ABSTRACT
Prior to the Industrial Revolution, craft workers both produced and inspected the quality of what they produced. Mass production turned the maintenance of quality into a problem. Quality control departments were introduced to inspect samples of what was produced. Statistical approaches to quality measurement were developed. Control charts and sampling techniques were used to measure and report on quality. Deming and Juran1 convinced Japanese managers that improving quality would open up new markets for the country and lead to economic success. Japanese quality improved at a time when quality levels in the west remained largely unchanged. At the time, western manufacturers had little reason to focus on quality. The USA had a virtual monopoly in manufacturing and consumer demand was booming. US managers were concerned about sales and financial performance. During the 1970s and 1980s, American and European manufacturers began to lose market share to competitors from Japan and they became increasingly interested in the management of quality.
