Tata Steel wins Deming Application Prize for 2008

NEW DELHI: World's sixth largest steel maker Tata Steel on Tuesday said it has become the first integrated steel company in the world, outside Japan, to be awarded the Deming Application Prize for excellence in total quality management.

The award for 2008 was announced by the Deming prize committee instituted by the Japanese union of scientists and engineers, the apex body spearheading quality movement, Tata Steel said in statement. The formal award ceremony will be held on November 12 this year in Tokyo, it added.

Expressing satisfaction over the accomplishment, Tata Steel Managing Director B Muthuraman said, "No other activity made us think so deeply about our business and relationships than the process of applying for the Deming prize." "Total quality management is a fundamental way of managing business and every organisation can gain from institutionalising the culture necessary to win this prize," he added.

The Deming prize was originally designed to reward Japanese companies for their major advancements in quality improvement. At present, however, companies outside Japan are also accorded the award.