Joseph M. Juran’s Quality Control Handbook first appeared in 1951. It has gone through many editions. The National Academy of Engineering says it “is still considered the definitive compilation on quality.” Juran’s short definition was: “Quality is fitness for use.”
A later edition, Juran’s Quality Handbook, gave a longer definition: “Quality means those features of products which meet customer needs and thereby provide customer satisfaction.” A second definition named “freedom from deficiencies.” These are errors that require rework or “that result in field failures, customer dissatisfaction, customer claims and so on.”