Of all the people/companies I worked with, the only two with stick-to-the-word-no-exceptions attitude were Japanese and Germans, hence the phrase. It wasn't in

Of all the people/companies I worked with, the only two with stick-to-the-word-no-exceptions attitude were Japanese and Germans, hence the phrase. It wasn't intended to be offensive, sometimes those rigid procedures save lives, and it's very much possible the whole idea has nothing to do with a single German. Sorry for my wording.