A generation ago, United States companies found themselves trailing behind their Japanese counterparts. Unemployment and inflation rates were setting record highs. Foreign goods were controlling most of the markets. US companies were on the verge of bankruptcy.
Quality is a difficult term to define.
Either a product has quality or it does not. Consumers recognize it when they see it. Just the manufacturer cannot determine quality components. A manufacturer can produce what they think is a quality product, but unless it meets the consumer's standards it will never be considered a quality product. Finally realizing that American goods were inferior to foreign competitors' products in quality, corporations instituted programs that followed the principles of W. Edwards Deming.