Quality and the automotive industry

Quality Categories

The Kano model shows that there are many aspects that the customer associates with product quality. These can broadly be broken down into two characteristics.

• Quality that consists of freedom from defects, protecting the customer from annoyances;
• Quality that meets the customers needs, aspects of the product design that the customer derives value.

The automotive product is a complex system that offers a wide range of opportunities for variation in design and manufacture. It is important with the growing opportunities that focus is still given to both basic quality elements and to the execution of the more advanced attributes, to ensure annoyances are not incurred.

Automotive Quality Dimensions

In the design and manufacture there are many elements of the vehicle that need to be considered. The vast majority of these elements are associated with quality as shown.

Craftsmanship

The customers? perception of the different quality dimensions is significantly affected by craftsmanship, which has been defined as:

Craftsmanship is the perception of quality experienced by a customer, based on sensory interaction and emotional impact.

Craftsmanship must be considered both in the product design and in the manufacturing processes particularly in the following areas:

• Appearance - Internal and Exterior Styling and Execution;
• Features - Content, Tactility and Refinement of Operations;
• Build Quality - Care in Manufacture, Superior Fit + Finish;
• Material - Authenticity and Finish.