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Part 2: The Re-invention of a Quality for Profit Philosophy
W. Edwards Deming (Post
War though the 1960’s)
Dr. Deming is one the most influential Quality advocates connected with
manufacturing. Born in 1900, Dr. Deming died in 1993.
W. Edwards Deming was awarded his doctorate in mathematical physics in
1928. He worked in the US Government Services for many years in
statistical sampling techniques. Immersed in the theories of measuring
quality statistically, he utilized the work of statistician Walter Shewhart. He believed that Shewhart’s principles could be equally
applied to non-manufacturing processes. He applied Shewhart's concepts
to his work at the National Bureau of the Census. Routine clerical
operations were brought into statistical process control in preparation
for the 1940 population Census. This led to six-fold productivity
improvements in some processes. Consequently, Deming started to run
statistical courses to explain his and Shewhart's methods to engineers,
designers, etc., in the US and Canada. In 1943, he authored
“Statistical Adjustment of Data”.
Deming's programs were seen as an effective method of reducing scrap
and rework in a manufacturing process. In the US, these proven
methodologies did not have much of an effect after WWII. The resulting
prosperity allowed anything that was produced to be sold, with or
without statistical or quality control. A second factor had a strong
bearing on Deming's later success. To quote him: “The courses were well
received by engineers, but management paid no attention to them.
Management did not understand that they had to get behind improvement
of quality and carry out their obligations from the top down. Any
instability can help to point out specific times or locations of local
problems. Once these local problems are removed, a process will
continue until someone changes it. Changing the process is management's
responsibility. And we failed to teach them that.”
Deming was sent to Japan after the war as a Census adviser to the
Japanese. The Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE)
embraced him as one of their own after its formation in 1946. A leading
factor of the acceptance of his methodologies came when a delegation
from Bell Telephone Laboratories visited Japan and demonstrated
Deming's quality control techniques. Deming's teachings became a high
standard and JUSE invited him to lecture to the Japanese on statistical
methods. In the early '50s he lectured to engineers and senior
managers, including in his lectures principles now regarded as part of
TQM (Total Quality Management), or Company-wide Quality. In 1956,
Deming was awarded the Shewhart medal by the American Society for
Quality Control. Four years later, Deming's teachings were widely known
in Japan and the Emperor awarded him the Second Order of the Sacred
Treasure.
(Next submission: Deming,
1970’s to the present)
RCS Register, Volume 4 Issue
3, July 2003
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