Tata Steel India is now the first integrated steel company in the world, outside Japan, to be awarded the Deming Application Prize for excellence in Total Quality Management. Mr. B Muthuraman, Managing Director, received this coveted medal by Mr. Fujio Mitarai, Chairman Deming Prize Committee at a formal function in Tokyo, Japan.

While accepting the award at the function, Mr. B Muthuraman, Managing Director, Tata Steel, dedicated the award to the employees and workers of Tata Steel saying, “It is because we have taken the first steps, first firm and sure steps, towards quality movement and because a large number of people in the entire organization are involved in that movement that we are being given this prestigious award. Our efforts to challenge the Deming Prize and the questions the Deming Examiners asked us made us humble and made us realize that we now have a tool and a system with which we can improve everything we do on a continuous and predictable basis, that our results will be based on our efforts and that we would be able to overcome any obstacles put on us by the external environment.”

During the assessment process, the examinees from Japan were not only impressed by the quality parameters followed at Tata Steel, but also by the social commitment of Tata Steel and its work done in the rural areas for the last 100 years.

“I believe that this prize is coming to us at the right time with the financial and economic crisis all round the world. We believe that our work and our efforts to get this prize and the work and the efforts that we will do to justify our winning this prize will make us succeed even in the midst of this crisis and make us a better organization than what we are today”, said Mr. Muthuraman while addressing the gathering in Tokyo.

The award ceremony was organised by the Deming Prize Committee instituted by the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE - apex body spearheading the quality movement). Also present at the award function were Mr. H M Nerurkar, Chief Operating Officer, Tata Steel, Mr. Raghunath Pandey, President (Tata Workers’ Union), Mr. A M Misra, Vice President (Raw Material and Coke, Sinter and Iron), Mr. Anand Sen, Vice President (Flat Products and Total Quality Management), Mr. H Jha, Vice President (Safety and Long Products), Mr. Om Narayan, Vice President (Shared Services) and Mr. Avneesh Gupta, Chief TQM

About Tata Steel
Established in 1907 as Asia's first integrated private sector steel company, Tata Steel Group (including Corus) is the world’s sixth largest steel producer with a crude steel capacity of over 28 million tonnes. It is now the world’s second most geographically diversified steel producer, with operations in 24 countries and commercial presence in over 50 countries. The Tata Steel Group with a turnover of USD 33 billion in 2007-2008 has over 82,700 employees across four continents.

About Deming Application Prize
The Deming prize, established in December 1950 in honor of W. Edwards Deming, was originally designed to reward Japan companies for major advances in quality improvement. It has grown, under the guidance of Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) and is now also available to non-Japanese companies. The prizes are awarded to an individual or company and other operating organizations, factories located outside Japan. The Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) are the administrators of the process and the examiners are typically university professors with areas of expertise in quality management. Worldwide, 160 companies have won the Deming Application Prize since the time it was instituted. Of these 160, 15 companies are Indian, primarily from the automotive sector. For results of Deming Application Award, please visit the website - http://www.juse.or.jp/e/deming/prizelist2008.html