A history of industrial statistics and quality and efficiency improvement

The twentieth century witnessed incredible increases in product quality, while in the same period product priced dropped dramatically. These important improvements in quality and efficiency in industry were the result of innovations in management and engineering. But these developments were supported by industrial statistics, a new discipline that both contributed and owed its development to the emergence of modern industry.
This chapter gives an overview of the emergence of industrial statistics, placed in the context of the rise of modern industry, and in particular in the context in which it has made its most important contributions: quality and efficiency improvement. In addition, the scientific nature of the discipline is discussed.