Showing posts with label Feigenbaum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Feigenbaum. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Armand Feigenbaum- What Quality Means Today
Early in our careers, when we worked for the General Electric Co. in Schenectady, New York, there was no road map for a young manager desperately trying to find ways to lead. One had to experiment, employing various mechanisms such as motivational sessions, inventory control, budgetary control and information management. But none of those, alone or in combination, seemed to provide a comprehensive lever for leadership innovation.
At that time, the notion of managing for quality, at GE and elsewhere, was specific. It was defined as meeting technical specifications in products and services. In organizational terms, there was often a quality department whose responsibility was to make sure these specifications were met. We observed, however, that this narrowly defined emphasis on quality nonetheless had a wide ripple effect; it connected to every process and person in the organization and made them better. We came to realize that quality was not so much a matter of techniques, of which we had plenty, nor statistical control, important as that was, nor testing machines. It was a way of leading, inspiring, integrating efforts and managing for profitability and growth. It was the lever we had been seeking. Today, companies of all types use quality as a strategic touchstone and organizing principle. A recent survey by the American Society for Quality found that more than 80% of all executives recognize total quality leadership as a systematic way of creating an effective corporate mind-set. But what does that really mean in today's world?
http://sloanreview.mit.edu/wsj/insight/pdfs/46218.pdf
At that time, the notion of managing for quality, at GE and elsewhere, was specific. It was defined as meeting technical specifications in products and services. In organizational terms, there was often a quality department whose responsibility was to make sure these specifications were met. We observed, however, that this narrowly defined emphasis on quality nonetheless had a wide ripple effect; it connected to every process and person in the organization and made them better. We came to realize that quality was not so much a matter of techniques, of which we had plenty, nor statistical control, important as that was, nor testing machines. It was a way of leading, inspiring, integrating efforts and managing for profitability and growth. It was the lever we had been seeking. Today, companies of all types use quality as a strategic touchstone and organizing principle. A recent survey by the American Society for Quality found that more than 80% of all executives recognize total quality leadership as a systematic way of creating an effective corporate mind-set. But what does that really mean in today's world?
http://sloanreview.mit.edu/wsj/insight/pdfs/46218.pdf
Armand Feigenbaum- Quality Guru
Our "Quality Guru of the Month" is Dr. Armand V. Feigenbaum. Feigenbaum is the originator of Total Quality Control. While he was a doctoral student at MIT, Feigenbaum completed his first edition of his book Total Quality Control.
Feigenbaum’s work centralized around the notion for a systematic or total approach to quality. He argued that total approach to quality requires the involvement of all functions of the quality process, not only manufacturing. His idea was to build in quality in the early stage rather than inspecting and controlling after the processes have been completed.
According to the Department of Trade and Industry, Feigenbaum served as the worldwide Director of Manufacturing Operations and Quality Control at General Electric Company between 1958 and 1968. He later became President of General Systems Company, Inc. Feigenbaum was also the founding chairman of the International Academy for Quality and also the past president of the American Society of Quality Control. In 1988, Feigenbaum was appointed to the board of overseers of the United States Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award Program.
Dr. Feigenbaum’s message was to move away from the concerns of the technical aspect of quality control and make a focus of quality control as a business method, including administrative and human relation functions. Another one of his emphases is that quality does not mean "best" but "best for the customer."
Feigenbaum saw Modern Quality Control as the stimulating and building up of operator responsibilities and interests in quality. Feigenbaum also argued that all levels of quality need to be emphasized. For quality control to achieve its specified results there is the need for complete support from management as well as the quality control program must develop gradually from within the organization.
Dr. Feigenbaum is known for his thoughts on how quality programs are one of the most powerful change agents for companies today. As a result of Dr. Feigenbaum’s work, company management has assumed the responsibility to make leadership contributions that will increase their company’s growth, which in turn will positively affect the national economy.
http://www.4rcs.com/feigenbaum.htm
Feigenbaum’s work centralized around the notion for a systematic or total approach to quality. He argued that total approach to quality requires the involvement of all functions of the quality process, not only manufacturing. His idea was to build in quality in the early stage rather than inspecting and controlling after the processes have been completed.
According to the Department of Trade and Industry, Feigenbaum served as the worldwide Director of Manufacturing Operations and Quality Control at General Electric Company between 1958 and 1968. He later became President of General Systems Company, Inc. Feigenbaum was also the founding chairman of the International Academy for Quality and also the past president of the American Society of Quality Control. In 1988, Feigenbaum was appointed to the board of overseers of the United States Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award Program.
Dr. Feigenbaum’s message was to move away from the concerns of the technical aspect of quality control and make a focus of quality control as a business method, including administrative and human relation functions. Another one of his emphases is that quality does not mean "best" but "best for the customer."
Feigenbaum saw Modern Quality Control as the stimulating and building up of operator responsibilities and interests in quality. Feigenbaum also argued that all levels of quality need to be emphasized. For quality control to achieve its specified results there is the need for complete support from management as well as the quality control program must develop gradually from within the organization.
Dr. Feigenbaum is known for his thoughts on how quality programs are one of the most powerful change agents for companies today. As a result of Dr. Feigenbaum’s work, company management has assumed the responsibility to make leadership contributions that will increase their company’s growth, which in turn will positively affect the national economy.
http://www.4rcs.com/feigenbaum.htm
Armand Feigenbaum- Laying the foundations of modern quality control
The name Armand V. Feigenbaum and the term "total quality control" are virtually synonymous. In 1986, when the ASQ board of directors elected Feigenbaum an Honorary member, it acknowledged a career of more than 35 years in the quality field. During that career, the precepts of total quality control were carefully laid out and tirelessly promulgated in the United States and around the world.
Feigenbaum's ideas are contained in his now famous book Total Quality Control, first published in 1951 under the title Quality Control: Principles, Practice, and Administration, and based on his earlier articles and program installations in the field. The book has been translated into more than a score of languages, including Japanese, Chinese, French, and Spanish.
http://www.asq.org/about-asq/who-we-are/bio_feigen.html
Feigenbaum's ideas are contained in his now famous book Total Quality Control, first published in 1951 under the title Quality Control: Principles, Practice, and Administration, and based on his earlier articles and program installations in the field. The book has been translated into more than a score of languages, including Japanese, Chinese, French, and Spanish.
http://www.asq.org/about-asq/who-we-are/bio_feigen.html
Armand Feigenbaum
Armand Vallin Feigenbaum (born 1922) is an American quality control expert and businessman. He devised the concept of Total Quality Control, later known as Total Quality Management (TQM).
Feigenbaum received a bachelor's degree from Union College, and his master's degree and Ph.D. from MIT. He was Director of Manufacturing Operations at General Electric (1958-1968), and is now President and CEO of General Systems Company of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, an engineering firm that designs and installs operational systems. Feigenbaum wrote several books and served as President of the American Society for Quality (1961-1963).
His contributions to the quality body of knowledge include:
-"Total quality control is an effective system for integrating the quality development, quality maintenance, and quality improvement efforts of the various groups in an organization so as to enable production and service at the most economical levels which allow full customer satisfaction."
-The concept of a "hidden" plant—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: Because quality is everybody's job, it may become nobody's job—the idea that quality must be actively managed and have visibility at the highest levels of management.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armand_Feigenbaum
Feigenbaum received a bachelor's degree from Union College, and his master's degree and Ph.D. from MIT. He was Director of Manufacturing Operations at General Electric (1958-1968), and is now President and CEO of General Systems Company of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, an engineering firm that designs and installs operational systems. Feigenbaum wrote several books and served as President of the American Society for Quality (1961-1963).
His contributions to the quality body of knowledge include:
-"Total quality control is an effective system for integrating the quality development, quality maintenance, and quality improvement efforts of the various groups in an organization so as to enable production and service at the most economical levels which allow full customer satisfaction."
-The concept of a "hidden" plant—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: Because quality is everybody's job, it may become nobody's job—the idea that quality must be actively managed and have visibility at the highest levels of management.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armand_Feigenbaum
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