NissanMotorManufacturingUKLimited(NMUL)isUKslargestcarmanufacturingplant

whichislocatednearSunderland.IthasbeenEuropesmostproductivecarplantforthepastseven
years,carsproducedincludetheAlmera,MicraandPrimera.Over70%ofoutputisexportedto55
marketsworldwide.
Simplyproducingcarsisnotenoughtheymustbeofasuitablequality.Toachievethese
NissanusesaTotalQualityManagement(TQM)approach.OutlinethemeaningofTQMawayof
thinkinganddoingthatrequiresanimprovementcultureinwhicheveryonelooksforwaysofdoing
better.TheSunderlandplantishighlyautomatedbutstilltheroleofemployeesiscrucial.Ask
studentshowthefirmcouldmaximiseemployeescontributiontothebusiness.Puttheideasonthe
board.e.g.involvement,delegation,cellproduction,democraticmanagement,suggestionschemes)

Readsection1andanswerthefollowingquestions:
1. WhatmodelsofcararemadebyNissanandhowmanyofeacharemade?
2. WhatisqualityandwhyisqualityattheheartoftheNissanSuccessStory?
3. WhyisTotalQualityManagementmuchmoreeffectivethanendofproductionline
inspection?

WhatisqualityandwhyisqualityattheheartoftheNissansuccessstory?

Qualityisthebusinessprocessconcernedwithmakingsurethatproductionmeetstherequirementsof
theendconsumer.Insimpletermsthegoodsproducedneedtobefitforthepurposestheyare
required,individualcarcustomershaveparticularrequirementswhentheypurchaseacaraquality
carisonethatmeetstheserequirements.AchievinghighqualityenablesNissantobeanefficientand
profitablecarmanufacturer,andofcourse,qualityisnotjustaboutmeetingtherequirementsofthe
endconsumer.EveryemployeeatNissanhasinternalcustomersi.e.employeesthattheysupply(at
thenextstageoftheproductionprocess).Creatinghighqualitythereforemeansmakingsurethat
internalandexternalcustomersarecontinuallysuppliedwithqualityoutputsandproducts.

WhyisTotalQualityManagementmuchmoreeffectivethanendofproductionlineinspection.
Endofproductionlineinspectionchecks,whetherthereareanyfaultsfromtheline,sothatfaulty
componentsorendproductscanbescrapped.However,iftherearenootherqualityproceduresthisis
verywasteful.BycreatingaqualitycultureandTQMallthewaydowntheline,faultscanbe
eliminatedsothattheidealofzerodefectscanbeattained.
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