William Edwards Deming (October 14, 1900 – December 20, 1993) was an American business theorist, composer, economist, industrial engineer, management consultant, statistician, and writer.

While working under Gen. Douglas MacArthur as a census consultant to the Japanese government, he was asked to teach a short seminar on statistical process control (SPC) methods to members of the Radio Corps, at the invitation of Homer Sarasohn.

Later, he became a professor at New York University, while engaged as an independent consultant in Washington, D.C. Deming was the author of Quality Productivity and Competitive Position, Out of the Crisis (1982–1986), and The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education (1993), and books on statistics and sampling.

Deming played the flute and drums and composed music throughout his life, including sacred choral compositions and an arrangement of "The Star-Spangled Banner.

[5] Deming's teachings and philosophy are clearly illustrated by examining the results they produced after they were adopted by Japanese industry,[6] as the following example (called the Ford-Mazda study) shows.

That work began in July and August 1950, in Tokyo and at the Hakone Convention Center,[12] when Deming delivered speeches on what he called "Statistical Product Quality Administration".

The system includes four components or "lenses" through which to view the world simultaneously: Deming made a significant contribution to Japan's reputation for innovative, high-quality products, and for its economic power.

Despite being honored in Japan in 1951 with the establishment of the Deming Prize, he was only just beginning to win widespread recognition in the United States at the time of his death in 1993.

He was the son of William Albert Deming and Pluma Irene Edwards,[16] His parents were well-educated and emphasized the importance of education to their children.

Deming found great inspiration in the work of Shewhart, the originator of the concepts of statistical control of processes and the related technical tool of the control chart, as Deming began to move toward the application of statistical methods to industrial production and management.

Deming edited a series of lectures delivered by Shewhart at USDA, Statistical Method from the Viewpoint of Quality Control, into a book published in 1939.

Deming thus spent a great deal of time both copying Shewhart's ideas and devising ways to present them with his own twist.

[19] Deming developed the sampling techniques that were used for the first time during the 1940 U.S. Census, formulating the Deming-Stephan algorithm for iterative proportional fitting in the process.

Statistical methods were widely applied during World War II, but faded into disuse a few years later in the face of huge overseas demand for American mass-produced products.

The Allied powers were occupying Japan, and he was asked by the United States Department of the Army to assist with the census.

He was brought over at the behest of General Douglas MacArthur, who grew frustrated at being unable to complete so much as a phone call without the line going dead due to Japan's shattered postwar economy.

[16] JUSE members had studied Shewhart's techniques, and as part of Japan's reconstruction efforts, they sought an expert to teach statistical control.

A number of Japanese manufacturers applied his techniques widely and experienced heretofore unheard-of levels of quality and productivity.

Among his many honors, an exhibit memorializing Deming's contributions and his famous Red Bead Experiment is on display outside the board room of the American Society for Quality.

David Salsburg wrote: Later, from his home in Washington, D.C., Deming continued running his own consultancy business in the United States, largely unknown and unrecognized in his country of origin and work.

As a result of the broadcast, demand for his services increased dramatically, and Deming continued consulting for industry throughout the world until his death at the age of 93.

In 1982, Deming's book Quality, Productivity, and Competitive Position was published by the MIT Center for Advanced Engineering, and was renamed Out of the Crisis in 1986.

[29] Over the course of his career, Deming received dozens of academic awards, including another, honorary, PhD from Oregon State University.

From 1985 through 1989, Deming served as a consultant to Vernay Laboratories, a rubber manufacturing firm in Yellow Springs, Ohio, with fewer than 1,000 employees.

He held several week-long seminars for employees and suppliers of the small company where his famous example "Workers on the Red Beads" spurred several major changes in Vernay's manufacturing processes.

In 1990, Marshall Industries (NYSE:MI, 1984–1999) CEO Robert Rodin trained with the then 90-year-old Deming and his colleague Nida Backaitis.

In 1993, Deming published his final book, The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education, which included the System of Profound Knowledge and the 14 Points for Management.

It also contained educational concepts involving group-based teaching without grades, as well as management without individual merit or performance reviews.

The philosophy of W. Edwards Deming has been summarized as follows: Dr. W. Edwards Deming taught that by adopting appropriate principles of management, organizations can increase quality and simultaneously reduce costs (by reducing waste, rework, staff attrition and litigation while increasing customer loyalty).

[41] Deming's collaboration with Hans Lineweaver and Dean Burk[42] is possibly the least known of his work as a statistician, but it is relevant to what has become the most highly cited paper[43] ever published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society,[44] which was written after the authors had consulted Deming about the proper way to analyze their data.