Tech Directions - May 2008 - (Page 12)

technology’s past Dennis Karwatka d.karwat@morehead-st.edu W. Edwards Deming and Modern Factory Quality Control People purchase specific brands of products for many different reasons, including price, availability, or ease of maintenance. If everyone were to rank their five top reasons, there is a good chance that product quality would appear on many lists. Quality control, or quality assurance, is a manufacturing system used to maintain a desired level of prodW. Edwards uct excellence. Companies that make pencils, airplanes, and everything in between use it. The American who made the world so conscious of quality was William Edwards Deming. The oldest of three children, Deming was born in Iowa in 1900 and raised in Wyoming. His father was a farmer and his mother a parttime music teacher. The family was not well off. They lived for a while in a tar paper shack about the size of a railroad freight car. Deming worked his way through college as a janitor and earned an engineering degree from the University of Wyoming. He went on to receive a doctorate in mathematical physics from Yale University. While working for the federal government in the 1930s, he developed the idea of inspection by sampling, the basis of his later work in quality control. During World War II in the early 1940s, American munitions and other goods were consumed at a rapid rate. To maintain quality and meet still production schedules, Deming told government officials that it was not necessary to inspect every item. They used his statistical The W. Edwards Deming Institute sampling technique, which proved to identify practically all defects. After the war, Deming tried to convince the government to encourage suppliers to use statistics as part of their quality control. But he found little interest because American industry was selling all that it made, no matter the quality. Factories in other manufacturing countries had been so damaged during the war that they were not serious Deming competitors. But Deming did find encouragement in Japan. The American occupational forces assigned him to serve as a quality advisor to Japanese industrialists. Deming conducted a series of seminars in 1950 that launched his close relationship with that country’s quality One of control proDeming’s books fessionals. Japan eventually became known as a country of high-quality manufacturers. Japanese industrialists credited Deming with pointing them in the right direction and named their top industrial award, the Deming Prize, after him. Deming was almost unknown in America until 1980, when he appeared on an NBC television program titled “If Japan Can, Why Can’t We?” The documentary gave Deming much credit for the rise of Japanese industry, and NBC was deluged with requests for transcripts of the program. At the age of 80, Deming began his major work in America. He conducted seminars that were packed to overflowing. He wrote several books. But his favorite role was as a consultant to American manufacturers. He told them to use quality control throughout the entire production process, eliminating the need for end-of-the-line inspections. Deming said that cooperation, not competition, was the key to industrial success. The manufacturers followed his recommendations. Deming always credited others for his successes and was described as having the demeanor of a wellloved uncle. His personality traits and his reputation made him a popular and respected quality consultant. His clients included all the American automobile manufacturers, as well as aircraft manufacturers, chemical plants, electronics companies, and newspapers. In 1986, he received the National Medal of Technology, America’s highest award for technical achievement. Deming’s first wife died in 1930 and he married Lola Shupe two years later. He had three daughters. In his limited spare time, he enjoyed composing church music. Deming never retired and died in 1993 in Washington, DC, in the house he had purchased with his wife in 1938. References Garraty, John A., & Carnes, Mark C. (Eds.). (1999). American national biography. Oxford University Press Graham, Judith (Ed.). (1993). Current biography—1993. H. W. Wilson Publishers. Dennis Karwatka is professor emeritus, Department of Industrial and Engineering Technology, Morehead (KY) State University. 12 techdirections ◆ MAY 2008

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Tech Directions - May 2008 Contents Technically Speaking Direct from Washington The News Report Mastering Computers Technology's Past Technology Today Road to Success - Service Learning Enhances Tech Ed Experience Balsa Tower Walls Brave 'Big Buster' These Kids Are Really on the Ball - Inventors Competition Winners School Web Site of the Month Animator Career Exploration Tools Guide Index to Volume 67 More than Fun

Tech Directions - May 2008

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