Philips Wins Japan Quality Medal

Staff -- Semiconductor International, 2/1/1998

Industry News

Philips Wins Japan Quality Medal

Philips Semiconductors (Eindhoven, the Netherlands) was awarded the Japan Quality Medal, the first non-Japanese semiconductor manufacturer to do so. The Philips Taiwan facility was presented with the medal by the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers for its continuous Total Quality Management (TQM). Recipients of the Japan Quality Medal must first be winners of the Deming Prize in order to qualify. The Deming Prize, awarded to Philips Taiwan in 1991, recognizes companies that have achieved significant gains in performance through TQM. The Japan Quality Medal was established to encourage Deming winners to continue practicing and upgrading TQM.

The medal is only awarded to those companies that demonstrate continuous improvement efforts toward quality and dependability of products according to guidelines established by the Deming Prize Committee. Since the medal's introduction in 1969, only 13 manufacturing companies have received the award, of which 12 were Japanese organizations. PS

Semiconductor International / February 1998