SHEWHART

Walter Shewhart is often referred to as the Father of Quality Control he worked as a

process engineer for Western Electric and then at Bell Labs. He retired in the mid 50s. Juran
actually worked under Shewhart
Six Sigma as a measurement standard in product variation can be traced back to the 1920s
when Walter Shewhart showed that three sigma from the mean is the point where a process
requires correction.
Walter Andrew Shewhart was an American Physicist and statistician, he is referred as the
Father of Statistical Quality Control. Walter Andrew Shewhart was born to Anton and Esta
Barney Shewhart in New Canton, Illinois in the year 1891. He did his Masters in the University
of Illinois. Later, he attended the University of California at Berkeley to pursue Ph.D. degree
where he received a Doctorate in physics in 1917. He worked as a professor in both the
universities then he worked as head the department of physics at Wisconsin Normal School,
Lacrosse.
In 1918, Walter Shewhart worked at the Western Electric Company, one of the largest
hardware manufacturers during that time. He assisted engineers in the manufacturing plant in
refining the quality of telephone hardware. Later Shewart went to work at Hawthorne until 1925,
then he worked at the Bell Telephone Research Labs and worked there until his retirement.
Walter Shewhart developed modern statistical concepts and scientific methods to minimize
the human efforts. Shewharts methods influenced other statisticians like W Edwards Deming
and Joseph Juran. These three people Shewhart, Deming, and Juran are referred as the three
authors of the quality upgrading movements. Shewharts work specifically, control charts and the
PDSA cycle influenced the daily work of quality extensively.
Reducing Variation To Improve Quality
The emphasis on reducing variation to enhance quality is a great contribution to quality
management. Reducing variation to improve quality resulted in manufacture of precise things.
The concept was applicable in different fields like automobiles, electronics and constructions etc.
Shewhart acknowledged two classes of variation namely specialcause and common
cause variation. These two categories can also be termed as assignablecause and chance
cause variation respectively. A control chart was designed by him to explain these two
categories of variations. Shewhart proposed new attributes and variables in his control charts.
Shewhart proposed that to improve quality and reduce scrap, common-cause variation should be
controlled. In this way, any process can be brought under statistical control. In order to
distinguish between special cause and common cause variations, first the process should be
brought to a state of statistical control. After bringing a process to this state, it would be likely
easy to forecast future outputs and also to manage processes in economical ways. Shewharts
principle paved way for modern scientific analysis of process control.

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The objective of any industry is to develop economic methods to satisfy the human needs.
This should be done by reducing the things to routines necessitating very little human effort. By
making use of scientific techniques and modern statistical theories, it was possible to set up
limits for the results of routine efforts economically. If the results of any routine process deviate
away from the limits, it is said that the routine has broken down and will no longer be
economical. The cause of trouble must be identified and eliminated in order to make the process
economical.
Six Sigma Concept
Sigma is a Greek letter, it is a mathematical term which is used to denote standard
deviation. It is a standard statistical unit used to measure and describe the distribution of any
process about its mean.
Shewharts ideas and statistical concepts were embraced in clinical laboratories for several
years. Clinical laboratories used these concepts in proficiency testing and quality control
operations. Many industries have re-discovered Shewharts methods and tools of statistical
process control which is named as Six Sigma. Recently Motorola Company has also made use
of Six Sigma methods for improving product quality. Motorola Inc. was awarded Malcolm
Baldrige National quality award in the manufacturing category for using Six Sigma concepts for
quality improvement. In recent times, Six Sigma concept has acquired public attention
extensively. Many other organizations also started using Six Sigma concept popularizing it.
ASQ American Society for Quality
ASQ of individuals who are passionate about methods of quality control. Members of ASQ
contribute to industry with their ideas of quality control and experience. Shewhart was ASQs
first honorary associate, he efficaciously brought together the principles of statistics, economics
and engineering. Shewhart developed highly effective tools specifically control charts, his
contributions were widely recognized.
Shewhart acquired appreciation in the statistical community for writing Statistical Method
from the Viewpoint of Quality Control. There is a number of articles and journals written by him
were initially held within Bell Laboratories which were later published.
Another important element in Shewharts achievements was his quality of bringing out ideas
and knowledge of other individuals.
Shewhart always believed that statistical theory would serve the needs of industry. He was a
man of science who worked patiently to develop ideas which made the world better. ASQ is
influenced intensely by Shewharts contributions and ideas. Before his death, Shewhart
mentioned to other members of ASQ that he was pleased by their contributions which led to
extensive growth in the field of quality control. He also stated that the he was astonished by
looking at the development which was beyond his expectations.

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