Review: The Role of Statistics in Business and Industry

The Role of Statistics in Business and Industry by Gerald J. Hahn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

From William Sealy Gosset's late 19th Century work at the Guinness Brewery to The Western Electric SQC Handbook that became the AT&T SQC Handbook in the late 1950s, there is a long tradition of large-scale manufacturers being fertile grounds for comprehensive documentation of basic, applied statistics for largely quality applications in business and industry. This book, by two GE Research and Development employees, follows in that tradition. Decades of work in reliability and quality control areas during the peak years of the six sigma movement applied to real world problems at GE positioned the authors to put together this very practical text on the role of statistics in business and industry. The book describes many of the key problems that they were exposed to during their careers. They start by describing specific problems that are common in manufacturing and test design. They determine the key questions to address and then describe the statistical methods that are employed to solve these problems. This book helps formulate and describe applying statistical thinking to practical business problems.



This book's chapter layout makes the text work as both a reference guide and a textbook for either classroom or self-guided study. A well-thought progression of sections in each chapter concludes with summarizing takeaway bullet points with general and technical questions to motivate discussion and learning. An extensive FTP site provides additional material, including solutions to some of the applications. Always taking a high-level view that admits readers of the most basic mathematical literacy, this is an introduction to statistics and its applications in business and industry. The explanations of how statistics helps one design, build, ensure reliability and improve products from aircraft engines to washing machines and in specialized areas such as the food and beverage, semiconductor and communications industries can be grasped readily by the non-mathematician. Undergraduate students will find valuable connection points to basic theory they are being exposed to while manufacturing managers overseeing projects relying on statistics will find valuable enlightenment here. The core of the text is chapters rich in real-world case studies, if they are only given a brief overview, on such areas as product reliability, product field support, pharmaceuticals, financial services, and more.

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