Saint Paul University Philippines

Tuguegarao City, Cagayan 3500

Total Quality Management Guru:

Genichi Taguchi

Vincent S. Talattag
Joker Moamar B. Gamatero
Sherry Ann P. Tumamao
Irene Jean M. Lagang
PhD EM students
BIONOTE: GENICHI TAGUCHI
Born: January 1, 1924; Tokamachi, Japan
Studied textile engineering (Kiryu Technical College)
1942: Navigation Institute of the Japanese Navy.
1948: Ministry of Public Health & Welfare; Institute of Statistical Math of
the Ministry of Education. (production of penicillin)
1950: Electrical Communication Laboratory (ECL) of Nippon Telephone &
Telegraph Company.

1960: Deming Prize for his contribution to quality engineering & won it a further 3x.
1962: Doctorate by Kyushu University. Research staff of the Japanese
Standards Association & founded the Quality Research Group.
1964: Professor at Aoyamagokuin University.
Attending his lectures was the founder of Sony & personnel from Toyota.
1980’s: Taguchi methods became established in the US.
companies that applied his methods: Xerox, Ford
-1986: Indigo Ribbon from the Emperor of Japan for his contribution to
Japanese economics & industry.
- UK Taguchi Club (Quality Methods Association): Europe
1990’s: Blue Ribbon Award.
International Technology Institute’s Willard Rockwell Medal for
combining engineering & statistical methods to achieve rapid improvements in
cost & quality.
Famous for his pioneering methods of modern quality control & low-cost quality
engineering. He is said to fundamentally change the philosophy & practice of quality
control. Died: June 2, 2012.
SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO TQM:

From DEMING to TAGUCHI

Deming was the 1st to recognize the importance of moving quality control
backwards from inspection to proper process control via the Statistical Process Control
(SPC), but Taguchi moved quality control even further back, to the Design
Stage, thus completing the total quality management cycle.

TAGUCHI METHODS
Developed methods for both online (process) & offline (design) quality
management. Emphasized improving the quality of product & process prior
to manufacture (design stage).
QUALITY LOSS FUNCTION

- He devised an equation to quantify the decline of a customer's perceived

value of a product as its quality declines.

- Tells managers how much revenue they are losing because of variability
in their production process. It is a powerful tool for projecting the
benefits of a quality improvement program.

- First person to equate quality with cost.

Orthogonal Arrays and Linear Graphs
- When evaluating a production process analysis will undoubtedly
identify outside factors or noise which cause deviations from the mean.

- Isolating these factors to determine their individual effects can be very

costly and time consuming process.

- Taguchi devised a way to use orthogonal arrays to isolate these noise

factors from all others in a cost effective manner.
OFF-LINE QUALITY CONTROL
Improving quality & reducing total cost in the Design Stage.
Philosophy of designing products & processes so that they are insensitive/
‘robust’ to parameters outside designer’s control.

DESIGN OF EXPERIMENTS
Use of an external simulated environment which mimics the environment the
product will be required to perform in later on.
APPLICATION IN OWN ORGANIZATION:
1. Statistics & data are essential in effective decision making among
administrators. They are valuable source of information & a strong
empirical data that helps in more informed decisions.
2. Design Stage is essential. Taking this into account means putting
importance to the School strategic plan, conducting feasibility studies
before introducing new programs.
3. Concept that the entire organization should be involved in improving
quality.
In Character Formation for instance which is central in Basic
Education, the school should use a comprehensive, intentional, &
proactive approach to character development/ formation. Meaning to
say, all aspects of schooling are used as opportunities for character
development including the formal academic curriculum.
4. Zero-defects approach to quality improvement.
School services need to be continuously improved. Setting high standards.
5. Assessment of the impact of school/ organization product to the
society.

6. Assessment of quality loss (teaching-learning process) brought about by

the no face-to-face classes.

7. Off-line quality control points out the need to future-proof our

educational institutions.
CHALLENGES IN USING TAGUCHI METHOD:
Taguchi advocates harmonious horizontal relationship among members
of the organization. However, the current Top-down organizational
approach to improvement we have in our organization makes this
somewhat difficult to apply. It is a difficult & tedious process to initiate
quality improvement when there is no horizontal relationship among
administrators & personnel, the dynamics of working together. A good
number of our leadership development programs do not create lasting
scaffolding for our educators to explore, try out & refine their efforts.
Too often, leadership development activities last once or twice & have
weak framework for sustainability.
INSIGHTS FROM THE TOPIC:

Identifying challenges that need immediate attention in the school/

organization is the job not only of the administrator, but that of every
member of the organization.

Taguchi methods are important to understand for anyone in a leadership

position, regardless of the nature of the organization/ company’s work, be it
in the manufacturing or in the field of education if one likes to take into
account greater customer satisfaction.
Taguchi methods teach us not to think so much about costs, rather that
quality should be the top priority of our work for the betterment of all.
SOURCES:
• Shmula.com. (2019) Genichi Taguchi and His Contributions to Quality Control. Retrieved from
https://www.shmula.com/27819-2/27819/

• Shmula.com. (2018) Taguchi Methods and How They Apply to Manufacturing. Retrieved from
https://www.shmula.com/taguchi-methods-and-how-they-apply-to-manufacturing/25900/

• Total Quality Management. (2016) Quality Gurus – Genichi Taguchi. Retrieved from
http://rinazbelhajtqm.blogspot.com/2016/01/quality-gurus-genichi-taguchi.html

• Total Quality Management: Statistics and Graphics II (1993). Retrieved from

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED360941.pdf

• https://eng.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Industrial_and_Systems_Engineerin
Thank you for
Listening!