Contributed Articles for
the Augmented Edition of the Reminiscences
Kaoru Ishikawa: The Man and Quality Control

Dr. Tsutau Hanada was my greatest teacher in
QC and the greatness of Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa
Hideo Iwasaki

My greatest teacher in quality control (QC) was Dr. Tsutau Hanada. I received
guidance from him on my graduation thesis in Osaka Institute of Technology. When I
was in my junior year of Osaka Institute of Technology, I selected QC and used
Elementary Quality Control Textbook (published in 1956, JUSE) as a textbook. This
was the first time I came to know the name of Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, who was an authorof this textbook. Although Dr. Ishikawa’s name was sometimes mentioned when I
received guidance on my graduation thesis from Dr. T. Hanada, I was not familiar with
Dr. K. Ishikawa at all.
Probably, no active QC teachers knows the name of Tsutau Hanada. Dr. T. Hanada
majored in mathematics, and his specialty was Operational Research (OR) at Kyoto
University. I remember having heard from Dr. T. Hanada himself that he had been in
charge of calculating accuracy of anti-aircraft guns for pursuing B-25s and B-29s at an
anti-aircraft gun unit located in Tennoji in Osaka during a World War II.
According to the 50-year history of the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers(JUSE), Dr. T. Hanada seemed to have been a member of the JUSE QC Research Group(from November 1948). The members of the QC Research Group were in charge of thelecturers of a JUSE seminar, the second “Quality Control Basic Course (BC)” (1950).
As a member of the group, Dr. T. Hanada seemed to serve as a lecturer together with Dr.
K. Ishikawa. In the seminar lectured by Dr. W. E. Deming, an Eight-Day Course on
Quality Control (July 1950), it seemed that Dr. K. Ishikawa gave a supplementarylecture on the seminar and Dr. T. Hanada was a coordinator of the seminar and created atranscript of the lecture together with Dr. Masao Kogure, Dr. Ikurou Kusaba, and otherdoctors.
In addition, Dr. T. Hanada served as a lecturer together with Dr. Eizaburo Nishibori,Dr. Jiro Yamauchi, Dr. Masao Goto, and other doctors in the Quality Control Seminar,
which was first held in Osaka in September 1950 and co-hosted by three organizations(Kansai Economic Federation, Kansai Chemical Industry Association, and JUSE). After
that, he seemed to make an effort to popularize QC by guiding companies and serving

as a seminar lecturer centering on the Kansai area.
Records of Dr. T. Hanada’s activities in QC in Japan unfortunately disappeared
around this time. The reason seemed to be that he went away from activities in QC in
Japan to teach QC in Southeast Asian countries, mainly India, for about 10 years. He
might have started to work on developing Statistical Quality Control (SQC), which was
beginning to succeed in Japan, to India and other Southeast Asian countries [1]-[4]. It
seems that a recommendation from an influential person in QC at that time was thereason why Dr. T. Hanada started to work on SQC.
Dr. Tsutau Hanada came back to Japan around 1962. I imagine that the state of his
mind immediately after returning to Japan was like that of Urashima Taro, because of a
blank period for about 10 years. After returning to Japan, he received requests from the
Asian Productivity Organization (APO) to write several books for Southeast Asia inorder to popularize QC. From around this time, I started to receive guidance from Dr. T.
Hanada.
During summer vacations in my senior year of Osaka Institute of Technology, I
went to the Dr. T. Hanada’s house in Kyoto almost every day to help him write theabove-mentioned books (drawing control charts, histograms, scatter diagrams, and otherdiagrams). When Dr. T. Hanada went to manufacturers in Kyoto and Osaka for
consultation, I accompanied him as a private secretary and I had a chance to see manysites. On the way back from the manufacturers, he always took me out for a meal.
Although he himself did not drink at all, he offered me a beer and even poured the beer
for me. Looking back now, I must ask his forgiveness for this.
In 1967, the Department of Industrial Management was newly established in Kinki
University, Faculty of Science and Engineering. Before the establishment, Dr. T.
Hanada said that he had heard that the new department was recruiting an assistant andhe encouraged me to apply. My life would have been completely different without thisencouragement.
In my second year serving as the assistant, I had an opportunity to take part in the
33BCO (from April to September, 1968) as a transcript of the lecture, by therecommendation of Dr. T. Hanada. At that time, I took Dr. K. Ishikawa’s lecture on
sampling. I do not remember anything about the contents of the lecture; I just rememberthat the textbook for the lecture was so thick.
After that, I saw the face of Dr. K. Ishikawa from a distance at the JapaneseSociety for Quality Control, the Deming Prize Committee, and other occasions;however, I am afraid I never personally and directly received guidance or lessons fromDr. K. Ishikawa. Although I give lectures and provide guidance on Total Quality
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Contributed Articles for the Augmented Edition of the Reminiscences Kaoru Ishikawa: The Man and Quality Control

Management (TQM) at not only JUSE but also many organizations and companies, I of
course know that my personal ability and efforts are of little value. Any value I provide
is thanks to the guidance and observations by many superiors and leaders. In
consideration of this idea, I turn out to have received an enormous amount of benefits
from Dr. K. Ishikawa in spite of not having been directly guided by him. I am deeply
grateful to him.
One of the achievements of Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa was the launch of the QC Circle
and efforts in developing the QC Circle. For this reason, he is called the Father of the
QC Circle. I was not much interested in the QC Circle during my active career as Kinki
University teacher, because I selfishly interpreted that I could not find any theme
leading to an academic paper even if I had been interested in the QC Circle. I had served
as a Director of the QC Circle of the Kinki Regional Chapter one year prior to mymandatory retirement age, which was the time when I started to see the end of my
University life. As a Director, I had been involved in events together with managers of
the chapter for four years. To my surprise, I found at this time that the basis of QC in
Japan; that is, the basics of establishing product quality, was the QC Circle. Whoestablishes quality? The answer is human beings. To this end, humanity having
independence must be respected. The QC Circle exactly and largely contributes todevelopment of this kind of humanity. During four years as a Director, I was impressedby the fact that the QC Circle substantially contributes to developing human resourceson Genba, an actual work place. I therefore published a Monthly Quality Textbook in2015 titled “Ten Energies from QC Circle Activities” (No. 412), whose author is listed
as the Kinki Regional Chapter. This textbook summarizes how the QC Circle plays alarge role in cultivating human resources on Genba, an actual work place. I would bevery much encouraged if Dr. K. Ishikawa commented on whether the contents of thistextbook reflect the intention of establishing the QC Circle. I feel regret that I cannot
fulfill my wish.
(Professor Emeritus of Kinki University).
[1] Tsutau Hanada (1953): “Overseas QC news (India),” Hinshitsu Kanri (Statistical Quality
Control)*, 3, 384.
[2] Tsutau Hanada (1954): “From the diary of quality control instruction,” Hinshitsu Kanri(Statistical Quality Control)*, 5, 199.
[3] Tsutau Hanada (1954): “The fruits of the quality control in the India spinning factory,”
Hinshitsu Kanri (Statistical Quality Control)*, 5, 731.
[4] Tsutau Hanada (1955): “News from India,” Hinshitsu Kanri (Statistical Quality Control)*, 6,45.
5

Role of Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa in the Quality
Renaissance in India
Dr. V. Krishnamurthy

My interaction with Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa has been limited to two days when hepresented a keynote address at the first National Conference of Total Quality
Management in India organized by Association of Indian Engineering Industries (AIEI)now known as Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on April 29 and 30, 1986. As
conference Chairman I had a good interaction with Prof. Ishikawa over 2 days and it
was enlightening to learn from him practical ways how he and his colleagues helped
Japan to transform its business from making cheap products to world class products
within a short span of 15 to 20 years.
His guidance and views helped us to shape the quality movement in India. Whilewe were working towards improving quality of products and services being offered inIndia in a competitive environment emerging since 1983 through our effort using
various approaches we were struggling to integrate it. I was personally involved as
Chairman of Maruti Udyog Ltd. a joint venture with Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japanto start its business in India in 1982 and we were trying to implement many innovative
approaches for quality learning from Suzuki. In Nashik - Western India 11 companies
got together to learn from literature from JUSE and find ways to improve quality. Book
used was Guide to Quality Control by Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa.
Prof. Ishikawa’s guidance during his visit resulted in the formation of National
Committee on Quality under the aegis of CII with many business leaders as members
and I had the privilege of chairing this committee. This was the start of a national
campaign for quality with the formation of 4 Panels in each of the four regions of India.
This was a very important event to engage the business leaders to assume responsibility
for quality. This became one of the key factors in molding the quality movement inIndia at an early stage.
It can be said Prof. Ishikawa played an important role in the quality renaissance inIndia. He also inspired many other Japanese quality experts to provide guidance toorganizations in India.
(Former Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.,
Maruti Udyog Ltd. and Steel Authority of India Ltd)
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Contributed Articles for the Augmented Edition of the Reminiscences Kaoru Ishikawa: The Man and Quality Control

The older I grew, the greater influence byProfessor Ishikawa I recognized. More Impact
on Me as I Get Older by Prof. Ishikawa
Kensaku Maruyama

It was half a century ago. I was taught by Professor Kaoru Ishikawa for four years
from 1963 when I was a junior at the University of Tokyo to 1969 when I finished themaster course. Master’s thesis was regarding Bayesian probability. Its objective wascomparison and discussion on Bayesian probability and normal frequency probability.
Although I chose the theme just because of my curiosity, he agreed to my theme. I
understand that he respected willingness of his students.
Those days I needed high-performance computer for my research. Quite unlike
now, the computer was not popular. Professor Ishikawa arranged for me to use thecomputer of NKK Corporation and I could start my research.
At that time, I had to program and debug by myself, so huge amount of work andtime was needed to complete my research. All the struggles seem to be a good memory
now.
I dedicated myself to the athletic activities as well as the research. During theundergraduate course, I was a member of the Wonder Vogel Club. Wonder Vogel Clubof the day was famous for extremely hard exercise. At graduate school, I belonged to
Alpine Club JMCC that is one of the hardest alpine clubs for working people and was
addicted to rock climbing. Current my healthy condition thanks to the intense training atthat time.
I had trouble deciding which job I would work in such as (1) QC-related fields or(2) chemicals.
After all, I selected chemical related job and joined Mitsui Toatsu Chemicals (nowMitsui Chemicals).
At the time, there were still a lot of exciting projects due to the late period of higheconomic growth in Japan. Very fortunately I could complete several commercialization
projects for commodity of chemicals and electronics materials. Just 2 months before NY
terrorist attacks in2011, I was transferred to NY as the president of Mitsui Chemicals
America. Until my retirement at the age of 63 in 2006, I enjoyed many kinds ofvaluable experiences in the United States.
7

Immediately after the retirement, I got the job from industrial gas company Air
Water Inc. Although recognition of the name is low, the performance of this company
was fairly good under the excellent management by Chairman Hiroshi Aoki and his
management team. I was in charge of the expansion strategy planning and execution of
the electronic materials business. In 2010, I was appointed to the president of Inoueki
Co., Ltd. It was a long standing trading company, headquartered at Fukuoka city, which
was acquired by Air Water Inc. I will retire in the end of June, 2015, since I was over 70
years old.
Recently I had many opportunities to talk with Asian executives. When I talked
about the good points of Japanese companies with them, everybody said, “The strong
points of Japanese company are fundamental technology and high quality. Weak point ishigh price.” Mr. Charles O. Holiday, Jr., DuPont’s former chairman also said, “Thetechnology and quality of Japanese companies are great, however in-house development
policy may become a hindrance to the growth.”
In such a case, I thought of Professor Ishikawa every time. Actually, he led andestablished Quality Control and Management System in Japanese industry. Not only inthe past, but also in the future, QC and its system will continue to contribute forJapanese industries. I think Professor Ishikawa was, is, and will be really great.
When I re-organized the old files and documents the other day, I found apaperboard with autograph and short message from Professor Ishikawa. His message tome was “Be careful on your health and please work hard. Please take advantage of the
QC sense in your work. From Ishikawa.” Immediately after graduation, I did not have aparticularly impression on this word.
But now at half a century after graduation, I really understand the essential
meaning of his message when I look back on all the work I have done. His message
remains in my heart. My job had nothing to do with QC, however I took advantage of
QC sense consciously or/and unconsciously in every project. I believe that I was able tospend a fulfilling long work life.
After July of this year, I’m going to start a new company named GoodFutureUs
Corporation which provides a social or BOP business alike
From now on, I will obey Professor Ishikawa’s message written on paperboard andhopefully do a good thing to society, even if it is small.
(President, GoodFutureUs Corpration)

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Contributed Articles for the Augmented Edition of the Reminiscences Kaoru Ishikawa: The Man and Quality Control

Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa and his influence inpromotion of quality around the world andmore particularly India– My personal experience –Janak Mehta

I first learnt about Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa in 1982 through an article I read in an
Indian magazine on “Deming’s 14 principles” where Dr. Deming referred to outstanding
work on quality control being done by Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers(JUSE) and Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa. I was working as General Manager for Carbon
Corporation Ltd. in Nashik and we used to buy electrodes from Showa Denko, Japan.
During my visit to Japan on official work in October 1982 I took the opportunity to visit
JUSE office in Tokyo. I purchased one copy each of all the publications available in
English language. Many of these were edited by Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa. This literature
covered a few catalogues on various training programs and one was a book titled ‘Guide
to Quality Control’ by Prof. Ishikawa. This book gave detailed guidelines on how to
study this book and then apply in daily work. One of the approaches recommended was
a Group Study approach for learning. I was using similar Group Study approach inanother context and found it effective. I started experiments in such Group Study. In
August 1983 as honorary Chairman of Nashik Zonal Committee of Association ofIndian Engineering Industries (AIEI) now known as Confederation of India Industry(CII) I invited Business Heads of 20 organizations to share this approach andencouraged them to join in this experiment. Eleven member organizations including
some multinationals came forward under the aegis of CII to form one study group each.
Some of the executives were trained and one facilitator was assigned to each Study
Group to encourage self-study followed by Group Study. Study Groups met once aweek and tried to solve one important but simple problem using the guidance in thebook following QC Story approach and appropriate seven QC tools. Once a month all
eleven groups got together to share their experience and learn from each other.
This approach created great excitement amongst the members as they were able tofind solutions to some of the chronic problems. Gradually some other organizations
including the Government departments joined in this approach. This experiment caught
9the imagination of many business leaders within CII. In 1984 I was invited to become
the honorary Chairman of the National Engineering Services Committee of CII for
promoting quality through such Group activities as a means for self-development
amongst the members of CII all over India. Prof. Ishikawa’s approach was helping
industries in different parts of India. Building on this momentum we planned first
National Conference on Total Quality Management (TQM) primarily focused on the top
management and senior executives on April 29 & 30, 1986. This conference wasplanned under the Chairmanship of Dr. V. Krishnamurthy who was then Chairman andManaging Director of the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Chairman of Maruti
Udyog Ltd. (collaboration with Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan) and most respectedbusiness leader in India. He has subsequently been honored with Padam Vibhuhan(India) & The Order of the Rising Sun - Grand Cordon, Japan. He was Chairman of
National Competitive Council of India until May 2014 in the rank of Cabinet Minister.
We chose the term Total Quality Management instead of Total Quality Control(TQC) because in India with the legacy of British influence term “Control” has a narrowconnotation of controlling something that is “do and check” while “Management” has awider context of planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Therefore talking about
quality in the language of management and emphasizing the quality management
principles in the context of Indian philosophy caught the imagination of businessleaders who became key driver of quality movement in India.
We invited Dr. W. E. Deming, Dr. Joseph Juran and Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa forsharing their experience with and advice to Indian business leaders to enhance theircommitment to quality by taking the leadership role. Only Prof. Ishikawa then Presidentof Musashi Institute of Technology responded and came to Delhi for 3 days inspite ofhis very busy schedule. It was indeed gracious of him not to charge any fee. In addition
he brought with him Mr. Kazutoshi Matsuda, Deputy General Works Manager of
Nippon Kokan K.K. to share his practical experience through his presentation on“Actual Systems Organization and Quality Control Practices at NKK.” Title of Dr.
Kaoru Ishikawa’s presentation was “How to Apply Company Wide Quality Control in
Foreign Countries.” He was provided considerable time for interaction with theparticipants.
The conference concluded with formation of National Committee on Quality(NCQ) consisting of many business leaders under the aegis of CII and an action plan tostart an integrated approach of TQM across the country through 4 regional panels As
honorary Secretary of the NCQ I was responsible for planning and promotion of TQM
across India. It was a great opportunity for me to work under the guidance of Dr.
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Contributed Articles for the Augmented Edition of the Reminiscences Kaoru Ishikawa: The Man and Quality Control

Krishnamurthy and promoting Japanese way of Company Wide Quality Control(CWQC) as propagated by Dr. Ishikawa.
Dr. Ishikawa’s guidance helped in our work towards key aspects of CWQC i.e.
involvement of people from business leaders to operatives; involvement of people fromall functions of an organization and extending the concept through cooperation with
suppliers and distributors. His counseling helped in obtaining personal participation ofbusiness leaders and chief executives of various organizations in India. It resulted in theformation of TQM Division within CII in 1988 with the involvement of 23 of the mostprominent companies in India; membership soon crossed 100 to collectively work
towards improving quality of products and services in India to make companies morecompetitive in the liberalized economic environment. I was given the responsibility tolead this initiative. Teachings from Dr. Ishikawa helped me immensely.
I was fortunate to spend one full day with Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa travelling to Agrafor a visit to the famous monument Taj Mahal along with my family. This was probably
the most profound learning experience I had in my carrier associated with quality
management. It gave me an opportunity to talk with him the whole day in an informal
setting. Some of the most important lessons I learnt during that conversation were as
follows:
1. About a quarter of the companies attempting TQM implementation achieve thedesired business results in true sense while others also gain in varying degree.
Primary reason for inadequate result is the lack of felt need for TQM within theorganization. If there is no compelling business need felt for TQM and anentity is doing TQM for the sake of TQM or because others are doing it theresult will be suboptimal. Prof. Ishikawa added “the Need invariably exists but
may not be felt.” (Clarity of purpose and focus)
2. If a current standard has not changed for 6 months it is a sure sign of decay ofan organization. (Respect for humanity; recognizing people potential to find abetter way; involvement of everyone)
3. Focus your energy on guiding those organizations that are likely to have themost impact on the society. (Optimizing contribution with limited resource forthe benefit of society.)Prof. Ishikawa presented me a book authored by him titled What is Total Quality
Control The Japanese Way in 1986. This book is like a treatise on quality control and its
practical application with considerable guidance on human aspect. I have read this bookmany times and every time I find a new meaning.
11

I met Prof. Ishikawa second time in Tokyo when I attended the first JUSE seminaron Total Quality Control (TQC) in English in 1988 where he gave a lecture. Respect for
him in Japan was evident. I briefed him on the progress of TQC in India since his visit
in 1986 and invited him to visit again. He seemed willing but I was advised not to push
him as he was not keeping good health.
It was sad to learn he passed away on April 19, 1989. Nevertheless his contribution
to quality movement has been felt well beyond his life. Some of the Japanese
consultants visiting India to guide various companies in Quality Management havementioned to me that they are visiting India in spite of their busy schedule because their
mentor Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa advised them to spend some time every year in thoseregions where the need for quality control is felt and impact could be high, even if they
do not get adequate fee. It has been a privilege for me to have known and worked withsuch missionaries.
Little did I realize I will have the opportunity to work for an organization that was
founded by Prof. Ishikawa amongst others in 1966 i.e. International Academy for
Quality (IAQ). Prof. Ishikawa strongly believed in international cooperation in the fieldof quality management for mutual learning that could lead to rapid development ofquality management theory and practice for the larger good of mankind. Later hebecame Chairman of the Academy in 1981 and then Honorary Member. It is my unique
privilege as the current Chair of IAQ to have the opportunity to commemorate Dr.
Kaoru Ishikawa’s birth centenary celebrations in order to perpetuate his messages andlegacy to future generations who otherwise may not have the opportunity to learn fromhis work.
It is not possible to write about all aspects of Dr. Ishikawa’s contribution to quality
promotion around the world in such a short note. Let me highlight a few aspects.
1. Dr. Ishikawa travelled around the world to various countries sharing his
experience and learning from others. He was invited to many countries toadvance their quality efforts, including the United States, Switzerland, Sweden,
Taiwan, China, the United Kingdom, India and many others, where heintroduced and instructed in the holistic way to apply Japanese TQM methods.
He was on the Board of International Organization for Standardization (ISO)for many years and was also on various committees. He travelled frequently tocontribute to the cause of developing International Standards as a means forharmonization of economic activities around the world.
2. Dr. Ishikawa made exceptional contribution in the management of Deming
Prize that was established in 1951 to honor Dr. Deming’s contribution to
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Contributed Articles for the Augmented Edition of the Reminiscences Kaoru Ishikawa: The Man and Quality Control

promotion of quality in Japan. As Vice Chairman of Deming Application Prize
Subcommittee from 1962 to 1985 he made effort to enhance the level ofquality of Japanese companies through Deming Application Prize that waschallenged by leading companies from Japan. Recognizing its impact and as ameasure of his commitment to promote quality around the world in 1984 he
was instrumental in opening the Deming Application Prize to be challenged byany organization from anywhere in the world. Since then 45 companies from
USA, Taiwan, India, Thailand and Singapore have won Deming Prize and
Deming Grand Prize. From India 31 companies have won these awards, thefirst company being Sundaram Clayton Ltd. in 1998. This provided tremendous
motivation to other companies resulting in renewed enthusiasm for TQM in
India. It will not be an exaggeration to say without the opportunity to challenge
Deming Application Prize quality movement in India may not have become sostrong. Deming Prize has become the benchmark for quality in India.
3. Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa is regarded as the Father of the Quality Control Circle(QCC) movement started in Japan in 1962 with the intent to harness theimmense intellectual and emotional potential of first line operatives tocontribute to the development of quality and organizational performance. QCC
rapidly spread around the world and is growing strong even today. In India forsure at the annual conference of Quality Circle Forum of India (QCFI)
typically three to four thousand people participate. QCC has become an
integral part of the quality movement in India. Every year International
Conference on Quality Control Circles (ICQCC) is held in different parts of theworld providing opportunity to workmen to share experiences and berecognized. Dr. Ishikawa started this conference and nurtured it.
4. After the formation of IAQ in 1966 Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa started a special
initiative for the global exchange of quality methods, tools, and operating
philosophies by promoting and organizing International Conference on Quality
Control (ICQC), today called the (ICQ), a triennial global conference on
quality starting from Tokyo in 1969. This conference is held once in three years
in Japan, USA and Europe by rotation and serves as a global platform to
exchange latest quality related theory and practices from different parts of theworld.
I believe Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa has made a lasting and enduring contribution to thedevelopment of theory and practice of Total Quality or Business Excellence as we know
today. His greatest contribution is in influencing the business leaders and the operatives
13

at the same time through simple to use and practical approaches that otherwise soundeddifficult. He did so with humility, sincerity, generosity and exceptional hard work.
In India we are particularly indebted to Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa for his guidance during
the difficult time of making a transition from regulated economy to free economy. I
consider myself fortunate to have the opportunity to meet such a great person and tolearn from him. In a way he contributed in molding my character.
I thank Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE), Prof. Hitoshi Kumeand Prof. Noriaki Kano for sharing Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa’s legacy with the rest of theworld. My special thanks to Dr. Noriaki Kano, an exemplary disciple of Prof. Ishikawa,for providing opportunity to involve many quality professionals from India in this effortof centenary commemoration of Dr. Ishikawa’s birth centenary.
(Chairman of International Academy for Quality (IAQ);
former Chairperson of Asian Network for Quality (ANQ);
Chairman of TQM International Pvt. Ltd.)

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Contributed Articles for the Augmented Edition of the Reminiscences Kaoru Ishikawa: The Man and Quality Control

Follow the Path Laid by Professor Ishikawa
and You Will Achieve the Best Quality in theWorld
Masahiro Ohnishi

1. Guidance on matters other than QC
I had a very lucky fortunate. When I was in charge of the Japanese Industrial
Standardization related to QC at the Japanese Standards Association (JSA), I could
receive the guidance from Prof. Ishikawa.
During NHK’s TV program on QC, I talked about my appreciation to and mymemories of Prof. Ishikawa. I wrote about this episode in Kaoru Ishikawa, The Man
and Quality Control Section 9.3, the title “QC Courses on NHK Radio and TV,” on p.
251.
In this section, I would like to mention that he extensively advised about my work.
My main duty was to work for the JSA Quality Control Committee (QCC-JSA) at
the JIS Drafting Secretariat. Prof. Ishikawa never missed the deadline for submitting themanuscript, which helped me a lot.
Professor Ishikawa took part in almost every meeting, including one of control
charts, sampling tests, design of experiments, or random sampling methods. Since I was
the only administrative staff of the Secretariat, I saw the Professor quite frequently.
Even though I graduated from the Department of Industrial Engineering andManagement at Waseda University and had written my graduation thesis on QC, my
important task as a freshman employee of the JIS Drafting Committee Secretariat was totake the minutes. I did not understand what the committee members were talking about,nor did I know how to spell the words in English.
Professor Ishikawa and Professor Sigeiti Moriguti were the two academics who
were kind enough to teach me what I did not understand. Even now, I clearly rememberthat they explained to me the meaning and spelling of the term “pseudo random sample
number” in detail during a discussion about random number tables.
Rather than forcing a particular way, Professor Ishikawa taught us how to approachto a problem. In accordance with his lesson, we choose the way how to tackle theproblem by ourselves, and we try not to have any preferences.
Although I should have mentioned it in my first paragraph, a presenter or a15

commentator has the responsibility for controlling the ending time of a live program on
NHK TV. There are 15 seconds of leeway, so the theme song would be cut if the
program got longer or some scenery would be broadcast if the airtime of remained. This
was a major source of stress for me. When I told Prof. Ishikawa that NHK was unable tobroadcast commercials, he suggested that the propaganda of the textbook for NHK TV
Lessons would be good. Just as he says, I got OK from NHK right away.
Thereafter, I was able to present the program quite happily and tell people about atextbook and how to purchase it. At this time, I got the lesson that we should not put
limitations on anything.
2. Professor Ishikawa was kind enough to invite me to join a new program
proposed by the manager of the QC Department.
Even though there were more seniors at the JSA at the time, the Professor kindly
nominated me to be a member of the group working on the new activity plan for thenationwide promotion and development of QC.I had a good opportunity to take part in
the debate and learned a lot over there.
For example, I joined the preparatory committee for setting up the quality Monthand deciding on activity method. In addition, I joined the group for establishing theJapanese Society for Quality Control since I had appealed the necessity of that. I had theopportunity to express my views on the role of the JSQC.
Furthermore, at the time, Professor Ishikawa emphasized the importance of quality
standards while the academics who were involved in QC were focusing on activities
relating to statistical techniques. Therefore he set up a product planning study group andpublished a book entitled Seihin Kikaku no Arikata to Tsukurikata (Product Planning:
Approaches and Method). This book received the Standardization Literature Prize. I
was among the member of the group and mainly worked in this group at the JSA.
3. Support from various professor
Especially in the era of the Sato Cabinet when just began a period of growth, many
prefabricated houses lost their roofs due to typhoons. The matter of “the housing
industry generated too many claims” had been debated in the Diet. The Minister ofConstruction and Minister of International Trade and Industry thought that the guidanceon QC was urgently needed. With the request of the latter, I became a member of theSelection Committee for Industrial Production Housing Quality Control Superior
Factory Certification Systems, and started QC guidance and inspection in the housing
industry.
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Contributed Articles for the Augmented Edition of the Reminiscences Kaoru Ishikawa: The Man and Quality Control

At the beginning, we promoted QC on the basis of the existing JIS Mark Permit
system. However, the concept of QC was not established in the housing industry. Only I
was an expert on QC, while the other members of the selection committee wererepresentatives of prestigious supervisory bodies, government offices, research institutes,
and consumers. I asked Professor Ishikawa for his advice, and he answered, “Why don’t
you ask young Kano? He’s researching on quality control of prefabricated buildings.”
As a result, Professor Noriaki Kano joined that selection committee, helping rejuvenate
the committee and strengthen its expertise in QC. We embarked on a plan to establish
QC in the housing industry for prospects in the future.
Subsequently, Professor Kano became the chairman of the selection committee andwe succeeded in establishing the concept of QC among senior managers of the housing
industries by company’s hearing about TQC.
I became the chairman of the Expert Committee for Factory Inspection, which
focused on the housing member production factories all over the country. I decided toattend all of the factories inspections which were performed by National Competent
Trade and Industry Inspector. I made an unspoken rule of that the chairman of theselection committee should be younger than I.
Professor Kano promoted from a committee member to the chairman. He knew
around JIS Mark Permit System and actually used it. He almost completed the system.
Thereafter, eminent academics such as Prof. Yoji Akao, Prof. Tadashi Yoshizawa, andProf. Yasutoshi Washio were appointed to the chair of the selection committee, while
Prof. Takeshi Nakajo devoted himself to work as a member of that.
The level of a government QC inspection committee was exceptionally high. Prof.
Akao was also devoted to conducting research of the related corporation groups. He had
made a tremendous contribution to implementing quality function deployment atcompanies. I attended his seminars and wrote about what I learned there in the book,
Ohanashi Komuten no TQC (The Story of TQC at a Building Company). When thebook was published, I presented a copy to Prof. Sigeichi Moriguchi. Then he said,” It’s
easy to read, so I give a copy to the carpenter who’s refurbishing my house now, and tell
him to read it.” He was also kind enough to compliment me and said, “You’ve done agood job of summarizing difficult QC concepts for constructors in order to makebuilders understand it easily.”
After that, was nominated for and won the Nikkei Quality Control Literature Prize(FY1987). I subsequently became a member of the ISO 9001 quality screening
committee. Most of the housing industry switches from the government’s certification
system to gaining ISO 9001 certification. Although no major problems have arisen in17

the housing industry, there are no end to companies causing quality problem that might
be a criminal act, even though they have gained ISO certification.
I sometimes wonder what Professor Ishikawa would say if he were still alive andsaw this reality.
(Former director of the Japanese Standards Association;
former advisor to the Japan Testing Center for Construction Materials)

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Contributed Articles for the Augmented Edition of the Reminiscences Kaoru Ishikawa: The Man and Quality Control

Prof. Ishikawa and History of Komatsu
Masahiro Sakane

The year of 1963 when I entered Komatsu, it was right in the middle of “Project A,”
which was a company-wide quality improvement project conducted in Komatsu. Since
Komatsu was exposed to foreign competition in the 1960s, it started to manufacture
bulldozers on the “Project A” in 1961 in order to get over this crisis. (Komatsu
introduced TQC: Total Quality Control on this occasion.) Back then, there was a big
difference in quality between made-in-Japan products and those manufactured out ofJapan like Caterpillar Inc. To narrow the gap, in Komatsu, even new employees worked
very hard by repeating a driving test of pilot model equipment on the Tedori riverside all
day long. This was the start of my career. Looking back at those days, then President
and CEO Yoshinari Kawai made clear that Komatsu’s survival was at the stake due toforeign competition and our product quality had to become equivalent to or higher thanthat of foreign products. He subsequently launched and led the “Project A.” Meanwhile,then senior executive director Ryoichi Kawai rushed to his old friend, Prof. Ishikawa to
ask for his support with intent to introduce TQC as an effective mean to fight against thecrisis. Prof. Ishikawa was quite busy with a full of schedule for the following six
months, however, he accepted the request on the condition that the top management
should accompany him and lead the project. This was how Komatsu made all-out efforts
on TQC with top-down leadership. The top management frequently visited theworksites, obtained real information and directly understood what was going on. Thanks
to these actions, top management learned how to make important management decisions
and which directions to take. Thus, Komatsu intensified efforts on quality, reformed thecorporate management style and overcame the crisis. TQC has now been ourmanagement foundation.
Under Prof. Ishikawa’s instruction, Komatsu started various meetings on quality,
such as the general “Project A” meeting (company-wide one), the “Project A” meeting(plant-wide one), QC instruction session (at HQ), etc. joined by Prof. Ishikawa, Prof.
Asaka, Prof. Ikezawa and other people. Attending these meetings, managerial staff
including top management realized how unscientific and irrational their ways ofworking were. Furthermore, Prof. Ishikawa pointed out that “Komatsu tries new things
but gives them up easily. It must keep doing them more patiently and persistently.”“Komatsu tends to be reliant, not independent at all.” In the meantime, QC was
19

introduced and implemented at the plants. In order to facilitate QC, foremen andproduction line leaders took QC training programs lectured by professors invited fromuniversities. Also, the employees eventually raised their awareness about quality bypracticing seven QC tools, which resulted in product quality improvement.
The QC instruction sessions were continued in 1963 and 1964, attended by Prof.
Ishikawa, Prof. Asaka, divisions at headquarters such as administration, sales andservices and development, and managerial staff of the group companies like Komatsu
Sales and Service Co., Ltd. At the sessions, three policies of the QC committee chair
were strengthened and instructed: (1) Realize the crisis and commit to quality, (2) Win
the Deming Prize with concerted efforts and (3) Resolve sales and service issues. Laterin April 1964, the QC instruction session, joined by Prof. Ishikawa and the top
management, decided that Komatsu would take on a challenge to win the Deming Prize.
Prof. Ishikawa mainly stressed that “There should be connection between your daily
operations and QC.” “You must understand the real situation, how to reinforce yourstrong points and shore up your weak points.” “You should keep working on TQC, notfor winning the Deming Prize but for making your operations better.” All these points
are still applicable today. As a result, we could win the Deming Prize in the same year
(1964), while we found remaining issues to solve at the same time. We determined tocontinue working on TQC to further improve our corporate management.
In 1977, the top management decided to continue promoting TQC in order toimprove our level high enough to contest the Japan Quality Control Prize in three years.
We asked for instruction and support from about 20 professors including Prof. Ishikawa
and his top class students: Prof. Kume and Prof. Kano, with an aim to review andreinforce our corporate quality system. Around this time, I worked on new tasks, such as
making specifications suitable for each different environment on a global basis aiming
to enhance reliability, as a manager of the product planning section of the overseas
marketing department where TQC was little known. Since I was assigned in the US at
the time when Komatsu won the Japan Quality Control Prize, I could not directly
involve myself in the TQC actions. However, I still remember that I then thoroughly
learned that the concept of fact-finding or visualization was fundamental to everything,which has become my core stance as top management.
My career has been following a path of QC: “starting with QC and ending with
QC,” representing that the Deming Prize for Individuals that I received in 2008 and theDeming Prize that one of the Komatsu subsidiary companies in China won in 2013.
Now I feel honored to write this short essay as the sequel to “Kaoru Ishikawa, The Man
and Quality Control.” I promise Prof. Ishikawa that I will continue my efforts for further
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Contributed Articles for the Augmented Edition of the Reminiscences Kaoru Ishikawa: The Man and Quality Control

growth of Japanese industry.
(Former President and CEO, Komatsu Co. Ltd.;
Chairman, Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers;
former Vice Chairman, KEIDANREN (Japan Business Federation))21

Professor Kaoru Ishikawa Approaching the100th Anniversary of His Birth:
Reflections on Quality Control in the Future
Shinichi Sasaki

Exactly half a century has passed since Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) wasawarded the Deming Prize in 1965. Five years after that, I entered Toyota in 1970. I was
assigned to the inspection department at one of our plants and I still remember well the
many control diagrams posted inside the plant. One of my first jobs was to help with a
QC Circle activity. Applying QC approaches using graphs and cause-effect diagrams, I
learned about methods used to solve problems at the work site.
Although quite ordinary these days, the development and application of QC Circle
activities and the seven QC tools was a new and exciting activity for us at the time. My
boss told me many times how our quality level had improved markedly after receiving
instruction in quality control and TQC from Professor Kaoru Ishikawa, Professor
Tetsuichi Asaka, and many other professors as we strove to win the Deming Prize, soeven for someone like me, who did not have an opportunity to receive instruction
directly from these professors, I still keenly felt their influence. Later on, Toyota passed
through a period of high economic growth and the company continues to grow as a
global company today. Fifty years later, the teachings of these professors live on in a
legacy passed on through generations working at Toyota and these ideas continue tosupport the growth of Toyota today.

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Contributed Articles for the Augmented Edition of the Reminiscences Kaoru Ishikawa: The Man and Quality Control

In this year marking the 100th anniversary of Professor Ishikawa’s birth, Shoichiro
Toyoda, Honorary Chairman of Toyota, spoke of his memories of Professor Ishikawa ina special lecture he gave at the 100th Quality Control Symposium on June 5th, 2015.
In his lecture, Honorary Chairman Toyoda remarked, “I still clearly remember the
TQC seminar held for Toyota Group executives when Professor Ishikawa was a lecturer
and he asked us, ‘On the page your textbook is opened to, how many times is the word‘of’ written?’ and only half of the people attending the lecture got it right.”
Professor Ishikawa taught Toyota that humans make errors, so in order to makegood products, just carrying out strict inspections is not a good answer; rather, it isimportant that each person involved take responsibility and build quality into the
production process. The idea that “Good quality is built into the production process”
became one of the most important basic philosophies followed by Toyota and Toyota
Group companies, and it is still followed today.
Never before has Japan faced such an increasingly difficult business environment.
As we tackle environmental and energy problems, the aging of society, and theintroduction of new innovations, an even higher level of quality control is essential. It
can be said that the Achilles heel of Japanese industry competitiveness lies in the delay
in responding to these issues and, as has been pointed out many times, the inefficiencyof the Japanese working style when it comes to the decision-making process within aworker’s area of responsibility.

23

In recent years, Toyota too has experienced the diversification of customer needs,
increasingly advanced and complex technology, and a rapid growth in business. This
has resulted in a progressive specialization and segmentation of work, making work
processes increasingly complicated. Added to this is the difficulty in keeping up withthe accumulation of knowledge and knowhow accompanying the diversification of thework force and other factors. There were concerns that if we left things as they were,
there would be a sharp increase in customer dissatisfaction, the need to repeat tasks, andother risks. As it would have been difficult to handle such issues by simply extending
what we had been doing previously, improving work performance became an urgent
task.
Thus, it was my judgment that we needed to promote the philosophy of built-in
quality, not only on the manufacturing shop floors, but at all job sites. This movement
was named Ji Kotei-Kanketsu (or JKK) and it was rolled out companywide in a more
fully developed form. The purpose was for members to become capable of judging thequality of their own work on the spot. Doing this makes it is possible to deliver only
good products or work to the customer (or following process) and because thiseliminates mistakes and reworks, I strongly believe that it leads to a better quality ofwork.
In order for Japan to achieve sustainable growth, it is essential that strong
industries be built. This refers to not only the manufacturing shop floor, but also toplanning, development and other job sites, which also must become stronger. As times
change, the business environment is also dramatically changing, but the concept that
quality must be built into the production process must always support not only Toyota,
but Japanese industry as well. I firmly believe that it is the job of those of us who are in
charge of quality control and TQM to match the teachings of Professor Ishikawa to theneeds of the times and by spiraling them up throughout the company, ensure that they
are passed on to the next generation.
(Senior Advisor to the Board, Senior Technical Executive, Toyota Motor Corporation;
President and CEO, Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers;
Chairman, Central Japan Quality Control Association)

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Contributed Articles for the Augmented Edition of the Reminiscences Kaoru Ishikawa: The Man and Quality Control

Learning from Kaoru Ishikawa, The Man andQuality Control
Kazuyuki Suzuki

I served as the leader of English translation of Kaoru Ishikawa, The man andQuality Control, for 8 months from the end of last year to July 13, 2015, the centenaryof Prof. Kaoru Ishikawa’s birth. I learned a lot through this translation such as his
philosophy, way of thinking, and methods. I would like to write especially what
impressed me.
1. Philosophy of Professor Ishikawa
His philosophy was based on respect for humanity, therefore he aimed for ahuman-centered management. Whenever he thought about QC, he thought of humanbeing as well.
1. “The primary purpose for management is based on respect for humanity
against QCD which is the second one for management. Humanistic
management respects for spontaneity and intention of employees. They
consider deeply and act on their own. In other words, the primary goal of acompany is to develop employee’s infinite ability.” [60]2. “In Japan, we always speak about education and training as a set, while in theEurope and the United States, they only use the word training as ‘industrial
training,’ not using the word education. I suppose they want to improve theirskills by training rather than by education. I personally think we need to
sharpen our brain and change our ways of thinking not only by training but also
by education.” [B9]3. “Quality control starts and ends with education.” [22]4. “With prayer for QC Circle Activity to be further activated, each and every
Japanese should exercise human capabilities for a meaningful and lively
workplace. Let Japan and Japanese companies get further developed, Japanesemental and physical standard of living be improved, and bring happiness for all
human kind.” [B15]
From the above, I understand his humanistic philosophy. He never thought about
TQC separately from humanity. His philosophy was developed apart from Maslow’s
25hierarchy of needs (1943). He spread his own idea that QC should be carried out by all.
He surely accomplished inseparable matter, theory and practice.
2. Way of Thinking
He created the basic idea for today’s QC from 1950s, such as respecting thecustomer’s intention or performing QC with not only experts but also all employees. He
always had worked thinking about what should we do in order to realize welfare andhappiness for not only for Japanese but also all mankind all over the world.
5. “What we need to focus on is the quality that customers really want. —We callit a true quality, a true performance—and the first step of quality control is tofind it. On the other hand, purity or tensile strength, for example, is just a factor
or a cause to get the performance, which we call a substitute quality
characteristic.” [B5]6. He advanced the idea of the “QC by QC department” to “QC by the entire
company, involving all departments and all employees.”
7. 10 Principles for Both Buyers and Sellers [350] is still a great guiding principle.
His philosophy like mutual confidence, coexistence idea, social responsibility,
humanity, and consumer-oriented services is shown in it.
8. He strongly asserted that it is essential to proceed thinking about both quality
control and reliability comprehensively, not separately. The theme of theseventh QCS in 1968 was “Quality Assurance and Reliability.” At that time, hestated,” Some people even in Japan mistake to understand that Quality Control,
Quality Assurance, and Reliability are separate things, however, we should
consider them as a whole. The reason is because Reliability is a part of Quality
Assurance and Quality Assurance is a major goal of Quality Control.” Hecontributed to the dissemination and enlightenment of Reliability as arepresentative to the executive committee of Reliability and Maintainability
Symposium (the first and the second) and its vice-chairperson (from the third
to the 18th of his death).
3. Methods
The proposal of the origin of today’s PDCA in 1954, Three Steps of Quality
Assurance (emphasized inspection, process control, and new product development(NPD)) in 1958, and Sampling Methods by Prof. Ishikawa contributed to the Japanese
economy not only theory but also practice.

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Contributed Articles for the Augmented Edition of the Reminiscences Kaoru Ishikawa: The Man and Quality Control

4. The activity of dissemination and enlightenment
He was greatly involved in and started most of the QC activities such as various
event in the today’s QC world inside and outside the country, international
standardization, seminars, cooperation for developing countries, and development ofyoung generation, etc.
I genuinely pray that there will be a lot of people to learn his great achievements
and utilize his teachings in an actual practice.
(Professor of University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo;
former President of Japanese Society for Quality Control)27

A Sequence of Study– Exercise in
Life-and-Death Problems – Actual Play
Takenori Takahashi

It is an episode of a chat after the TQM consultation at a certain company one day
in the 1980s. Professor Ishikawa said to the top management of the company, “It is
reckless to do something without knowledge, but nothing can be mastered if knowledge
is not put into practice.” In those days, knowledge acquisition was considered more
important than practice in that company. At that time, I recalled one foreword in Prof.
Ishikawa’s book that I had read during my school days.
The theory that I was strongly interested in during the 1970s when I was anundergraduate student was the Experimental Design. I read Prof. Ishikawa’s trilogy for
my self-study, Introduction to Analysis of Variance, Textbook for the Basic Design ofExperiments, and Design of Experiment for Chemists and Chemical Engineers. The
above message came from the preface of the second book as follows:“Just like people who are unwilling to play unless they study all of thestandard tactics of Go (oriental board game: territory acquirement game using black
and white stones) will never improve, you will never develop your ability if you
conceive the ridiculous notion of studying every single statistical method andexperimental design method before practice. It is important to have the manner,such as learning some standard tactics, having the exercise in life-and-death
problems, applying them in matches (actual cases), and then going back to learn thestandard tactics when you come across some problems. You can develop ability andmake progress by repeating this process.”
After that, I got a position to teach students statistical methods and experimental
design. Prof. Ishikawa’s message as described above became the foundation in myteaching. On the contrary, there was only a chip experiment that we could put the things
we learned, theories, ideas, and data processing, into practice as teaching materials in
our class. We could not say it an ideal practical material even though it was effective forunderstanding theories. It was just a numerical simulation by human hands. Meanwhile,
we could not conduct real manufacturing in the classroom. Therefore, I carried out
practical exercises by developing some learning materials with simulated experiences. I
single-handedly developed “paper gliders” and “coin shooting,” and also developed
28

Contributed Articles for the Augmented Edition of the Reminiscences Kaoru Ishikawa: The Man and Quality Control“twin-rotor paper helicopters” evolved from paper helicopters that had been popular atthat time.
These teaching materials are not perfect as they are handmade things, by anamateur. However, I understand that those materials help the students improve
comprehension and cultivate ability. It is useful to repeat “a sequence of study –exercise in life-and-death problems – actual play – a sequence of study again...”“It is reckless to do something without knowledge, but nothing can be mastered if
knowledge is not put into practice.” I understand that this is the essence of education. I
learned how to teach and nurture students from Prof. Ishikawa.
(Professor of Mejiro University;
Visiting Professor of Keio University)

29

Great Benefits of Dr. Ishikawa’s
Achievements to a Thai Conglomerate
Kan Trakulhoon

This article is dedicated to Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa who is one of the pioneers inleading the dissemination and promotion of quality activities, a steadfast leader in theestablishment and development of Japanese way of Total Quality Management (TQM),
and a great inventor of QC methods such as the Cause & Effect Diagram.
SCG (Siam Cement Group) is one of Thailand’s most recognized industrial
conglomerates. Established in 1913, the group commenced as the first cement
manufacturer in Thailand, which later on helped form the country’s foundation for thesubsequent developments. Since its founding, SCG has grown continually anddiversified into three core businesses, namely SCG Cement-Building Materials, SCG
Packaging and SCG Chemicals. Throughout the past 100 years, SCG has been relentlessin organizational and employee development which helps drive innovation in products,
services, processes, and business models to create higher value and address the needs ofall parties concerned. Moreover, the Group is committed to contributing to thesustainable progress of the communities where SCG operates and pledges to become
ASEAN's business leader as well as a role model in corporate governance andsustainable development.
On behalf of SCG, although I am not personally acquainted with Dr. Ishikawa
himself, nevertheless, I could say that his achievements and legacy have had an
extraordinary impact on how SCG has evolved and has been one of the renowned
conglomerates in the region. Accordingly, I would like to take this opportunity to share
my views and experiences about the three significant quality initiatives / methodologies
related to Dr. Ishikawa i.e. QC Circle, TQM and Deming Prize, which SCG has adopted
along our operational excellence journey.
In 1978, QC Circle, invented by Dr. Ishikawa, was firstly introduced andimplemented in one of SCG’s former subsidiaries, Siam Nawaloha Co., Ltd. with theobjective to encourage systematic work improvement at the shop-floor level. SCG’s top
management at that time had seen QC Circle as an excellent initiative which would help
develop SCG employees’ knowledge and skills. Additionally, QC Circle provides theopportunity for SCG employees to release their potential with their own improvement
ideas and suggestions which get along well with one of SCG’s four core values, “Belief
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Contributed Articles for the Augmented Edition of the Reminiscences Kaoru Ishikawa: The Man and Quality Control

in the value of the individual.” As a result, a few years later QC Circle had been widely
recognized and implemented in other companies in SCG i.e. Siam Iron and Steel Co.,
Ltd., Siam Cement Co., Ltd., Siam Cement Trading Co., Ltd., and Siam Fiber-Cement
Co., Ltd. As for my own experience, when I was a production engineer at Siam Cement
Co., Ltd. in 1981, I was directly involved in QC Circle activity myself starting fromself-studying the concepts, providing in-house training for shop-floor operators andfacilitating QC groups to run the QC Circle successfully. From my viewpoint, QC
Circle can be considered as one of the fundamental elements which provide countless
benefits to SCG in terms of productivity and quality improvement ever since.
In 1992, Total Quality Management (TQM), formerly known as Total Quality
Control (TQC), one of the great initiatives of Dr. Ishikawa, was officially introduced in
SCG as one of top management insightful initiatives to create a competitive andsustainable business under the emerging trend of globalization. During the TQM
introduction period, pilot TQM implementations at selected companies were initiatedunder regular guidance and consultation from the Japanese TQM expert team. Being the
production department manager & plant manager of Siam Refractory Industry Co., Ltd.
(SRIC), I took the key driving role in implementing TQM at SRIC, which was one of
the 4 pilot companies during such period, and have gained a great deal of practicalknowledge and in-depth understanding of fundamental TQM methodologies such as
Problem Solving, Task Achieving, Daily Management, and Policy Management. These
hands-on TQM experiences have greatly broadened both my perspective and those of
my SCG colleagues on how to run business in a more systematic and effective manner.
Later on, after encountering the national economic crisis due to the drastic
depreciation of Thai Baht in 1997, SCG top management was intensely motivated tobreak through international competitiveness by dramatically improving product andservice quality, TQM implementation was remarkably and extensively promoted across
SCG in a group-wide manner. More companies were implementing TQM in order toturn around businesses as well as to strive for business successes. As a consequence,
although Thai economy was still in a recovery period, SCG had successfully achieved
improved business results. Being the president of Cementhai Ceramics Co., Ltd during
such difficult period, I also had a direct experience in rigorously applying TQM
methodologies to turn-around Ceramics Business from a nearly-divested business to acore-business of SCG by successfully repositioning Ceramics Business from acommodity-product producer to a trend-setter producer.
More recently, with the vision to become an ASEAN sustainable business leader by2015 and beyond, SCG has been attentively focusing on its two key strategies i.e. 1.
31

Expanding its businesses across ASEAN countries while sustaining the development ofcommunities where it operates and 2.Creating high value-added products and services
to customers. Behind these two business strategies and successful initiatives over the
decades, “Operational Excellence driven by TQM” has consistently been SCG corefoundation of every activity since 1992. SCG businesses have been continually able tomaintain competitive cost while enhancing productivity and delivering consistentquality as well as to efficiently use all the available resources to run SCG operations
under the considerations of social and environmental benefits. Nowadays, TQM has
become the common language which embeds quality-concerned attitude to SCG people.
Everyone, from top management level to operation level, has started thinking andworking TQMly and can practically apply TQM into daily work. Such behavioral
changes have gradually become major parts of SCG’s current and on-going working
culture.
In 2002, as a result of continual promotion and comprehensive implementation of
TQM in SCG, the first company in SCG, The Siam Cement (Thung Song) Co., Ltd.,
was awarded the prestigious Deming Prize which has been established since 1951
with Dr. Ishikawa being a founding member of the Deming Prize Committee.
Applying for Deming Prize has proven to be an effective catalyst to excel businessperformance. Companies can utilize the TQM efforts during the award challenging
journey to fill the business gaps and to grasp more opportunities. The benefit is not theaward itself but what companies will get along the way to achieve the award. In order tofurther sustain SCG business competitiveness via increasing customer and stakeholder
satisfactions, companies within SCG are encouraged by top management to continually
improve the quality of their products & services and upgrade the international
competitiveness of their businesses by challenging such world-class quality award.
Currently, nine companies under SCG across various business units have successfully
won the prestigious Deming Prize, and as a consequence, SCG is currently recognizedamong the top rank of group-company winners of the Deming Prize outside Japan.
On behalf of SCG, I would like to once again, express my sincere gratitude for all
the great works and remarkable contributions which Dr. Ishikawa has done for both theJapanese and International quality society. I am confident that he must be very pleased
to learn that a Thai conglomerate like SCG, has also gained great benefits through his
exceptional dedications and achievements.
(President and CEO, Siam Cement Group(SCG))

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Contributed Articles for the Augmented Edition of the Reminiscences Kaoru Ishikawa: The Man and Quality Control

Those I learned from Professor Kaoru Ishikawa
Hiroe Tsubaki

I first met Prof. Ishikawa when I explained the performance of proposed robust
estimation methods of a draft international standard in 1980. Since then, Prof. Ishikawa
had taught me essential statistical concepts implicitly such as problem finding by using
Shewhart charts, variety of definition of variability.
He said to me “You should learn control charts rather than sampling inspection, Mr.
Tsubaki.” Finally I noticed that the objective of the Shewhart chart is to find assignablecauses which can be clues for process improvement while the draft international
standards on control charts proposed by Russia and England are based on statistical
hypothesis testing.
Of course I also learned much from his text book on Quality Control in which Prof.
Ishikawa wrote “Action is necessary particularly in Japan.” Some famous Japanese
professor recently said to me “I cannot understand the reason why Action was includedin the PDCA cycle from the viewpoints of scientific approaches.” However, I interpretthat an implicit improvement cycle that is called the problem solving QC story in Japanis between Check and Action phases. Also I understand the problem solving QC story
was proposed by Japanese TQC led by Prof. Ishikawa who is a pioneer of quality
control in Japan. The role of “Check” should be to identify problems worth solving.
Although PDC cycle is that by Shewhart and Deming only implemented theGrammar of Science written by K. Pearson for production processes, however I believe
the Grammar of Improvement, the systematic way for problem solving as basic
statistical tools, was established by Prof. Ishikawa and his colleagues.
About 15 year ago I heard that causal analysis using the Ishikawa diagram wastaught at some elementary schools in US from 1990s. Nowadays I certainly recognizethat Prof. Ishikawa significantly impacts on not only quality management but all thescientific approaches for societies. In 2008, some Professors of Harvard University
wrote that causal analyses for the public health management should be done by
Ishikawa’s methodology [1]. Moreover, in 2015, the President of International Statistical
Institute said “the Deming and Ishikawa philosophies are the most significant
contribution of statistics to industry” at the opening ceremony of the 60th World
Statistics Congress.
I hope young people in Japan also learn from Prof. Ishikawa much more.
33

(President, the National Statistics Center;
President, Japanese Society for Quality Control (2015-2017))
Reference[1] Hsiao, H., M. Roberts, M. Reich and Berman P. (2008): Getting Health Reform Right, a Guide
to Improving Performance and Equity, Oxford University Press.

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Contributed Articles for the Augmented Edition of the Reminiscences Kaoru Ishikawa: The Man and Quality Control

Like Father – Like Son: The Ishikawa Family
Quality Heritage
Gregory H. Watson

Introduction
There is a special uniqueness in the contribution of the Ishikawa family legacy to
the global quality movement. Kaoru Ishikawa (1915–1989) is universally known andrevered by the quality community world-wide. Less visible is the significant influence
his father, Ichiro Ishikawa (1885–1970), had in establishing the post-war Japanesequality movement. The influence of Ishikawa father and son stimulated creation ofJapanese Total Quality Management (TQM).
The Ishikawa Family Legacy: Exceptional Father — Ichiro Ishikawa
The Ishikawa family roots were in Tokyo. Uichiro Ishikawa (1862–1919), thefather of Ichiro Ishikawa, managed the Kanto Sanso (Kanto Acid and Soda) company inthe capital. After Ichiro graduated from the Imperial University of Tokyo he taught
applied chemistry for several years, and then joined his father’s company to start his
management career in the Japanese chemical industry, eventually becoming an industry
leader just before the war. During the war years he was the President of Nissan
Chemical Industries and Director of the Japanese Association for Chemical Industries.
Afterwards he transitioned into cross-industry leadership as Chairman of the Japan
Industrial Association (JIA) (1946) and then he was appointed the first President of the
Keidanren (Japanese Federation of Economic Organizations (JFEO)), a position he heldfrom 1948 until 1956.
In mid-1946 the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) wasestablished and the executive committee was organized with Yoshitomo Tatumi as its
President. From the start it was the intention of JUSE to maintain a close relationshipwith industry by inviting a recognized leader to serve as its Chairman. JUSE
management decided to invite Ichiro Ishikawa to serve as its Chairman and in July 1947,
he met with the first Managing Director of JUSE Kenichi Koyanagi (1903–1965), andaccepted this nomination. Since the installation of Ichiro Ishikawa as its first Chairman,
JUSE has traditionally requested that the Keidanren Chairman serve concurrently as its
Chairman based on this precedent.
During these pioneering years, Mr. Ishikawa played an important role in35

convincing senior managers of major companies to apply quality to stimulate
reconstruction of Japan’s industry. In recognition of his lifetime contributions to thenation and its industry, Ichiro Ishikawa was decorated with the Grand Cordon of theOrder of the Paulownia Flowers of the Rising Sun, Paulownia Flowers by the Emperor.
As JUSE Chairman until 1956 Ichiro Ishikawa held a position of exceptional
responsibility. His job was to convince other Japanese business leaders of their
obligation to pursue quality in their firms. I believe that Ichiro Ishikawa was a “kuroko,”or black player in kabuki drama, the “invisible hand” who facilitates actions on stage by
the principle actors who are the visible focus of the audience. I have deduced that heassumed this role through a logical examination of the records of the Deming Prize.
The effectiveness of his intervention and a measure of his influence is surmised as
Ichiro Ishikawa served as Chairman of the Deming Prize Committee (established inearly 1951) and at the first Deming Prize Award Ceremony held on 22 September 1951,
the Deming Application Prize was awarded to four major companies: Fuji Iron & SteelCo., Ltd, Showa Denko K. K., Tanabe Seiyaku Co., Ltd., and Yawata Iron & Steel Co.,
Ltd. In the next year seven more companies received this award: Asahi Chemical Co.,
Ltd., Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., Nippon Electric Co., Ltd., Shionogi Co., Ltd., Takeda
Chemical Industries, Ltd., Toyo Spinning Co., Ltd., and Kyushu Cloth Industry Co., Ltd.
During the remainder of the tenure of Ichiro Ishikawa as Chairman of JUSE each year
3–4 companies received this award. Upon inspection, it is also evident that many ofthese recipients came from the chemical industry; were major Japanese companies that
one would expect to be active in the Keidanren; or were critical infrastructure industries
that were necessary to the reconstruction of a broad-based manufacturing capability forrebuilding the post-war economy. In 1957 after his term as Chairman had expired andthere were no Deming Prize winners. It appears to me that an “invisible hand” wasoperating behind the scenes to encourage these companies to pursue quality as a
strategy for rejuvenation of Japanese industry.
Another quality deployment strategy was engagement of top-level executives toparticipate in education programs (externally through the lectures of W. Edwards
Deming (1900–1993) and Joseph M. Juran (1904–2008)) and by developing internal
JUSE quality experts to give council. Evidence of the strategy to develop Japanesethought leaders is also clear from examining the awardees of the Deming Prize for
Individuals in 1952. Eight people who were members of the JUSE QC Research Group
were recognized with this award: Shigeru Mizuno, Chair (1910–1984), Tetsuichi Asaka(1914–2012), Kaoru Ishikawa, Masao Kogure (1915–2000), Masao Goto (1913–2000),
Hidehiko Higashi (1915 – ), Shin Miura (1910–1996), and Eizo Watanabe (1814–2003).
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Contributed Articles for the Augmented Edition of the Reminiscences Kaoru Ishikawa: The Man and Quality Control

Encouragement of these people, particularly Ichiro Ishikawa’s son Kaoru, todedicate their intellect and energy to developing quality in Japan was exceptionallysignificant as a strategy to rebuild the foundation of the industrial base by applying new,efficient management practices. While, my arm’s length observation of the activities ofthis time may not be totally accurate, it seems to me that there is a strong argument thatan executive leader of the stature of Ichiro Ishikawa was essential at this time topersuade industrial and academic leaders to support the fledgling quality movement.
However, it is very clear that the father influenced his son to serve in this future capacity.
Perhaps, in time, a young researcher will examine the JUSE archives to determine thevalidity of my beliefs.
The Ishikawa Family Legacy: Exceptional Son – Kaoru Ishikawa
I expressed my deep respect for the work of Dr. Ishikawa in an article that I wrote
in Quality Progress (“The Legacy of Ishikawa,” April 2004) where I explained how myinitial introduction to quality came through the study of his approach to reviewing
projects for quality improvement in videotapes that Hewlett-Packard recorded in theearly 1980s. Although I never met him, Professor Ishikawa became a “virtual mentor”
and I realized how profound his way of working was on formulating my own approachto consulting about quality matters. I believe it is fair to say, that my personal
experience was greatly advanced by his teaching and that his guidance by example also
shaped the modern development of quality and facilitated its transition acrossgenerations and cultures. Through development of a collective approach to quality,
TQM the Japanese Way, he demonstrated an appreciation for the systemic effects ofquality and its value by searching for “universal elements” which may be applied in any
industry or culture. His life was dedicated to the development and guidance of theyoung Japanese quality movement and sharing with the rest of the world the lessons
learned during the progress of its quality journey. Furthermore, through his writings,
publications and research Professor Ishikawa assured that the learning from Japan
would be transferred to the West. Japanese QC Research Committees of the 1980stranslated their final reports into English to share with the rest of the world. While I
hold him in the greatest respect, it is also clear that he was not alone in generating all ofthese results. Early development of quality in Japan was indeed a collaborative effort.
Collaborative Leadership in the Early Japanese Quality Movement
The founding generation of Japanese quality thought leaders included three men
who were the prime movers in pioneering quality: Shigeru Mizuno, Tetsuichi Asaka,
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and Kaoru Ishikawa. Shigeru Mizuno led the QC Research Group to uncover essential
truths and interpret the words of Deming and Juran to structure a unique Japanese way
called Company-wide Quality Control (CWQC) and TQM. Tetsuichi Asaka served as aninternal consultant and quality coach to guide Japanese industry leaders and theircompanies in developing disciplined approaches to quality. Kaoru Ishikawa contributed
to the development of quality methods and shaped the formal Japanese quality
infrastructure through his leadership in JUSE, the Japanese Society for Quality Control
and development of a national and global structure for promoting QC Circle activities.
He also became a global ambassador of Japanese quality through his international
activities in teaching the world about Japanese quality and serving as the interpreter ofJapanese Total Quality philosophy, tools and methods as well as disseminator of its
success stories and case studies. His success in global quality consulting, reinforced by
the exceptional performance of Japanese companies, supported by his quality colleagues,
created the enduring reputation for quality performance which Japan still enjoys as anation today. This collaborative approach to quality has served Japan well and it is my
opinion that the pivotal role in global dissemination of Japanese TQM was the vital
personal contribution of Kaoru Ishikawa.
Conclusion — Implications of this Legacy for Japanese TQM
New science is built on the contributions of past scientists. The same is true for
quality. What is the responsibility of one generation for the next? This question ischaracteristic of the Shinto faith. In this tradition, each person should leave the world abetter place as a way of honoring the wisdom that has been gathered by our ancestors,
passed on to us and preserved for future generations. Each living being contributes tothe continual cultivation and nurturing of this knowledge to create an ever-more refinedstate of being improvement of the world is an imperative as an outcome of our humanexperience.
In this system, each generation is accountable for developing the capability in thenext generation so it may fulfill its own responsibility and extend the tradition oflearning and doing. This goal was accomplished by Kaoru Ishikawa as he mentored thenext generation of Japanese quality thought leaders: Yoshio Kondo (1924–2011),
Takanori Yoneyama (1929–2014), and Genichi Taguchi (1924–2012) and also thecurrent generation: Hitoshi Kume, Noriaki Kano, Shoji Shiba, and Yoji Akao. From one
generation to the next the influence of the Ishikawa family has enriched the global
quality community and has increased the quality of life for humanity.
Exceptional father; exceptional son — the world of quality professionals remember
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Contributed Articles for the Augmented Edition of the Reminiscences Kaoru Ishikawa: The Man and Quality Control

your contributions and thank you with deep gratitude for your gifts to our current
knowledge and capability which would not have been achieved without your diligent
efforts. In the words of Sir Isaac Newton, “If we have been able to see further, it isbecause we have stood on the shoulders of giants.”(Chairman, Business Excellence Solutions, Ltd.;
Past-Chairman and Honorary Member, International Academy for Quality;
Past-Chairman and Fellow, American Society for Quality)

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