who was w. edward deming and what was his impact (as it pertains to this course and beyond)?

by Johann Torp II 7 min read

Dr. William Edwards Deming (October 14, 1900 – December 20, 1993) was an engineer, statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and management consultant He helped develop the sampling techniques still used by the U.S. Department of the Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Deming's role as the architect of Japan's post-World War II industrial transformation is regarded by many Western business schools and economists as one of the most significant achievements of the 20th century (LA Times, 10/25/99.) He is often called the “father of the third wave of the industrial revolution.”

Full Answer

What did William Edwards Deming do?

W. Edwards Deming, in full William Edwards Deming, (born Oct. 14, 1900, Sioux City, Iowa, U.S.—died Dec. 20, 1993, Washington, D.C.), American statistician, educator, and consultant whose advocacy of quality-control methods in industrial production aided Japan’s economic recovery after World War II and spurred...

What did Deming write?

Deming was the author of Quality Productivity and Competitive Position, Out of the Crisis (1982–1986), and The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education (1993), and books on statistics and sampling.

What did Deming do for New York University?

Later, he became a professor at New York University, while engaged as an independent consultant in Washington, DC. Deming was the author of Quality Productivity and Competitive Position, Out of the Crisis (1982–1986), and The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education (1993), and books on statistics and sampling.

What did Deming learn from Shewhart?

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.

Who was W Edward Deming and why is he important in the field of management?

William Edwards Deming (1900-1993) is widely acknowledged as the leading management thinker in the field of quality. He was a statistician and business consultant whose methods helped hasten Japan's recovery after the Second World War and beyond.

Who is W Edwards What is his contribution to the economy?

20, 1993, Washington, D.C.), American statistician, educator, and consultant whose advocacy of quality-control methods in industrial production aided Japan's economic recovery after World War II and spurred the subsequent global success of many Japanese firms in the late 20th century.

What is W Edwards Deming theory?

Deming's theory of profound knowledge is a management philosophy grounded in systems theory. It is based on the principle that each organization is composed of a system of interrelated processes and people which make up system's components.

Why is Deming important?

Edwards Deming is largely credited with the focus on quality within business to achieve success. A statistician who went to Japan to help with the census after World War II, Deming also taught statistical process control to leaders of prominent Japanese businesses.

What was the impact of Dr Deming on Japanese industry from his time there between 1950 1960?

Edwards Deming Institute®. In 1950, Japanese businessmen turned to an obscure American from Wyoming to help them rebuild an economy shattered in World War II. That industrial expert, W. Edwards Deming, taught Japan's manufacturers how to produce top quality products economically.

Why William Deming is regarded as the father of total quality management?

Deming often is referred to as the father of “Total Quality Management.” After World War II, he contributed to Japan's economic recovery by recommending statistical methods of quality control in industrial production.

What is Deming's theory of total quality management?

Edwards Deming is considered by many to be the father of the total quality management movement. All of W. Edwards Deming's theories are based on the simple concept that continual improvement can help increase quality while decreasing costs, or what we can call total quality management.

What is the meaning of Deming?

English: from Old English demung 'judgement', 'act of judging', hence a metonymic occupational name for a judge or for an arbiter of minor disputes. Compare Deemer and Deem.

What did Deming want to do in the 1930s?

In the 1930s Deming became interested in ways that statistical analysis could achieve better quality control in industry .

What university did Deming go to?

The son of a small-town lawyer, Deming attended the University of Wyoming (B.S., 1921), University of Colorado (M.S., 1924), and Yale University (Ph.D. in mathematical physics, 1928).

What is the Deming Prize?

The Deming Prize (established 1951), awarded annually to Japanese corporations that win a rigorous quality-control competition, is named in Deming’s honour. It was not until the 1980s that Deming’s ideas were adopted by American corporations seeking to compete more effectively in the world market.

Why did Deming go to Japan?

In 1950 Japanese business leaders invited Deming to Japan to teach executives and engineers about the new methods. Japanese companies quickly adopted his methods, with the result being a commitment to quality control that helped Japanese firms dominate some product markets in many parts of the world. The Deming Prize (established 1951), awarded ...

Who was the statistician who developed the idea of quality control?

…followers of the American statistician W. Edward Deming’s ideas on quality control and soon began producing goods that were more reliable and contained fewer flaws than those of the United States and western Europe. At the same time, Japan was able to import, under license, advanced foreign technology at relatively…

What did Deming's theories help?

Since Deming’s first converts were Japanese, the implementation of his concepts helped to shift the balance of economic power from the U.S. and Western Europe toward the Far East. Deming in Japan about 1980.

What was Deming's view on quality control?

manufacturers. Under this system, products were inspected for defects only after they were made. In contrast , Deming maintained it was better to design the manufacturing process to insure that quality products were created from the start.

How old was Deming when he died?

Deming was 93 when he died in 1993 at his longtime Washington, D.C., home where he both lived and worked. He worked until his death: His last seminar for executives was held in Los Angeles just ten days before he died. To the end, he was an unlikely revolutionary who lived what he taught.

Where was Deming born?

Deming was born in 1900 in Sioux City, Iowa. Seven years later, the family moved to a farm near Camp Coulter, soon renamed Powell, Wyo., where they eked out a living. Their first home was a tarpaper shack that provided scant protection from Wyoming winters.

When did Deming come to Japan?

Deming in Japan about 1980. Used with permission from The W. Edwards Deming Institute®. Japan had every reason to give Deming a chance. Much of the country was flattened in World War II by Allied bombing raids, and two of its cities were obliterated by the first military use of the atomic bomb.

What companies adopted Deming's concepts?

Companies such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Sony Corp. adopted Deming’s concepts and became world-class producers in their fields, helping Japan become one of the planet’s dominant economic powers. Japan’s rise was the start of a regional metamorphosis. Asia eventually became a manufacturing giant.

Who was the first company to hire Deming?

Ford Motor Co., hemorrhaging money in the 1980s, was among the first to hire Deming to reshape its manufacturing operations. One result of that collaboration was Ford’s revolutionary Ford Taurus, which became one of the best-selling cars of all time.

Who is W. Edwards Deming?

Who was W. Edwards Deming? W. Edwards Deming may be the most influential management thinker of all time. He was credited with turning around major companies and whole nations. Trained as a mathematical physicist with a PhD from Yale University his career spanned seven decades during which he was an internationally respected physicist;

How long was Deming involved in the West?

By the time he was rediscovered in his home country and in the West, Deming had been actively involved in quality control, statistical thinking and management for over 50 years. He and his adherents had developed a virtual science of improvement.

What was the name of the school of statistics that Deming and Shewhart developed?

Deming and Shewhart became great friends, and collaborators. They developed a branch of statistics sometimes referred to as the Shewhart Deming School of statistics.

How long did Deming teach?

Deming’s 4-day seminar became world famous and many participants described their attendance as being life changing. Deming taught a class at NYU every Monday, consulted with several large companies, continued to write, give interviews and conducted his 4-day seminars until his death in December of 1993.

What did Deming predict?

Deming predicted that in 5 years Japanese companies would be exporting all over the world and companies in other countries would be clamoring for trade protection. Years later he was told he was the only person in Japan who believed that. But in order not to lose face they did as he instructed and surprised the world and even beat Deming’s prediction by a year.

What was the US policy during WW2?

When World War II broke out the US, which had followed a policy of isolationism was woefully unprepared, with one of the smallest armies in the world. The country needed to shift to a war time footing immediately and begin mass production of military hardware. The problem was further compounded by the fact that the US needed to fight a war on two fronts and required all the manpower it could muster. Women for the first time became part of the workforce in large numbers. At the behest of the Department of War several crash programs and educational series were launched to increase production. Management courses were introduced as were courses in Industrial Engineering. A course in quality control was launched nationwide and Deming was called on to teach engineers and plant managers the basic principles of quality control. One of the points he made was that increasing quality lessens costs and increases productivity, a counter-intuitive concept that has now been thoroughly demonstrated.

What was the highest award Japan can bestow on a foreigner?

In addition he was awarded the Second Order Medal of the Sacred Treasure, the highest award Japan can bestow on a foreigner.

What did Deming believe?

Deming was a visionary, whose belief in continual improvement led to a set of transformational theories and teachings that changed the way we think about quality, management, and leadership. He believed in a world where there is joy in learning and joy in work - where “everyone will win.”.

When did Deming's last book come out?

Dr. Deming continued to author and lecture well into his 90’s. His final book, The New Economics, was published after his passing in 1993 at the age of 93. It was the culmination of his life’s work, detailing The Deming System of Profound Knowledge®.

Who was the voice of quality in the 1980s?

Playing a major role in the resurgence of the American automobile industry in the late 1980’s, Dr. Deming consulted with corporations such as Ford, Toyota, Xerox, Ricoh, Sony and Proctor & Gamble, whose businesses were revitalized after adopting his management methods.

What did Deming do in the Wild West?

In many ways this still was the Wild West. Young Deming had to work his way through elementary school, university and eventually his PhD, sometimes doing the most menial jobs. This led to him being frugal and hating waste.

What is Deming's theory?

What Deming is saying is that it is good management that enables an organisation to deliver good quality products or services to customers, which is the key to economic survival and growth . And his reference to theory is actually highly practical, since theory is a proven understanding of why things work the way they do.

Why did Deming teach Shewhart's statistics?

In 1942, Deming was asked to teach Shewhart’s applied statistics to inspectors, engineers and technicians in American factories, to support the war effort. The use of statistical methods on work processes resulted in enormous reductions in rework and scrap.

Where did Deming teach statistics?

According to Henry Neave and his book The Deming Dimension, in that first year Deming spent in Japan, he taught statistical methods to 225 people in Tokyo, 85 in Hakata, 110 in Fukuoka and 150 in Osaka. This teaching was the foundation of the Japanese economic miracle in the 1950s and ‘60s.

When did Deming start his seminars?

The first of his famous public four-day seminars was run in 1980. In subsequent years, thousands of people attended these seminars across the world. He went on running them until shortly before his death. W. Edwards Deming receives honorary degree from Yale University, 1991 - photo courtesy of The W. Edwards Deming Institute®.

Who was the scientist who helped Deming develop statistical methods?

1927 was the year when Deming met Dr Walter A Shewhart, who had pioneered statistical methods in quality. His work with Shewhart provided the foundation for the contributions he went on to make in leadership, management and of course quality.

Who was awarded the Second Order Medal of the Sacred Treasure?

Japanese Second Order Medal of the Sacred Treasure - photo courtesy of The W. Edwards Deming Institute®. Deming returned many times to Japan in the following years. Such was the impact of his work on Japanese quality and productivity that in 1960 he was awarded Second Order Medal of the Sacred Treasure by the Emperor.

Who is Deming on the White Paper?

The program, part of NBC’s White Paper series, prominently featured Dr. W. Edwards Deming. This compelling documentary introduced Dr. Deming to Americans. For the first time, they learned of the then 80-year old American who was widely credited with the Japanese industrial resurgence after WWII. Dr. Deming discusses his 14 Points ...

Why did Deming go to Japan?

Deming was asked to go to Japan after World War II to help with the Japanese census, and later to improve radio manufacturing. Japanese business leaders knew about his abilities, and asked him to teach them about quality improvements. He taught numerous workshops to JUSE and other Japanese companies starting in 1950.

Why did Deming develop the Deming chain reaction?

He also developed the Deming Chain Reaction, to show why improving quality is key to achieving business success and increasing the number of jobs to society. To respond to the increased competition from Japan, the US developed numerous quality improvement programs, ...

What did Deming call the Shewhart Cycle?

Deming championed the work of Walter Shewhart, including statistical process control, operational definitions, and what Deming called the “Shewhart Cycle” which had evolved into Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA). This was in response to the growing popularity of Plan-Do-Check-Act ( PDCA ), which Deming viewed as tampering with the meaning ...

What are Deming's principles?

Edwards Deming offered 14 key principles for management to follow to significantly improve the effectiveness of a business or organization. Many of the principles are philosophical. Others are more programmatic. All are transformative in nature. The principles (points) were first presented in his book Out of the Crisis.

How many points are there in Deming's book?

The book actually has quite a bit of detail that helps expand upon the meaning of the 14 Points; but so often people are presented with the 14 points without any of the context Deming provided. Without the additional information, the 14 Points are not nearly as useful as when the context he put them in is studied.”. 1.