The Road to Quality Control

Homer Sarasohn and American Involvement in the Evolution of Quality Management in Japan, 1945–1950*

N.I. Fisher^1,2

¹University of Sydney, School of Mathematics & Statistics, Australia

²ValueMetrics Australia, Australia

Summary

The history of Quality Management, and of the role of Statistics in Quality Management, is inextricably bound to the reconstruction of Japan immediately following the Second World War, and then to developments in the United States over three decades later. Even though these periods are, in societal history, just moments ago, yet there is profound lack of agreement about what was actually done, and who should be recognized for their contributions. This paper draws on historical materials recently made publicly available in order to clarify what actually took place between 1946 and 1950, and in particular the contribution of a remarkable engineer, Homer Sarasohn.

Keywords: Charles Protzman; Civil communications section; General Douglas MacArthur; Homer Sarasohn; Statistical process control; Total Quality Control; Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers; W. Edwards Deming;

1 Introduction

The history of Quality Management is inextricably bound to the reconstruction of Japan immediately following the Second World War, and then to developments in the United States over three decades later. Even though these periods are, in societal history, just moments ago, yet there is profound lack of agreement about what was actually done, and who should be recognized for ...