Biography of W. Edwards Deming and Joseph M. Juran

W. Edwards Deming and Joseph M. Juran:

The impact of Bell Telephone Systems on the quality profession is almost beyond belief. Shewhart, Edwards, Juran and Deming all worked for Bell System and learned in some way or another. Edwards and Shewhart retired as employees of the Bell System. Both Juran and Deming went beyond the Bell system to become world-renowned consultants and authors. 

William Edwards Deming (1900-1993)

Deming became the best-known quality specialist in the United States. He delivered his message on quality not only across the United States but around the world. In recognition of his valuable contribution to Japan's post-war recovery, the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers established an annual award for quality achievement called the Deming Prize. 

Deming (1982) emphasized that the key to quality lies in the hands of management – ​​85 percent of quality problems are caused by the system and only 15 percent by employees. The heart of their quality strategy is the use of statistical quality control to identify particular special causes (irregular, unpredictable) and common causes (systemic) of variation. Statistical tools provide a common language for employees in a company and allow quality control efforts to be widely spread. Each employee takes considerable responsibility for the quality of their work. In traditional quality control functions, they are then able to take a more active role in the quality improvement effort. 

Deming introduced statistical quality control to the Japanese in the early 1950s when Japan was recovering from World War II and trying to overcome a reputation for shoddy workmanship. Deming's guidance was instrumental in converting "Made in Japan" from a liability to an asset. Deming stressed that there was no point in encouraging employees to produce high-quality work because the changes needed to improve quality were almost always outside the workers' control, such as the right equipment, training, and materials. Instead, management had to accept responsibility for quality. Based on his experience, Deming developed a set of 14-point requirements, called Deming's 14 points, shown in Figure 1.1. He also described the seven deadly diseases of the workplace, including an emphasis on short-term profits, the use of personnel performance appraisals, which he labeled "management by fear" and the dynamics of management (that is, management as a profession independent of product/service or Commitment to the organization). 

Juran, like Deming, built up its quality reputation in America and then moved its expertise to Japan in the 1950s. The two complemented each other well in Japan, as Deming demonstrated the use of statistical tools and Juran taught the technical techniques of quality management. Juran originated the concepts of "important few" and "useful (originally trivial) many", Which he named the Pareto principle, which is contained in the now famous Pareto diagram. An economist, Vilfredo Pareto, noted this phenomenon but it was Juran who applied it to improve quality. 

Joseph Moses Juran (1904-2008)

Juran recognized that improving quality required a completely different approach from the one required to maintain existing quality. He demonstrated this idea in his book Managerial Breakthrough, first published in 1964, and later incorporated his ideas into the Juran trilogy: 

1. Quality control monitoring techniques to correct sporadic problems (according to specific reasons)

2. Quality improvement: a success sequence to solve old problems (corresponding to common causes)

3. Quality Planning: An Annual Quality Program to Institutionalize Managerial Control and Review 

Juran served the quality profession well when in 1951 he produced the monumental Juran's Quality Handbook, now in its fifth edition. Juran's contributions are wide and varied. He defined quality as "fitness for use by the customer". He emphasized, a quality effort to be successful requires top managers to be personally involved and it is important for middle and lower level managers to gauge and top management—money thinking, for example—to secure their participation. To improve the quality of learning to do, there is a need to apply the study of symptoms, diagnosing causes and treatment of symptoms to the universal process of Juran. 

Figure 1.1 Deming's 14 points

He repeatedly emphasized that major reforms can be achieved only on a project-by-project basis. The basis for selection of projects was return on investment, which is now a major component of Six Sigma.