When American manufacturers began taking quality seriously in the 1990s, they focused on physical quality to do a better job of meeting customer tolerance requirements. At first, many manufacturers viewed total quality management as a fad. However, those who forged ahead realized they could gain a competitive advantage by consistently delivering high-tolerance parts with a minimum of returned rejects. As other manufacturers began to catch on, quality parts became a must-have to get on a customer’s vendor list.

Since then, the definition of quality has changed dramatically, and so have customer expectations for what it entails. The next phase in total quality development consisted of manufacturing parts to precise tolerance at a lower cost. This was addressed in several ways, including outsourcing production to countries with lower labor costs and embracing increasingly sophisticated technology to provide quality products for less.