Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of articles written by former Sen. Jim DeMint. Read the introduction here and the first three articles here, here, and here.
The United States became the world’s leading manufacturer and exporter after World War II. Over the decades that followed, major manufacturing companies in America became top-heavy in their management, costs increased, profits shrank, and the quality of their products declined. By the late 1970’s, Japan, a nation long-known for cheap, low-quality products, began producing low-cost, high-quality automobiles and many other products that were superior to those manufactured in America. Japan’s secret became known as total quality management (TQM). It was the brainchild of American consultants Edward Deming and Joseph Juran — experts who had been ignored by arrogant manufacturing executives in the United States.
