Bridgestone Holds Ninth Annual Bridgestone Group Global TQM Conference

Tokyo (October 24, 2018) — Bridgestone Corporation held its ninth^* Bridgestone Group Global Total Quality Management (TQM) Conference on September 21 in Kodaira City, Tokyo. First held in 2010, this annual conference serves as a forum for sharing examples of innovation and improvement activities across the Bridgestone Group. By creating a global event to showcase innovative projects and initiatives, this conference helps cultivate quality awareness and raise the level of TQM activities across the global footprint.

In 1968, Bridgestone defined its mission of “Serving Society with Superior Quality” and received the Deming Application Prize, which is presented to companies exhibiting excellence in overall quality management. This year marks the 50th anniversary of this achievement, and the annual conference commemorated this 50th anniversary. A total of 326 Group members gathered from across the globe for this conference, where 16 projects selected at more than 100 qualifying events at Group sites worldwide were presented. Four superior examples of innovation and improvement activities were selected from these submissions and were presented with TQM Awards & Grand Prize, including four who received Impression Awards.

Bridgestone Europe NV/SA Technical Center, MTDS (Italy) was one of the recipients of the TQM Awards & Grand Prize. This team was presented with an award of recognition for creating a framework that enables swift information-sharing of issues arising at tire manufacturing sites through an intranet chat format. This innovation greatly reduced the amount of time required to resolve issues with a swift, effective way to communicate with other internal and external groups at manufacturing locations.

Bridgestone India Private Limited received an Impression Award for its efforts to prevent failures through early detection of defective products by product inspectors. These efforts included identifying issues from the perspectives of inspectors, inspection systems, and workplace environments, among others, and introducing health and wellness opportunities through a yoga program designed to help inspectors feel more refreshed on the job, which was a contributor to a reduction in the number of inspection failures.

Going forward, the Bridgestone Group will continue its efforts to create value and inspiration for customers guided by its mission of “Serving Society with Superior Quality.”

* This was the 148th such conference if the improvement initiative presentation conferences that began in 1963, the predecessor of the Bridgestone Group Global TQM Conference, are included.