William Edwards
Deming (1900-1993) was an American engineer,
statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and management consultant.
Deming received a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Wyoming at Laramie (1921), an MS from
the University of
Colorado (1925), and a PhD from Yale University (1928).
Both graduate degrees were in mathematics and physics.
Deming was a professor of statistics at New
York University's graduate school of business administration (1946–1993), and
taught at Columbia University's graduate school of business (1988–1993). He also was a
consultant for private business.
In 1927, Deming was
introduced to Walter A. Shewhart of the Bell Telephone Laboratories by C.H. Kunsman of the
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Deming found great inspiration
in the work of Shewhart, the originator of the concepts of statistical control
of processes and the related technical tool of the control chart, as Deming began to move
toward the application of statistical methods to industrial production and
management. Shewhart's idea of common and special causes of variation led
directly to Deming's theory of management. Deming saw that these ideas could be
applied not only to manufacturing processes, but also to the processes by which
enterprises are led and managed. This key insight made possible his enormous
influence on the economics of the industrialized world after 1950.
In
1936, he studied under Sir Ronald Fisher and Jerzy Neyman at University College, London, England.
Deming
edited a series of lectures delivered by Shewhart at USDA, Statistical
Method from the Viewpoint of Quality Control, into a book published in
1939. One reason he learned so much from Shewhart, Deming remarked in a
videotaped interview, was that, while brilliant, Shewhart had an "uncanny
ability to make things difficult." Deming thus spent a great deal of time
both copying Shewhart's ideas and devising ways to present them with his own twist.
In 1947, Deming was involved in early planning
for the 1951 Japanese Census. The Allied powers were occupying Japan, and he was
asked by the United States
Department of the Army to assist with the
census. He was brought over at the behest of General Douglas MacArthur, who
grew frustrated at being unable to complete so much as a phone call without the
line going dead due to Japan's shattered postwar economy. While in Japan, his
expertise in quality-control techniques, combined with his involvement in
Japanese society, brought him an invitation from the Japanese Union of
Scientists and Engineers (JUSE).
JUSE members had studied
Shewhart's techniques, and as part of Japan's reconstruction efforts, they
sought an expert to teach statistical control. From June–August 1950, Deming
trained hundreds of engineers, managers, and scholars in SPC and concepts of
quality. He also conducted at least one session for top management (including
top Japanese industrialists of the likes of Akio Morita, the cofounder of Sony Corp.) Deming's message
to Japan's chief executives was that improving quality would reduce expenses,
while increasing productivity and market
share. Perhaps the best known of these management lectures was delivered
at the Mt. Hakone Conference Center in August 1950.
A
number of Japanese manufacturers applied his techniques widely and experienced
heretofore unheard-of levels of quality and productivity. The improved quality
combined with the lowered cost created new international demand for Japanese
products.
Deming declined to receive
royalties from the transcripts of his 1950 lectures, so JUSE's board of directors
established the Deming
Prize (December
1950) to repay him for his friendship and kindness. Within Japan, the
Deming Prize continues to exert considerable influence on the disciplines of
quality control and quality management.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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