jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Japan was devastated by WW II, yet it turned into a manufacturing powerhouse. How did they manage that? Simple: Professor W. Edwards Deming.

Professor Deming developed a system of manufacturing that was better, and he presented it to American manufacturers. They were making more money than they knew what to do with, and they practically laughed him out of their offices. Then he went to Japan. Japanese businessmen saw the benefits of his plan and adopted it.

Now, the highest award in Japanese industry is the Deming Medal.

Modnar Loc: Batley' West Yorkshire, UK

Are you referring to JIT(Just In Time) manufacturing?

erickter Loc: Dallas,TX

His teachings on QC are legendary. As you already stated, American mfgrs laughed at him after wwii, but Japanese mfgrs loved him. 35 yrs later, american car mfg was in the dumps while the Japan mfg era took off thanks to Deming. That's because Deming found an audience that embraced quality and long term vision as a way of life. Stupid american managers only cared about short term profits and built-in obsolescence to make products last shorter. The Japanese way, enhanced by Deming's QC teachings, is superior. Thanks for sharing.

pendennis

Dr. Deming was legendary when I studied business in the 1970's. Several of my econ, business management, and QBA professors regularly lauded him in their lectures. He was the first person of note to quantify quality. Most all modern quality systems are offshoots of his original teachings.

While doing my undergrad work at the University of Louisville, a two-day symposium was offered with Dr. Deming as the main "professor". After the first day, I was in awe of his intelligence, and his absolute mastery of business quality. At the end, I took time to thank him for his time, and his sharing of his knowledge. I only have a few "heroes" in business, and Dr. Deming is one of them.

I also found that manufacturing at Ford, at the time, was strictly hit or miss. I took eagerly took his methods back to our plant, and was firmly told that we didn't have time for a lot of "statistical mumbo-jumbo" (the exact words of our "Quality Control" manager). What I did do, though, was to keep track of things like scrapped parts, and vehicle assembly errors. Even manually done, I could still pinpoint where problems could be.

It took near bankruptcy for the powers at Ford to realize that you could isolate quality problems using quantitative data, and improve the product in quantum terms.

camerabuff58 Loc: Ontario, Canada,

This or a method known as Kaizan, a process of continuous improvement.

Country Boy Loc: Beckley, WV

I studied him also and amazed at his thought process that brought him to the total concept!

JADAV

Professor Deming was involved in the improvements in production times for the Liberty ships constructed in the USA for WWll. Having proved the clear benefits of "continuous improvement" and principles of Statistical Process Control (SPC)his methods and advice were rejected by industrialists in his own country. The devastated condition of the Japanese infrastructure meant that Deming was welcomed as part of US aid to rebuild and reconstruct their industrial base. The American management "culture", therefore, not only threw away the opportunity that Deming offered but lost the benefits to what became a major competitor.
I received training in SPC here in the UK along with the rest of his methods which were so refreshing to hear and revealed obvious benefits. My tutor warned me that the main obstacle to implementation would be opposition from my management. Never a truer word was spoken! It started immediately with the very person who had actually sent me for training. I'd guess that management in the USA has developed in the same way as in Britain. Strong-minded, self confident and decisive individuals with ambition thrust themselves forward and demand recognition and advancement within an organisation to become "top dog". Having achieved control they then tend to promote those who they judge to fit their own image and must obviously be of the "right stuff". These people are gung-ho, "let's get this show on the road", "if you aren't with us get out of my way" people. They drive through whatever fits their agenda and "fly by the seat of my pants" based on "experience". What I found is that like gamblers they only talk about their successes and all mistakes are buried with others blamed. They hate the idea of making decisions based on measured evidence as it takes away the thrill they feel from being in complete control. In a Japanese factory an operator of a process maintains records of events and is trained to analyse causes of quality failures and can make decisions to take actions to eliminate them. I have worked in Factories where the operator is under contract to immediately inform a superior for them to make decisions. Deming's only failure was not to show how the old managers needed to be removed. The main problem is the inertia that existing organisations have which tend to be in the interests of those in control. Digital quartz watch mechanisms were developed in a Swiss university but were rejected by the Swiss watchmakers who were invested in mechanical watches (less accurate too). Japanese manufacturers attended an exhibition in Switzerland and immediately bought into the new technology. History can be a cycle of missed opportunities.

Abo

LOL,

Jerry, sorry mate but I have to disagree.

As much as I hate parables, "sayings", maxims etc;
here, it seems easiest to make my point that way however:

You can lead a horse to water but you cant make it drink.
The horse has to want to drink, the person who led it to the water can't.

More poignantly; the horse does not need
to be led to water, as it knows where water is.

It was the Japanese that adopted (and actually implemented) better QC.
Giving the credit for where Japanese industry went to Deming is profoundly myopic imho.

2Dragons Loc: The Back of Beyond

Simple logic is a valuable trait that escapes an alarming percentage of our population. Apparently the Japanese are blessed with more logic than the Americans who formerly made fun of "Made in Japan".

Abo

logic is akin to (uncommon?) common sense imho.


Made hundreds of years (by Japanese industry) before Deming was born:

2Dragons Loc: The Back of Beyond

Logical thinking is a process of exploring different solutions to a given problem.
Common sense is the ability to choose and apply the most appropriate solution for the problem from the list of explored solutions. Aravindan Muthu/pseudonym

Abo

"Aravindan Muthus" definition of "logical thinking" is incorrect as
some problems only have one solution...
Logicaly"exploring different solutions" is moot.

2Dragons Loc: The Back of Beyond

He was probably generalizing to cover all bases, which would be logical. But, good point.

RS Bandit

You're right; and when some American manufacturers decided to embrace the Deming philosophy rather than use all 14 principles they chose only those points they felt they needed for their businesses.

JADAV

The situation was such that the blinkered USA horses were happy to drink from a trough at one end of the field and
failed to notice that the Japanese ones were shown that it was better to drink from the stream at the other end. When the trough became empty the USA finally looked round and realised what had happened. Makes me wonder if they were horses at the trough or mules.