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| Dr. Noriaki Kano President | ||
| Japanese Society for Quality Control (JSQC) | Telephone: +81-3-5378-1506 | |
| c/o Zaidan Hojin | Facsimile: +81-3-5378-1507 | |
| Nihon Kagaku Gijutsu Renmei Higashi Koenji Building | Email: jsqc@ca.mbn.or.jp | |
| 1-2-1 Koenji-minami Suginami-ku Tokyo 166-0003 |
Dear Dr. Kano,
With a sincere spirit I congratulate you on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the Japanese Society for Quality Control (JSQC). I am sorry that I cannot join with you in the festivities in a more personal way as you celebrate this momentous event at Waseda University. Please accept this letter as an emissary for the American Society for Quality and a means for us to offer our congratulations.
Allow me to share a few observations with you and the JSQC at this historical time.
Anniversaries provide an opportunity to look back and take pleasure in accomplishments that we have achieved. Over the past thirty years, through the efforts of many dedicated quality professionals throughout Japan, the words "Made in Japan" have become the synonym for high quality products. This is due to the discipline and rigorous attention to detail that so many have paid to the work that is done throughout a product's life cycle. The reputation of Japanese products has been well established and earned through the hard work that world-class quality requires. This has been a true application of the basic principle of "sweating for quality."
Anniversaries are also a time to look forward and anticipate challenges and opportunities that may be held in the future. While quality has become a driver of the economic well being of companies, it is not the only factor that delivers market success. While the tide has shifted somewhat for Japan over the past few years, there is no reason to believe that
JSQC - 30th Anniversary Letter
April 28, 2001
Page 2 of 2
these trends will remain for long. The strength that has brought Japan to its leadership position in the world will carry it forward in the future. It will require the same discipline and devotion to duty as in the past, but your focus will change from products to services and the public sector as the appropriate concentration of energy for improvement.
JSQC can play a significant role in the coming "century of quality" - as Dr. Joseph M. Juran has named the coming age. If we must remain consistent in the development and application of our skills, then we will continue to grow and adapt our quality knowledge to the technologies that are assaulting our work places and we will learn to master the challenges that face us. The challenge comes from the advent of high technology and we will learn that, at its core, future business will be about the same set of principles that we have used so well in the past: teamwork, collaboration, rigorous process and statistical methods - these will be the our true gifts to the coming age of technology! Work must be firmly grounded in the rigor of process management and facilitated in the work place by the people who define the soul of the organization.
Thank you for the many gifts of learning about quality that Japan has given the world by sharing in the wisdom gained through your unique experiences. Today, the world has an even greater opportunity than at any other time to learn and share among our global colleagues in quality - together we can make significant change happen by applying the principles, methods and tools that we have mastered in the production environment to the challenging world that we face. It is with great pleasure that I wish you the best at this time as colleagues and brethren in the global quality movement.
Congratulations on your past achievements - best wishes on accepting the challenges of the coming age.
Sincerely,
For the American Society for Quality
Gregory H. Watson
President
| cc: | Michael O'Donoghue, American Society for Quality Paul Borawski, American Society for Quality |