We know the fact that quality and safety can be called as an important factor for every organization. This happen to Toyota when they were faced with an accelerator crisis after faulty accelerator pedals in some of their vehicles caused the pedals to depress get stuck or cause them to accelerate. This lead to a massive recall and lead to penalties and fines from the US government and consumer confidence diminished. In this presented assignment I will create a cause-and-effect diagram, create a graphic flowchart, create a before-and-after flowchart, I will describe the scope of my process improvement objective, and a revision of my problem statement based on what I learned about my objective by using the diagram and flowchart tools.
Cause-and-Effect Diagram
(
Resistance to
change
) (
Over-production
) (
Inventory
) (
Competitio
n
) (
Waiting /Delay
) (
Errors
) (
Faulty Accelerator
Car
, Death, and a Massive
Recall (Quality
issue
and safety issue
)
) (
Skills
) (
Motion
) (
Machine
) (
Process
) (
Manpower
) (
Environment
)
Information from the fishbone diagram does not seem to point to a certain cause or particular step in the flowchart but it does offer up more ideas to pinpoint the root cause of the problem by looking at the cause and effect relationships and lets you see where any bottlenecks in the process occur. It saves you from solving the problem and not finding out until later that it was only part of the problem. This saves time and resources by getting to the root cause of the problem because you can come up with solutions that enables you to look through the complexities of the problem. The fishbone diagram is literally like the bones of a fish. The head is where the larger issues are and as you go through the fish ending at the tail is the issue that do not have as much of an impact reside.
The fishbone diagram does not conflict with the initial flowchart but it does offer up more solutions then the original flowchart. While coming up with a problem statement, it was about focusing on one area that may have been causing the problem. According to Russell and Taylor (2014), the fishbone diagram allows us to look strategically at a wide range of areas that may be causing the problem.
While analyzing the cause and effect diagram we can able to understand that the quality and the safety of product is not up to the mark. And the process is affected by the different factors such as, unskilled labors and delay in providing quality services. The automobile market changing time to time and the interest of customers is also changing, so in order for gaining the profit the companies has to give more importance to the concept of quality (Imai 2012). In this case we can able to understand that, the company overestimated the demand for the product and it leads to the over –production and affected the quality and the safety of the products.
(
Identify an o
pportunity
)Flowchart Representing the New Process and Methods (
Communication
) (
Standardize the solution
)
(
Analyze the p
rocess
)
(
Develop an optimal solution
)
(
Quality check
)
(
Implement the solution
)
(
Study the results
)
(
Future plans
)
The company can effectively manage the issue by introducing Kaizen principles and practices. The new process of the company mainly focused on the replacement of conventional production methods followed by the company, in which they can integrate the Kaizen principles and practices with TPS that is Toyota production system (Villafuerte 2014). The Kaizen practices will help the company for achieving the competitive advantage, because it enhance the participation of employees and provide an opportunity for understanding various issues associated with the operations. The company can able to introduce effective changes for improving the process with the support of Kaizen (Sui, 2013). It also provide the opportunity to the company for using the cross functional teams for identifying and managing the quality issues and problems. The company has to use effective communication strategies for implementing the new changes in a productive way. Unnecessary activities can be also reduced with the help of Kaizen, and the company can achieve sustainable competitive advantage.
Before-and-After Flowchart Analysis
(
Collecting Raw Materials from suppliers
) The process that was used before the proposed improvements
(
Toyota production systems (Conversion of input to output)
)
(
Outbound Logistics activities
)
(
Recall of Cars
)
(
Customer identify the problem (Quality issue)
)
The process that was used before the proposed improvements
(
Collecting Raw Materia
ls from S
uppliers
)
(
Market share and Profits
Profit
) (
Satisfied customer
) (
Outbound Logistics
activities
)
(
Toyota production systems (Conversion of input to output)
)KAIZEN
KAIZEN
KAIZEN
While analyzing the both diagrams we can able to understand that, the company failed in ensuring the quality and safety of different operations. If the company is introducing Kaizen principles and practices they can able to achieve the organizational objectives in an effective way.
Scope of Process Improvement Objective
While analyzing the aspects we can able to understand that, main cause for the quality and safety issues in the company is related with lack effective of quality and safety techniques and practices. With the support of Kaizen the company able to retain the corporate reputation and gain more profit (Franz 2011). It also provides the option for the company for introducing variety products and services.
Problem Statement
The company failed to introduce the quality techniques and practices, in which it affected the entire operations of the company. The reputation and market share of company declined due to ineffective measures for ensuring the quality for the products (Amasaka 2006, p.127). The company has to focus on a productive practice which helps to attain the sustainable competitive advantage.
References
Imai, M. (2012). Gemba Kaizen: a commonsense approach to a continuous improvement strategy. McGraw Hill Professional.
Liker, J., & Franz, J. K. (2011). The Toyota way to continuous improvement: linking strategy and operational excellence to achieve superior performance. McGraw Hill Professional.
Miller, J., Wroblewski, M., & Villafuerte, J. (2014). Creating a Kaizen Culture: Align the Organization, Achieve Breakthrough Results, and Sustain the Gains.
Russell, R. S., & Taylor, B. W. (2014). Operations and supply chain management (8th ed.). Hoboken, NJ
Sakai, H., & Amasaka, K. (2006). TPS-LAS model using process layout CAE system at Toyota: advanced TPS, key to global production strategy new JIT. Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Systems, 5(02), 127-140.
Shang, G., & Sui Pheng, L. (2013). Understanding the application of Kaizen methods in construction firms in China. Journal of Technology Management in China, 8(1), 18-33.
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