The Road to Quality Control - The Industrial Application of Statistical Quality Control by Homer M. Sarasohn

Professor Woodall's essay shows that this book represents a remarkable contribution, even by today's standards, because of its contemporary thinking about the relationship between the specific topic of SQC and the broader company context of Quality Management.  It also demonstrates the remarkable awareness of at least some young US engineers in the post-war period about the vital role of Statistical Quality Control in establishing and maintaining a competitive position. The book reveals that there was unsuspected knowledge extant immediately post-war, about the importance of Statistical Quality Control when appropriately applied in an industrial setting.  It also helps to correct wide-spread historical misconceptions about who specifically was responsible for helping Japanese industry get back on its feet post-war, a task assigned to General Douglas Macarthur by President Truman and how Macarthur was indebted to Sarasohn.

N. I. Fisher is a Visiting Professor of Statistics at the University of Sydney, a management consultant, and Founding Editor-in-Chief of the Wiley journal Stat. Y. Tanaka is a Professor Emeritus of Statistics at Okayama University and involved in quality control as a member of the teaching and consulting staff of JSA (Japan Standard Association) seminar in Osaka. W. H. Woodall is a Professor of Statistics at Virginia Tech and a former editor of the Journal of Quality Technology (2001-2003) and Associate Editor of Technometrics (1987-1995).