TVS Motor’s Venu Srinivasan gets Deming Award

Venu Srinivasan, Chairman of TVS Motor Company and Sundaram Clayton, was conferred with the prestigious Deming ‘Distinguished Service Award For Dissemination and Promotion Overseas’ in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Srinivasan is the first industrialist from India to be bestowed this prestigious award for his contributions in the field of Total Quality Management (TQM).

The Deming Prize is the highest award for TQM in the world. Deming ‘Distinguished Service Award for Dissemination and Promotion Overseas’ is given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions in the dissemination and promotion of TQM and is sponsored by Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE). Candidates of this award require a recommendation from the members of the Deming Prize Committee, and whose primary activities must be limited to outside Japan.

Srinivasan said: “I am truly honoured by the recognition conferred upon me by the prestigious Deming committee and JUSE. This stands as a testament for me and all my colleagues and associates who have worked hard to implement TQM at Sundaram-Clayton and TVS Motor Company since 1989.

“It gives us reassurance that we are working in the right direction and reinforces our commitment towards TQM. Our relentless efforts for the past three decades of pursuing supreme quality and excellence to customer satisfaction has borne rich dividends for us. Today, our products and processes are synonymous with quality in over 60 countries across the globe,” he added.

“This journey has been a fruitful one and we will continue to institutionalise TQM as a way of life. It is our belief that sustainability across stakeholders and community will not only help the industry and society to unlock potential but will also help future generations to lead healthy and prosperous life. I would like to express my gratitude by dedicating this honour to Prof Kurahara, Prof Washio and Prof Tsuda for their active mentoring, our customers, partners and our employees for their commitment towards this long journey.”

As the past President of CII and Chairman of the National Committee for Quality, Srinivasan played an active role in accelerating TQM promotion. Over 100,000 practicing managers were trained on TQM methods, and till date, 36 Indian companies have won the Deming Prize with India becoming the second largest country to have Deming prize winners. Progress of CII cluster for TQM promotion inspired Auto Components Manufacturers Association (ACMA) too. ACMA cluster was established to create community for learning and implementation of TQM to improve customer satisfaction, quality focus, 5S, daily work management and Total Employee Involvement for continuous improvement.

Sundaram Clayton was awarded Deming Prize in 1998 and Japan Quality Medal in 2002. SCL was the first company in India and fourth company outside Japan to receive the coveted Deming Prize. In 2002, TVS Motor Company Ltd was conferred the Deming award for "having achieved distinctive performance improvement through the application of Total Quality Management”.