Deming, W. Edwards (1900-1993), was an American management consultant. He is often called the father of the quality management movement. His teachings were considered a leading influence in the revival of the Japanese economy after Japan’s defeat in World War II (1939-1945). In the 1980’s, major corporations in the United States and other countries began to adopt his principles.
Deming developed a quality management system that emphasized joy in work and pride in the outcome. He said that quality should be stressed at each step of a process and not only by inspecting the product or service once it is completed. In addition, Deming maintained that most product and service problems result from faults in management rather than from the carelessness of workers.
William Edwards Deming was born in Sioux City, Iowa, on Oct. 14, 1900. He received a doctor’s degree in mathematical physics from Yale University in 1928. He was a mathematical physicist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1927 to 1939. During World War II, he taught engineers how to use statistics to increase the production of war supplies.
In 1950, a group of Japanese scientists and engineers invited Deming to Japan to lecture on principles of quality control. Some Japanese companies that applied his methods increased their productivity and earned large profits, and his ideas spread. In addition to his work as a management consultant, Deming was a professor of statistics at New York University from 1946 to 1993. He died in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 20, 1993.
