Whether you are an OEM, or further down the chain, you know that the automotive industry is extremely competitive, characterized by overcapacity. This has led to declining prices and margins on new vehicle sales for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), prompting OEMs to squeeze their Tier 1 suppliers in an effort to retain profitability. Not only have OEMs become more vigilant of their cost structures, they have also significantly improved their ability to negotiate price reductions.

OEMs are insisting on compliance with TS, QS, Q1, and ISO standards. Control Plans, FEMAs, PPAPs, and other documentation are almost as important as making an acceptable product. Paperwork abounds, and there is always another audit just around the corner. And if one bad part gets through, the costs of sorting product on the customer site are much higher than most companies realize. And to top it all off, suppliers are expected to improve the cost base every year, and possibly share any savings with the customer. To survive, you need to achieve cost reductions on a continuous basis.

If it were possible to make the same part, the same way, to the same tolerances every time, life would be easy. But all processes have variation built in, and you need to control and minimize that variation to achieve the reductions in scrap that can quickly eat up your profit margin.

QIC can help by working with you, and providing tools to identify both the extent of the variation, and the root causes. Then QIC can help you put systems and business practices in place to achieve control of your processes, and react quickly to variation before the product is affected. And part of this solution set are the tools to ensure proper and current documentation of all aspects of the business.

Interested in finding out how you can achieve your production, quality, and profit targets; and virtually eliminate expensive and time consuming product sorting?

Click here to find out how you can achieve Achieve More...