Four Days with Dr. Deming – The best book for engineer (and not only)

In 2005, I had the pleasure to participate in training program at Opel plant (current PSA group) in Gliwice. During one of the training sessions, a quality engineer, in addition to standard tasks assigned for trainers, suggested that we should read Four Days with Dr. Deming – A Strategy for Modern Methods of Management by William J. Latzko and David M. Saunders.

This short review of mentioned book is presented in below article.

Dr. Edwards Deming does not need any special introduction to those who started their adventure in the automotive industry. It’s enough to mention that he is the creator of the PDCA cycle, which also appears in the IATF standard in point 0.3.2, and is also the basis on which among others Kaizen and Quick Response Quality Control (QRQC) are based.

Four Days with Dr. Deming - presentation of PDCA cycleHe had a very significant impact on the quality issues attitude changing, completely transforming this approach, because he was one of the first to introduce statistical process control in quality, which was first implemented in Japanese production plants. Paradoxically, in his country he was appreciated in the 1980s, when the competitive advantage of Japanese products was many times higher than the quality of those produced in the USA.

Four Days with Dr. Deming – A book like no other

But let’s go back to the book itself. Unlike other items, the form of its release itself is non-standard, because it takes the form of an album. Additionally, according to the principle that one photo is worth more than a thousand words, the book contains a lot of visualizations, charts and graphs, which allow the reader to understand the presented content easier (based on the Polish edition).

The structure itself is also unusual, because it’s largely based on lectures that were given by W. Edwards Deming during meetings with American production plants directors during 4-day seminars.

The form of the narrative itself, which is divided into three parts, is also unconventional. We can find here, among others, statements by Dr. Deming himself addressing the reader directly. In addition, there are statements from the authors of the book themselves, which further explain the issues presented. The last form of narration is a fictional lecturer.

All the above-mentioned forms of the book’s composition constitute into one goal, which is the multidimensionality of the presented content, referring to the principle that each of us adopts the presented material differently.

Four Days with Dr. Deming - book reviewQuality starts from management

Introduction to quality management by dr. Deming is presented as the activity where management should be first involved. It should not expect that quality applies only to the production area. This concept is additionally extended to the educational thread concerning the way how students are assessed in schools, which may also function in a very similar way in the production area.

Before introducing the concepts of statistical control, Four Days with Dr. Deming presents the basic assumptions about the essence of systems knowledge and psychology with the theory of knowledge and variation.

But not only this information is presented in this book. Another area that the authors drew attention to is controlling the production process instead of the finished product. During the implementation of the production process, each organization should ensure proper supervision of its implementation.

The main strategy that should be followed in this regard is process control, which from the point of view of reaction time and possible costs of poor quality is much more beneficial than the control of the finished product. Dr. Deming, in an accessible and not comprehensive way, illustrates this approach and its benefits.

Taguchi, Shewhart and another gentlemen

The great advantage Four Days with Dr. Deming is a series of examples showing the possibility of tools using. It’s possible to mention here for example about the use of the Taguchi loss function in the selection of a components sub-supplier and the presentation of the learning process based on the Shewhart cycle.

The book touches information which are not only concerns on the quality area. We’ll also find here a lot of practical information related to leadership, employee training, obstacles that can be encountered in the company during implementation of operational and strategic activities, as well as practical remarks on employee management – and precisely in these areas are presented appropriate statistical tools that can improve the organization efficiency.

Certainly, each of the readers will find something for themselves, thanks to which they will have a different approach to the subject of quality management.

Dariusz Kowalczyk

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