Zero defects is an idea that was discovered in the early 1960s. It was articulated by Phil Crosby and first implemented at the Martin company in Orlando, Florida. Zero defects enjoyed widespread popularity until the mid 1970s, and almost every major company and their suppliers had a zero-defects program.Then quality programs such as Total Quality Management (TQM), Malcolm Baldrige, and statistical process control (SPC)—as well as the rush to ISO 9001 registration—sucked up all the oxygen, and now the zero-defects approach is practiced by only a few companies. Except for those who profit from it, zero defects is forgotten. You may find it interesting that zero defects is now very popular in China. My book is being translated into Chinese, and I do ZD consulting with Chinese businesses via e-mail.

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