W. Edwards Deming (1900-1993): the man and his message

Abstract

After World War II, the American teacher and “consultant in statistical studies” Dr W Edwards Deming was sent to Japan on two occasions by General MacArthur as an adviser to the Japanese Census. Whilst there, he met some of the members of JUSE (the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers), which had been formed in 1946 by Mr Ken-ichi Koyanagi with the task of helping the industrial reconstruction of Japan after the devastation of the war. The Japanese were later visited by a delegation from Bell Telephone Laboratories, who showed them some of the quality control materials the Americans had been using during the war. Dr Deming’s name was apparent in this material: indeed, he had written much of it for use in some 8- to 10-day courses on statistical quality control which were presented to many thousands of industrialists, engineers, designers, etc. who were particularly involved in the war effort. The programme had had a strong beneficial effect on both the quality and the volume of production; there had been spectacular reductions in scrap and the need for rework.