ABSTRACT
Armand Feigenbaum who died in 2014 originated the approach to quality known as ‘total quality control’ which has a clear industrial focus asserting that ‘Quality is what the user, the customer. Feigenbaum’s philosophy is clearly founded in his early idea of the ‘total’ approach, reflecting a systemic attitude of mind. Feigenbaum appears to suggest that many quality problems can be eradicated from both the products and the manufacturing process by paying attention to the quality issue from the conception of the idea, right through to delivery of the first and subsequent items. Summarising Feigenbaum’s philosophy, a commitment to a systemic, ‘total’ approach and an emphasis on designing for quality and involving all departments is evident. Supporting this is recognition of, and reliance on, the human aspects of the organisation with statistical methods being used as necessary. The systemic view is clear again in his second assumption, that human relationships are a basic issue in quality achievement.
