The Swaraj Division of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. Farm Equipment Sector (FES) has won the prestigious Deming Application Prize for 2012. The Deming Prize is awarded by the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE). Mr. Bishwambhar Mishra, Chief Executive, Tractor & Farm Mechanization Business, Farm Equipment Sector, will accept the Deming Prize on behalf of the Swaraj division on November 14,2012 in Tokyo, Japan.
The Farm Equipment Sector (Mahindra Tractors Farm Division) is the first tractor company in the world to win the prestigious Deming Prize in 2003, and then successfully competed for the Japan Quality Medal in 2007.
The Deming Prize is one of the highest awards on TQM (Total Quality Management) in the world. It was established in 1951 in commemoration of the late Dr. William Edwards Deming who contributed greatly to Japan’s proliferation of statistical quality control after World War II. It is given to those who have made outstanding contributions to the study and dissemination of TQM or statistical methods used for TQM.
With over 600 dealers across India, Swaraj today is a Rs. 2500 crore company with over 5,000 employees. In 1970, the Government of Punjab acquired the Swaraj tractor’s design and established Punjab Tractors Limited (PTL). The tractors were produced and sold under the brand name ‘Swaraj’. In 2007, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. Acquired a majority stake in PTL, and in Feb 2009, it was merged into M&M as the Swaraj Division of Mahindra & Mahindra.
Commenting on this development, Mr. Mishra, said, “It is a momentous event for the Indian tractor industry that Swaraj has become the second tractor company in the world, after Mahindra Farm Division to receive this honour, which is like an Oscar award in the field of quality.”