Genichi Taguchi

robust design / loss function.

Genichi Taguchi (1924–2012) was a Japanese engineer and statistician who consulted globally on quality engineering after pioneering work at Japan's NTT. He developed parameter design (robust design), a systematic method for making products insensitive to manufacturing variation, and the loss function, which quantifies quality loss as deviation from a target value. His methods were widely adopted by manufacturers including Ford and ITT from the 1980s onward.