Automobile Industry Scenario

Functional job titles

1. CEO
2. VP Finance
3. VP Human Resources
4. VP Marketing and Sales
5. VP R&D, Design
6. VP Manufacturing, Production Engineering
7. Purchasing Manager
8. VP Quality
9. Assembly Line Worker
10. Car Dealer Sales and Service Manager

7 Management and Planning Fieldwork

Assignment 1 is to determine the vehicle model that will be the subject of your fieldwork for the semester using the quality tools and methods in the lecture.

Assignment 2 is for each team member to define his/her job role and its perspective on the determination of the vehicle model. Each team member should make one slide for the presentation to the class by the Marketing VP. Example of what each slide might contain for each job role:

Assignment 3 is for the team to show how their jobs relate to running the company, by indicating the degree of their contribution to each company activity - lead, research, advisory, or oversight.

Example:

Presenter will be Marketing VP.

Daily Management Fieldwork

1. Vision, Mission, and Guiding Principles.   The CEO should encourage his staff (team members) to provide data regarding the future of the auto industry and the trends of the targeted market segment - the young professionals. Based on these, the executive committee of CEO, Finance, Marketing, Human Resources and R&D vice presidents should prepare a 5 or 10 year vision, mission, and guiding principles.
2. Reengineer the organization. The executive team believes nothing short of a major reorganization is needed to revive the company.  Involve all team members, including the representative of dealers and customers in this.
3. Reengineer a business process.  The executive committee in 1. wants to implement the vision and mission in key business processes. Determine the key business process and prepare a Quality Improvement Story or Six Sigma DMAIC to improve this process. Invite the manager of that business process to join you.
    

For 5 points max, do 1 & 2 or 1 & 3. Extra credit (5 points max), do 1, 2, & 3.

Presenter will be VP Human Resources.

Basic Quality Tools and QI Story/Six Sigma Fieldwork

1. There has been a recent increase in complaints from new owners about the outboard side bolster of the driver side leather seat fraying and tearing after only three months of use. The manufacturing engineer and line workers should form a QI team to evaluate and correct this problem using the QI Story or the Six Sigma DMAIC process. Be sure to involve the purchasing, quality, and dealer service representative.
   
   Exact data on this problem is difficult to uncover, so you may use your best estimate when absolutely necessary. The purpose of the assignment is to understand the process of systematic problem solving, so some knowledge about car seats and leather will be helpful. If you have team members with knowledge of other problems (similar in scope), you may substitute that problem for the bolster fraying problem.

Presenter will be line worker. (Engineering may be substituted)

Creativity and TRIZ Fieldwork

1. The solution you developed in the QI Story for your product proves to be inadequate for eliminating the problem. Use deBono, TRIZ, and other methods to develop a breakthrough solution. TRIZ should include Innovation Situation Questionnaire, Problem Formulator, and Contradiction Resolution at a minimum. This should be done by the entire team, examining the various financial, operations and process, vendor, and other ramifications of a change.

Presenter will be VP R&D.

Theory of Constraints Fieldwork

To implement the seat leather solution from your TRIZ and creativity analysis, you need several engineers. If you assign resources (people) to this task, other engineering work could be delayed. Alternatively, you could hire additional resources, but by the time they were hired and geared up, it could delay this project; besides, there is a hiring freeze in your department.

1. Using a Gantt, Critical Path, or Arrow Diagram, show the project timeline, indicating where resource bottlenecks are likely to occur.
2. Use the Current Reality Tree to uncover the core problem - usually a management policy, procedure, or similar requirement.
3. Use the Conflict Resolution Diagram to demonstrate the conflict, assumptions, and resolution (injection) to "evaporate" this conflict. TRIZ may be useful for resolving the conflict if assumptions on the other arrows cannot be easily evaporated.
4. Use the Future Reality Tree to demonstrate your process improvement. Include positive loop to reinforce sustainable compliance. Trim negative branches to prevent foreseeable failures.
5. Use the Prerequisite Tree to overcome any obstacles.
6. Use the Transition Tree to detail the implementation.

Hint: Look at Critical Chain Project Management materials in classroom slides, articles on CDRom in Media Center, and Goldratt's book.

Extra Credit- 2 points: Show how each of the above tools removes a layer of resistance by senior management.

Presenter will be VP Engineering.

New Lanchester Strategy and Policy Management Fieldwork  (10 pt. assignment)

You are ready to put your business plan into action for your project vehicle. It's time to put together a marketing strategy and to put the whole organization to work to accomplish it.

1. Do a SWOT analysis of your vehicle and your product portfolio.
2. Using the Lanchester formulae, determine who are the players in your market, what are their market shares, whether you are a weak or strong player (or both), your goal and who are your attack targets and competitive targets, based on Lanchester shooting range theory.
3. From 1 and 2 above, as well as your prior vision and mission statements, determine 2 or 3 major new initiatives you are going to engage this next year. These initiatives could include a introducing a new technology, a new level of customer service, a new vehicle for existing market segments, adapting an existing vehicle for new market segments (as identified in Lanchester strategy), a new vehicle for new market segments (as identified in Lanchester strategy), new financing options, new promotional strategy, new dealer strategy, etc. At least one should involve a new product or service, since we will build on this for the QFD assignments later..
4. The CEO should develop a target-means matrix for his "hoshin" policy, and deploy relevant parts of his targets to each department head. The department heads should develop target-means matrices of their own using the CEO's targets plus any critical initiatives of their own, and deploy them to 2-3 of their direct reports.

Hints: Limit targets to 3-5 total. More than that becomes unmanageable. Be sure to show control points and check points in your target-means matrices.

Presenter will be CEO.

Introduction to QFD

There will be no presentation. for this lecture. The assignment is to print the qfd2001notes_b.pdf file in the QFD folder on the CDRom and print and read the bagel_qfd_at_host_7qfds.pdf in the QFD/Case Studies folder. These will be used for the rest of the semester. There are other case studies you might find enjoyable.

Voice of Customer (5pt. + 3 extra credits)

Working with your targeted vehicle and market as determined early in the class and possibly modified after your Lanchester Strategy assignment, we will now attempt to design and build the next generation model. Following the steps in the qfd2001notes_b.pdf materials, we will first develop the "voice of the customer" to understand both their spoken and unspoken true requirements.

1. Determine and prioritize the project goals. These are business objectives, not product requirements.
2. Within your target market segments, identify key sub-segments based on 5W1H in Customer Segments Table. Extra credit (1 point) for creating a Project Goals vs Customer Segments matrix to prioritize customers.
3. Plan to visit at least one gemba. Extra credit (1 point) for creating a detailed customer visit guide.
4. Go to the gemba to capture the voice of the customer using the Customer Process Table. Extra credit (1 point) for using the expanded Customer Process Table or the Voice of Customer Table-1.

Hint: All extra credit materials are in the yellow pages of the COMPREHENSIVE QFD on reserve in the Media Center.

Presenter will be the Car Dealer.

House of Quality (5pts. + 5 extra credit)

1. Sort the requirements in the Customer Voice Table using benefits and features. Translate all feature statements back to the underlying benefits.  Remember, price and reliability are features, not benefits.
   
   1 Point extra credit: Use the full VOCT-2.  ALL QFD EXTRA CREDIT MATERIALS ARE THE YELLOW PAGES OF THE COMPREHENSIVE QFD BOOK ON RESERVE IN THE MEDIA CENTER.
   
   
2. Group the benefits (Demanded Quality items) with an affinity diagram.
   
3. Adjust the DQ hierarchy and look for missing items with the Tree.
   
4. Enter DQ hierarchy in the rows of House of Quality. Check class CD for QFD support software or use MS Excel template.
   
5. Extract Technical (Quality) Characteristics for each Demanded Quality; many will  already be in the features column of the Customer Voice Table in step 1 above. Organize QCs with Affinity Diagram and Tree.
   
   2 points Extra Credit: Use fishbone diagrams to extract QCs, including unit and method of measurement.
   
   
6. Enter same level of the QC hierarchy tree as DQ tree into the columns of the House of Quality. Typically, there are 10-20% more QCs than DQs.
   
7. Do the relationship matrix. Remember to work row by row.
   
   1 Point Extra Credit: Check the relationship matrix (9 Checks) and make any necessary changes.
   
   
8. Survey the market to complete the Quality Planning Table.
   
   1 Point Extra Credit: Determine sample size, create, and use questionnaire.
   
   
9. Prioritize Quality Characteristics, benchmark, and set design targets.

Presenter will be VP Quality.

Kansei Engineering (Max. 5 points Extra Credit)

Improve the emotional appeal of your vehicle by using Kansei Engineering to understand what emotion your target customers want to feel and what design elements at what level of performance create that emotion. Follow the steps in the Kansei Engineering materials in the CD Rom in the Media Center. These should include the presentation materials as well as the excel sheet with the formulae. Follow the pen example or the cell phone example.

1. Interview target customers about their image of themselves and the image they want to show others in their vehicle. Ask them about other things they own or wish they could own that convey that same image. Having the specific target segment is critical.
2. Arrange these feeling with the customers using the affinity diagram. From the headers, develop polar adjective pairs for the Semantic Differential survey. (eg. fast-slow, exciting-boring, etc)
3. Create sketches, photos, samples, etc. of products that share similar design parameters (size, color, etc) at specific performance levels (short-tall, black-white, etc.)
4. Survey customers with items in 3. using the Semantic Differential survey from 2. Calculate mean and enter scores in multiple regression analysis program.
5. Use multiple correlation coefficient to determine which adjective descriptor is best predictor of what image customer wants with product.
6. Use partial correlation coefficient to determine which design element is best predictor of the customer's desired image.
7. Use category quantification to determine what performance level of each design element is the best predictor of the customer's desired image.
8. Show sketch, sample of best combination.

Presenter: anyone. Please include names only of people who participated in this exercise so that they get extra credit.

Beyond the House of Quality: Design Deployments (5 pts + 10ec)

In the Design Planning Table at the bottom of the House of Quality, you should have a few high priority quality characteristics that need some level of improvement. Improvement is achieved by changing the design of the components.

• In a physical product, these components are called subsystems and parts.
• In a service, these components are called processes and tasks.
• In chemical and food products, these components are called ingredients and processes.
• In software, these components are called modules, functions, and objects.

Fieldwork. If the improvement can be achieved with the existing design configuration or architecture, then we can determine which components are most important to redesign by creating a matrix with the quality characteristics, QC weights, and target values in the rows, and the existing components in the columns (bill of materials, tasks, etc.) The output of this "parts deployment" matrix is a prioritized list of components and improved performance parameters needed to achieve the QC target values.

Extra Credit (max. 10 points). If the targets are difficult to achieve by just minor improvements to your current design, some breakthrough level of improvement is required. This may mean new technology, new components, etc. The bridge to breakthrough design is through "function." While we are improving function, why not also look at improving reliability, and checking for manufacturing capability. Follow the step-by-step instructions in Comprehensive Quality Function Deployment for Function Deployment, Reliability Deployment, Capability Deployment, and New Concept Development (Implementation Guide pp. 26-40 + deBono and TRIZ) to create new design concepts for your vehicle. If you are doing a service, you can follow the same steps but use the bagel service examples in the white pages. Be sure to do BATMANs for each new data set.

Presenter will be VP Finance

Implementation: Manufacture and Deliver (5 pts. + 10 extra credit)

Carry your projects through Production or Task Deployment. For products, identify top 2 critical parts, manufacturing steps, and QC Process Chart, including parameters. For Services, identify critical process steps and create Task Deployment Table. 

Extra Credit (10 points max). Create process flow charts for new product/service. Identify system constraints and how to best manage them using Drum-Buffer-Rope (TOC). Make process improvements using TRIZ. Make Process robust to uncontrolled variation using Taguchi Methods. Set up SPC charts for critical-to-quality parameters. Show QI Story or 6 Sigma DMAIC to solve any process problems. ALL QFD EXTRA CREDIT MATERIALS ARE IN THE YELLOW PAGES OF THE COMPREHENSIVE QFD BOOK ON RESERVE IN THE MEDIA CENTER OR COVERED EARLIER IN THE CLASS..

The purpose of this assignment is to assure that the new design will be brought to fruition at the factory floor or point of service. Otherwise, how else will the customers experience the new design.

© 1993-2011 Glenn H. Mazur. Comments may be addressed to glenn@mazur.net