In general, prior to the impact of Japanese products in global markets, quality as a winning proposition was never considered. Take the often beaten example of automobile manufacturers. The Transition from craftsmanship to mass production was a drastic and quite dramatic that changed the entire way of manufacturing. With craftsmanship the variation in output was very evident, but it helped the organization to provide customized solution to its customers. In line with lower volumes of business, cost, the general lower pace of business and economy, prior to world war days relative to today, craftsmanship was possible. However, the cycle of increased wealth of people due to impact of industrial growth and industrial growth leading to increase and distribution of wealth also lead to an increased demand for a range of goods and services, which lead to growth of industries. Mass production brought in large number of homogeneous products. Sudden availability of automobiles, to a very large section of people, at a relatively affordable price brought in by scale advantage, catapulted mass production as the competence to build. However, slowly customers found that they are loosing out on choice. Options were very limited. World war also brought in sophistication in entrepreneurs’thinking. Quite a few methods were invented. In japan, post world war, a devastated Japan had to run businesses on very scarce resources. Toyota, being from one of the enterprising families that had diversified from textile mills to automobiles, evolved mechanisms by which they could run their business with very limited resources. In came Toyota Production System(TPS) to Toyota, lean to the rest of the world, promising relatively very high number of variety of products in shortest time, cost and quality. Quality as a distinct differentiator, competitive edge, was noticed and importance of quality to operations, impacting cost and profitability, customer satisfaction and hence growth of organizations came to the forefront. Edward Deming, the quality guru, not much accepted in his home, USA, was welcomed by Japan. He along with others, with active participation of the management in Toyota, brought a paradigm shift in the way quality was viewed from “fix it later” to “do it right the first time”, minimalism of resources - a whole lot of philosophy his 14 principles brought in. There are other industries like ready made garments, which followed mass customization and Quick Response Manufacturing.
In general, manufacturing industry as a whole, automobiles in specific, transformed nations in many dimensions.
