knowledge.
Profound knowledge is composed of four parts:
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Appreciation for a system
Knowledge about variation
Theory of knowledge
Psychology of individuals, society, and change
From Deming Seminar Cleveland Ohio:
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Customers do not ask for improvement and better quality.
Customers did not ask for electric lights, they had gaslights; they did not ask
for better electric lights as they were improved
Carburetors became better and better but were replaced by the electronic
ignition; the manufacturers should not have been in the business of making
carburetors but should have been in the fuel/air mixture injection business
Businesses should not worry about their share of the market but expanding
the market
The person responsible for quality is in the boardroom not operators or
inspectors
To improve quality, you need to develop good systems
“Knowledge comes from outside” and one should “learn from the masters”
Examples of new and improved services
• ATM machines
• Meals on Wheels
• Leasing of automobiles is an example of a financial service that did not exist
years ago
• email and messenger services replacing the failed services of the US Post
Office
In a seminar in Philadelphia in October 1996, Deming introduced a
demonstration of the funnel experiment with the following:
Off We Go to the Milky Way
 William F. Pflanz (2001)
Basic Fundamentals of Quality
- Author Unknown
Tamper, tamper in the game,
Try to make it all the same.
Squeak and tweak it every day,
Off we go to the Milky Way.
The lesson to be learned is if you have a stable process and you change your
aim at the target by applying Rules 2, 3, or 4, you are tampering. By tampering
you are making things worse.
Following quotes from Obligations of Management in the New Economic Age,
WE Deming paper, Washington DC, Date Unknown
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Fear must be removed through the company. Training, retraining, and
supervision must be improved with the aid of statistical methods
It is not enough for everyone to do his best. Everyone is already doing his
best. Efforts, to be effective, must go in the right direction.
Only top management can bring the changes required
The only acceptable proof of quality and cost is statistical evidence of process
control. Quality by inspection is outmoded.
It is possible and in fact fairly easy for an organization to go broke making the
wrong product or offering the wrong type of service, even though everyone in
the organization performs with devotion, employing statistical methods and
every other aid that can boost efficiency.
Management must constantly improve the system. The obligation never
ceases.
A man once hired and trained, and in statistical control of his own work,
whether it be satisfactory or not, can do no better. Further training can not
help him.
Drive out fear. Most workers, and even people in management positions, do
not understand what the job is, nor what is right or wrong.
Eliminate posters and slogans in the factory that try to push people into new
levels of productivity without showing them how. Posters and slogans like
these do not help anyone to do a better job.
Institute a vigorous program for retraining people in new skills, to keep up with
changes in model, style, materials, methods, and -- at times, if advantageous
- new machinery.
 William F. Pflanz (2001)
Basic Fundamentals of Quality
COMPONENTS OF
SYSTEM OF PROFOUND KNOWLEDGE
Profound knowledge is knowledge from outside-a new way of looking at things.
Appreciation for a system
- A system is a series of functions or activities...within an organization that
works together for the aim of the organization. It is a network of people,
materials, methods, equipment, all working together so all benefit.
When every part is working in support of every other part there is
optimization.
Understanding of variation
- Statistical theory
- There will always be variation. The goal is to minimize loss from random
variation and special causes using control charts.
Theory of knowledge
- "Experience teaches nothing without theory"
- Knowledge is prediction and knowledge comes from theory. Decisions
are prediction.
- Copying does not work unless you understand theory.
- Real benefits are from unknowable.
Psychology
- People are born with intrinsic motivation.
- Right of all people to have "joy in their work".
- Pride of workmanship.
- Eliminate work standards, competition destroys.
- Substitute leadership
- Lack of fear
- Break down barriers
W. Edwards Deming, The New Economics, Mass.: Center for Advanced
Engineering Study, MIT Press, 1993.
 William F. Pflanz (2001)
Basic Fundamentals of Quality
Books & Articles by Deming:
Deming is the author of several books and over 170 papers
Out of the Crisis, Cambridge, Mass.: Center for Advanced Engineering Study,
MIT Press, 1986.
The New Economics, Mass.: Center for Advanced Engineering Study, MIT Press,
1993.
Books & Articles about Deming:
Scherkenbach, William, The Deming Route to Quality and Productivity: Road
Maps and Roadblocks, Washington D.C.: CeePress, George Washington
University, 1986.
Scherkenbach, William W., Deming’s Road to Continual Improvement, Knoxville,
Tenn. : SPC Press, 1991.
Walton, Mary, The Deming Management Method, New York: Putnam, 1986.
Joseph M. Juran (b. 1900)
Juran’s definition of quality is “fitness for use”.
Joseph M. Juran worked in Hawthorne’s inspection department and knew
Shewhart. W. Edwards Deming was in the research and development
department of Bell Labs but did not work directly with Shewhart until later.
(Quality or Else, pg. 52)
Following from “A Day with JM Juran: Managing for World Class Quality”, Total
Quality Conference, Cleveland, Ohio, March 9, 1992
Quality Improvement Concepts
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All improvement tales place project by project
Quality improvement is not capital intensive
The return on investment is second to none
The backlog of needed improvements is huge
Big companies need thousands of improvements annually
Quality improvement does not come free - investment is required to diagnose
the causes and to provide remedies
What are the needs of customers?
• The stated needs of customers are not necessarily the real needs
• The perceived needs of customers can be different from their real needs
• Internal suppliers have done much damage due to lack of knowledge of the
needs of internal customers
• Not enough emphasis has been given to the cultural needs of internal
 William F. Pflanz (2001)
Basic Fundamentals of Quality
customers - jurisdiction rights, status symbols, etc.
Methods for discovering customer’s needs
• Be a customer
• Communicate with customers - product dissatisfaction and product
satisfaction
• Study of customer behavior
• Market research/critical questions
• Simulate customers’ use
Measures of quality
• Deficiencies/defects: countable occurrences, binary attributes
• Quality = frequency of deficiencies/opportunities for deficiencies
• Product features: variables, customer satisfaction
Measures of quality at the highest levels
Emphasis is on:
• Meeting customer needs
• Meeting competition
• Response to customer complaints
• Continuing improvement
• Reducing the cost of poor quality
Quality Improvement: Roles of Upper Managers
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Serve on the quality council
Establish quality goals
Provide resources
Review progress
Give recognition
Revise the reward system
Serve on project teams
Face up to employee apprehensions
Roles of Facilitators
• Explain company intentions
• Assist in team building
• Assist in training
• Restate experience of others
• Assist in redirecting the project
• Assist chairperson in attendance and human relations
• Report progress
Philip B. Crosby (1926-2001)
Philip B. Crosby became his quality career as a reliability engineer for Crosley
Corporation and later worked for Martin Corporation. At Martin, Crosby was in
 William F. Pflanz (2001)
Basic Fundamentals of Quality
charge of quality for the Pershing missile project. After working as the director of
quality for ITT, he founded Crosby Associates to provide consulting services on
quality.
Crosby is most closely linked to the concept of zero defects. His definition of
quality is conformance to requirements, which is measured by the cost of
nonconformance. Only conformance or nonconformance is important not high or
poor quality. With this definition of quality, the performance goal is zero defects.
Since quality management is related to prevention then nonpreventive activities
such as inspection and testing are not relevant. (Quality Management:
Implementing the Best Ideas of the Masters, Bruce Brocka and M. Suzanne
Brocka, Irwin Professional Publishing, New York)
Crosby has 14 Steps to Quality Improvement and 4 Absolutes of Quality
Management as his cornerstones for quality.
Crosby’s 14 Steps to Quality Improvement
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Make it clear that management is committed to quality.
Form quality improvement teams with representatives from each
department.
Determine how to measure where current and potential quality problems
lie.
Evaluate the cost of quality and explain its use as a management tool.
Raise the quality awareness and personal concern of all employees.
Take formal actions to correct problems identified through previous steps.
Establish a committee for the zero defects program.
Train all employees to actively carry out their part of the quality
improvement program.
Hold a “zero defects day” to let all employees realize that there has been a
change.
Encourage individuals to establish improvement goals for themselves and
their groups.
Encourage employees to communicate to management the obstacles they
face in attaining their improvement goals.
Recognize and appreciate those who participate.
Establish quality councils to communicate on a regular basis.
Do it all over again to emphasize that the quality improvement program
never ends.
Crosby’s Absolutes of Quality Management
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Quality means conformance to requirements. If you intend to do it right
the first time, everyone must know what it is.
Quality comes from prevention. Vaccination is the way to prevent
 William F. Pflanz (2001)
Basic Fundamentals of Quality
3.
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organizational disease. Prevention comes from training, discipline,
example, leadership, and more.
Quality performance standard is zero defects (or defect-free). Err should
not be tolerated. Errors are not tolerated in financial management; why
should they be in manufacturing?
Quality measurement is the price of nonconformance.
Books & Articles by Crosby:
Quality is Free, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1979.
Quality without Tears, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1984.
The Eternally Successful Organization, New York: McGraw-Hill, 19?.
 William F. Pflanz (2001)
Basic Fundamentals of Quality
"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay
for a message sent to nobody in particular?"
--David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment
in the radio in the 1920s.
The Evolution of Quality
Japan’s Quality Movement
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Upper management personally took charge of quality
They trained all managers in how to manage for quality
They made quality improvements at a revolutionary rate
They trained and empowered the workforce to participate in the quality
revolution
• They put quality goals into the annual business plans
(From JM Juran seminar A Day with ...)
Six Sigma
Lean Manufacturing
Quality Circles and Quality Teams
ISO 9000 Quality Standards
Malcolm Baldrige Award
 William F. Pflanz (2001)