ABSTRACT
Shigeo Shingo,who died in 1990, is perhaps the leastwell known in theWest of the Japanese quality gurus. Educated as a mechanical engineer, he became a consultant in 1945, subsequently working with a wide variety of companies in many industries. These companies included Toyota, Mitsubishi, Matsushita and Sony. During his later career he became involved with a large number of Western organisations. Norman Bodek, President of Productivity Incorporated, in the Foreword to The Sayings of Shigeo Shingo (1987), cited by Bendell (1989: 12), says:
If I could give a Nobel Prize for exceptional contributions to world economy, prosperity and productivity, I wouldn’t have much difficulty selecting a winner – Shigeo Shingo’s life work has contributed to the well-being of everyone in the world.
He is regarded by Gilbert (1992: 24) as ‘one of the 20th century’s greatest engineers’ and he made a number of significant contributions in that area. He wrote fourteen major books with several translated into English and other European languages.
