Deming’s Application Prize

The Deming Application Prize is an annual award presented to a company that has achieved distinctive performance improvements through the application of TQM. Regardless of the types of industries, any organization can apply for the Prize, be it public or private, large or small, or domestic or overseas. Provided that a division of a company manages its business autonomously, the division may apply for the Prize separately from the company.

There is no limit to the number of potential recipients of the Prize each year. All organizations that score the passing points or higher upon examination will be awarded the Deming Application Prize.

The Deming Prize is the longest-running and one of the highest awards on TQM (Total Quality Management) in the world. It recognizes both individuals for their contributions to the field of Total Quality Management (TQM) and businesses that have successfully implemented TQM. It was established in 1951 to honor W. Edwards Deming who contributed greatly to Japan’s proliferation of statistical quality control after World War II. His teachings helped Japan build its foundation by which the level of Japan’s product quality has been recognized as the highest in the world, was originally designed to reward Japanese companies for major advances in quality improvement. Over the years it has grown, under the guidance of the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) to where it is now also available to non-Japanese companies, albeit usually operating in Japan, and also to individuals recognized as having made major contributions to the advancement of quality. The awards ceremony is broadcast every year in Japan on national television.

Two categories of awards are made annually, the Deming Prize for Individuals and the Deming Prize.

Companies Qualified for Receiving the Prize

The Deming Application Prize is given to applicant companies or divisions of companies (applicant companies hereafter) that effectively practice TQM suitable to their management principles, industry, business and scope. More specifically, the following evaluation criteria are used for the examination to determine whether or not the applicant companies should be awarded the Prize:

• Reflecting their management principles, industry, business, scope and business environment, the applicants have established challenging and customer-oriented business objectives and strategies under their clear management leadership.
• TQM has been implemented properly to achieve business objectives and strategies as mentioned Item 1) above.
• As an outcome of Item 2), outstanding results have been obtained for business objectives and strategies as stated in Item 1).