determine which of the eight elements of total quality management you believe are present in the above case study. Motivate your answers Case study: NissanNissan is famously associated with "Kaizen' or continuous quality improvement. Nissan states: 'We willnot be restricted by the existing way of doing things. We will continuously seek improvements in allour actions.Kaizen can be applied everywhere, any time, any place. It can involve the smallest change in everydayworking practice as well as a major change in production technology. Typically these improvementsare initiated by teams of employees sitting down together and sharing ideas for improvements. Smallsteady changes are maintained to make sure that they actually work. No improvement is too small.Everyone at Nissan is responsible for thinking about the current way of doing a job and finding a betterway of doing things.Kaizen improvements can save:Money, time, materials, labour effort as well as improving quality, safety, job satisfaction, andproductivity.Productivity levels at Nissan's plant in Sunderland, and the quality of final production there, have nothappened by chance or good fortune. They stem from an all-embracing approach to a productionprocess, designed to bring out the best in both people and machines. It continues to be conspicuouslysuccessful.It is vital to train people to work in such a hi-tech industry with such sophisticated quality systems.NMUK's training department conducts a training needs analysis to assess individual employees' needsand to organise training programmes.The department concentrates on five main areas:1. technical development2. people development3. understanding processes4. computer skills and graduate training5. trainee developmentTotal Quality Management (TQM) is a key feature of Nissan's way of working. TQM involves makingcustomer satisfaction a top priority. Given this goal, everything the organisation and its people do isfocused on creating high quality.To achieve this, Nissan has to:••understand customer requirementsconsider the processes involved in providing quality, not just the end resultprioritise and standardise tasks to deliver qualityeducate all employees to work in this way.Nissan Motor Company Ltd, usually shortened to Nissan is a Japanese multinational automobilemanufacturer headquartered in Nishi-Ku Yokohama lanan With a just-in-time approach, specific vehicles and their components are produced just-in-time tomeet the demand for them. Sub-assemblies move into the final assembly plant just as final assemblersare ready to work on them, components arrive just in time to be installed, and so on. In this way, theamount of cash tied up in stocks and in work-in-progress is kept to a minimum, as is the amount ofspace devoted to costly warehousing rather than to revenue-generating production. Nissan's just-in-time process depends not on human frailty but on machine precision.The emphasis placed on 'going for quality' means that each employee is responsible both for theirown work and the standards of their co-workers. By ensuring management recognises that individualshave this control results in everyone taking the culture onboard.Nissan expects and requires its employees to become multi-skilled decision-makers. Most employeesalso want that for themselves.Reaching that goal involves:•training employees to develop their skills• encouraging them to make decisions.organising employees into participative teamsdeveloping open-channel, multi-directional communication systemsplacing quality at the heart of flow productionflexible working practicesproviding the employee variety within his/her roleSo far, Nissan has invested over £2.1 billion in the Sunderland site, taking its production capacity to500,000 vehicles per year. Car assembly is a complex operation with many components requiringskilled assembly. Management is particularly keen to monitor the total machine hours and totallabour hours that each vehicle requires.In pursuit of high output at a low average cost, car manufacturing typically uses a continuous flowproduction method, where sub-assemblies are brought together in a final assembly area. This is themost cost-effective and efficient method of production and the speed of the final assembly line canbe adjusted to match consumer demand. If demand picks up, the production line can be accelerated,within predefined limits.At NMUK, the production flow draws on three main production shops, as well as support areas. Thethree main shops are:• body assemblypainting• final assemblyOne key decision with a car plant is where to locate it. For its UK factory, Nissan chose in 1984 a300hectare former airfield near Sunderland. Sunderland's attractions included:a) Skilled labour forceManufacturing has a long tradition in the area. A decline in other local manufacturing meant thatskilled labour was readily available.

Answered: determine which of the eight elements…

12th Edition

ISBN:9781259929434

Author:William Nickels

Publisher:William Nickels

Chapter1: Taking Risks And Making Profits Within The Dynamic Business Environment

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 1CE