Quality Gurus and their Contributions

Quality management is not a single doctrine derived from a particular individual or idea—it is a collection of ideas—but there is a core group of contributors known as the Quality Gurus. The Quality Gurus have all had a significant impact on the world through their contributions to improving not only businesses, but all organizations including state and national governments, military organizations, educational institutions, healthcare organizations, and many others.
The following list contains some of the well-known quality pioneers and their key Contributions in no particular order of importance.

An American physicist, engineer and statistician , sometimes known as the father of statistical quality control and also related to the Shewhart cycle, He was born in 1891.
The original notions of Total Quality Management and continuous improvement trace back to a former Bell Telephone employee named Walter Shewhart. One of W. Edwards Deming's teachers, he preached the importance of adapting management processes to create profitable situations for both businesses and consumers, promoting the utilization of his own creation -- the SPC control chart.
Dr. Shewhart believed that lack of information greatly hampered the efforts of control and management processes in a production environment. In order to aid a manager in making scientific, efficient, economical decisions, he developed Statistical Process Control methods. Many of the modern ideas regarding quality owe their inspirtation to Dr. Shewhart.
He also developed the Shewhart’s cycle (Specification, Production, and Inspection) combining both creative management thinking with statistical analysis. Later; this cycle was modified by Edwards Deming to PDCA cycle (Plan, Do, Study and Act).
Shewhart passed away in 1976.

Was an American statistician, management consultant, and professor who is known as the father of the quality movement. He was born in 1900 and received a Ph.D. in mathematical physics from Yale University in 1928.
Deming is best known for his work in the field of quality management and for his contributions to the Total Quality Management (TQM) philosophy. He believed that quality should be built into a product or service from the start, rather than being inspected in at the end of the production process.
Deming developed the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle, which is a four-step approach to problem-solving that is still widely used today. The steps are:
Plan: Identify the problem and develop a plan to address it.
Do: Implement the plan.
Check: Monitor the results of the plan and gather data.
Act: Analyze the data and make any necessary adjustments to the plan.
Deming also promoted the use of statistical process control, which involves using statistical methods to monitor and control a process. He believed that the use of statistical methods could help identify and eliminate variations and defects in a process, leading to improved quality.
Deming's ideas had a significant impact on the quality movement, and he is often credited with helping to establish Japan as a leader in the field of quality. He received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the National Medal of Technology in 1987. Deming passed away in 1993, but his contributions to the field of quality management continue to be recognized and admired around the world.

A Romanian-born American engineer and management consultant who made significant contributions to the field of quality management. He was born in 1904 and received a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1924.
Juran is known for his focus on the concept of "fitness for use," which means that a product or service should be designed to meet the needs and expectations of the customer. He believed that the ultimate goal of any quality effort should be to exceed customer expectations.
Juran developed the "Juran trilogy," which consists of three managerial processes: quality planning, quality control, and quality improvement. He believed that these processes should be integrated and applied throughout an organization in order to achieve long-term success.
Juran was also a strong advocate for involving all employees in the quality improvement process. He believed that everyone in an organization, from top management to front-line workers, had a role to play in improving quality.
Juran passed away in 2008, but his contributions to the field of quality management continue to be recognized and admired around the world.

An American engineer, management consultant, and author; He was born in 1926 and received a degree in mechanical engineering from Florida State University in 1948.
Crosby is known for his concept of "zero defects," which means striving to eliminate defects in products or processes. He believed that the ultimate goal of any quality effort should be to eliminate defects completely, rather than simply trying to reduce them.
Crosby developed the "Crosby 14 Steps to Quality Improvement," which is a systematic approach to quality improvement that emphasizes the importance of leadership, training, and teamwork. The steps are:
Management commitment
Quality education and training
Quality measurement
Establishing quality objectives
Establishing the quality system
Implementing the quality system
Evaluating the quality system
Correcting the quality system
Continual improvement
Recognition and incentives
Employee involvement
Teamwork
Communication
Quality council
Crosby was also a strong advocate for the use of clear and measurable goals and objectives in order to drive quality improvement. He believed that setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals was key to success.
Crosby received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1988 and the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing in 1989. He passed away in 2001.

A Japanese engineer and management consultant was born in 1915 and received a degree in applied chemistry from Tokyo University in 1939.
Ishikawa is known for his contributions to the development of the cause-and-effect diagram, also known as the "fishbone" or Ishikawa diagram. This tool is used to identify the root causes of problems or defects in a product or process. It involves drawing a diagram in the shape of a fishbone, with the problem or defect at the head of the fish and the potential causes of the problem arranged like the bones of the fish.
Ishikawa was also a strong advocate for involving workers in the quality improvement process and for the use of statistical methods to control quality. He believed that involving workers in the problem-solving process and using data to identify and eliminate defects were key to improving quality.
Ishikawa received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the Deming Prize in 1970 and the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing in 1990. He passed away in 1989, but his contributions to the field of quality management continue to be recognized and admired around the world.

was a Japanese engineer, statistician, and management consultant. He was born in 1924 and received a degree in electrical engineering from Osaka University in 1947.
Taguchi is known for his contributions to the development of robust design, which is the practice of designing products and processes to be resistant to external factors that can cause variability. He believed that by designing products and processes that were robust, it was possible to achieve high levels of quality and performance with fewer defects and less variability.
Taguchi also developed the "Taguchi methods," which are statistical techniques used to optimize the design of products and processes. These methods involve using experimental design techniques to identify the factors that have the greatest impact on the quality of a product or process, and then using statistical analysis to optimize the settings of those factors.
Taguchi received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the Deming Prize in 1988 and the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing in 1989. He passed away in 2012.

A Japanese industrial engineer who was considered as the world’s leading expert on manufacturing practices. He was born in 1909 and received a degree in mechanical engineering from Nagoya Technical High School in 1932.
Shingo is known for his contributions to the development of the Toyota Production System (TPS), which is a set of principles for maximizing efficiency and minimizing waste in manufacturing. Shingo's work is credited with helping to establish Japan as a leader in the field of quality and lean manufacturing.
Shingo's contributions to the TPS include the development of the "single-minute exchange of die" (SMED) system, which is a method for quickly and efficiently changing over a production line from one product to another. He also developed the "pokayoke" system, which is a method for preventing mistakes and defects by using simple, low-cost devices to alert workers when a process is not being followed correctly.
Shingo passed away in 1990.

Was a Japanese engineer and management consultant who made significant contributions to the field of quality management, He was born in 1930 and received a degree in electrical engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1952.
Kano is known for his contributions to the development of the Kano model, which is a tool used to understand and prioritize customer needs. The model identifies three types of customer requirements: basic, performance, and excitement.
Basic requirements are those that customers expect to be met in order to be satisfied with a product or service.
Performance requirements are those that customers value, but do not necessarily expect. Excitement requirements are those that delight customers and exceed their expectations.
Kano believed that it was important for organizations to understand the different types of customer requirements and to prioritize them accordingly in order to achieve customer satisfaction. He also believed that the key to long-term success was to focus on continuous improvement and innovation in order to meet and exceed customer expectations.
Kano received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the Deming Prize in 1988 and the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing in 1989. He passed away in 2019.