Phil Crosby
Encyclopedia
Philip Bayard "Phil" Crosby, (Wheeling, June 18, 1926 - Winter Park, August 18, 2001) was a businessman and author who contributed to management theory and quality management practices.
Crosby initiated the Zero Defects
program at the Martin Company
Orlando, Florida
, plant. As the quality control manager of the Pershing missile
program, Crosby was credited with a 25 percent reduction in the overall rejection rate and a 30 percent reduction in scrap costs.
, Crosby started the management consulting
company Philip Crosby Associates, Inc. This consulting group provided educational courses in quality management both at their headquarters in Winter Park, Florida
, and at eight foreign locations. Also in 1979, Crosby published his first business book, Quality Is Free. This book would become popular at the time because of the crisis in North American quality. During the late 1970s and into the 1980s, North American manufacturers were losing market share to Japanese products largely due to the superior quality of the Japanese goods.
Crosby's response to the quality crisis was the principle of "doing it right the first time" (DIRFT). He would also include four major principles:
His belief was that an organization that established a quality program will see savings returns that more than pay off the cost of the quality program: "quality is free".
Crosby initiated the Zero Defects
Zero Defects
"Zero Defects" is Step 7 of "Philip Crosby's 14 Step Quality Improvement Process" . Although applicable to any type of enterprise, it has been primarily adopted within industry supply chains wherever large volumes of components are being purchased .Zero Defects was a quality control program...
program at the Martin Company
Glenn L. Martin Company
The Glenn L. Martin Company was an American aircraft and aerospace manufacturing company that was founded by the aviation pioneer Glenn L. Martin. The Martin Company produced many important aircraft for the defense of the United States and its allies, especially during World War II and the Cold War...
Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
, plant. As the quality control manager of the Pershing missile
Pershing missile
Pershing was a family of solid-fueled two-stage medium-range ballistic missiles designed and built by Martin Marietta to replace the PGM-11 Redstone missile as the United States Army's primary nuclear-capable theater-level weapon. The Pershing systems lasted over 30 years from the first test...
program, Crosby was credited with a 25 percent reduction in the overall rejection rate and a 30 percent reduction in scrap costs.
Philip Crosby Associates
In 1979, after a career at ITTITT Corporation
ITT Corporation is a global diversified manufacturing company based in the United States. ITT participates in global markets including water and fluids management, defense and security, and motion and flow control...
, Crosby started the management consulting
Management consulting
Management consulting indicates both the industry and practice of helping organizations improve their performance primarily through the analysis of existing organizational problems and development of plans for improvement....
company Philip Crosby Associates, Inc. This consulting group provided educational courses in quality management both at their headquarters in Winter Park, Florida
Winter Park, Florida
Winter Park is a suburban city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 24,090 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 estimates, the city had a population of 28,083. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, and at eight foreign locations. Also in 1979, Crosby published his first business book, Quality Is Free. This book would become popular at the time because of the crisis in North American quality. During the late 1970s and into the 1980s, North American manufacturers were losing market share to Japanese products largely due to the superior quality of the Japanese goods.
Crosby's response to the quality crisis was the principle of "doing it right the first time" (DIRFT). He would also include four major principles:
-
- the definition of quality is conformance to requirements (requirements meaning both the product specifications and the customer's requirements)
- the system of quality is prevention
- the performance standard is zero defects
- the measurement of quality is the price of nonconformance
His belief was that an organization that established a quality program will see savings returns that more than pay off the cost of the quality program: "quality is free".