Dr Edwards Deming would not have imagined how his series of lectures in Japan in 1950 would impact industry the world over, even after some seventy years of the event. His lectures were heard very carefully by many Japanese companies’ representatives, especially the ones from Toyota. Toyota provided the proverbial ‘walk the talk’ impetus to the ideas propounded by Dr Deming. The company converted the ideas into workable, practical applications, which, to this day, are used by companies across the globe. Amongst the many initiatives taken up by Japanese companies in the years following 1950, under the aegis of the Japanese Union of scientists and Engineers (JUSE), lean management, Quality Circles, the Toyota Production System (TPS) (which focused on Just In Time and Waste Elimination methods, which revolutionised automobile production). The results were phenomenal. Japanese economy grew by leaps and bounds, Japanese products dominated world markets and Japanese quality ruled supreme. Much of this continues to this day. 

One key element that came out of all the ‘quality churn’ was the Total Quality Movement or TQM, which emphasised ‘incremental improvement’, ‘continuous improvement’ and ‘across the board engagement in any organisation’. These principles not only made practical sense in that efficiency and effectiveness improved, but inculcated a culture of continuous improvement. Such improvements resulted in huge profits for companies. For example, Toyota has enjoyed a position of pre-eminence over the last seventy years as the ‘most profitable automobile company’, thanks to its practice of the TPS. While Chrysler was taken over by Fiat, and General Motors has seen its profits and volumes shrink over the years, Ford has fared better, due to its emphasis on continuous improvement. One of the significant efforts was its ‘Zero Defects’ program, which was later used by many other companies, well supported by consultants like Philip Crosby. 

Continuous improvement in industry is important from several angles. Cost reduction programs, like the Total Productivity Maintenance, Total Operating Performance, and waste reduction and customer-oriented programs like lean management have made huge improvements in processes, leading to lower prices of products, improved competition and improved availability of goods and services. To cite just one example, the implementation of lean management in a mattress company in Japan led to significant improvements, as show in the Table 1:

Closer to home, the following benefits were realised by a large iron and steel manufacturing company in India. The practice of TQM in all departments of the company led to enormous bottom-line benefits (refer Table 2). 

Beginning 1980, Indian companies started the practice of TQM. It is safe to say that, but for this effort, Indian companies would have been shut out of the European and US markets. For example, ISO 9000 certification, which many Indian companies took up on a war footing, enabled them to compete in Europe, which denied access to those companies not certified. The top five countries with the most ISO 9001 certified organizations are China (176,826), Italy (114,146), Japan (104,015), Germany (88,585), and India (51,522). Not surprisingly, these five countries also rank among the top ten for a total number of ISO certifications of all types.

TQM was followed by Business or Performance Excellence, a concept which revolutionised industrial practices after 1987, when the Malcolm Baldrige model was declared ready for adoption by corporates in the US. The spread of this movement was swift and comprehensive. This model (and many more models of this type, like, the EFQM), for the first time, linked corporate performance with a social conscience and environmental friendliness. Over the years, the improvements in model made it possible for companies to incorporate the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) requirements which were being increasingly insisted upon by many governments. For example, it is well known that the emission standards for automobiles have been tightened, with BS I to BS VII (BS- Bharat Stage). Similarly, the carbon credits, and their transferability, have made companies sit up and take notice of ‘Sustainability’. The logical development from the TBL led to the declaration of the 17 Sustainability Development Goals (or SDG) by the UN in 2015. Only those organisations who have moved from TQM, to Business/ Performance Excellence/ TBL can successfully address the SDG requirements. Only they can take advantage of the carbon credits transfer methodology to create sustainable businesses which will also stay profitable in the long run.