Jim Frey sent along this story:
For many years a factory in Auckland, New Zealand made transmissions for automobiles built in New Zealand by Ford. In the late 1990s, Ford switched suppliers. The transmission factory then managed to get a contract with Toyota. When the factory managers met with the Toyota managers, they were told that Toyota wanted them to make the transmissions for a new car Toyota would build in New Zealand. The Toyota representatives described the car: weight, wheel base, size of engine, number of passengers, etc. When they finished, the Ford representatives said, “We can do that. What are the specifications?” The Toyota representatives replied, “We just gave them to you.” When Ford ordered 1,000 transmissions, the factory always delivered 1,100. They knew they had a 10% failure rate – they just didn’t know which 10%. When Toyota ordered 1,000 transmissions, they refused to accept more than 1,000. They expected every transmission to fit and work properly.
