PDCA or plan–do–check–act (sometimes called plan–do–check–adjust ) is an iterative design and management method used in business for the control and continual improvement of processes and products. It is also known as the Shewhart cycle , or the control circle / cycle . Another version of this PDCA cycle is OPDCA. The added "O" stands for observation or as some versions say: "Observe the current condition." This emphasis on observation and current condition has currency with the literature on lean manufacturing and the Toyota Production System . The PDCA cycle, with Ishikawa's changes, can be traced back to S. Mizuno of the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1959.
69-639: The PDCA cycle is also known as PDSA cycle (where S stands for study ). It was an early means of representing the task areas of traditional quality management. The cycle is sometimes referred to as the Shewhart / Deming cycle since it originated with physicist Walter Shewhart at the Bell Telephone Laboratories in the 1920s. W. Edwards Deming modified the Shewhart cycle in the 1940s and subsequently applied it to management practices in Japan in
138-459: A couple of his papers. In a paper published in 1970, based on a speech in 1969 and other works, Silver and Hecker wrote: The Duke group has used the term "analysis-paralysis" to point out that, if we wait until we have completely answered all the questions and solved all of the problems before training the personnel we need, we will never reach a solution. The insistent demands for further study and extensive evaluation suggested by some may only be
207-453: A culture of critical thinking is better able to innovate and stay ahead of the competition through rigorous problem solving and the subsequent innovations. Deming continually emphasized iterating towards an improved system, hence PDCA should be implemented in spirals of increasing knowledge of the system that converge on the ultimate goal, each cycle closer than the previous. One can envision an open coil spring, with each loop being one cycle of
276-448: A decision needs to be reached, but a person is not able to provide a response fast enough, potentially causing a bigger issue than they would have had, had they made a decision. The basic idea has been expressed through narrative a number of times. In one " Aesop's fable " that is recorded even before Aesop 's time, The Fox and the Cat , the fox boasts of "hundreds of ways of escaping" while
345-590: A defense by those who do not wish to change or those who fear change. The Oxford English Dictionary says that the earliest uses of "analysis paralysis" found in The Times were in the 1970s. In software development , analysis paralysis typically manifests itself through the waterfall model with exceedingly long phases of project planning , requirements gathering , program design , and data modeling , which can create little or no extra value by those steps and risk many revisions. When extended over too long of
414-569: A hypothesis is confirmed (or negated), executing the cycle again will extend the knowledge further. Repeating the PDCA cycle can bring its users closer to the goal, usually a perfect operation and output. Plan–do–check–act (and other forms of scientific problem solving) is also known as a system for developing critical thinking. At Toyota this is also known as "Building people before building cars". Toyota and other lean manufacturing companies propose that an engaged, problem-solving workforce using PDCA in
483-489: A losing position where the player is exhaustively searching for a win or purposely stalling to prevent officially losing the game. The connotation is often pejorative , implying that the slowing of the game diminished the enjoyment by other players. Some games explicitly add time deadlines (e.g. with a chess clock or egg timer ). In chess this slowing of play is referred to as Kotov syndrome and, in timed chess matches, can result in time trouble . Good game design can reduce
552-611: A nearby property. In 1928, a 15-acre (6.1 ha) site in Chester Township, New Jersey , was leased for outdoor tests, though the facility became inadequate for such purposes. In 1930, the Chester location required the purchase of an additional 85 acres (34 ha) of land to be used for a new outdoor plant development laboratory. Prior to Chester being established, a test plot was installed in Limon, Colorado in 1929, similar to
621-536: A paradox of rational decision-making with equal options. In Shakespeare 's Hamlet , the main character, Prince Hamlet , is often said to have a mortal flaw of thinking too much, such that his youth and vital energy are "sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought". Neema Parvini explores some of Hamlet's key decisions in the chapter " 'And Reason Panders Will': Another Look at Hamlet's Analysis Paralysis". Voltaire popularized an old Italian proverb in French in
690-586: A relatively distant role with the Bell System as a whole, but continued to pursue his own personal research interests. The Bell Patent Association was formed by Alexander Graham Bell , Thomas Sanders, and Gardiner Hubbard when filing the first patents for the telephone in 1876. Bell Telephone Company, the first telephone company, was formed a year later. It later became a part of the American Bell Telephone Company. In 1884,
759-784: A shack in Montauk, Long Island . That same year, tests were performed on the first transoceanic radio telephone at a house in Arlington County, Virginia . A radio reception laboratory was established in 1919 in the Cliffwood section of Aberdeen Township, New Jersey . Additionally for 1919, a transmission studies site was established in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania that built, in 1929, the coaxial conductor line for first tests of long-distance transmission in various frequencies. On January 1, 1925, Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc.
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#1732779912708828-439: A situation can cause forward motion or decision-making to become " paralyzed ", meaning that no solution or course of action is decided upon within a natural time frame. A situation may be deemed too complicated and a decision is never made, or made much too late, due to anxiety that a potentially larger problem may arise. A person may desire a perfect solution , but may fear making a decision that could result in error, while on
897-594: A subsidiary of AT&T Technologies in 1984 after the Bell System was broken up . After the breakup, its funding greatly declined. In 1996, AT&T Technologies was spun off and renamed to Lucent Technologies, who used the Murray Hill site as their headquarters. Bell Laboratories was split as well, with part of it going to AT&T as AT&T Laboratories . In 2006, Lucent merged with French telecommunications company Alcatel to form Alcatel-Lucent , which
966-417: A superior solution outweighs the realistic expectation or potential value of success in a decision made in a timely manner. This imbalance results in suppressed decision-making in an unconscious effort to preserve existing options. An overload of options can overwhelm the situation and cause this "paralysis", rendering one unable to come to a conclusion. It can become a larger problem in critical situations where
1035-402: A three-step process of specification, production, and inspection. He also specifically related this to the scientific method of hypothesis, experiment, and evaluation. Shewhart says that the statistician "must help to change the demand [for goods] by showing [...] how to close up the tolerance range and to improve the quality of goods." Clearly, Shewhart intended the analyst to take action based on
1104-468: A timeframe, such processes tend to emphasize the organizational (i.e., bureaucratic ) aspect of the software project, while detracting from its functional (value-creating) portion. Analysis paralysis can occur when there is a lack of experience on the part of workers such as systems analysts , project managers or software developers , and could be due to a rigid and formal organizational culture . However, according to Ram Charan, indecision in businesses
1173-541: Is also seen as Plan-Check-Do-Act. The rate of change, that is, the rate of improvement, is a key competitive factor in today's world. PDCA allows for major "jumps" in performance ("breakthroughs" often desired in a Western approach), as well as kaizen (frequent small improvements). In the United States a PDCA approach is usually associated with a sizable project involving numerous people's time, and thus managers want to see large "breakthrough" improvements to justify
1242-557: Is usually the result of not enough people acting or speaking up about the inefficiencies of the company. Analysis paralysis can also arise from extensive experience or expertise, which serves to increase the number of options and considerations that appear at every decision point. Analysis paralysis is an example of an anti-pattern . Agile software development methodologies explicitly seek to prevent analysis paralysis, by promoting an iterative work cycle that emphasizes working products over product specifications , but requires buy-in from
1311-408: Is where a process is improved. Records from the "do" and "check" phases help identify issues with the process. These issues may include problems, non-conformities, opportunities for improvement, inefficiencies, and other issues that result in outcomes that are evidently less-than-optimal. Root causes of such issues are investigated, found, and eliminated by modifying the process. Risk is re-evaluated. At
1380-701: The American Bell Telephone Company created the Mechanical Department from the Electrical and Patent Department formed a year earlier. American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) and its own subsidiary company took control of American Bell and the Bell System by 1889. American Bell held a controlling interest in Western Electric (which was the manufacturing arm of the business) whereas AT&T
1449-571: The Number Five Crossbar Switching System . In 1952, William Gardner Pfann revealed the method of zone melting , which enabled semiconductor purification and level doping. In 1953, Maurice Karnaugh developed the Karnaugh map , used for managing of Boolean algebraic expressions. In January 1954, Bell Labs built one of the first completely transistorized computer machines, TRADIC or Flyable TRADIC, for
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#17327799127081518-590: The Summit, New Jersey , chemical laboratory was nearly 10 years established in a three-story building conducted experiments in corrosion, using various fungicides tests on cables, metallic components, or wood. For 1929, land was purchased in Holmdel Township, New Jersey , for a radio reception laboratory to replace the Cliffwood location that had been in operation since 1919. In 1930, the Cliffwood location
1587-929: The Western Electric Engineering Department, located at 463 West Street in New York City. After years of conducting research and development under Western Electric , a Bell subsidiary, the Engineering Department was reformed into Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1925 and placed under the shared ownership of Western Electric and the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T). In the 1960s, laboratory and company headquarters were moved to Murray Hill, New Jersey . Its alumni during this time include people like William Shockley , Dennis Ritchie , Claude Shannon and Willard Boyle . Bell Labs became
1656-444: The charge-coupled device (CCD), and many other optical, wireless, and wired communications technologies and systems. In 1924, Bell Labs physicist Walter A. Shewhart proposed the control chart as a method to determine when a process was in a state of statistical control. Shewhart's methods were the basis for statistical process control (SPC): the use of statistically based tools and techniques to manage and improve processes. This
1725-508: The landing craft designers were spending the majority of their time arguing over design changes, sent this message: "The maxim 'Nothing avails but perfection' may be spelt shorter: 'Paralysis. ' " In 1956, Charles R. Schwartz wrote the article "The Return-on-Investment Concept as a Tool for Decision Making" in Changing Patterns And Concepts In Management stating, "We will do less guessing; avoid
1794-552: The rhyme-as-reason effect and ode mnemonics . In 1928 at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, Reverend C. Leslie Glenn, National Secretary for College Work, spoke that the religious collegiate world was at risk of "paralysis by analysis" from being too speculative instead of definitive, needing real work instead of investigations. During World War II , Winston Churchill , after hearing that
1863-402: The thermal noise in a resistor was first measured by John B. Johnson , for which Harry Nyquist provided the theoretical analysis; this is now termed Johnson-Nyquist noise . During the 1920s, the one-time pad cipher was invented by Gilbert Vernam and Joseph Mauborgne at the laboratories. Bell Labs' Claude Shannon later proved that it is unbreakable. In 1928, Harold Black invented
1932-464: The transistor , the laser , the photovoltaic cell , the charge-coupled device (CCD), information theory , the Unix operating system, and the programming languages B , C , C++ , S , SNOBOL , AWK , AMPL , and others, throughout the 20th century. Ten Nobel Prizes and five Turing Awards have been awarded for work completed at Bell Laboratories. The laboratory began in the late 19th century as
2001-431: The "Shewhart cycle". The PDSA cycle was used to create the model of know-how transfer process, and other models. The concept of PDCA is based on the scientific method , as developed from the work of Francis Bacon ( Novum Organum , 1620). The scientific method can be written as "hypothesis–experiment–evaluation" or as "plan–do–check". Walter A. Shewhart described manufacture under "control"—under statistical control—as
2070-561: The 1770s, of which an English variant is, " Perfect is the enemy of good ". The meaning of "The perfect is the enemy of the good" is that one might never complete a task if one has decided not to stop until it is perfect: completing the project well is made impossible by striving to complete it perfectly. "Analysis, paralysis" appeared together in an 1803 pronouncing dictionary and later editions stating how those words are pronounced similarly. The usage of rhyming words can make aphorisms sound more truthful and be more memorable by their usage of
2139-403: The 1950s. Deming found that the focus on Check is more about the implementation of a change, with success or failure. His focus was on predicting the results of an improvement effort, Study of the actual results, and comparing them to possibly revise the theory. Establish objectives and processes required to deliver the desired results. Carry out the objectives from the previous step. During
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2208-656: The Allies in World War II . The British wartime codebreaker Alan Turing visited the labs at this time, working on speech encryption and meeting Claude Shannon . Bell Labs Quality Assurance Department gave the world and the United States such statisticians as Walter A. Shewhart , W. Edwards Deming , Harold F. Dodge , George D. Edwards , Harry Romig, R. L. Jones, Paul Olmstead, E.G.D. Paterson, and Mary N. Torrey . During World War II, Emergency Technical Committee – Quality Control, drawn mainly from Bell Labs' statisticians,
2277-507: The United States Air Force with 10,358 germanium point-contact diodes and 684 Bell Labs Type 1734 Type A cartridge transistors. The design team was led by electrical engineer Jean Howard Felker with James R. Harris and Louis C. Brown ("Charlie Brown") as the lead engineers on the project, which started in 1951. The device took only 3 cubic-feet and consumed 100 watt power for its small and low powered design in comparison to
2346-612: The Voder being demonstrated at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Bell researcher Clinton Davisson shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with George Paget Thomson for the discovery of electron diffraction , which helped lay the foundation for solid-state electronics . In the early 1940s, the photovoltaic cell was developed by Russell Ohl . In 1943, Bell developed SIGSALY , the first digital scrambled speech transmission system, used by
2415-459: The Washington, D.C. home of his father, linguist Alexander Melville Bell . The carriage house there, at 1527 35th Street N.W., became their headquarters in 1889. In 1893, Bell constructed a new building close by at 1537 35th Street N.W., specifically to house the lab. This building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1972. After the invention of the telephone, Bell maintained
2484-781: The Whippany site was purchased by Bayer ). The largest grouping of people in the company was in Illinois , at Naperville - Lisle , in the Chicago area, which had the largest concentration of employees (about 11,000) prior to 2001. There also were groups of employees in Indianapolis , Indiana; Columbus, Ohio ; North Andover, Massachusetts ; Allentown, Pennsylvania ; Reading, Pennsylvania ; and Breinigsville, Pennsylvania ; Burlington, North Carolina (1950s–1970s, moved to Greensboro 1980s) and Westminster, Colorado . Since 2001, many of
2553-411: The board of directors was John J. Carty , AT&T's vice president, and the first president was Frank B. Jewett , also a board member, who stayed there until 1940. The operations were directed by E. B. Craft, executive vice-president, and formerly chief engineer at Western Electric. In the early 1920s, a few outdoor facilities and radio communications development facilities were developed. In 1925,
2622-466: The cat has "only one". When they hear the hounds approaching, the cat scampers up a tree while "the fox in his confusion was caught up by the hounds". The fable ends with the moral, "Better one safe way than a hundred on which you cannot reckon". Related concepts are expressed by the Centipede's dilemma , how unconscious activity is disrupted by conscious thought of it, and by the tale of Buridan's ass ,
2691-607: The center of the galaxy . In 1931 and 1932, the labs made experimental high fidelity, long playing, and even stereophonic recordings of the Philadelphia Orchestra , conducted by Leopold Stokowski . In 1933, stereo signals were transmitted live from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. In 1937, the vocoder , an electronic speech compression device, or codec, and the Voder , the first electronic speech synthesizer , were developed and demonstrated by Homer Dudley ,
2760-605: The check phase, the data and results gathered from the do phase are evaluated. Data is compared to the expected outcomes to see any similarities and differences. The testing process is also evaluated to see if there were any changes from the original test created during the planning phase. If the data is placed in a chart it can make it easier to see any trends if the plan–do–check–act cycle is conducted multiple times. This helps to see what changes work better than others and if said changes can be improved as well. Example: Gap analysis or appraisals Also called "adjust", this act phase
2829-525: The conclusions of the evaluation. According to Deming, during his lectures in Japan in the early 1950s, the Japanese participants shortened the steps to the now traditional plan, do, check, act . Deming preferred plan, do, study, act because "study" has connotations in English closer to Shewhart's intent than "check". A fundamental principle of the scientific method and plan–do–check–act is iteration—once
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2898-417: The danger of becoming extinct by instinct; and, by the adoption of one uniform evaluation guide, escape succumbing to paralysis by analysis." In 1965, H. Igor Ansoff wrote the book Corporate Strategy: An Analytic Approach to Business Policy for Growth and Expansion . He used the phrase "paralysis by analysis" in reference to those who used the approach to excess. Ansoff had referenced Schwartz's paper in
2967-535: The decade. Shannon was also the founder of modern cryptography with his 1949 paper Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems . The 1950s also saw developments based upon information theory . The central development was binary code systems. Efforts concentrated on the prime mission of supporting the Bell System with engineering advances, including the N-carrier system, TD microwave radio relay , direct distance dialing , E- repeater , wire spring relay , and
3036-405: The effort expended. However, the scientific method and PDCA apply to all sorts of projects and improvement activities. Bell Telephone Laboratories Bell Labs is an American industrial research and development (R&D) company, currently operating as a subsidiary of Finnish technology company Nokia . With a long history, Bell Labs is credited with the development of radio astronomy ,
3105-485: The end of the actions in this phase, the process has better instructions, standards, or goals. Planning for the next cycle can proceed with a better baseline. Work in the next do phase should not create a recurrence of the identified issues; if it does, then the action was not effective. Plan–do–check–act is associated with W. Edwards Deming , who is considered by many to be the father of modern quality control ; however, he used PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act) and referred to it as
3174-572: The first transatlantic communications cable to carry telephone conversations, was laid between Scotland and Newfoundland in a joint effort by AT&T, Bell Laboratories, and British and Canadian telephone companies. In 1957, Max Mathews created MUSIC , one of the first computer programs to play electronic music . Robert C. Prim and Joseph Kruskal developed new greedy algorithms that revolutionized computer network design . In 1957 Frosch and Derick, using masking and predeposition, were able to manufacture silicon dioxide field effect transistors;
3243-479: The first planar transistors, in which drain and source were adjacent at the same surface. They showed that silicon dioxide insulated, protected silicon wafers and prevented dopants from diffusing into the wafer. In 1958, a technical paper by Arthur Schawlow and Charles Hard Townes first described the laser . Analysis paralysis Analysis paralysis (or paralysis by analysis ) describes an individual or group process where overanalyzing or overthinking
3312-537: The first time, it is better to be approximately right than exactly wrong. With improved knowledge, one may choose to refine or alter the goal (ideal state). The aim of the PDCA cycle is to bring its users closer to whatever goal they choose. When PDCA is used for complex projects or products with a certain controversy, checking with external stakeholders should happen before the Do stage, since changes to projects and products that are already in detailed design can be costly; this
3381-434: The former locations have been scaled down or closed. Bell's Holmdel research and development lab , a 1,900,000-square-foot (180,000 m ) structure set on 473 acres (191 ha), was closed in 2007. The mirrored-glass building was designed by Eero Saarinen . In August 2013, Somerset Development bought the building, intending to redevelop it into a mixed commercial and residential project. A 2012 article expressed doubt on
3450-488: The full project team. In some instances, Agile software development ends up creating additional confusion in the project in the case where iterative plans are made with no intention on having the team following through. Analysis paralysis is a critical problem in athletics. It can be explained in simple terms as "failure to react in response to overthought". A victim of sporting analysis paralysis will frequently think in complicated terms of "what to do next" while contemplating
3519-616: The later Bell Laboratories locations in New Jersey were Holmdel Township , Crawford Hill , the Deal Test Site , Freehold , Lincroft , Long Branch , Middletown , Neptune Township , Princeton , Piscataway , Red Bank , Chester Township , and Whippany . Of these, Murray Hill and Crawford Hill remain in existence (the Piscataway and Red Bank locations were transferred to and are now operated by Telcordia Technologies and
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#17327799127083588-401: The location performed precision frequency-measuring apparatus, field strength measurements, and conducted radio interference. By the early 1940s, Bell Labs engineers and scientists had begun to move to other locations away from the congestion and environmental distractions of New York City, and in 1967 Bell Laboratories headquarters was officially relocated to Murray Hill, New Jersey . Among
3657-487: The negative feedback system commonly used in amplifiers. Later, Harry Nyquist analyzed Black's design rule for negative feedback. This work was published in 1932 and became known as the Nyquist criterion . In 1931, a foundation for radio astronomy was laid by Karl Jansky during his work investigating the origins of static on long-distance shortwave communications . He discovered that radio waves were being emitted from
3726-568: The one in Gulfport. The three test plots at Gulfport, Limon, and Chester were outdoor facilities for preservatives and prolonging the use of telephone poles. Additionally, in 1929, a land expansion was done at the Deal Labs to 208 acres (84 ha). This added land increased the facility for radio transmission studies. The beginning of 1930s, established three facilities with radio communications experiments and chemical aspects testing. By 1939,
3795-509: The result was not published until 1950. In 1948, " A Mathematical Theory of Communication ", one of the founding works in information theory , was published by Claude Shannon in the Bell System Technical Journal . It built in part on earlier work in the field by Bell researchers Harry Nyquist and Ralph Hartley , but went much further. Bell Labs also introduced a series of increasingly complex calculators through
3864-498: The scientific method, and each complete cycle indicating an increase in our knowledge of the system under study. This approach is based on the belief that our knowledge and skills are limited, but improving. Especially at the start of a project, key information may not be known; the PDCA—scientific method—provides feedback to justify guesses (hypotheses) and increase knowledge. Rather than enter " analysis paralysis " to get it perfect
3933-464: The success of the newly named Bell Works site, but several large tenants had announced plans to move in through 2016 and 2017. Bell Lab's 1974 corporate directory listed 22 labs in the United States, located in: Nokia Bell Lab's 2024 website pictured 10 labs, located in: Also listed as research locations without additional information was Sunnyvale, California , US and Tampere, Finland . The Naperville, Illinois Bell Labs location near Chicago
4002-569: The test plot studies were established at Gulfport, Mississippi , where there were numerous telephone pole samples established for wood preservation. At the Deal, New Jersey location, work was done on ship-to-shore radio telephony. In 1926, in the Whippany section of Hanover Township, New Jersey , land was acquired and established for the development of a 50-kilowatt broadcast transmitter. In 1931, Whippany increased with 75 acres (30 ha) added from
4071-470: The vacuum tube designs of the times. The device could be installed in a B-52 Stratofortress Bomber and had a performance up to one million logical operations a second. The flyable program used a Mylar sheet with punched holes, instead of the removable plugboard. In 1954, the first modern solar cell was invented at Bell Laboratories. In 1955, Carl Frosch and Lincoln Derick discovered semiconductor surface passivation by silicon dioxide. In 1956 TAT-1 ,
4140-474: The variety of possibilities, and in doing so exhausts the available time in which to act. Games provide a microcosm for decision-making where there can be adversaries, hidden or missing information, random events, complex options, and consequences. In this context, analysis paralysis denotes a state where a player is so overwhelmed by the available moves and their implications that the player's turn takes an inordinate amount of time. This can be compounded in
4209-409: The way to a better solution. Equally, a person may hold that a superior solution is a short step away, and stall in its endless pursuit, with no concept of diminishing returns . On the opposite end of the time spectrum is the phrase extinct by instinct , which is making a fatal decision based on hasty judgment or a gut reaction. Analysis paralysis is when the fear of either making an error or forgoing
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#17327799127084278-506: Was considered the Chicago Innovation Center and hosted Nokia's second annual Algorithm World event in 2022. Bell Laboratories was, and is, regarded by many as the premier research facility of its type, developing a wide range of revolutionary technologies, including radio astronomy , the transistor , the laser , information theory , the operating system Unix , the programming languages C and C++ , solar cells ,
4347-438: Was doing research into the service providers. In 1896, Western Electric bought property at 463 West Street to centralize the manufacturers and engineers which had been supplying AT&T with such technology as telephones, telephone exchange switches and transmission equipment. During the early 20th century, several historically significant laboratories were established. In 1915, the first radio transmissions were made from
4416-506: Was ending its operations as Holmdel was established. Whereas, in 1930, a location in Mendham Township, New Jersey , was established to continue radio receiver developments farther from the Whippany location and eliminate transmitter interference at that facility with developments. The Mendham location worked on communication equipment and broadcast receivers. These devices were used for marine, aircraft, and police services as well as
4485-779: Was in turn acquired by Nokia in 2016. In 1880, when the French government awarded Alexander Graham Bell the Volta Prize of 50,000 francs for the invention of the telephone (equivalent to about US$ 10,000 at the time, or about $ 330,000 now), he used the award to fund the Volta Laboratory (also known as the "Alexander Graham Bell Laboratory") in Washington, D.C. in collaboration with Sumner Tainter and Bell's cousin Chichester Bell . The laboratory
4554-460: Was instrumental in advancing Army and Navy ammunition acceptance and material sampling procedures. In 1947, the transistor , arguably the most important invention developed by Bell Laboratories, was invented by John Bardeen , Walter Houser Brattain , and William Bradford Shockley (who subsequently shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1956). In 1947, Richard Hamming invented Hamming codes for error detection and correction . For patent reasons,
4623-420: Was organized to consolidate the development and research activities in the communication field and allied sciences for the Bell System. Ownership was evenly shared between Western Electric and AT&T. The new company had 3600 engineers, scientists, and support staff. Its 400,000-square-foot (37,000 m ) space was expanded with a new building occupying about one quarter of a city block. The first chairman of
4692-427: Was the origin of the modern quality control movement, including Six Sigma . In 1926, the laboratories invented an early synchronous-sound motion picture system, in competition with Fox Movietone and DeForest Phonofilm . In 1927, a Bell team headed by Herbert E. Ives successfully transmitted long-distance 128-line television images of Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover from Washington to New York. In 1928
4761-667: Was variously known as the Volta Bureau , the Bell Carriage House , the Bell Laboratory and the Volta Laboratory . It focused on the analysis, recording, and transmission of sound. Bell used his considerable profits from the laboratory for further research and education advancing the diffusion of knowledge relating to the deaf. This resulted in the founding of the Volta Bureau ( c. 1887 ) at
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