As the 20th century came to a close, U.S. manufacturers realized the need to transform thinking from the product to the system. Manufacturers were no doubt exhausted from having to spot a defect along the process and either scrap the product or send it back into the process for rework. It made economic sense to begin considering the system. If the company assures its customers the product will be produced without error, the company saves on rework and parts. Manufacturers began speaking in terms of quality assurance, not control. (In 1997, the American Society for Quality Control became the American Society for Quality. It was the year we “lost control.”)