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SQC Before Deming: The Works Of Walter Shewhart

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-2003

Abstract

This paper seeks to briefly explicate the importance of the contributions Walter Shewhart made to the field of statistical quality control. Walter Shewhart and his colleagues at Bell laboratories laid much of the important theoretical and practical foundations for statistical quality control prior to World War II. Shewhart developed many of the ideas Deming is known for, to include the Deming cycle, which is more appropriately called the Shewhart cycle. He viewed the pursuit of statistical quality control as a small part of the larger issue of how science can help humans exert influence and control over nature, each of which, he felt, could be accomplished with the right statistical tools.

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