On the 22nd November 2022, I came across a TV news item on Republic TV which surprised me no end: JSW Steel wins five gold medals in a QCC (Quality Control Circles), Or Quality Circle (QC for short). Not expected from any TV channels, as it was good news! Curious, I sought more information about this event and found the following:

I was delighted to see that QCCs are still relevant in the current industrial situation. A movement which began in 1950 in Japan, is still going strong. It is well known that, for an invention to be successful as a widespread application tool in daily life, it must ‘get socialised’. Take for example, electricity. When Edison invented the humble electric bulb, people may not have appreciated all the applications to which electricity can be put. Overs the years, though, electricity has been used in many areas, many applications, so much so, that, life without electricity is not imaginable now. In the same manner, QCC’s, and its larger perspective, the Total Quality Management (or TQM, for short) have been socialised strongly, especially in manufacturing, banking, some services industry sectors like telecom. This socialising has been possible only due to the efforts of many committed workers like Noriaki Kano, Ishikawa and others, apart from the ‘Big Three’, Dr Edwards Deming, Dr Juran and Dr Philip Crosby (of the Zero defects fame).

While Shewhart it was who proposed the first idea of continuous improvement through the PDSA cycle, it was the Big Three who gave the necessary push to take TQM into companies as a way of working, or, a way of life. Dr Deming championed the Statistical Quality Control angle, Juran championed cost management and Crosby emphasised ‘Zero defects – first time right, every time’, which principles American automobile companies applied rigorously and reaped huge benefits for many years. Ford Motor was an exceptional champion of the Zero Defects philosophy.

The Japanese industry wholeheartedly embraced this philosophy and implemented it in the way only they can – through instruments of group work at the ground level. QCC was the first innovation, which was formed to drive TQM strong and deep in an organisation. QCC’s have evolved over the years. The idea of a QCC is based on the following six principles derived from the teachings of Dr Deming:

The last principle is indeed interesting. Whenever one visits Japanese companies under the aegis of the JUSE, to see the benefits from TQM, one will often hear Japanese workers and senior managers say how the benefits of TQM have been realised in day to day life. Many families of employees have benefited from the practice of TQM principles at home, such as, a clean and well maintained home, clean habits of residents, well kept surroundings, and high quality of life.

QCC’s address all the six requirements above. They involve all members of the organisation, they undertake systematic continuous improvement using Seven Old and Seven New QC tools, all the activities of a QCC are done through teamwork. In India, the QCC movement started in BHEL under the guidance of Dr V Krishnamurthy and Mr Udupa. The Quality Circles Forum of India, QCFI, established in 1981, has been the Apex body in India in promoting QCC activities in industry. This is apart from other efforts within companies, CII, and other forums in states.

The Tata Group has taken full advantage of the QCC methodology, and the following figures show the considerable progress achieved in the early years of TQM in Tata Steel.