Op Ex / Op Ed Operational Excellence Opinion & Editorial March 2019

A publication of Improvement Initiatives,

I'm Standing on the Shoulders of Giants ! -by Jay Watson

Quality Gurus: Juran and Deming (circa 1985)

Prior to joining NC State on July 1, 2000 Blan was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Juran Institute, Inc., the leading international management consulting, research, and training organization focused on quality management and business excellence, a position he held for thirteen years.

Prior to joining Juran Institute, Blan was Head of the Quality Theory and Technology Department of AT&T Bell Laboratories. The department focused on applied research in the areas of quality management and technology, reliability and productivity.

Blan joined Bell Labs in 1973 after receiving an MS and PhD in Statistics from Florida State University and a BS in Physics from Virginia Tech.

continued on page 2 ...

Meet living legend Dr. A. Blanton Godfrey

Learn more about the Quality profession:

https://www.simplilearn.com/deming-vs-juran-vs-crosby-comparison-article

Philip B. Crosby

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Blan Godfrey continued ...

For nineteen years Blan was also an Adjunct Professor in Columbia University’s School of Engineering and

Applied Science where he taught graduate courses in quality management and control. For four years he was a

guest lecturer in clinical quality management in the School of Public Health, Harvard University.

Blan is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, the American Society for Quality, the World

Academy of Productivity Sciences, and the Royal Society for the encouragement of Art, Manufacturers, and

Commerce. He is an elected member of Sigma Xi, the New York Academy of Science, The Fiber Society, and

an Academician of the International Academy for Quality. He is also listed in Who’s Who in America. He has

published over 200 articles and book chapters and co-authored or co-edited seven books including Modern

Methods for Quality Control and Improvement and Curing Health Care: New Strategies for Quality

Improvement. The first edition of Modern Methods was named “Book of the Year” by the Institute of

Industrial Engineering and the second edition was published in 2002. He is the co-editor (with Dr. Joseph M.

Juran) of Juran’s Quality Handbook, Fifth Edition, published in March 1999. Dr. Godfrey was a member of

the United States delegation to ISO’s Technical Committee 176 from 1980 to 1987 during the years of the

creation of the ISO 9000 series of standards. From 1987 to 1990, Blan contributed to the creation of the

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and served as a judge for the first three years of the award. He

served as a member of the Board of Examiners again in 1999 and 2000. He has also served as the Chairman of

the Judges for the United States Air Force Quality Award and on the Board of Directors for the Connecticut

Award for Excellence. Blan served as a member of the Board of Directors of Juran Institute, the American

Statistical Association, the Institute of Healthcare Improvement’s Quality Management Network, Textera, the

National Institute of Statistical Sciences, as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Cancer Hope Network,

and on the Board of Overseers for Fordham University’s School of Business, the National Advisory Council

for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s special initiative, “Pursuing Perfection: Raising the Bar in

Healthcare Quality,” and served as an Award Judge for the Veterans Health Administration Kenneth W. Kizer

Quality Achievement Award.

Blan has given seminars, consulted, or taught courses in over fifty-five countries and his written materials

have been translated, collectively, in over fifteen languages. He has personally worked with many of the top

executives of leading companies throughout the world.

In 1992 the American Society for Quality Control presented Blan the Edwards Medal for his outstanding

contributions to the science and practice of quality management. Blan’s research interests include statistical

graphics, quality and productivity management, strategic deployment, mistake proofing, and applied statistics.

In 2001 he became the founding editor of Six Sigma Forum Magazine, a new journal published by the

American Society for Quality. In 2005 he was selected as the Deming Lecturer for the American Statistical

Association’s Annual Conference.

In 2008 Blan received the C. Jackson Grayson Distinguished Quality Pioneer Medal in recognition for

innovation in the promotion of quality for all mankind and for “his leadership in blending quality and

innovation in product development, strategy and higher education.” Blan shared this honor with Mr. Al Gore,

Dr. Donald Berwick and Dr. Jerry Weast. In 2010, he received the Distinguished Service Medal from the

American Society for Quality and also was made an Honorary Member of the Argentine Foundation for

Quality that year. In 2011 he received the Meritorious Service Award from the North Carolina Hospital

Association and a Special Achievement Award from the American Statistical Association Quality and

Productivity Research Conference.

Op Ex Op Ed Page 3 of 4

KNOW YOUR GIANTS?? TEST YOUR QUALITY KNOWLEDGE ...

Who is known as father of quality?

Dr. Joseph M. Juran, noted author and “father” of modern day Quality Management, passed away on February

28, 2008, from natural causes. He was 103 years old, and was physically and mentally active until his death.

Who invented kaizen?

Masaaki Imai (born, 1930) is a Japanese organizational theorist and management consultant, known for his work

on quality management, specifically on Kaizen (Good Change). In 1985, he founded the Kaizen Institute to help

western companies introduce the concepts, systems and tools of Kaizen.

How did Crosby define zero defects?

Zero Defects, a term coined by Mr. Philip Crosby (1926-2001) in his book “Absolutes of Quality Management”

has emerged as a popular and highly-regarded concept in quality management – so much so that Six Sigma is

adopting it as one of its major theories. ... It means ensuring the highest quality standards in projects.

How did Deming define quality?

Quality is fitness for use. This definition stresses the importance of the customer who will use the product. W.

Edwards Deming (1900-1993) defined quality as follows: Good quality means a predictable degree of

uniformity and dependability with a quality standard suited to the customer.

Who invented Quality Circles?

Quality circles (SQC topics) were originally described by Homer M. Sarasohn and Charles W. Protzman (late

1940's) in Japan and later by W. Edwards Deming in the 1950s, Deming praised Toyota as an example of the

practice. The idea was later formalized across Japan in 1962 and expanded by others such as Kaoru Ishikawa

(1915-1989). The Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) coordinated the movement in Japan. In the

U.S., Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. (Wayne Rieker) began using quality circles in their manufacturing

facilities in 1974. Jay Watson led them at Gulton Industries (Goodrich Aero.) in Albuquerque, NM (1981 -1985).

Who is known as the father of Six Sigma?

William B. Smith, Jr. (1929-1993) is the "Co-founder of Six Sigma" along with Dr Mikel J Harry (1951-2017) .

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Smith graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1952 and studied at the

University of Minnesota School of Management (now known as the Carlson School of Management).

Who is the founder of TQM?

TQM, in the form of statistical quality control, was invented by Walter A. Shewhart (1891-1967). It was initially

implemented at Western Electric Company, additionally in the form developed by Joe Juran who had worked

there with the method. However, Armand Vallin Feigenbaum (1920-2014) was an American quality control

expert and businessman. He devised the concept of Total Quality Control (TQC) which inspired Total Quality

Management into a popular systematic approach for improving business.

In which company was Six Sigma first experimented?

It was introduced to Bob Galvin by engineer Bill Smith while working at Motorola in 1980. In 1994, Rick

Schroeder, AlliedSignal's vice president of operations, brought his Six Sigma experience from Motorola to his

new employer. (Later with Lean concepts added, Ray Stark would manage 'Six Sigma Plus' for Honeywell.) Jack

Welch made it central to his business strategy at General Electric in 1995. A six sigma process is one in which

99.99966% of all opportunities to produce some feature of a part are statistically expected to be free of defects.

Jay Watson

2135 E. La Jolla Dr.

Tempe, AZ 85282

Phone:

(480) 253 2039

E-mail: jay.watson.tempe@cox.net

“Quality is Free -

however,

the management

systems that

proliferate it

are not!"

-Jay Watson

Do It Yourself! Free Lean Six Sigma materials on the internet!

About Our Approach …

We’re on the Web!

See us at:

www.freesixsigmasite.com

Need help? Give me a

call !

-jaybird 2019

Ask your teams:

"How can we simply make our work easier?"

GET TO KNOW ... the experts in your field and learn from them.

After 40 years in the quality field, I finally received the

distinct honor and privilege to meet Blan at a Quality

conference where we were speaking. What a humble and

cordial man!

Get to know him, he is definitely a giant in the Quality field

today!

On A Personal Note ...

Dr. Godfrey and the 'jaybird' ...

at the 2019 ASQ Lean Six Sigma conference in Phoenix, AZ

the 'Master' and the 'Grasshopper'