Zhou Dynasty

Summary:

1450 BC – Egyptians paintings and pyramids show evidence of precise measurement and inspection for better outcome.

Zhou Dynasty – China created specific departments and handed over responsibilities of production, inventory and product distribution, supervision and inspection, and formulating & executing quality standards. The products which fell below standards were not sold in market. Thus maintaining a sustainable quality products.

Age of Craftsmanship – When craftsman served both as manufacture and quality inspector, every effort was made to ensure the quality of the product is up to mark.

Middle of eighteenth century – The effect of variation of production procedure during the production of muskets led to ensure the carefully designed standards were set and making quality assurance a critical component of the production process.

Early Twentieth Century – In early 1900s, the work of Frederick W Taylor, called the ‘father of scientific management’ led to new philosophy of production. He separated planning function from execution function, this segmentation of job into specific work tasks to increase efficiency, led to quality assurance into the hands of inspectors. This led to creation of separate department as quality department, now managers kept an eye on output efficiency and quality.

Bell System was leader in Industrial quality management, the group of employee from Western Electric Company which included Walter Shewhart, Harold Dodge, George Edwards, Joseph Juran, and W. Edwards Fleming. They coined the term quality assurance – referring to providing the consumers with appropriate quality products along with confidence that product meets customer requirements.

Era of Statistical quality control (SQC) Shewhart was credited in developing control charts, which was used to identify quality problems in production and ensuring consistency in output. During World War II US military implemented various statistical methods, which led for military standard products termed as MIL-STD.

Post-World War II- Dr. Joseph Juran and Dr. W Edwards Deming, consulted Japanese in rebuilding process by cultivating culture of continuous improvement. This led to slow and steady growth in quality which was comparable to western manufacturers. This led to growth in global competition in US market creating a crisis situation.

US Quality Revolution in 1980s was the period of awareness of high quality and reliable goods and services at a fair price. As technology advanced and product complexity, government safety regulations increased rapidly which led to recognition that quality is the key survival. Now quality became recognized and heavily throughout. It wasn’t only directed to improve internal operations but also satisfying customer. In 1984, US government designated October as National Quality Month. Various award were introduced to promote quality which were very influential instruments in creating awareness and were globally recognized. In between 1980-1990 the gap between US and Japanese quality began to narrow, and US was gaining trust and regaining the lost turf.