Architect of Quality

This is an excellent autobiography by one of the most renowned quality gurus in the world. His contributions to the field of quality management in his over 70 active working years is outstanding. Dr. Juran was the first to incorporate the human aspect of quality management which is referred to as Total Quality Management. Among the quality management ideas and concepts for which Juran is well known include top management involvement, the Pareto principle, the need for widespread training in quality, the definition of quality as fitness for use, the project-by-project approach to quality improvement. Juran was born in 1904 in Rumania. The family immigrated to the USA some few years later in search of the American dream and to escape poverty in their country. Young Juran was a gifted scholar with special aptitudes for mathematic and science. In 1920, he enrolled at the University of Minnesota. By 1925, he had received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. He worked at the Western Electric Company in the Inspection Department of the famous Hawthorne Works in Chicago. This was a huge and complex factory, manned by 40,000 workers. This presented Juran with his first challenge in management. Juran was one of two engineers for the Inspection Statistical Department, one of the first of such divisions created in American industry. By 1937, Juran was the chief of Industrial Engineering at Western Electric in New York. His work involved visiting other companies and discussing methods of quality management. During WWII, Juran served in Washington, D.C. as an assistant administrator for the Lend-Lease Administration. He and his team improved the efficiency of the process, eliminating excessive paperwork and thus hastening the arrival of supplies to the USA allies. Juran finally left Washington in 1945 and chose to devote the remainder of his life to the study of quality management. Juran became Chairman of the Department of Administrative Engineering at New York University (NYU), where he taught for many years. He also created a thriving consulting practice, and wrote books and delivered lectures for American Management Association (AMA). It was his time with NYU and the AMA which allowed for the development of his management philosophies which are now embedded in the foundation of American and Japanese management. His classic book, the Quality Control Handbook, first released in 1951, is widely used reference work for quality managers. This is an excellent book that is highly recommended for managers as well as quality specialists.

Juran is known as a Quality "guru", but this book makes clear that he made significant contributions to management theory, human resources management and consulting as well. The historical perspectives provided by such a distinguished leader in these areas is illuminating. The book is a fast read, and is focused on his professional journey, with only a little about his life outside work (I would have liked more about this side of his life). His affection for the United States, and his work with the Japanese come through as high points.

This autobiography of Dr. Juran, who overcame childhood tragedy to make an impact on business and society, examines his career and work life with an eye to showing how they influenced his professional development and eventual reputation in the business management world. His concepts of quality eventually became a part of businesses around the world: Architect Of Quality will appeal to any interested in how the quality concept became embedded in the business plan.

This book was a real eye opener for me. I know a little about the Quality world -- and Juran is the #1 man in Quality. He pulled the tools together into one place for identification of waste, putting the ideas into forms management could understand, and developing problem solving methods for fixing it. It was really interesting to see where this man came from and how his concepts and ideas came together.Easy reading and the sort of book that will make you want to dig into his other heavier management and engineering books.