India's CEAT Ltd. earns Deming Prize for TQM initiatives

TOKYO — India's CEAT Ltd. has earned the Deming Prize, an award that recognizes companies which achieve business transformation by implementing Total Quality Management (TQM).

CEAT is the first non-Japanese tire company to have been selected for the prize, considered one of the oldest and most prestigious quality awards in the world.

The Deming Prize was established in 1951 by Japanese Union of Scientists & Engineers (JUSE) to honor W. Edwards Deming, who contributed greatly to Japan's proliferation of statistical quality control after World War II.

In his commentary on CEAT's selection, Yoshinori Iizuka, professor emeritus, University of Tokyo, pointed out that CEAT's use of TQM principles helped stabilize management, increase the firm's profits, reduce market claims, internal quality defects, costs and lead times, and increase the number of new products, etc.

At the same, the company's TQM-based strategy — which it began implementing in 2012 — helped sustain high employee satisfaction, reduced the attrition rate and absenteeism, build good relationship with the local community, etc.

CEAT Managing Director Anant Goenka called receiving the Deming Prize a "significant milestone and testimony in our journey of quality and customer-centricity. All activities and processes are geared towards enhancing customer satisfaction and we are working hard to enhance these processes.

"Quality is also about living our purpose," he added, "which is 'Making Mobility Safer and Smarter Everyday.' The journey continues, every day."

The JUSE presented Mr. Goenka with the award at a ceremony in Tokyo on Nov. 8.

JUSE has posted an extensive document on its website that outlines the path CEAT took toward TQM.