Walter Shewhart
Walter A. Shewhart (March 18, 1891 – March 11, 1967) was known as the father of statistical quality control (SQC or SPC) and is also the founder of the “Shewhart cycle” or Plan Do Check Act (PDCA).
He developed his skills while working at Bell Telephone to improve the reliability of their transmission systems, and later improve the voice clarity of the carbon transmitters in the company’s telephone handsets.
Shewhart’s work focused on reducing variation in a manufacturing process. He framed the problem in terms of assignable-cause (special cause) and chance-cause (common cause) variation, and introduced the control chart as a tool for distinguishing between the two.
Influences
- C. I. Lewis
- Karl Pearson
Influenced
- W. Edwards Deming
- American Society for Quality (founding member)
- Indian Statistical Institute
- Western Electric Company
Links
- Wikipedia
- Shoulders of Giants: Walter Shewhart
- Foundation and History of the PDSA Cycle – Ronald Moen
Books
- Economic Control of Quality Of Manufactured Product
- Statistical Method from the Viewpoint of Quality Control
Videos