SUBSAFE program and Navy origins of TQM

Three-year submarine production shutdown post-*Thresher*; SUBSAFE instituted with Deming's involvement; redesigned joints for what would later be called Six Sigma quality. Tom claims the Navy coined "total quality management" terminology in mid-1980s memos.

It was a big deal for the US Navy, and Admiral Rickover basically shut down all submarine production for about three years. They instituted, with W. Edwards Deming — one of the quality gurus who had taught statistics to the Japanese in the 1950s — they brought him in, and they upgraded in a program called SUBSAFE. This comes from the US Nautilus, which is a blog of Navy people: "The first loss of a nuclear-powered submarine devastated the naval community. The tragedy prompted the Navy to re-examine deep-diving submarine design, institute a quality assurance program known as SUBSAFE." That's how the subs are still built today. Take my welding course and I'll tell you how they made the joints. They redesigned the joints so they would have a robust process — if you know the term Six Sigma, there would be high quality, although they didn't call it Six Sigma back then.