The Science of Production

I've done some reading in this area, but am not a quality control expert or statistician. Something I've noticed, especially in the writings of Deming, is that it's not just about the math, but also about how the workplace is managed, that matters. Deming wanted to make it so that the regular factory or office workers could proactively develop and test quality improvements themselves, as part of their regular work. This required finding techniques, such as graphing, that worked most of the time but didn't require math or access to a computer. That's the reason for the emphasis on graphical methods and manual calculations.

Naturally, management saw it differently. ;-)

I really enjoyed this read, disappointed that I haven’t been able to find a digital copy of the western electric handbook.