Joseph Juran Biography and work of this engineer

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Alexander Pearson
Joseph Juran Biography and work of this engineer

The name of Joseph Juran is popularly known in the quality area and quality management, thanks to the publication of several very influential books in this field of knowledge.

Knowing the life and ideas of Joseph Juran are an excellent way to discover how the concept of quality management has evolved within society.

Who was Joseph Juran?

Joseph Juran was born in Romania on December 24, 1904 and died on February 28, 2004, he was one of the twentieth century consultants especially remembered for his contributions in the field of Quality Management.

Juran is also the brother of Oscar winner Nathan H. Jurán. This peculiar man studied a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Minnesota, his first job was within the Solutions Department of a company, where he joined the statistics area to perform various tests that allowed him to start his way to generate important contributions that you will know below. 

Main contributions of Joseph Juran

This great scientist left us some contributions that today are still used in various investigations.

Inside the big Joseph Juran's contributions to science we find:

Pareto principle

Joseph Juran, updated the Pareto Principle and adapted it to the quality management area. This principle, also known as the 80/20 law, states that 80% of a problem is produced by 20% of the causes..

The Pareto Principle speaks of "the few vital and the many trivial", but Juran transformed the expression, and prefers to call them "the few vital and the many useful" so as not to detract from the remaining 80%..

Quality management theory

When Joseph Juran entered the world of quality management, quality was considered or determined, only by the final or finished product. The product and the production tools were the central axis of quality.

Juran revolutionizes these forms, bringing light on the human component, as a vital part of quality management in processes. That is why it is one of the first to promote the management of managers aimed at improving processes.

Juran considered that two of the great problems within the management processes were resistance to change and cultural resistance, he also mentioned that this could not only be applied to the manufacture of products but to other processes, even if they are not manufacturing..

Juran Trilogy

When we talk about the Juran Trilogy, we refer to a type of approach outlined in three fundamental aspects: Planning, Quality Control and Quality Improvement..

Regarding the issue of Quality improvement, Juran makes ten proposals that serve to start any improvement project:

1. Raise awareness about the need and opportunities that improvement can provide.

2. Create goals that can help us chart the path.

3. Create plans aimed at achieving the objectives.

4. Promote training that allows highlighting the importance of the previous points, and acquire the necessary skills.

5. Undertake projects that allow solving discovered needs.

6. Create reports on processes.

7. Give recognition for successes.

8. Disclose the results.

9. Keep accounts of the processes.

10. Keeping the momentum for continuous improvement alight.

These are the points that, carried out to the letter, allow to undertake, sustain and promote quality management processes aimed at improvement.

Knowledge transfer between East and West

Joseph Juran drank from the knowledge of the Orientals and their concept of a Circle of Quality, also served as a bridge between Japan and the United States in the search for the implementation of these techniques in both countries..

The Quality Circle basically consists of creating voluntary interdisciplinary groups that participate in the identification of problems to generate solutions that allow improving the quality within the processes.

The role of Joseph Juran was decisive, because shortly after the Second World War, the quality of the products produced in Japan was among the lowest in the world.

Juran's ideas cross the ocean, reach Japan and the large business chambers request the help of the researcher to improve quality processes in companies in the territory, with a view to continuous improvement of production processes in Japan. 

In just 20 years, many of the Japanese companies were leading the way in Quality management for multiple products..

Some of the proposals that Juran made to Japan were: Training at all levels of hierarchy of organizations and active participation of the most basic workforce.

Some of these processes were controversial, because these types of strategies do not provide immediate results, but the case of Japan is proof that they do allow incredible long-term results..

Broadly speaking, these are the most relevant contributions of Joseph Juran, these and an extensive bibliography that serves as a study base for those interested in delving into the area of ​​quality..

Works by Joseph Juran

Joseph Juran left numerous books in which he explains in detail important topics in the area of ​​quality management. These are some of the most important titles: 

  • Juran and Planning for quality
  • Quality manual
  • Juran Quality Manual
  • Quality manual in 2 volumes
  • quality control manual
  • Swear and leadership for quality
  • They swear and quality by design
  • Quality Control Handbook
  • Managerial Breakthrough
  • Management of Quality Control
  • Quality Planning and Analysis

As you can see, if you are passionate about the subject of quality management, here is a good study base for you to study alongside one of the most influential authors on the subject.. 

This is broadly the most relevant around the life of the great engineer Joseph Juran.


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