What think Ye of Edward Deming?

[neutrino_cannon]

I'm currently reading one of the (many) books devoted to Edward Deming's philosophy of quality control. This book is quite unabashedly and unreservedly for it, and like many such books unquestioningly attributes Japan's post-war industrial strength in large part to Deming's work.

What say ye skeptics? Is Deming all he's cracked up to be?

[T'ai Chi]

Yes, Deming and Shewart both were the real deals.

[neutrino_cannon]

Yes, Deming and Shewart both were the real deals.

What leads you to say this? Deming theory is certainly sensible sounding, and internally consistent, and widely attributed as the cause of Japanese superiority in car and electronics manufacture, but can that be proven?