About ASQ St. Louis
Dedicated to Championing Quality in the St. Louis Bi-State Region
Message from the Section Chair
Wow! What a great ASQ season we’ve had…and my thanks to all of my associates that helped to make it happen!
Last September we held a special Membership Meeting at the Engineer’s Club. We had extended networking, with the Leadership Committee members grilling steaks and serving beverages. What a presentation…I thought that bear would never stop attacking that guy! For those of you that were there, you know what I mean. I’ve never experienced such rapt attention to a speaker at an ASQ meeting. Due to the success of this meeting we repeated it in May, and we plan to have this format each September and May for the significant future. My thanks to Kurt Krispin of the Engineer’s Club for all the help and guidance that he provides for these meetings.
Older Than Dirt
by the late Bob Deufel
What could be older? Older than what? Our beloved ASQ celebrated its 50th anniversary back in 1996. But the St. Louis Section is older by a month. Back in 1944 Les Kauffman (our Kauffman Award) was encouraged to set up the “St. Louis Quality Control Society.” That was accomplished in February 1946 at Washington University with ten men who wanted to promote quality control before the war. Kauffman, of the American Stove Company, became vice-chairman with Lewis Walkup of Western Cartridge as chairman.
On February 15, 1946, the constitution was adopted and the first officers elected. Les Kauffman was the unanimous choice as president with Korte Pfabe of Carter Carburetor as vice-president and A.F. Madaus of White-Rogers as secretary-treasurer. Early years were difficult as expenses always seemed to exceed income. Meeting places were hard to find and meeting notices took the form of personal contributions by the officers. The society survived its growing pains and the membership continued to increase. Kauffman served as president until May of 1947, when Kort Pfabe took office. In the beginning local talent provided the programs, but Kort was able to secure nationally known speakers, and even present a one day clinic. He was the first Fellow of the St. Louis Section.
Membership increased from 33 in 1946-47 to 88 in 1947-48. During this period the St. Louis Society joined the national organization which was chartered a month later than St. Louis. The end of Kort Pfabe’s term was followed by Gene Fisher from Bell Telephone. Gene was later elected national president of the American Society for Quality Control. During that time he revised the budgeting practices and formalized the record keeping. He also started the Society’s educational program, offering them to the membership for free.
In 1954 the membership climbed to 114 and welcomed its first woman member, Mrs. Faith French of the Army Finance Center. In 1950, the Society sponsored the printing of a training manual for quality control. The co-authors were Joseph Movshin and Rudolph Freedman, both of Alco Valve. The manual was a great success and sold to other sections throughout the country. Movshin’s wife and daughter were honored at one of our meetings a few years ago, and a copy of the manual has been filed with the ASQ archives at the University of Illinois.
The St. Louis Section has not lost sight of its original purpose, as it continually strives to promote quality control principles. There are many more issues that have been accomplished than those recognized here. And many more continue to point to continuous improvement and customer satisfaction as a way to promote quality.
Through the rest of the year, we had a really good selection of speakers and topics. My thanks to Tony for finding new venues to try and for bringing us back to some of our preferred venues. I remember an incredible view at the December meeting and for those that did not attend…everyone left with a present. We were a little cramped in January, but we had a really dynamic speaker. Then there were certainly a couple of very enjoyable surprises at our March awards ceremony meeting. I would like to invite all of our section members to attend some of our Membership Meetings. The details are posted at www.asqstlouis.org. I know some of you just want to go home after work and sometimes it may be a bit of a drive. But, we really do have a good time at our section meetings…we strive to have interesting and informative topics…and it is just a good opportunity to meet your fellow professionals. Come on out…meet some new folks, have dinner, and maybe learn something new.
This past season was marked with the passing of Dr. Robert Deufel, a long-time St. Louis ASQ section member and Leadership Committee member. Dr. Bob was not only a colleague, but a mentor and a friend. I and I’m sure many of you will miss him! To honor Dr. Bob and his contributions to our section, the Leadership Committee decided to rename the Extra Measure Award after him.
I am exceedingly pleased to announce that St. Louis will be hosting the annual ASQ World Conference on Quality and Improvement. This event has not been in St. Louis for over 50 years and I am proud that ASQ chose our city (with a few slight nudges!?). Chris Anderson is our official representative for St. Louis. There will be many opportunities to volunteer (earn RU’s and attend at no charge), so please contact Chris if you are interested.
My thanks to all of the LC members that help to make things happen for the section, especially my right-hand John O’Reilly and my left-hand Resa Manson. I look forward to another special ASQ season. I hope to see you at our section meetings and at the World Quality Conference!!
Sincerely,
Steve Mundwiller CQM/OE, CQA, CQPA
ISO 9001 Principal Auditor
“Since it is a joy to have the benefit of what is good, it is a greater one to experience what is better.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
1749 –1832
