Zero-Defect Quality and High Productivity

Abstract

The younger generation take it for granted today that ‘Made in Japan’ is a guarantee of high quality. They would probably be surprised to learn that a generation ago it meant that a product was cheaply made and would quickly fall to pieces. Sadly the converse has been true for ‘Made in Britain’. What was a stamp of quality in the 1950s had become a badge of shame by 1980, even for luxury goods like Jaguar cars. These two changing standards of quality can be illustrated diagrammatically thus: Japan is the best known example of a country which has dramatically and quickly improved quality, but it is not the only one. West Germany’s large balance of payments surplus owes much to her reputation for quality goods, and Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore have also acquired good reputations. Unless the UK can reverse the quality slide of 1950–80 and match, or better still beat, the standards of her international competitors, her economy has no future at all.

We aim to build profitably the highest quality car sold in Europe. First sentence of philosophy statement of Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd, issued to all employees