The future role of statistics in quality engineering and management

Statisticians are concerned that the business world does not regard statistical literacy, or statisticians, as important. Little progress has been made in spreading the belief in the power of statistics to the non-statistical. This problem is as strong in the context of supporting organizational and product quality improvement as it is elsewhere. We summarize the effect of Genichi Taguchi's work on industrial experimentation, as well as developments in the use of statistical process control, statistical reliability requirements and other statistical approaches to quality. The effect of developments in quality systems standards, such as BS EN ISO 9000, the European Business Excellence Award Model and the Baldrige Award, are also discussed. We argue that statisticians' attitudes to non-statisticians and the use of their discipline will have to change if statistics is to realize its potential in supporting quality improvement. Re-education is necessary not just for the non-statistician but for the statistical community as well.