Japanese and western quality

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Japanese and Western Quality
- a contrast


Dr. J.M. Juran, Consultant




Japan and the West compete in a great many product lines. The color television set (color TV set) has been chosen as a case example for comparison. It is a good case. The color TV set is a complex and demanding piece of apparatus embodying some of the most advanced technology known. It's one of the mostexpensive products bought by consumers. These sets are produced and sold in such large numbers that they constitute an important industry – a significant element in the economy of many nations.

Any case example has some degree of uniqueness due to its special technology. The reasons for the quality differences between Japanese color TV sets and those of the West, however, include many which arecommon to a wide list of industries.


Color TV Quality

Commercial television and the color TV set had their origin in the West. A major initial quality weakness of the industry was the high failure rate of the electron tubes used in the color TV set. The invention of the transistor and its descendants then made possible a remarkable reduction in this failure rate. While these solid-statedevices were invented in the West, it was the Japanese, aided by government subsidy, who brought out the first all-solid-state color TV sets (1968). USA adoption of solid state was slower, mainly for manufacturers' economic reasons.1 As these fundamental technological problems were solved, it became feasible for many manufacturers to make color TV sets, so conventional national and internationalcompetition set in.

The quality of a color TV set is generally judged with respect to three interrelated product features:

1. Picture quality, or "function." This is judged by the extent to which the image on the screen correctly reproduces the original scene in its proportions, color, etc.
2. "Product appeal" which is judged by styling, finish, convenience of operation, ease of transport andplacement, smoothness of control mechanisms, etc.
3. Reliability, which is synonymous with freedom from failures in service.

Obviously, all manufacturers (both in Japan and in the West) would prefer to make products which are excellent with respect to all of these features. This is no simple undertaking since making, marketing and servicing color TV sets involves a delicate balance among manyconflicting variables in technology, economics, etc. As a consequence, there are compromises or "tradeoffs."

Broadly speaking, Western manufacturers have in the past emphasized what is obvious to consumers – picture quality and product appeal. Through frequent model change, they brought out various useful innovations – remote controls, random access, automatic tuning, smaller bulk, etc.– alongwith a degree of just gadgetry. Through this emphasis, the Western manufacturers attained and for years retained marketplace leadership in picture quality and product appeal. They were able to exhibit these features to consumers through direct comparison of competing models, side by side, in the showrooms. The consumers could sense these differences. The effect on share of market was significant ifthe innovations were significant.

In the early years of Japanese color TV, consumers were also strongly influenced by function and product appeal. However, in recent years consumer emphasis has been on reliability and function. In response to this emphasis, Japanese manufacturers attained a clear leadership in reliability – a leadership which they hold to this day. More recently the Japanesehave, in addition, narrowed or closed the gap in picture quality and product appeal. One widely experienced USA director feels that the real Japanese emphasis has been on "value," that is high reliability at low cost.

The present situation with respect to picture quality and product appeal is essentially one of distinctions without much difference. In contrast, the difference in reliability is...