A quality circle is a volunteer group composed of workers who meet together to discuss workplace improvement, and make presentations to management with their ideas. Typical topics are improving safety, improving product design, and improvement in manufacturing process. Quality circles have the advantage of continuity, the circle remains intact from project to project. (For a comparison to Quality Improvement Teams see Juran's Quality by Design, referenced below).

Quality Circles were started in Japan in 1962 ( Kaoru Ishikawa has been credited for creating Quality Circles) as another method of improving quality. The movement in Japan was coordinated by the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE).

References

• The Quality Book, by Greg Hutchins, published by QPE, Portland OR. 1996
• Quality by Design, J.M. Juran, The Free Press, 1992, ISBN 0-02-916683-7. Pages 394-399

Circolo di qualità