Toyota total shutdown in the '70's?

[Deathegg]

Hey everyone!

Was talking to a friend today, in the course of the conversation, he mentioned that Toyota, back in the 70's, shut down ALL of their manufacturing plants for an entire YEAR, to implement new quality control procedures. Apparently a man by the name of Edwards Deming brought to Japan, and Toyota especially, methods for improving reliability, and to implement these changes, Toyota shut down ALL plants for a period of one year.

I can find no evidence of this on the internet, or any car books I own. And I find this story highly unlikely to have occurred. I can *sort of* see it happening after WWII, to repair damaged plants, or some other similar scenario. I can even see them shutting down one plant at a time for a while. But ALL the plants for a YEAR?

If anyone has info on this, please share.