In the world of quality, what is the historical order of the following concepts: tqm, quality assurance, quality control, six sigma, inspection?

Inspection

Q C

Q A

Six Sigma

T Q M

1. Six sigma-design phase

2. Quality control- process design phase

3. Inspection-process phase

4. Quality Assurance- Mass production phase

5. Total Quality Managment- inception of the quality circle as company policy

Easy,1. Inspection,2. QC,3. QA,4. TQM,5. Six Sigma.  TQM was the most misunderstood, and likely never made the comeback it deserved. I studied and prepared papers on the subject in1995.

first was inspection about1920 s

Quality Control about1940s

Quality Assurance late1960 to1970

Six Sigma1981, but the "Zero defect" was in1960 

TQM (TQM and Six Sigma were kinda parallel)1984

Quality is always an element in any project and in a project it depends on how fully you comply with specification. If you need six sigma quality standard, the same should be specified in the tender.