WILIAMS EDWARDS DEMING: BIOGRAPHY, PRINCIPLES, CONTRIBUTIONS - DUDAS - 2025

William Edwards Deming (October 1900 - December 1993) was an American statistician, engineer, professor, management consultant, and lecturer, born in Sioux City, Iowa. Deming studied electrical engineering and later specialized in mathematical physics.

Deming helped develop sampling techniques still used in the Census Bureau and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.This scholar is best known for his work in Japan with Japanese business leaders after World War II..

That work began in 1950, giving a lecture on what he called the statistical management of product quality. Many in Japan regard it as one of the inspirations for the Japanese economic miracle, which occurred from 1950 to 1960.

During this period, Japan rose from the ashes and became the second largest economy in the world, thanks to processes influenced by Deming's ideas. He is considered to have had more impact on Japanese business than any other non-Japanese person. He was just beginning to gain widespread recognition in the US when he died in 1993.

Biography

In 1921 he obtained a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Wyoming. In 1925 he obtained his master's degree in Statistics from the University of Colorado and his doctorate in Mathematical Physics from Yale University in 1928.

He studied with Walter Shewhart of Bell Telephone Laboratories. Shewhart's theories of statistical control methods formed the basis of Deming's work.

He worked as a mathematical physicist at the United States Department of Agriculture and was a statistical advisor to the US Census Bureau.

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

In 1940 Deming developed various sampling techniques. He also taught statistical process control techniques to production workers during World War II.

Deming's influence in Japan

In 1950, Japanese business leaders invited him to Japan to teach executives and engineers the new methods. The message was: "Improving quality will lead to lower costs and increased productivity and market share."

Japanese companies were quick to adopt his methods, which helped them dominate markets in many parts of the world. The Deming Prize, established in 1951, is awarded annually to outstanding Japanese companies in quality control.

In 1960 Deming was the first American to be awarded the Japanese Second Order of Sacred Treasures award. The Japanese recognized with this award their contributions to the rebirth of their industry.

Last years

It was not until the 1980s that Deming's ideas were adopted by US corporations, which sought to compete more effectively in the world market.

In 1987 he was awarded the US National Medal of Technology. In 1993 she died, at the age of 93, at her home in Washington.

Quality principles according to Deming

Deming is known worldwide for his 14 principles of quality:

Create constancy of purpose

Strive to continuously improve the products and services delivered, allocating resources to cover long-term requirements instead of only generating short-term profitability, with the goal of being competitive, staying in business and offering jobs.

The new philosophy

Adopt the new philosophy. You can no longer live with the commonly accepted levels of delays, errors, defective materials, and poor workmanship. It is necessary to transform the Western management style to stop the decline of the industry.

Stop relying on inspection

Eliminate the need for inspection as the way to achieve quality. Instead, the quality of the product must be ensured. Statistical evidence of quality assurance should be required both in the production and purchasing areas.

End the lowest priced tenders

End the practice of awarding contracts based solely on price. Require quality indicators along with the price. Reduce the number of suppliers for the same item by eliminating those that do not qualify statistically.

The goal is to minimize the total cost, not just the initial cost, by minimizing variations. This can be achieved by having a single supplier for each material, with a long-term business relationship of trust and loyalty.

Search for problems continuously

Constantly improve planning, production and service processes. Search for problems continuously to improve each activity of the company, improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly reduce costs.

Institute on-the-job training

Establish modern methods of on-the-job training for everyone, including management, to optimize the performance of each employee.

Institute leadership

This is to help people do a better job. The responsibility of managers and supervisors should be shifted from checking sheer numbers to quality. By improving quality, you will automatically improve productivity.

Eliminate fear

Encourage effective two-way communication to drive out fear throughout the organization so that everyone can work effectively and more productively.

Break the barriers

Eliminate the barriers between the different directions. Individuals from different areas have to work as a team to tackle problems that may arise.

Eliminate exhortations

Eliminate the use of slogans, posters and exhortations to workers, demanding no defects and higher levels of productivity without providing methods. Such exhortations only create hostile relationships. Most of the causes of low quality and low productivity are due to the system.

Eliminate arbitrary numerical goals

Eliminate labor standards that require quotas for workers and numerical goals for managers. It must be replaced by helpful leadership that helps achieve continuous improvement in quality and productivity.

Allow pride in what's done

Remove the barriers that prevent workers and managers from their right to be proud of what they do. This implies prohibiting annual merit scoring (performance evaluation) and managing by objective.

Promote education

Implement an education program and encourage self-improvement for all. What an organization needs is not just good people, it needs people who improve with education. Position promotions will be based on knowledge.

Senior management commitment and action

Clearly define top management's ongoing commitment to improving quality and productivity, and their obligation to implement all of these quality principles. It is not enough for top management to commit to quality and productivity; they must know what they are committing to, what they must do.

Contributions

Among the most important contributions of Williams Edwards Deming are the analysis of variation, the points for quality management or the PDCA cycle.

One of Deming's premises was the following: "By improving quality, companies will decrease expenses, as well as increase productivity and market share."

After putting Deming's suggestions into practice, Japanese companies such as Toyota, Sony and Fuji managed to achieve international success, thanks to the quality of their products and the competitiveness of their prices.

Deming's contributions range from the implementation of statistical process control, to the improvement of the design of new products and services.

Systematic view of organizations

Deming suggests that each company be seen as a set of interrelated internal and external relationships, and not as a group of independent departments or processes.

When all connections and interactions work in harmony to achieve a common goal, a business can achieve enormous results: from improving the quality of its products and services, to elevating the spirit of a company.

In his book "The New Economy" (1993), Dr. Deming asserts that the purpose of an organization should be to create a system that provides benefits to all stakeholders: "The goal here proposed for any organization is that everyone wins: shareholders, employees, suppliers, customers, community, the environment, in the long term ”.

Variation analysis

In his book "Out of the Crisis" (1986) he mentions the following: "The central problem in management and leadership is the lack of understanding of information in variation."

According to Deming, it is essential that managers are able to distinguish between special causes (specific failures in the execution of the process) and common causes of variation (failures of process design).

Distinguishing the type of variation, as well as understanding its causes and predicting behavior, is essential to eradicate the failures of the process.

The seven deadly diseases of management

Based on his experience with the management of American industrialists, Deming detected what he called the seven deadly diseases of companies, which are:

1.- Lack of constancy for the execution of corporate purposes.

2.- Emphasis on short-term profits and the generation of immediate dividends, losing sight of long-term strategies.

1. Performance evaluation, merit rating or annual review

4.- Mobility of senior management.

5.- Management through the exclusive use of the information available.

6.- High medical costs.

7.-High liability costs.

PDCA cycle (Deming's wheel)

The PDCA cycle, for its acronym in English: Plan (Plan) - Do (Do) - Check (Verify) - Act (Act), is a strategy of continuous quality improvement, originally devised by Walter A. Shewhart in the middle of 1939.

The PDCA scheme summarizes the standard cycle that must be reproduced, both at the individual level and at the organizational level: the objective and the method of execution are planned, the plan is put into practice, the results obtained are evaluated and, in the case of If the goals are not reached successfully, the necessary corrective measures are taken.

Dr. Deming undertook the task of promoting the implementation of this cycle in the 1950s, which allowed the model companies to undergo comprehensive and continuous quality improvement.

Quality propeller

By analyzing the currents of thought in companies, Deming developed an optimized proposal for the design of new products and / or services, based on the following steps.

1.- Design of the good or service.

2.- Product testing in the laboratory. This includes preliminary consumer analysis and the execution of preliminary production tests.

3.- Marketing of the final product.

4.- After-sales analysis. It is necessary to inquire about the perception of the final consumer, and detect the opportunities of the product, to broaden the spectrum of consumers in the market.

The cycle continues, like a propeller, over and over again, continuously improving quality, and in order to reduce the cost structure of the product at all times, to guarantee the competitiveness of the offer on the shelf.

Total quality management

One of Deming's most significant contributions was the reinvention of the concept of quality, through Total Quality.

This is defined as a management strategy of the organization that aims to satisfy the needs and expectations of all its stakeholders: employees, shareholders and society in general.

The theory of Total Quality is summarized in the implementation of eight key principles, which are detailed below:

1. Result oriented.
2. Customer orientation.
3. Leadership and coherence in objectives.
4. Management by processes and facts.
5. Development and involvement of people.
6. Continuous learning, innovation and improvement.
7. Development of alliances.
8. Social responsability.

References

1. Total Quality: definition and models (2015). Madrid Spain. ISO Tools ©. Recovered from: isotools.org.
2. Deming's 14-Point Philosophy - A Recipe for Total Quality (2000). Massachusetts, USA. Mind Tools Ltd. Recovered from: mindtools.com.
3. Hunter, J, (2012). Appreciation for a system. Idaho, USA. The W. Edwards Deming Institute Blog. Recovered from: blog.deming.org.
4. Hunter, J, (2012). Knowledge of Variation. Idaho, USA. The W. Edwards Deming Institute Blog. Recovered from: blog.deming.org.
5. Mons, P, (2012). W Edwards Deming: Total Quality Management Thinker. London, UK. Management & Business Studies Portal. Recovered from: mbsportal.bl.uk.
6. Rodríguez, C, (1999). The new scenario: the culture of quality and productivity in companies. México DF, México Editorial Iteso.
7. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia (2017). Círculo de Deming, Mexico City, Mexico. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.
8. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia (2017). William Edwards Deming, Mexico City, Mexico. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.
9. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2018). W. Edwards Deming. Taken from: en.wikipedia.org.
10. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (2018). W. Edwards Deming American Statistician and Educator. Taken from: britannica.com.
11. Van Vliet (2009). William Edwards Deming. ToolsHero. Taken from: toolshero.com.
12. Mulder (2017). Deming's 14 points for Management. ToolsHero. Taken from: toolshero.com.
13. Quality Register (2018). Dr W. Edwards Deming's 14 Principles - in full. Taken from: qualityregister.co.uk.