A Brief History Of Quality
By Jesse Brasseur
Resources were limited in Japan in the 1940s due to World War II. During that time Japanese motor companies Mitsubishi, who built the zero planes for the Japanese army, and Toyota, who built the vehicles for the Japanese army, came together to form the original Quality Management System based on 2 very simple principles:
- Don’t create waste.
- Don’t spend money unless you absolutely have to.
After the war, both companies nearly shut down. So Toyota doubled down and developed the Toyota Production System Manual. The TPSM is an airtight system that has a requirement for literally everything. I used the TPSM when I worked for Futaba Indiana of America as a Quality Team Leader in Stamping. Futaba was a tier 2 company that built the majority of the frame components and instrument reinforcement panels that Toyota installs. I learned some basic principles that I’ll be working with Nick DePompelo and the rest of the team to implement.
After the second world war, the International Standardization Organization was founded in London to have standards for rebuilding the country, who saw constant bombing and turmoil. In the 1970s and 1980s, American automotive companies were losing a ton of revenue to the Japanese companies. American automotive quality was basically the wild west, with no rules to govern it. So they looked over at Toyota’s Manual and started copying it. They then worked with ISO and the Society of Automotive Engineers to create the first ISO Automotive playbook, based in Toyota’s already used standards. Years later in 1996, the International Automotive Task Force was founded, and in 1999 they created IATF 16949, which is a list of procedures an automotive company should use to govern themselves.
And here we are today using these standards as a result of the second world war. I look forward to working with the Quality Team and discussing some of the standards that I learned and potentially implementing them.
Interesting facts about Toyota- Toyota is the largest Automotive Manufacturer in the world, and if you buy a Toyota in America, it was completely assembled in America. No other Automotive Manufacturer in America can make that claim.