The Life and Times of Kaoru Ishikawa Essay Example

not the symptoms.

”Quality Circles were the first teams within a company whose main purpose was to focus exclusively on quality. The expanding popularity of Quality Circles started near 1960 in Japan, and the concept was in use within companies in The United States later on in the 1960’s.

The expansion of the concept in The United States expanded when managers from Lockheed Missiles and Space Division went to Japan to observe Quality Circles being implemented by Japanese firms in 1973. After the realization of the program’s benefits at Lockheed got out, many large and diverse manufacturing operations began implementing Quality Circles. After those benefits were realized in manufacturing, service sector companies and organization’s began implementing the system with limited success.

Labeled a fad after some years of use, because of management failures to put them into operation and manage the teams properly. These early operations paved the way for many firms to advance refine the concept within their respective companies. Quality Circles have expanded internationally as well. The 14th convention Sponsored by The International Convention of Students Circles in Lucknow, India is November 30th through December 3rd, 2011, and will have students from 34 different countries, with over three

thousand attendee’s.

Credit is also given to Ishikawa for the development of the Cause and Effect Diagram, named the Ishikawa Diagram after him, which is also known by its generic term, The Fishbone Diagram. Users of this system are able to see the cause and effect of different synopsis on the outcome of an operation. It allows them to hypothesize to isolate the root causes of defects, driving quality from the bottom up. His emphasis is on the manpower side of the quality equation. His “seven basic tools of quality”;

1. Cause and Effect Diagrams, (Ishikawa Diagram) identifies causes for a given situation.
2. First used by him in the 1940’s. Helps the user see all of the causes of a situation, not just the palpable ones.
3. Pareto Charts, the idea of that at 20% of the work level, 80% of the problems are evident. It is a bar chart that is arranged from highest to lowest, in relation to a measurable effect. Most often frequency, cost, or time.
4. Check Sheet, a structured form assembled to collect and analyze data. They are a somewhat simple way to capture information in a formalized way to allow decisions to be made based on the facts of the situation.
5. Scatter Diagram, graphs numerical data on an X – Y axis diagram. Its primary use is to disseminate a relationship between two variable sources of data. It doesn’t prove a relationship, merely which ones may exist.
6. Stratification, separating and analyzing the varieties of data from the separate sources to see patterns. Also called a Flow Chart, it is a non-statistical representation of a process.
7. Control Charts, Graphs developed to identify changes over
   

time. Somewhat complex tool that show the statistical change to a process over time. Data is controlled by defined lower and upper limits of control. It shows if a process is within tolerance and in control, or out of tolerance and out of control.

Used mostly for long lists of data. Useful in showing the patterns and variations of data. The seven basic tools can be used individually or in conjunction with each other. The more obvious or simple a process is; relates to the number of tools to be used.

Having the decision based on fact instead of personal knowledge, eliminated personal bias and misinformation in the decision process. He was a promoter of all members of a company learning these steps to make quality a habit throughout the organization. Kaoru Ishikawa’s contribution to the quality process is and will be recognized for years to come as one of the most influential theories that all systems of quality control will be based on in the future. International Awards earned by Kaoru Ishikawa; 1972 American Society for Quality’s Eugene L. Grant Award 977 Blue Ribbon Medal by the Japanese Government for achievements in industrial standardization 1988 Walter A. Shewhart Medal 1988 Awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasures, Second Class, by the Japanese government.

References:

1. Managing for Quality and Performance, text book.
2. International Convention of Students’ Quality Control Circles http://www. cmseducation. org/icsqcc/
3. VectorStudy. com http://www. vectorstudy. com/management_gurus/kaoru_ishikawa. htm
4. Improvement and Innovation http://www. improvementandinnovation. com/features/article/seven-basic-tools-quality/