Reading Assignment:

Download and read Chapter 1 in Essentials of Quality With Cases and Experiential Exercises.  Review the Discussion Questions at the end of the chapter to be sure that you understand what you have read.

Juran, J.M. "Consumerism and Product Quality." Quality Progress 3:7 (1970): 18.  Reprinted in Sower, V., J. Motwani, & M. Savoie.  Classic Readings in Operations Management.  Ft. Worth, TX, 1995, pp. 249-275.

Juran, J.M. "The Quality Trilogy." Quality Progress 9:8 (1986): 19-24.  Reprinted in Sower, V., J. Motwani, & M. Savoie.  Classic Readings in Operations Management. Ft. Worth, TX, 1995, pp. 277-287.

Feigenbaum, A.V. "Total Quality Control." Harvard Business Review 34:6 (1956): 93-101.  Reprinted in Sower, V., J. Motwani, & M. Savoie.  Classic Readings in Operations Management. Ft. Worth, TX, 1995, pp. 307-321.

Hoerl, R.W.  "Six Sigma and the Future of the Quality Profession."  Quality Progress 31:6 (1998):  35-42.

W. Edwards Deming is best known for helping to lead the Japanese manufacturing sector out of the ruins of World War II to becoming a major presence in the world market. The highest quality award in Japan, The Deming Prize, is named in his honor. He is also known for his 14 points (a new philosophy for competing on the basis of quality), for the Deming Chain Reaction, and for the Theory of Profound Knowledge.  Read more about Deming's Theory of Profound Knowledge at the MAAW web site.  He also modified the Shewart cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act) to what is now referred to as the Deming Cycle (Plan, Do, Study, Act).  Beginning in the early 1980s he finally came to prominence in the United States and played a major role in quality becoming a major competitive issue in American industry.  His book, Out of the Crisis (1986), is considered a quality classic. Read more about Dr. Deming and his philosophy at the W. Edwards Deming Institute Home Page.

Joseph Juran also assisted the Japanese in their reconstruction. Juran first became well known in the quality field in the U.S. as the editor of the Quality Control Handbook (1951) and later for his paper introducing the quality trilogy.  While Deming's approach is revolutionary in nature (i.e. throw out your old system and "adopt the new philosophy" of his 14 points), Juran's approach is more evolutionary (i.e. we can work to improve your current system).  Deming refers to statistics as being the language of business while Juran says that money is the language of business and quality efforts must be communicated to management in their language.  Read more about Dr. Juran and his philosophy at the Juran Institute web site.

Phillip Crosby came to national prominence with the publication of his book, Quality is Free. He established the Absolutes of Quality Management which includes "the only performance standard (that makes any sense) is Zero Defects," and the Basic Elements of Improvement.  Phillip Crosby Associates II, Inc. home page.

Armand Feigenbaum is credited with the creation of the idea of total quality control in his 1951 book, Quality Control--Principles, Practice, and Administration and in his 1956 article, "Total Quality Control." The Japanese adopted this concept and renamed it Company-Wide Quality Control, while it has evolved into Total Quality Management (TQM) in the U.S.

There are other major contributors to the quality field as we know it today. The list of major contributors would include Walter Shewhart, Shigeo Shingo, Genichi Taguchi, Kaoru Ishikawa, and David Garvin among others.

Six Sigma Quality is defined as "a programme aimed at the near-elimination of defects from every product, process and transaction."  Developed at Motorola, Six Sigma quality programs have been adopted at many major corporations including GE, Dow Chemical, and AlliedSignal.  When used as a metric, Six Sigma means doing things right > 99.9996% of the time (3.4 defects per million opportunities).  A process performing at six sigma is classified by Harry ["Six Sigma:  A Breakthrough Strategy for Profitability," Quality Progress, v. 31, no. 5 (May 1998), pp. 60-64] as "World Class."  Harry defines the "Industry Average" as being at four sigma producing 6,210 defects per million opportunities (< 99.4% good parts).
    Six Sigma is a disciplined approach for improvement of defined metrics through the application of a process known as MAIC:  Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control.  Some (e.g. DuPont) add a first step, Define, to the process so that it becomes DMAIC.  Read more about the Six Sigma approach to quality at the iSixSigma web site or at the Six Sigma Academy web site.
    Don Linsenmann, DuPont Corp.'s Six Sigma Champion, describes Six Sigma as a triangle [McCoy, M., "Six Sigma Gaining as Improvement Method," Chemical & Engineering News, v. 77, no. 45 (November 8, 1999), pp. 11-12.].  The triangle's base is the statistical and problem-solving tools for analyzing the root causes of defects.  One side of the triangle is the DMAIC methodology that helps companies use these tools in individual, sharply focused, defect-reducing projects.  The third side of the triangle is the management infrasturcture required to spread the process throughout the company.
    Six Sigma has been criticized by some as being "just a repackaging of long-cherished quality techniques." [Franco, 2001].  But David Silverstein of Breakthrough Management Group disagrees.  He says [Franco, V. "Adopting Six Sigma," Quality Digest, v. 21, no. 6 (June 2001), 28-32] "What is special about Six Sigma is that it puts all of the elements together in a comprehensive system that's structured and disciplined and includes many points of accountability."
    Six Sigma programs are credited with substantial improvements.  GE claims that Six Sigma saved it $750 million in 1998 and forecasts a $1.5 billion savings in 1999.  Allied Signal reports savings of more than $500 million in 1998 as a result of its Six Sigma program [McCoy, 1999].
    Kathleen Bader, Dow Chemical's Corporate Vice President for Quality and Business Excellence, is in charge of Dow's Six Sigma initiative.  The Dow approach to Six Sigma attempts to "focus on the determinants of customer satisfaction and drive them back to the businesses they touch." [McCoy, 1999].  Dow is starting the process from the top, focusing on major projects and breakthrough goals, and establishing those goals in Six Sigma metrics.  Bader says that "Six Sigma is a cultural change program that accelerates perfection," and expects the program to add "a cumulative $1.5 billion to the company's earnings before interest and taxes by the end of 2003." [McCoy, 2001].  One project initiated by a Six Sigma black belt at Dow cost $75 for a monitor to measure moisture and saved $713,000 in the first quarter of the year [McCoy, 2001].
    Great Lakes Chemical's Mark Bulriss cautions that "change can't be imposed on a company that's not ready for it." [McCoy, 1999].  Critics of Six Sigma suggest that it doesn't go far enough.  According to Thomas Pyzdek ["Why Six Sigma is Not Enough," Quality Digest, (November 1999), p. 26.] Six Sigma programs focus on nonconformances and defects which can only result in a "not dissatisfied" customer.  Six Sigma progams must be adapted (such as the Dow approach) to focus on "critical to quality (CTQ)" characteristics which can create satisfied customers.  But Pyzdek claims that customer satisfaction is not enough.  Perfection in the CTQ will not assure the viability of the firm in the long run.  He suggests that Six Sigma progams can result in a less creative organization.  To overcome this possible consequence of Six Sigma he suggests that organizations should celebrate failure (i.e. value valient innovative efforts that fail), create quality time (i.e. time for creative activity, not routine work--3M provides 15% of an employees time for creative activity), reduce procedure protocols (overcontrol and rigid standardization can inhibit experimentation and innovation), provide mass education in design of experiments, and utilize undesigned experiments (while design of experiments (DOE) is the method of choice, much can be learned from ad hoc changes to processes).

Case Study 1.1 at the end of Chapter 1 of the text.  Use at least 2 sources other than the text.

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