A Nuclear Weapons Manufacturing Crisis
As a statistician working in process control and improvement during the Cold War, Charles Holland, Ph.D., began developing the MVT® Process in order to solve a nuclear weapons manufacturing crisis at Union Carbide's Nuclear Weapons Manufacturing Division. Holland eventually began using his expertise more extensively in the production and research development of nuclear weapons, as well as in training effectiveness, maintenance, product certification, and laboratory service. His philosophy focused on harvesting the minds and creativity of the workforce in order to develop innovative ideas to improve the organization.
The Birth of QualPro
In 1982, W. Edwards Deming was the leading quality guru in the United States and was trying to educate American management about the power of statistical process control. Holland met Dr. Deming at a training seminar and the two became instant friends. Dr. Deming urged Holland to help spread his “gospel of quality,” starting with the auto industry, because he felt that it was the most visible and influential industry and that ideas adopted there would be most likely to spread to the rest of the world. On Dr. Deming’s recommendation, Holland began training managers and suppliers at Ford Motor Company in statistical thinking and quality improvement methods.
In late 1982, Holland began developing a statistical training curriculum that he hoped would be the foundation of a new training company called QualPro that would allow him to teach statistical thinking and the fundamentals of the MVT Process to the business world. Following months of sleepless nights and weeks of revisions to the materials, Dr. Deming approved, and QualPro was born.
Client Successes & Growth
Fueled by Dr. Deming’s referrals, Holland began to build his business by traveling around the country to hold training seminars and teach the fundamentals of the MVT Process. As QualPro developed into a consulting firm with an ever-growing client base, those clients recorded more and more process improvement successes. Although early projects focused on improving manufacturing processes with clients such as Boise Cascade, Union Carbide, and Ford Motor Company, QualPro soon branched out to service, logistics, transportation, and other industries.
Over the last three decades, Dr. Holland has built on the basic concepts of the MVT Process to develop a practical, problem-solving technique well-suited for today’s dynamic business environment and results in superior performance improvement. QualPro has been praised in most leading business publications including Business Week, Forbes, the Economist, and the Wall Street Journal.
QualPro History
Dr. W. Edwards Deming & Dr. Holland, 1982