W. Edwards Deming Quotes

Quality has to be caused, not controlled.

Deliver total quality to every customer every day.

We cannot rely on mass inspection to improve quality, though there are times when 100 percent inspection is necessary. As Harold S. Dodge said many years ago, 'You cannot inspect quality into a product.' The quality is there or it isn't by the time it's inspected.

Consumer accountability drives quality and efficiency.

There is a higher degree of operational excellence and rigor demanded of Stripe than of most companies.

Quality will save our company.

It's impossible to have zero defects.

The "patron saint" of Japanese quality control, ironically, is an American named W. Edwards Deming, who was virtually unknown in his own country until his ideas of quality control began to make such a big impact on Japanese companies.

Quality isn't a thing. It is an event.

Quality management is needed because nothing is simple anymore, if indeed it ever was.

Inspection with the aim of finding the bad ones and throwing them out is too late, ineffective, and costly. Quality comes not from inspection but from improvement of the process.

'Quality' means what will sell and do a customer some good - at least try to.

For much of Toyota's history, we have ensured the quality and reliability of our vehicles by placing a device called an andon cord on every production line - and empowering any team member to halt production if there's an assembly problem. Only when the problem is resolved does the line begin to move again.

It is in Toyota's DNA that mistakes made once will not be repeated.

The long and short of it is, we need more rigor in all kinds of programs.

Quality is the result of a carefully constructed cultural environment. It has to be the fabric of the organization, not part of the fabric.

A cardinal principle of Total Quality escapes too many managers: you cannot continuously improve interdependent systems and processes until you progressively perfect interdependent, interpersonal relationships.

An exceptional company is the one that gets all the little details right. And the people out on the front line, they know when things are not going right, and they know when things need to be improved. And if you listen to them, you can soon improve all those niggly things which turns an average company into an exceptional company.

Service of any type requires preparation.

I think at least my philosophy of leadership is you focus more on the areas you have to improve or the mistakes than you do on your successes. And that's just how I am in real life. I don't want to let down my customers, my employees, my shareholders.

There has to be active, hands-on management in concert with the manager to lead the organization and make sure that the standards that we set for the organization as a whole are being lived up to.

When you're out of quality, you're out of business.

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, which highlights customer satisfaction, workforce empowerment, and increased productivity, has come to symbolize America's commitment to excellence.

I have this saying. Quality is the best business plan. I believe so strongly in that.

Quality comes not from inspection, but from improvement of the production process.