Philip B. Crosby

Philip Bayard "Phil" Crosby, (June 18, 1926 – August 18, 2001) was an American businessman and author who contributed to management theory and quality management practices.

Crosby initiated the Zero Defects program at the Martin Company. As the quality control manager of the Pershing missile program, Crosby was credited with a 25 percent reduction in the overall rejection rate and a 30 percent reduction in scrap costs.

Early life and career

Crosby was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1926. He served in the Navy during World War II and again during the Korean War. In between, he earned a degree from the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine.

His first job in the field of quality was that of test technician in the quality department at Crosley Corporation in Richmond, Indiana, beginning in 1952. He left for a better-paying position as reliability engineer at Bendix Corporation in Mishawaka, Indiana in 1955, working on the RIM-8 Talos missile. He left after less than two years to become senior quality engineer at The Martin Company's new Orlando, Florida organization to develop the Pershing missile. There he developed the Zero Defects concept. He eventually rose to become department head before leaving for ITT Corporation in 1965 to become director of quality.

In 1979, Crosby started the management consulting company Philip Crosby Associates, Inc. This consulting group provided educational courses in quality management both at their headquarters in Winter Park, Florida, and at eight foreign locations.

Quality is Free

In 1979, Crosby published his first business book, Quality Is Free, with the subtitle The Art of Making Quality Certain. This book gained prominence during a critical period for North American industry, when, between the late 1970s and early 1980s, North American manufacturers were losing market share to Japanese products, which were distinguished by their superior quality.

Crosby's response to this quality crisis was based on the principle of "doing it right the first time" (DIRFT). This approach was structured around four key principles:

Definition of quality: Quality is defined as conformance to requirements, with requirements encompassing both product specifications and customer expectations.
Quality system: The quality management system should be based on defect prevention, rather than relying on inspection or correction after the fact.
Performance standard: The goal in terms of quality should be to achieve zero defects, ensuring that all products meet specified requirements.
Measurement of quality: Quality is measured by the cost of nonconformance, i.e., the costs associated with failing to meet requirements.
Crosby argued that implementing strong quality management principles would enable organizations to achieve significant savings that far exceed the costs of establishing a robust quality system. According to Crosby, "quality is free" because it is more cost-effective to do things right the first time than to incur additional expenses from rework and repairs.

Works

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crosby, Philip B.
1926 births
2001 deaths
American business theorists
20th-century American businesspeople
United States Navy personnel of World War II
United States Navy personnel of the Korean War
Writers from Wheeling, West Virginia
Military personnel from West Virginia
Quality experts
United States Navy sailors
Businesspeople from Wheeling, West Virginia
Bendix Corporation people