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About this lesson

Lean Six Sigma has evolved from earlier problem solving techniques and research in the areas of process improvement and quality management. Many individuals have contributed to the development of the Lean Six Sigma body of knowledge. The individuals identified were acknowledged world leaders in industry.

Quick reference

Continuous Improvement Gurus

Lean Six Sigma grew out of the continuous improvement movement that transformed quality management in the second half of the 20th century.

When to use

The principles of continuous improvement that have been developed over the years are incorporated into Lean Six Sigma.

Notes

Carl Gauss: In the 1800’s Gauss developed the normal curve also known as the bell-shaped curve and, in statistical circles, it is known as the Gaussian curve. This curve is based on common cause variation. It is due to the noise in the system and is a natural phenomenon. 

Walter Shewhart: Shewhart started the concept of statistical process control in 1924. He worked for the US government to apply statistical methods in a practical manner. The control charts that are part of SPC were originally called Shewhart charts.

Armand Feigenbaum: Feigenbaum was the pioneer who developed the idea of cost of quality. That is: there is a cost for good quality that prevents problems and bad quality that fixes them. One way or another, a company will pay for quality, but good quality is usually a lot less expensive.

W. Edwards Deming: Deming was a student under Shewhart where he learned statistical process control and the concept of variation including special cause and common cause. Following World War II he went to Japan to help rebuild it. He worked within the automotive industry to transform their quality. It worked. Instead of being a joke, “Made in Japan” came to stand for manufacturing excellence. Deming coined the improvement approach of Plan Do Check Act – known as PDCA.

Joseph Juran: Juran was a contemporary of Deming. He approached quality from a management perspective and succeeded in moving the discussion from one that only quality engineers and managers were concerned with to one that everyone from the CEO down was concerned with. He explained quality as a culture shift.

Phil Crosby: Crosby was also a contemporary of Deming. Crosby extended the concept of cost of quality developed by Feigenbaum and coined the phrase “Quality is Free.” While it is not truly free, he showed that prevention of defects was less expensive than correction of defects. He pushed the idea of zero defects and shifted the mindset from one of 99% quality is really good, to the idea that 100% quality was achievable and would actually lower overhead costs dramatically.

Kaoru Ishikawa: Ishikawa is best know around the world for the Ishikawa or fishbone diagram. He was a big advocate for including the people from the manufacturing floor into the improvement program. It wasn’t just for engineers; it was for everyone.

Shigeo Shingo: Shingo is the leader of the Lean process. He was focusing more on eliminating waste rather than variation. From his perspective variation was just one type of waste, but there were others that also should be controlled.

Genichi Taguchi: Taguchi was probably the strongest of the analytical thinkers among the Japanese gurus. He took the idea of cost of quality and created the Taguchi loss function which we will see in a later lesson This provided an analytical rationale for the idea that quality is free. He also developed a concept of robust design that is a spin-off of the design of experiments concept.

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  • 00:04 Hi, this is Ray Sheen.
  • 00:06 Part of learning the history of Lean Six Sigma is to know the contribution made by
  • 00:11 some of the early pioneers.
  • 00:13 Many of those individuals never heard of the term Lean Six Sigma, but
  • 00:18 their work set the stage for this initiative.
  • 00:21 First of these is Carl Gauss.
  • 00:24 Back in the 1800s, Gauss developed the normal curve,
  • 00:27 also known as the bell-shaped curve, and in statistical circles,
  • 00:31 it is known as the Gaussian curve.
  • 00:33 The curve is based on common cause variation.
  • 00:37 It's due to the noise in the system and is a natural phenomena.
  • 00:41 Next is Walter Shewhart.
  • 00:44 Shewhart started the concept of statistical process control in 1924.
  • 00:48 He worked for the US government to apply statistical methods in practical manner.
  • 00:54 The control charts that are part of the SPC were originally
  • 00:57 called Shewhart charts.
  • 01:01 Next is Armand Feigenbaum.
  • 01:03 He was the pioneer who developed the idea of the cost of quality.
  • 01:07 That is, there is a cost for good quality that prevents problems and
  • 01:11 bad quality that fixes them once they've occurred.
  • 01:15 One way or another, a company will pay for quality, but
  • 01:18 the good quality is usually a lot less expensive.
  • 01:22 Let's continue.
  • 01:24 The next in my list is Edwards Deming.
  • 01:27 Deming was a student under Shewhart where he learned statistical process control and
  • 01:31 the concept of variation, including special cause and common cause.
  • 01:35 Following World War II, he was sent to Japan to help rebuild its economy.
  • 01:41 He worked within the automotive industry to transform their quality.
  • 01:45 It worked, instead of being a laughingstock,
  • 01:48 made in Japan came to stand for manufacturing excellence.
  • 01:52 Deming's system of profound knowledge coined the improvement approach of plan,
  • 01:58 do, check, act, known as PDCA.
  • 02:02 Joseph Juran was a contemporary of Deming.
  • 02:05 Juran approached quality from a management perspective.
  • 02:08 He succeeded in moving the discussion from one that only quality engineers and
  • 02:12 managers were concerned with to one that everyone from the CEO down
  • 02:16 was concerned with.
  • 02:18 He explained quality as a cultural shift.
  • 02:22 Phil Crosby was also a contemporary of Deming.
  • 02:26 Crosby extended the concept of the cost of quality developed by Feigenbaum and
  • 02:31 coined the phrase, quality is free.
  • 02:34 While it's not truly free, he showed that prevention of
  • 02:37 defects was less expensive than cutting The correction of defects.
  • 02:41 He pushed the idea of zero defects and shifted the mindset from one of, well,
  • 02:46 99% quality is really pretty good to the idea that 100% quality was achievable and
  • 02:51 would actually lower overhead costs dramatically.
  • 02:56 Much of the quality thought leadership was coming from Japan.
  • 02:59 So let's look at a few of their gurus.
  • 03:01 First is Kaoru Ishikawa.
  • 03:04 You may know the name from the Ishikawa or fishbone diagram.
  • 03:08 He was a big advocate for including the people from the manufacturing floor into
  • 03:12 improvement programs.
  • 03:14 It wasn't just for engineers, it was for everyone.
  • 03:18 Next is Shigeo Shingo.
  • 03:22 He was the primary leader for the LEAN process.
  • 03:25 He was focused more on eliminating waste rather than variation.
  • 03:29 From his perspective, variation was just one type of waste, but
  • 03:32 there are other types of waste that also should be controlled.
  • 03:37 Next is Genichi Taguchi.
  • 03:40 He was probably the strongest of the analytical thinkers among
  • 03:43 the Japanese gurus.
  • 03:44 He took the idea of cost of quality and created the Taguchi loss function,
  • 03:49 which we will see in a later lesson.
  • 03:52 This provided the analytical rationale for the idea that quality is free.
  • 03:56 He also developed a concept of robust design that is a spin off
  • 04:00 of the design of experiments concept.
  • 04:03 Each of these gurus contributed to the development of the body of
  • 04:06 knowledge that's known as Lean Six Sigma.

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