In the early 19th century, manufacturing in the United States tended to follow the craftsmanship model used in the European countries.
American quality practices evolved in the 1800s as they were shaped by changes in predominant production methods.
The factory system, with its emphasis on product inspection, started in Great Britain in the mid-1750s and grew into the Industrial Revolution in the early 1800s. Until the early 19th century, manufacturing in the industrialized world tended to follow this craftsmanship model. This approach to manufacturing quality was dominant until the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th century. Inspection marks and master craftsmen marks served as proof of quality for customers throughout medieval Europe. But over time the mark came to represent a craftsman’s good reputation. At first this mark was used to track the origin of faulty items. Inspection committees enforced the rules by marking flawless goods with a special mark or symbol.Ĭraftsmen themselves often placed a second mark on the goods they produced. These guilds were responsible for developing strict rules for product and service quality.
The quality movement can trace its roots back to medieval Europe, where craftsmen began organizing into unions called guilds in the late 13th century. New to Quality on ASQ TV Quality in the Medieval Guilds of Europe