The Firm of Gardner & Billing, CPAs PLLC

In his later years, Deming taught many concepts, which he emphasized by key sayings or quotations that he repeated, although some of the concepts appear to be contradictory to each other. A number of these quotes are listed below:   ·          "There is no substitute for knowledge." This statement emphasizes the need to know more, about everything in the system. Previously, the statement, "There is no substitute for hard work" by Thomas Alva Edison (1847–1931) was the byword of industry.   Deming suggested that instead, a small amount of knowledge could save many hours of hard work. ·          "In God we trust; all others must bring data."   ·          "The most important things cannot be measured." The issues that are most important, long term, cannot be measured in advance. However, they might be among the factors that an organization is...

You may never have never heard of W. Edwards Deming, but he has certainly touched your life.   Deming was born in Sioux City, IA, raised on a chicken farm in Iowa then on a 40-acre farm near Powell, WY. He graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1921 and got a PhD from Yale in 1928.   Deming served in Japan under General McArthur, where he was told to ‘do something about the telephone service’, since in postwar Japan McArthur couldn’t complete a phone call without service interruption. Deming’s worldwide influence started after WWII when he taught a short seminar to the Japanese government on Statistical Process Control. After that exposure, he spoke to a society of Japan’s engineers on using statistical control to improve quality, reduce expenses and improve productivity and market share. I heard of Dr. W. Edwards Deming as an undergraduate at UW where the Business Department was justifiably proud of this native son and alumni. He is a perfect example of...