Armand V. Feigenbaum on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Armand Vallin Feigenbaum (April 6, 1920 – November 13, 2014) was an American quality control expert and businessman. He devised the concept of Total Quality Control which inspired Total Quality Management.
Feigenbaum, known as “Val”, received a bachelor's degree in industrial administration from 
He died on November 13, 2014, at the age of 94.
An interview with Armand Feigenbaum
Emerald Group Publishers, republished March 2001, archived content from an older version of the Emerald Publishing website, accessed 1 August 2021 *The time lag between the introduction of total quality initiatives inside the major companies within a country and their observed economic impact: for example, Japanese companies introduced quality initiatives in the 1950s which took effect in the
"Feigenbaum's Enduring Influence"
in ''Quality Progress'', November 2005, p. 51, accessed 27 July 2021 *Quality is neither a department, nor a technique nor a philosophy. It is a fundamental way of managing.
ASQ Feigenbaum Biography page
1920 births American business theorists American chief executives 2014 deaths MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences alumni MIT Sloan School of Management alumni National Medal of Technology recipients Quality experts Union College (New York) alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering {{US-business-bio-1920s-stub 20th-century American businesspeople
Biography
Feigenbaum, known as “Val”, received a bachelor's degree in industrial administration from Union College
Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...
, his master's degree from the MIT Sloan School of Management
The MIT Sloan School of Management (MIT Sloan or Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs, ...
, and his Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in Economics from MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
. He was Director of Manufacturing Operations at General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...
(1958–1968), and was later the President and CEO of General Systems Company of Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield ...
, an engineering firm that helps companies define business operating systems. Feigenbaum wrote several books and served as president of the American Society for Quality
The American Society for Quality (ASQ), formerly the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC), is a society of quality professionals, with nearly 80,000 members.
History
ASQC was established on 16 February 1946 by 253 members in Milwaukee, ...
(1961–1963). He worked closely with his brother, Donald S. Feigenbaum.
He died on November 13, 2014, at the age of 94.
Key ideas
Val Feigenbaum's contributions to the quality body of knowledge include: *" Total quality control is an effective system for integrating the quality development, quality maintenance, and quality improvement efforts of the various groups in an organization so as to enable production and service at the most economical levels which allow full customer satisfaction." *The concept of a "hidden" plant or factory, popularised in the 1970s: the idea that so much extra work is performed in correcting mistakes that there is effectively a hidden plant within any factory, potentially 20-40% of the total capacity. *Accountability for quality: because quality is everybody's job, it may become nobody's job. Central to this idea is that quality must be actively managed and have visibility at the highest levels of management. *The concept of quality cost: the cost of achieving quality plus the cost of absence of quality.Powell, S.An interview with Armand Feigenbaum
Emerald Group Publishers, republished March 2001, archived content from an older version of the Emerald Publishing website, accessed 1 August 2021 *The time lag between the introduction of total quality initiatives inside the major companies within a country and their observed economic impact: for example, Japanese companies introduced quality initiatives in the 1950s which took effect in the
Japanese economy
The economy of Japan is a highly developed social market economy, often referred to as an East Asian model. It is the third-largest in the world by nominal GDP and the fourth-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). It is the world's seco ...
in the 1970s and likewise the United States' quality initiatives from the 1980's saw an economic impact in the 1990s.Watson, G. H."Feigenbaum's Enduring Influence"
in ''Quality Progress'', November 2005, p. 51, accessed 27 July 2021 *Quality is neither a department, nor a technique nor a philosophy. It is a fundamental way of managing.
Bibliography
* * * *References
External links
ASQ Feigenbaum Biography page
1920 births American business theorists American chief executives 2014 deaths MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences alumni MIT Sloan School of Management alumni National Medal of Technology recipients Quality experts Union College (New York) alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering {{US-business-bio-1920s-stub 20th-century American businesspeople