Kaoru Ishikawa
Kaoru Ishikawa (1915-1989) was a prominent Japanese quality control expert and educator, known for his significant contributions to industrial quality management in Japan. Born in Tokyo, he pursued a degree in applied chemistry at the University of Tokyo, where his interest in quality control began to develop through observations of industrial processes. Following his education, Ishikawa worked in various engineering roles before becoming an associate professor at the University of Tokyo, where he later achieved tenure.
Ishikawa is best known for introducing the Ishikawa or fishbone diagram, a visual tool used to identify the root causes of problems in product quality, and for pioneering the concept of quality circles. These quality circles empower employees to collaboratively address issues within their work environment, promoting a culture of continuous improvement. His approach emphasized that quality control should be a company-wide responsibility, involving all employees at every stage of a product's life cycle.
His methodologies significantly influenced Japan's development of total quality management (TQM) and inspired business practices globally, making them a standard in many industries. Ishikawa's legacy continues to impact quality assurance practices worldwide, as organizations strive to meet rigorous quality standards and minimize defects.
Kaoru Ishikawa
Organizational theorist
- Born: July 13, 1915
- Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan
- Died: April 16, 1989
- Place of death: Tokyo, Japan
Education: University of Tokyo
Significance: As an innovator during the economic and industrial modernization in Japan following World War II, Kaoru Ishikawa was responsible for creating and developing several concepts in the area of quality control.
Background
Kaoru Ishikawa was born on July 13, 1915, in Tokyo, Japan. He was the first son of Ichiro and Tomiko Ishikawa. Both his father and grandfather had extensive experience in business and engineering. His grandfather had managed the Japanese company Kanto Sanso, and his father, Ichiro, was the first chairman of the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers. Ishikawa grew up in an academically competitive family, with each of his seven brothers and sisters seeking to carry on the family’s reputation of being studious achievers.
In 1936, just as Japanese nationalism and aggressive militarism were taking hold, Ishikawa entered Tokyo Imperial University (University of Tokyo after 1947), and, acting on his father’s wishes, began to study applied chemistry. In the summer of his senior year, he visited several Japanese industrial sites, such as pulp mills and coal mines, along with his college friend Takashi Mukaibo, who later became president of the University of Tokyo. Witnessing firsthand how Japanese industries operated and how they could improve, it was here that the first roots of his quality control ideas were planted. In 1939, Ishikawa obtained a degree in applied chemistry from the University of Tokyo. Afterward, swept up in the fervor of war, he joined the Navy as a technical officer; however, following Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor, he decided to change careers to something that would be less life threatening.
Laying the Foundations for Industrial Quality in Japan
After leaving the navy, Ishikawa first worked for the Nissan Liquid Fuel Company, where he specialized in carbonization, the process of converting organic substances such as coal into industrially usable chemicals. He quickly rose through the ranks and became a member of both the Fuel Society of Japan and the Japanese Society for Chemical Engineering. In 1947, he decided to leave the private sector and assumed a position as an associate professor at the University of Tokyo. During his teaching career, he simultaneously pursued a doctorate degree and was awarded one around 1958, having completed his thesis on coal sampling. After this accomplishment, he became a tenured professor at the University of Tokyo, remaining with the institution until his retirement in 1976. During the rest of his life, Ishikawa would become the recipient of many awards, honors, and chairmanships, finally culminating in 1988 when he was honored with the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Second Class.
Generally, Ishikawa helped advance Japan’s concept of quality control by not only building upon the American methods that had been introduced to the country’s engineers and industrial executives in previous decades, but also by adapting them specifically to fit Japanese culture. Additionally, he emphasized that quality control must be company-wide, involving every employee, and it must be applied throughout every stage of a product’s life. One of the greatest contributions Ishikawa achieved in the area of quality control was his concept of the Ishikawa, or fishbone, diagram, for employees to use to structure discussions pertaining to analyzing and solving problems. He claimed that in any product design, there are six main factors that may lead to a defect or problem that hampers the overall quality of a product. These six factors are: people (managers and workers on a product), methods (how a product is produced according to rules such as laws and procedures), machines (equipment such as computers), materials (computers, writing utensils, etc.), measurement (tools used for quality evaluations), and environment (time and temperature).
Quality circles, the other concept that Ishikawa is most known for, involve a group of employees who work on the same project or product assembling together to democratically address issues such as workplace safety, improving a product’s design, and solving any issues with a product. Quality circles differ from most other business organizational structures since it is the workers’ responsibility to identify problems and then present them to management, rather than management directing workers to improve conditions.
Impact
Ishikawa passed away on April 16, 1989, at the age of seventy-three. His emphasis on rigorously examining products and services to determine if they meet predefined standards is now typical in most businesses. Variations of the methods created by Ishikawa, which he typically ensured were translated in English as well as Japanese, were used by business leaders such as Jack Welch for General Electric and Sam Walton for Walmart. In addition, government agencies such as the US Department of Defense, which draws on Ishikawa’s concepts, will meticulously review the physical integrity of their products and demand their reconstruction if the product has defects such as cracks or blemishes. Ishikawa’s methods are also used to standardize products and avoid variations in the manufacturing process, thus leaving little room for manufacturing errors. In part because of Ishikawa’s ideas, Japan became a leading producer of consumer goods such as cameras and radios while developing its own, nationwide concept of total quality management (TQM).
Personal Life
In 1942, Ishikawa married Keiko Ujiie. He and his wife raised three children, Tadashi, Hiroko, and Akira.
Principal Works
- QC Circle Koryo: General Principles of the QC Circle (1980)
- How to Operate QC Circle Activities (1985)
- What is Total Quality Control? The Japanese Way (1985)
- Introduction to Quality Control (1990)
Bibliography
Adrian, Nicole. "Kaoru Ishikawa." Quality Progress Nov. 2010: 19. Print.
Best, M. "Kaoru Ishikawa: From Fishbones to World Peace." Quality & Safety in Health Care Apr. 2008: 150–2. Print.
Ishikawa, Kaoru. What is Total Quality Control? The Japanese Way. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice, 1985. Print.
"Kaoru Ishikawa." ASQ. Amer. Soc. for Quality, n.d. Web. 23 Aug. 2016.
Watson, Gregory H. "The Legacy of Ishikawa." Quality Progress Apr. 2004: 54–57. Print.
Watson, Gregory H. "Like Father, Like Son." Quality Progress Sept. 2015: 47–51. Print.