Deming was all about process control -- the theory that if you
calibrate manufacturing equipment and get a really good handle on what
changes in the equipment produce what results, you can adjust on the
fly to keep making high quality, proper sized, etc parts rather than
making a billion parts and sorting out the good ones (on in the case
of GM, pretending you found the good ones and using the bad ones
anyway).
The system, in various guises, is called statistical process control,
and in many places is a wonderful thing. However, one variant at
least, Six Sigma, has been applied in many, many wrong ways -- I've
heard form some engineers that all statistical process control does is
"find bad parts". If the process does not have a calibrated knob the
operator can turn to change the final part a known amount, statistical
process control does nothing for you except generate non-sense data.
I've seen people attempt to use Six Sigma for personnel issues, for
instance, which is simply insane and demonstrates conclusively that
the whole idea simply went over the heads of the people involved.
American business schools don't teach much beyond how to steal money
and "cut costs" on a VERY short-term basis, using a vast array of
'business case histories" that are fake. Hence the idea that you
shouldn't know anything about what you are managing because you are
"managing people" and people are all the same.
All compressed flatulence being mascaraded as knowledge, but someone
is making a pile of money, so it must be true, eh?
Peter
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