History of quality management

Quality management is a relatively new phenomenon. Advanced societies where arts and crafts were developed allowed their customers to choose goods that were of better quality than others. In these societies, arts and crafts are valued and one of the master's responsibilities is to oversee the quality of the work of journeymen and apprentices. The master sets requirements, monitors the work of others, and sometimes insists on reworking the product if necessary.

One of the limitations of this approach is that relatively few goods are produced, and the advantage is that each product is manufactured according to the individual needs of the customers. It is this approach that is the basis of quality management as part of management. During the Industrial Revolution, the importance of craftsmen declined as mass production and repeatability of processes were introduced. The goal was to produce a larger quantity of the same goods. The first proponent of this idea in the US was Eli Whitney, who offered interchangeable parts for muskets, thus making it possible to create assembly lines for muskets.

The next step was introduced by several people, including Taylor, a mechanical engineer who was looking for a way to increase productivity. Taylor is often called the father of scientific management.

Taylor is one of the intellectual leaders of the efficiency movement, and part of his approach became the basis for the development of quality management, including aspects such as standardization and the introduction of good practices.

Henry Ford made a significant contribution to the introduction of quality management in assembly lines.

In Germany, Karl Benz, often called the discoverer of the motor car, followed similar practices in car assembly, although mass production in the true sense of the word did not begin until after World War II at Volkswagen.

From this period onward, North American companies placed emphasis on increasing production efficiency (costs).

In 1924, Walter Shewhart took a major step in the evolution of quality management by developing a method of manufacturing quality control that incorporated statistical methods.