ECONOMIC QUALITY CONTROL OF PRODUCT 365 



of physical laws. Today, however, the emphasis is placed elsewhere as 

 is indicated by the following quotation from a recent issue, July, 1927, 

 of the journal Engineering: 



"Today the mathematical physicist seems more and more inclined to the opinion 

 that each of the so-called laws of nature is essentially statistical, and that all our 

 equations and theories can do, is to provide us with a series of orbits of varying 

 probabilities." 



The breakdown of the old orthodox scientific theory which formed 

 the basis of applied science in the past necessitates the introduction of 

 certain new concepts into industrial development. Along with this 

 change must come a revision in our ideas of such things as a controlled 

 product, an economic standard of quality and the method of detecting 

 lack of control or those variations which should not be left to chance. 



Realizing, then, the statistical nature of modern science, it is but 

 logical for the manufacturer to turn his attention to the consideration 

 of available ways and means of handling statistical problems. The 

 necessity for doing this is pointed out in the recent book on the "Ap- 

 plication of Statistics in Mass Production," by Becker, Plant and 

 Runge. They say: 



"It is therefore important to every technician who is dealing with problems of 

 manufacturing control to know the laws of statistics and to be able to apply them 

 correctly to his problems." 



Another German writer, K. H. Daeves, writing on somewhat the same 

 subject says: 



"Statistical research is a logical method for the control of operations, for the re- 

 search engineer, the plant superintendent, and the production executive." 



This statement is of particular interest because its author has for 



several years been associated with the application of statistical methods 



in the steel industry. 



The problem of control viewed from this angle is a comparatively new 



one. In fact, very little has been written on the subject. Progress in 



modifying our concept of control has been and will be comparatively 



slow. In the first place, it requires the application of certain modern 



physical concepts and in the second place, it requires the application of 



statistical methods which up to the present time have been for the most 



part left undisturbed in the journals in which they appeared. This 



situation is admirably summed up by the magazine Nature of 



January, 1926, as follows: 



"A large amount of work has been done in developing statistical methods on the 

 scientific side, and it is natural for any one interested in science to hope that all this 

 work may be utilized in commerce and industry. There are signs that such a move- 

 ment has started, and it would be unfortunate indeed if those responsible in practical 

 affairs fail to take advantage of the improved statistical machinery now available." 



