This won't fully answer OP's question but consider looking into the work of W. Edwards Deming in Japan. He advocated the concept that a focus on quality would reduce overall production cost, rather than simply adding to the cost. He was also a proponent for statistical quality control and trained a large number of engineers and managers in his methods. A number of manufacturers implemented his techniques and benefited from it. Although not solely responsible he had a pretty big influence on later Japanese manufacturing methodologies.

If you want I can dig up some sources on this.