Zero Defects

This article is written in American English, which has its own spelling
conventions (color, defense, traveled) and some terms that are used in it may be
different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style
guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus.

Zero Defects (or ZD) was a management-led program to eliminate defects in industrial production that
enjoyed brief popularity in American industry from 1964[1] to the early 1970s. Quality expert Philip Crosby
later incorporated it into his "Absolutes of Quality Management" and it enjoyed a renaissance in the
American automobile industry—as a performance goal more than as a program—in the 1990s. Although
applicable to any type of enterprise, it has been primarily adopted within supply chains wherever large
volumes of components are being purchased (common items such as nuts and bolts are good examples).

Definition

"[...] Zero Defects is a management tool aimed at the reduction of defects through prevention.
It is directed at motivating people to prevent mistakes by developing a constant, conscious
desire to do their job right the first time."[2]: v ii  — Zero Defects: A New Dimension in Quality
Assurance

Zero Defects seeks to directly reverse the attitude that the number of mistakes a worker makes doesn't
matter since inspectors will catch them before they reach the customer.[2]: 4   This stands in contrast to
activities that affect the worker directly, such as receiving a paycheck in the correct amount. Zero Defects
involves reconditioning the worker "to take a personal interest in everything he does[,] by convincing him
that his job is just as important as the task of the doctor or the dentist."[2]: 4  

History
The development of Zero Defects is credited to Philip B. Crosby, a quality control department manager on
the Pershing missile program at the Martin Company,[3] though at least one contemporary reference credits
a small, unnamed group of Martin employees.[4]

Zero Defects was not the first application of motivational techniques to production: during World War II,
the War Department's "E for Excellence" program sought to boost production and minimize waste.[5][6][7]

The Cold War resulted in increased spending on the development of defense technology in the 1950s and
1960s. Because of the safety-critical nature of such technology, particularly weapons systems, the
government and defense firms came to employ hundreds of thousands of people in inspection and
monitoring of highly-complex products assembled from hundreds of thousands of individual parts.[2]: 1 0 
This activity routinely uncovered defects in design, manufacture, and assembly and resulted in an
expensive, drawn out cycle of inspection, rework, reinspection, and retest.[2]: 1 2  Additionally, reports of
spectacular missile failures appearing in the press[note 1] heightened the pressure to eliminate defects.
In 1961, the Martin Company's Orlando Florida facility embarked
on an effort to increase quality awareness and specifically launched
a program to drive down the number of defects in the Pershing
missile to one half of the acceptable quality level in half a year's
time.[2]: 1 2  Subsequently, the Army asked that the missile be
delivered a month earlier than the contract date in 1962. Martin
marshaled all of its resources to meet this challenge and delivered
the system with no discrepancies in hardware and documentation
and were able to demonstrate operation within a day of the start of
setup.[2]: 1 4¡V15  After reviewing how Martin was able to
overachieve, its management came to the conclusion that while it
had not insisted on perfection in the past, it had in this instance, and
that was all that was needed to attain outstanding product
quality.[2]: 1 5 

Management commissioned a team to examine the phenomenon

and come up with an action plan, which became the organizing, NASA Zero Defects award from the
motivating, and initiating elements of Zero Defects. [2]: 
1 5  The Apollo program
Department of Defense also took notice and in 1964, began to
actively encourage its vendors to adopt Zero Defects programs.[8][9]
Interest in the program from outside firms, including Litton Industries, Thiokol, Westinghouse, and Bendix
Corporation,[2]: 1 6  was keen and many made visits to Martin to learn about it.[2]: 1 6  Their feedback was
incorporated and rounded out the program. In particular, General Electric suggested that error cause
removal be included in the program.[2]: 1 6 

Martin claimed a 54% defect reduction in defects in hardware under government audit during the first two
years of the program. General Electric reported a $2 million reduction in rework and scrap costs, RCA
reported 75% of its departments in one division were achieving Zero Defects, and Sperry Corporation
reported a 54% defect reduction over a single year.[2]: 1 7 

During its heyday, it was adopted by General Electric, ITT Corporation, Montgomery Ward, the United
States Army among other organizations.[10]

While Zero Defects began in the aerospace and defense industry, thirty years later it was regenerated in the
automotive world. During the 1990s, large companies in the automotive industry cut costs by reducing their
quality inspection processes and demanding that their suppliers dramatically improve the quality of their
supplies.

Later developments
In 1979, Crosby penned Quality Is Free: The Art of Making Quality Certain which preserved the idea of
Zero Defects in a Quality Management Maturity Grid, in a 14-step quality improvement program, and in
the concept of the "Absolutes of Quality Management".[11] The quality improvement program incorporated
ideas developed or popularized by others (for example, cost of quality (step 4), employee education (step
8), and quality councils (step 13)) with the core motivation techniques of booklets, films, posters, speeches,
and the "ZD Day" centerpiece.[12]

Absolutes of Quality Management

According to Crosby, there are four Absolutes:[13]

1. "The definition of quality is conformance to requirements"

Newcomers to manufacturing bring their own vague impressions of what quality involves. But in order to
tackle quality-related problems, there must be widespread agreement on the specifics of what quality means
for a particular product. Customer needs and expectations must be reduced to measurable quantities like
length, or smoothness, or roundness and a standard must be specified for each. These become the
requirements for a product and the organization must inspect, or measure what comes out of the production
process against those standards to determine whether the product conforms to those requirements or
not.[11]: 1 7  An important implication of this is that if management does not specify these requirements
workers invent their own which may not align with what management would have intended had they
provided explicit requirements to begin with.[14]: 7 8  0

2. "The system of quality is prevention"

Companies typically focus on inspection to ensure that defective product doesn't reach the customer. But
this is both costly and still lets nonconformances through.[15] Prevention, in the form of "pledging ourselves
to make a constant conscious effort to do our jobs right the first time", is the only way to guarantee zero
defects. Beyond that, examining the production process for steps where defects can occur and mistake
proofing them contributes to defect-free production.[16][17]

3. "The performance standard is Zero Defects"

Workers, at least during the post–World War II economic expansion, had a lackadaisical attitude on the
whole toward work. Crosby saw statistical quality control and the MIL-Q-9858 standard as contributing to
this through acceptable quality levels—a concept that allows a certain number of acceptable defects and
reinforces the attitude that mistakes are inevitable.[14]: 8 0 [18]: 7 9–80  Another contributor is the self-imposed
pressure to produce something to sell, even if that thing is defective.[12]: 7 2–73  Workers must "make the
attitude of Zero Defects [their] personal standard."[18]: 1 72 

4. "The measurement of quality is the price of nonconformance"

To convince executives to take action to resolve issues of poor quality, costs associated with poor quality
must be measured in monetary terms.[19][11]: 1 21  Crosby uses the term "the price of nonconformance" in
preference to "the cost of quality" to overcome the misimpression that higher quality requires higher
costs.[18] The point of writing Quality Is Free was to demonstrate that quality improvement efforts pay for
themselves.[20] Crosby divides quality-related costs into the price of conformance and the price of
nonconformance. The price of conformance includes quality-related planning, inspection, and auditing; the
price of nonconformance includes scrap, rework, claims against warranty, unplanned service[11]: 2 09 

Criticisms
The main criticism is the amount of effort required to verify every person's performance in an
organization.[2]: 1 21  Confidence in the program, and therefore compliance with it, fades without this
verification.[2]: 1 18 [21]
Point 10 of Deming's 14 points ("Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for
zero defects and new levels of productivity.") is clearly aimed at ZD.[22][23] Joseph M. Juran was also
critical of ZD.[24]

Another criticism is that Zero Defects is a motivational program aimed at encouraging employees to do
better.[25][26][27] Crosby stated that "Motivation has nothing to do with it...It is merely setting performance
standards that no one can misunderstand and then starting a two-way communications exercise to let
everyone know about it."[28] He blamed management actions and attitudes for creating the opportunity for
defects.[29][30]

See also
Six Sigma
Total Quality Management

Notes
1. For example: "AIR FORCE ROCKET SAID TO FAIL TEST; 1,500-Mile Missile Reported to
Have Fallen and Burned at Florida Launching" (http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?r
es=F30C1FF63B5C14738DDDAE0A94D9405B8789F1D3). The New York Times. January
1, 1957., "ATLAS SWITCH FAILED; Cutoff of Missile Launching Caused by Defective Part"
(http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50A1EFD355A137B93C6A8178CD85F4
C8585F9). The New York Times. July 14, 1958., "A 3-ENGINE ATLAS FALLS IN FLAMES;
Most Powerful U. S. Missile Is Airborne Only 2 Minutes in Cape Canaveral Test" (http://selec
t.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60C11F6345E127A93C2AB178CD85F4C8585F9).
The New York Times. July 20, 1958., "Nike Zeus Anti-Missile Missile Destroys Itself in Test
Failure; Soars to Two Miles in a Few Seconds Before Automatic Device Sets Off Explosion
in the Second Stage" (http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50A12FC385D1B72
8DDDA10894D8415B818AF1D3). The New York Times. October 8, 1961., "A MISSILE
FAILURE LAID TO HUMANS; Psychologist Tells of Error Over-Electric Sockets" (http://selec
t.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40613FF3C581A7B93C7A91782D85F468685F9).
The New York Times. September 5, 1962.

References
1. A Guide to Zero Defects: Quality and Reliability Assurance Handbook (https://apps.dtic.mil/st
i/citations/ADA950061). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense
(Manpower Installations and Logistics). 1965. p. 3. OCLC 7188673 (https://www.worldcat.or
g/oclc/7188673). 4155.12-H. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20140529122504/http://
www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA950061) from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved
May 29, 2014. "Early in 1964 the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Installations and Logistics)
invited the attention of the Military Departments and the Defense Supply Agency to the
potential of Zero Defects. This gave the program substantial impetus. Since that time Zero
Defects has been adopted by numerous industrial and Department of Defense activities."
2. Halpin, James F. (1966). Zero Defects: A New Dimension in Quality Assurance (https://archiv
e.org/details/zerodefectsnewdi00halp). New York City: McGraw-Hill. OCLC 567983091 (http
s://www.worldcat.org/oclc/567983091).
 3. Harwood, William B. (1993). "27: "Zero Defects" Was Invented Here" (https://archive.org/det
ails/raiseheavenearth00harw). Raise Heaven and Earth: The Story of Martin Marietta
People and Their Pioneering Achievements. New York City: Simon & Schuster. p. 350 (http
s://archive.org/details/raiseheavenearth00harw/page/350). ISBN 9780671749989.
OCLC 28710737 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28710737). "Zero Defects was the
brainchild of a gifted and articulate young engineer named Philip Crosby, who conceived it
while working as quality control manager on Pershing."
4. Halpin, James F. (1966). Zero Defects: A New Dimension in Quality Assurance (https://archiv
e.org/details/zerodefectsnewdi00halp). New York City: McGraw-Hill. p. 11 (https://archive.or
g/details/zerodefectsnewdi00halp/page/11). OCLC 567983091 (https://www.worldcat.org/ocl
c/567983091). "Whenever the subject of Zero Defects comes up, it invariably prompts the
question: "Exactly how did it all start?" The fact that it did start in the defense industry on an
Army-Martin missile system is testimony to the dedication of a relatively small group of
people."
5. Pettebone, E. R. (1968). Riordan, John J. (ed.). Zero Defects: the Quest for Quality (https://ap
ps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/AD0683446). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Assistant Secretary of
Defense. p. 46. OCLC 3396301 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3396301). Technical Report
TR9. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20140529122558/http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citatio
ns/AD0683446) from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014. "While Zero
Defects programs might appear on the surface to be a re-hash of worker motivation
programs that appeared during World War II, there is a more clearly defined methodology
and technique emerging in today's programs."
6. "More Bang Per Buck: 'Zero Defects' Plans Cut Contractor Costs". The Wall Street Journal.
New York City. April 6, 1965. p. 1. ISSN 0099-9660 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0099-966
0). "It reminds me of the E (for excellence) program during World War II."
7. "Revivalist zeal in the drive for perfect parts". Business Week. New York City. May 8, 1965.
p. 159. ISSN 0007-7135 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0007-7135). OCLC 1537921 (https://
www.worldcat.org/oclc/1537921). "So the company turned to a propaganda approach, a
peacetime equivalent of patriotic campaigns waged in defense plants during World War II."
8. "Zero Defects Campaign Gets DOD Impetus". Aviation Week & Space Technology. New
York City. November 30, 1964. pp. 63–65. ISSN 0005-2175 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0
005-2175).
9. "More ZD reports". Quality Assurance. Wheaton, Illinois: Hitchcock Pub. Co. August 1965.
OCLC 2449963 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2449963).
10. Harwood, William B. (1993). Raise Heaven and Earth: The Story of Martin Marietta People
and Their Pioneering Achievements (https://archive.org/details/raiseheavenearth00harw).
New York City: Simon & Schuster. p. 350 (https://archive.org/details/raiseheavenearth00har
w/page/350). ISBN 9780671749989. OCLC 28710737 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/28710
737).
11. Crosby, Philip B. (1979). "8: Quality Improvement Program" (https://archive.org/details/qualit
yisfree00cros/page/127). Quality Is Free: The Art of Making Quality Certain. New York City:
McGraw-Hill. pp. 127–139 (https://archive.org/details/qualityisfree00cros/page/127).
ISBN 9780070145122. OCLC 3843884 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3843884).
12. Crosby, Philip B. (1984). Quality Without Tears: The Art of Hassle-free Management (https://a
rchive.org/details/qualitywithoutte00cros). New York City: McGraw-Hill. pp. 97–120 (https://ar
chive.org/details/qualitywithoutte00cros/page/97). ISBN 9780070145306. OCLC 10277859
(https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/10277859).
13. Crosby, Philip B. (1984). Quality Without Tears: The Art of Hassle-free Management (https://a
rchive.org/details/qualitywithoutte00cros). New York City: McGraw-Hill. pp. 58–86 (https://arc
hive.org/details/qualitywithoutte00cros/page/58). ISBN 9780070145306. OCLC 10277859
(https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/10277859).
14. Crosby, Philip B. (1996). The Absolutes of Leadership. San Diego: Pfeiffer & Co.
ISBN 9780893842765. OCLC 34077426 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/34077426).
15. Crosby, Philip B. (1984). Quality Without Tears: The Art of Hassle-free Management (https://a
rchive.org/details/qualitywithoutte00cros). New York City: McGraw-Hill. p. 67 (https://archive.
org/details/qualitywithoutte00cros/page/67). ISBN 9780070145306. OCLC 10277859 (http
s://www.worldcat.org/oclc/10277859). "Appraisal is an expensive and unreliable way of
getting quality. Checking and sorting and evaluating only sift what is done."
16. Crosby, Philip B. (1984). Quality Without Tears: The Art of Hassle-free Management (https://a
rchive.org/details/qualitywithoutte00cros). New York City: McGraw-Hill. p. 68 (https://archive.
org/details/qualitywithoutte00cros/page/68). ISBN 9780070145306. OCLC 10277859 (http
s://www.worldcat.org/oclc/10277859). "The concept of prevention is based on understanding
the process that needs the preventive action...The secret of prevention is to look at the
process and identify opportunities for error. These can be controlled."
17. Crosby, Philip B. (1996). The Absolutes of Leadership. San Diego: Pfeiffer & Co. p. 79.
ISBN 9780893842765. OCLC 34077426 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/34077426).
"Prevention is the orientation for causing quality. This is opposed to the "detection" way of
thinking that was used for years. Inspectors, testers, and auditors scanned the output of an
operation in order to sort good from bad. It is better to create an environment in which there
is no "bad," to learn how to do things right the first time. That takes prevention."
18. Crosby, Philip B. (1996). Quality Is Still Free: Making Quality Certain in Uncertain Times.
New York City: McGraw-Hill. p. 191. ISBN 9780070145320. OCLC 32820340 (https://www.w
orldcat.org/oclc/32820340).
19. Crosby, Philip B. (1996). The Absolutes of Leadership. San Diego: Pfeiffer & Co. p. 78.
ISBN 9780893842765. OCLC 34077426 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/34077426). "Until
quality is fitted into the cash flow and displayed as an equal with the other financial
considerations, it will always be an add-on."
20. Crosby, Philip B. (1979). Quality Is Free: The Art of Making Quality Certain (https://archive.or
g/details/qualityisfree00cros/page/85). New York City: McGraw-Hill. pp. 85–86 (https://archiv
e.org/details/qualityisfree00cros/page/85). ISBN 9780070145122. OCLC 3843884 (https://w
ww.worldcat.org/oclc/3843884). "Quality is free. It's not a gift, but it is free. ... Every penny
you don't spend on doing things wrong, over, or instead becomes half a penny right on the
bottom line."
21. Larson, Alan (2003). Demystifying Six Sigma. New York: American Management
Association. p. 161. ISBN 9780814471845. OCLC 50808933 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/
50808933). "A year passed, and sure enough, he showed up with a huge yellow pin
emblazoned with "ZD, 2 years." He had now gone two consecutive years without making a
mistake. When you don't do anything, it is easy to not make mistakes or produce faulty
product."
22. Deming, W. Edwards. "The Fourteen Points For The Transformation Of Management" (http://
www.deming.org/theman/theories/fourteenpoints). www.deming.org. Palos Verdes Estates,
California: The W. Edwards Deming Institute. Retrieved November 24, 2013. "Eliminate
slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for zero defects and new levels
of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the
causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the
power of the work force."
23. Salsburg, David (2001), The Lady Tasting Tea: How Statistics Revolutionized Science in the
Twentieth Century (http://us.macmillan.com/theladytastingtea/DavidSalsburg), New York
City: W. H. Freeman and Company, pp. 250–251, ISBN 0805071342, OCLC 45129162 (http
s://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45129162), retrieved February 23, 2013, "He was scathingly
critical of the fads of management that would sweep through American industry. In the
1970s, the fad was called "zero defect." They would have no defects in their product—a
condition that Deming knew was completely impossible."
24. Juran, Joseph M., ed. (1995), A History of Managing for Quality: The Evolution, Trends, and
Future Directions of Managing for Quality (https://archive.org/details/historyofmanagin0000u
nse/page/584), Milwaukee, Wisconsin: The American Society for Quality Control, pp. 584–
585 (https://archive.org/details/historyofmanagin0000unse/page/584),
ISBN 9780873893411, OCLC 32394752 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/32394752), "Some
consultants proposed a sweeping solution by exhorting the workforce to make no mistakes
—"Do it right the first time." This simplistic approach was persuasive to those managers,
who, at the time, believed that the primary cause of their company's quality problems was
the carelessness and indifference of the workforce. The facts were that the bulk of the quality
problems had their origin in the managerial and technical processes. In due course this
approach was abandoned, but not before a lot of divisiveness had been generated."
25. Juran, Joseph M. (1966). "Quality Problems, Remedies and Nostrums" (http://www.juran.co
m/elifeline/elifefiles/2009/11/Quality-Problems-Remedies-Nostrums_JMJuran-94.pdf) (PDF).
Industrial Quality Control. Vol. 22, no. 12. Buffalo, New York: Society of Quality Control
Engineers, University at Buffalo, and American Society for Quality Control. pp. 647–653.
ISSN 0884-822X (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0884-822X). OCLC 1753098 (https://www.w
orldcat.org/oclc/1753098).
26. Crosby, Philip B. (1979). Quality Is Free: The Art of Making Quality Certain (https://archive.or
g/details/qualityisfree00cros/page/274). New York City: McGraw-Hill. pp. 274 (https://archive.
org/details/qualityisfree00cros/page/274). ISBN 9780070145122. OCLC 3843884 (https://w
ww.worldcat.org/oclc/3843884).
27. Crosby, Philip B. (1984). Quality Without Tears: The Art of Hassle-free Management (https://a
rchive.org/details/qualitywithoutte00cros). New York City: McGraw-Hill. p. 77 (https://archive.
org/details/qualitywithoutte00cros/page/77). ISBN 9780070145306. OCLC 10277859 (http
s://www.worldcat.org/oclc/10277859). "Unfortunately, Zero Defects was picked up by
industry as a "motivation" program."
28. Crosby, Philip B. (1979). Quality Is Free: The Art of Making Quality Certain (https://archive.or
g/details/qualityisfree00cros/page/169). New York City: McGraw-Hill. p. 169 (https://archive.o
rg/details/qualityisfree00cros/page/169). ISBN 9780070145122. OCLC 3843884 (https://ww
w.worldcat.org/oclc/3843884).
29. Crosby, Philip B. (1979). Quality Is Free: The Art of Making Quality Certain (https://archive.or
g/details/qualityisfree00cros/page/1). New York City: McGraw-Hill. pp. 1–5, 50–52 (https://ar
chive.org/details/qualityisfree00cros/page/1). ISBN 9780070145122. OCLC 3843884 (http
s://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3843884).
30. Crosby, Philip B. (1989). Let's Talk Quality: 96 Questions You Always Wanted to Ask Phil
Crosby. New York City: McGraw-Hill. pp. 104–105. ISBN 9780070145658. OCLC 18416898
(https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/18416898). "A couple of well-known leaders in the quality
consulting business formed the idea years ago that I was talking about "exhorting" workers
to do better. So over the years they have made that part of every spech they delivered or
article they wrote. I have never responded, even though it should be fairly obvious to anyone
who has ever read anything I have written or has hard me speak that I hold management
responsible for the whole mess."

Further reading
 American Management Association (1965). Zero Defects: Doing It Right the First Time. New
York City: American Management Association. OCLC 244134 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/
244134).
A Guide to Zero Defects: Quality and Reliability Assurance Handbook (https://apps.dtic.mil/st
i/citations/ADA950061). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense
(Manpower Installations and Logistics). 1965. OCLC 7188673 (https://www.worldcat.org/ocl
c/7188673). 4155.12-H. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20140529122504/http://www.
dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA950061) from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved May 29,
2014.
Halpin, James F. (1966). Zero Defects: A New Dimension in Quality Assurance (https://archiv
e.org/details/zerodefectsnewdi00halp). New York City: McGraw-Hill. OCLC 567983091 (http
s://www.worldcat.org/oclc/567983091).
Riordan, John J., ed. (1968). Zero Defects: the Quest for Quality (https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citati
ons/AD0683446). Washington, D.C.: Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense.
OCLC 3396301 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3396301). Technical Report TR9. Archived (h
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20140529122558/http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0683446)
from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014.

External links
Zero Defects at Lockheed Martin, the descendant of the Martin Company (http://www.lockhe
edmartin.com/us/100years/stories/zero-defects.html)
Photo of Governor William W. Scranton of Pennsylvania speaking at a Zero Defects kickoff
at Boeing Vertol in 1965 (http://digital.library.temple.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15037coll3/id/53
62)

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