Our "Quality Guru of the Month" is Dr. Armand V. Feigenbaum. Feigenbaum is the originator of Total Quality Control. While he was a doctoral student at MIT, Feigenbaum completed his first edition of his book Total Quality Control.

Feigenbaum’s work centralized around the notion for a systematic or total approach to quality. He argued that total approach to quality requires the involvement of all functions of the quality process, not only manufacturing. His idea was to build in quality in the early stage rather than inspecting and controlling after the processes have been completed.

According to the Department of Trade and Industry, Feigenbaum served as the worldwide Director of Manufacturing Operations and Quality Control at General Electric Company between 1958 and 1968. He later became President of General Systems Company, Inc. Feigenbaum was also the founding chairman of the International Academy for Quality and also the past president of the American Society of Quality Control. In 1988, Feigenbaum was appointed to the board of overseers of the United States Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award Program.

Dr. Feigenbaum’s message was to move away from the concerns of the technical aspect of quality control and make a focus of quality control as a business method, including administrative and human relation functions. Another one of his emphases is that quality does not mean "best" but "best for the customer."

Feigenbaum saw Modern Quality Control as the stimulating and building up of operator responsibilities and interests in quality. Feigenbaum also argued that all levels of quality need to be emphasized. For quality control to achieve its specified results there is the need for complete support from management as well as the quality control program must develop gradually from within the organization.

Dr. Feigenbaum is known for his thoughts on how quality programs are one of the most powerful change agents for companies today. As a result of Dr. Feigenbaum’s work, company management has assumed the responsibility to make leadership contributions that will increase their company’s growth, which in turn will positively affect the national economy.