During my early years as an engineer in Michigan, I came across W.Edwards Deming attending a seminar he was giving in,of all the places, Petoskey,Michigan.For those who might not recognize the name, Deming was a lowly statistician in the War Department during WWII and implemented several quality methods improving the reliability and quality of many components the war effort needed.
When the war ended, Deming took his ideas and approached the Big Three stating that these ideas on quality would improve production,bring down scrap and empower workers to be their own supervisors.In the mindset prevailing at that time, treating workers as capable of thinking on their own was a no-no and Deming was summarily chucked out of the corporate suites of GM,Ford and Chrysler.
Disappointed,but retaining faith in his own methods,Deming took his ideas to Japan where he was welcomed by two unknown little companies called Toyota Motor and Honda Motor.He told them at that time,if you adopt my techniques of statistical quality control,you will not merely cut costs and improve quality, you will overwhelm the American car industry to the point they will be screaming for help.
I recalled his words today, as GM and Ford are laying off thousans of workers,both blue and white collar, with no prospect of ever coming back.
It is the last throes of an automotive Empire that has been reduced to a mere shadow of its self by the arrogance of its managers and shareholders.It is reminiscent of another arrogant American administration that is fighting to maintain its hegemonic impulses while barely keeping itself together as disarray reigns.
W.Edwards Deming is no more but his wisdom and his humility would have served the auto industry well.He was truly a prophet without honor in the land of his birth.By the time he was welcomed into the boardrooms of Detroit,mainly as a result of the impact the Japanese auto companies were making in the marketplace, it was too late.
Deming:The right man at the right time but at the wrong place.History plays cruel tricks.
