American Society For Quality

Roots of the quality control movement may be found in the principles of scientific management developed by Frederick W. Taylor in the 1890s and early 1900s. Taylor's systematic study of the use of time and motion by workers prefigured Walter Shewhart's application of statistical methods to the control of manufacturing quality in the 1920s.

The founding of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) is a tale of isolated publications and courses, false starts, good intentions, and misunderstandings. The American Society for Quality was formed Feb. 16, 1946 [as the American Society for Quality Control], but other U.S. quality groups date back to as early as 1941. American Society for Quality's beginnings, therefore, are in organizations such as the Society of Industrial Quality Statisticians, the Federated Societies, and the Society for Quality Control.

The establishment of the American Society for Quality control in 1946, with George D. Edwards as its first president, was perhaps the clearest sign that statistical quality control had found a permanent place in American business and industry. The new society soon reached beyond the borders of the United States with the formation of an American Society for Quality control section in Toronto in 1946, and one in Mexico City in 1951. Quality control was also taken to receptive audiences in Japan by W. E. Deming, and, in 1953, a Japanese section of American Society for Quality control was organized. The 1960s saw international cooperation take the form of meetings such as the first Pan American Congress on Quality Control held in Mexico in 1964, and the first International Congress on Quality Control held in Japan in 1965. At the latter meeting, representatives from American Society for Quality control, along with Japanese and European counterparts, formed an International Academy for Quality. Within twenty years of the organization of American Society for Quality control, the techniques and theory of quality control were successfully exported across the globe.

In 1969, the American Society for Quality Control realized that the documents telling the story of quality control had not been assembled and preserved. Once collected, these records were then placed in an academic archive at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to ensure they would be available for research use.

In 1981, work began on drawing up a legal agreement between American Society for Quality control and the University of Illinois to solidify this relationship. During this time, Professor John Henry, who had been instrumental in establishing the initial agreement in 1969, wrote, "It is obvious that it is to the advantage of the Society to have as complete a set of records as possible in a secure place. From the standpoint of the Library, the collection is available for research by qualified members of the Society and especially for graduate students who would find this a mine of information for study and thesis projects..."

If there is word that sums up the efforts of the early Society members, it is dedication. This did not go unnoticed on American Society for Quality first day, Feb. 16, 1946. The board members unanimously agreed to send letters of appreciation to Brumbaugh, Halton, Manuele, Peterson, Schrock, Shewhart, and Wareham "for their constructive contribution in bringing about the new Society." Certainly that dedication has allowed American Society for Quality to survive and thrive for the past 50 years. Dedication also provides the means by which American Society for Quality will do the same for the next 50 years.