W. Edwards Deming

By Zach Myers

The Beginning

Born: Sioux City, Iowa. Raised: Polk City, Iowa. Education:

University of Wyoming (B.S. in EE) (1921)University of Colorado (M.S.) (1925)Yale University (Ph.D.) (1928)

Mathematics and Mathematical Physics (Both)

Early Work

Internship at Bell Labs while at Yale

United States Department of Agriculture 1927 – 1939 (Mathematical Physicist)

United States Census Bureau 1939 – 1945 (Statistical Advisor)

Teaching

New York University grad school of Business Administration (1946 – 1993)

Columbia University grad school of Business (1988 – 1993)

Walter A. Shewhart

Met at Bell Labs in 1927Originator of statistical control of

processes and control chartDeming: Integrated these ideas from

manufacturing processes to industrial production and management

Deming copied many ideas from Shewhart

World War II

Emergency Technical CommitteeAmerican War StandardsTaught Statistical Process Control to

workers engaged in wartime productionStatistical methods slipped into disuse

shortly after the war

Japan

Asked by Department of the Army to assist in 1951 Census

Received invitation by the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers

Summer 1950: trained engineers, managers, scholars in SPC

Message: Improving quality will reduce expenses and increase productivity and market share.

Work in the U.S.

“If Japan can…Why can’t we?”Ford Motor Company

1979 – 1982: $3 billion in lossesDeming focused more on management than

qualityAfter 1982: Came out with Taurus-SableBy 1986: Had become most profitable

American auto companySurpassed GM for first time since 1920s

Work in the U.S.

Out of the Crisis (1982,1986)Based on 14 PointsMgt.’s failure to plan for the future brings

loss of market and therefore, loss of jobs.Mgt: judged not only by quarterly dividend

Innovative plans: Stay in business Protect investment Ensure future dividends Provide more jobs through improved

products/services

Work in the U.S.

The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education (1993)System of Profound Knowledge14 PointsGroup-based teaching without gradesManagement without individual merit or

performance reviews

Awards

Honorary Ph.D. from Oregon State University

1987: National Medal of Technology1988: Distinguished Career in Science

from National Academy of Sciences

Deming’s 14 Points

1)Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of a product and service with a plan to become competitive and stay in business.

2) Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. We can no longer live with commonly accepted levels of delays, mistakes, defective materials, and defective workmanship.

Deming’s 14 Points

3) Cease dependence on mass inspection. Require, instead, statistical evidence that quality is built in. (prevent defects instead of detect defects.)

4) End of the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag. Instead, depend on meaningful measures of quality along with price. Eliminate suppliers that cannot qualify with statistical evidence of quality.

Deming’s 14 Points

5) Find Problems. It is a management’s job to work continually on the system (design, incoming materials, composition of material, maintenance, improvement of machine, training, supervision, retraining)

6) Institute modern methods of training on the job

Deming’s 14 Points

7) The responsibility of the foreman must be to change from sheer numbers to quality… [which] will automatically improve productivity.

8) Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company

9) Break down barriers between departments

Deming’s 14 Points

10) Eliminate numerical goals, posters, slogans for the workforce, asking for new levels of productivity without providing methods

11) Eliminate work standards that prescribe numerical quotas

12) Remove barriers that stand between the hourly worker and his right of pride of workmanship

Deming’s 14 Points

13) Institute a vigorous program of education and retraining

14) Create a structure in top management that will push every day on the above 13pts

Seven Deadly Diseases

Lack of constancy of purpose. Emphasis on short-term profits. Evaluation by performance, merit rating, or

annual review of performance. Mobility of management. Running a company on visible figures alone. Excessive medical costs. Excessive costs of warranty, fueled by lawyers

who work for contingency fees

Some quotes explained

“There is no substitute for knowledge.”"The most important things cannot be

measured." "The most important things are unknown

or unknowable." "Experience by itself teaches nothing.““In God we trust, all others bring data.”

The Deming Approach to Education

Compares values/practices in elementary to secondary state schools in the USA and Japan in light of Deming’s philosophy

The foundation of quality management is reducing variation in products and then improving the average

America has the largest number of Nobel Prize winners in diverse fields

America has the largest number of children with the lowest scores in mathematics and science (in developed countries)

Any society with a wide distribution with large variance creates not only inequality but also social tension.

Co-Operation

American education: individualityJapanese Education: groups students,

focuses on the average.Faster progressing students help slower

progressing studentsShare knowledgeLearn with each other

Competitiveness

Prominent in American cultureWhen individuals are encourage to

compete with one another:Above average students rise higherBelow average students drop lowerVariation widensThose greatly below average

Don’t have the ability or motivation to participate

Reducing Variation Among Students

No choice among schoolsNo “honors” classNo option for skipping a yearNo option for repeating a yearNo awards based on excellenceNo penalties for poor performance

American vs. Japanese attitudes toward education

Each child is born with a different potential and limitations

Group students by ability Various curricular paths Children not expected to

do equally well academically

Egalitarianism Children born with

limitless potential Children can

maximize their potential if they work hard and an appropriate environment is provided