Manufacturers win the quantity battle and we lose the quality war.
W. Edwards Deming: The Quality Revolution
Dr. Deming wrote: "Learning is not compulsory; neither is survival."
It is a sad commentary on American industry’s regard for quality that an American was most responsible for the "quality revolution" in Japan, yet he was ignored in America for years. Dr. W. Edwards Deming, a statistician, worked with the United States military during World War II to improve manufacturing production. His primary focus was on quality, which he defined as a product’s ability to conform to the customer’s requirements. He also insisted on a constant, measurable improvement of quality.
Dr. Deming taught that the best way to improve production was to improve quality. He was so successful that in 1950, after the war, the Japanese government invited him to teach their scientists and engineers. The Japanese knew that, without any natural resources except people, they had to do something to be able to manufacture goods that could be sold to world markets.
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