Meeting the Challenge of Total Quality – Winter 1986 Youden Address

Abstract: Statisticians and other quality professionals must adopt and understand all aspects of total quality if they are to effectively meet the challenge of a competitive changing environment. These aspects include the company’s wide reception of statistical thinking, the need for everyone to understand the importance and role of all three components of total quality and the effective use of Taguchi’s approach. The three components of total quality are philosophy, management policies and procedures, and tools. In order to achieve total quality , managers, quality professionals, technical personnel, and statisticians must have new roles that require a broader view and an acquisition of new skills. As evidenced by these points, the creation of total quality is a top-down process that must have the active participation of top management.

Keywords: Total quality - Statistical Thinking - Robustness - Statistical process control