Philip B. Crosby

Philip B. Crosby

Philip Crosby worked on quality for 40 years, including 14 years spent at ITT. Thanks to the use of Total Quality Management (TQM), the ITT company saved at this time $ 720,000,000. He gained knowledge while moving up from lower levels of the organizational hierarchy (he started as an inspector) up to the board vice president. His most famous book, Quality is Free was published in over one million issues.

Biography

He was born in 1926 in Whelling in West Virginia, and died in 2001. In 1952 he began work on a production line. Gradually over the years, he climbed up the career ladder. He worked for Crosley, Martin-Marietta and ITT. In 1979 he created a consulting firm that dealt with the popularization of preventive approach to quality, in place of the audit approach. In the 90s he provided lectures and seminars on quality.

The most important dates:

• 1952 - work for Crosley
• 1955 - Bendix Mishiwaka
• 1957 - Martin Marietta
• 1964 - Distinguished Civilian Service Medal from the Department of the Army
• 1964 - development of Zero defects concept
• 1965 - ITT (vice president of quality)
• 1979 - founded Philip Crosby Associates, Inc.
• 1991 - retirement from PCA and foundation of Career IV, Inc.
• 1997 - founded Philip Crosby Associates II, Inc.

Quality is free

Philip B. Crosby is the author of "Quality is free" - his most popular book. But it's not only the title - it's the philosophy. In Crosby's view, all investments in improvement of quality (prevention, training, improvement of products and processes, etc.) lead to decline in costs of low quality (defects, [[7 wastes of lean|waste], etc.). The decline is greater than those investments. It means that despite the investments, costs of whole enterprise decline. Therefore, the increase of quality costs nothing - the quality is free.

Crosby is the author of process cost model - a model of quality costs accounting - which enables enterprises to detect costs of good and bad quality. The model was described in "Quality is free" book.

Zero defects

Zero defects - the method of assuming that is possible to completely eliminate the deficiencies through proper organization of processes, training of personnel, maintenance of infrastructure.

The method of zero defects was used with success for the first time in the armaments industry. It was later popularized in civilian industries. It gave rise to a number of methods for integrating the principles of management and statistics. Crosby was not seen by all as a guru of quality. William Edwards Deming has repeatedly denied his achievements.

The idea is based on four absolutes defined by P.B. Crosby:

1. Quality is conformance to requirements
2. Defect prevention is preferable to quality inspection and correction
3. Zero Defects is the quality standard
4. Quality is measured in monetary terms - the Price of Nonconformance

14 steps to improvement

Philip B. Crosby defined 14 steps to improvement. They are a competitive approach to W. Edwards Deming's 14 principles.

1. Commitment of Management
2. Formulate the Quality Improvement Team
3. Measure for Quality in Current Practices
4. What Will the Cost of Quality Be?
5. Quality Awareness is Central to Success
6. Remember the Quality Problems? Take Corrective Action
7. Plan for Zero Defects
8. Practice Effective Training for Supervisors
9. Happy Zero Defects Day!
10. Involve Everyone in Goal Setting
11. Eliminate Causes of Errors
12. Implement Recognition for Participants
13. Create Quality Councils
14. Lather...Rinse...REPEAT!!!

Examples of Philip B. Crosby achievements

• Philip B. Crosby is best known for his work in the field of quality management. His most famous contribution is his development of the concept of zero defects. This concept, introduced in his 1979 book Quality Is Free, emphasized that quality must be built into products and services from the ground up, rather than being treated as an afterthought. Crosby's zero defects concept revolutionized the way companies approach quality control and is credited with helping to bring down defects from the range of 20-40% to less than 1%.
• Crosby was also an innovator in the field of quality assurance. He developed a fourteen-step process for quality assurance, which has become an industry standard and is used in many organizations today. This process encourages companies to adopt a total quality management approach, which emphasizes employee involvement and continuous improvement.
• Crosby was a strong proponent of the "prevention is better than cure" approach to quality management. He believed that the best way to ensure quality was to prevent defects from occurring in the first place. This philosophy is now a cornerstone of many quality management systems, and it has led to a greater emphasis on prevention rather than inspection.
• Lastly, Crosby is also credited with helping to popularize the concept of Total Quality Management. His 1982 book Quality Without Tears outlined a framework for managing quality across the organization and emphasized the importance of employee involvement in achieving quality goals. This approach has since become a cornerstone of many organizations’ quality management systems, and it has helped to ensure that quality is a priority throughout the organization.

Advantages of Philip B. Crosby approach

Philip B. Crosby is renowned for his contributions to the field of quality management and for introducing the concept of zero defects. Below are some of the main advantages of his approach:

• Crosby’s focus on prevention rather than detection of defects allowed companies to reduce costs significantly, as it was much less expensive to prevent defects from occurring than to identify and fix them after the product was already made.
• His emphasis on the concept of zero defects helped to ensure that any defects that did occur were addressed quickly and efficiently, thus improving the overall quality of the product.
• Crosby's concept of quality was based on the idea of "doing it right the first time", meaning that the product was to be designed and produced with the utmost attention to detail and precision. This would reduce the number of rework and scrap, resulting in a more cost-effective product.
• Crosby also believed that quality was a shared responsibility, meaning that everyone involved in the production process, from management to line workers, had to be committed to producing a quality product. This helped to ensure that all stakeholders had a vested interest in the product’s success.

Limitations of Philip B. Crosby approach

Philip B. Crosby is an influential quality management expert and pioneer in the Total Quality Management movement. However, there are some limitations to his approach including:

• Limited vision - Crosby’s view of quality management was limited in scope, focusing only on the manufacturing processes and not other areas such as customer service or product development.
• Lack of flexibility - Crosby's approach was also rigid and prescriptive, making it difficult to adapt to different contexts or changing conditions.
• Over-emphasis on cost savings - Although cost savings are important, Crosby's focus on it was too narrow and overlooked other benefits of quality management such as customer satisfaction.
• Lack of customer focus - Crosby's approach did not prioritize customer needs and feedback, which is an important factor in quality management.

Other approaches related to Philip B. Crosby

Philip B. Crosby is well known for his pioneering work in the field of quality control and quality management. His approach is highly regarded and often studied. However, there are other approaches that are related to Philip B. Crosby's work, such as:

• The Zero Defects (ZD) approach, which was developed by Philip B. Crosby in the 1970s. This approach focuses on the prevention of defects and the elimination of any rework. It encourages employees to take responsibility for their actions and to strive for perfection in their work.
• The Total Quality Management (TQM) approach, which was popularized by W. Edwards Deming in the 1950s. This approach focuses on continuous improvement and the use of customer feedback to drive change. It encourages everyone in the organization to be involved in the process of quality improvement.
• The Six Sigma approach, which was developed by Motorola in the 1980s. This approach focuses on reducing defects and improving customer satisfaction. It uses data-driven decision making and problem-solving techniques to maximize efficiency and reduce waste.

In summary, there are several approaches related to Philip B. Crosby's work, such as the Zero Defects approach, the Total Quality Management approach, and the Six Sigma approach. Each of these approaches has its own distinct advantages and can be applied to different situations to improve quality.

Philip B. Crosby — recommended articles

Continuous improvement — Kaizen principles — World class manufacturing — Total Quality Management — Joseph M. Juran — Total quality control — Armand Feigenbaum — Kaizen — Quality management

References

• Philip Crosby Associates
• Love, C. E., Guo, R., & Irwin, K. H. (1995). Acceptable quality level versus zero-defects: some empirical evidence. Computers & operations research, 22(4), 403-417.
• Crosby P.B. (2006) Crosby's 14 Steps To Improvement, www.asq.org