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CONTENTS:
· Introduction and Objectives
· Applied Methodologies
· Main Body of the Project
· Case Video File Analysis
· Further work needed
· References
INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES:
A key aspect of the developement and marketing of any product is to ascertain
and understand customer needs. By applying a Total Quality Management (TQM) approach, Virtual-TQM will utilize
CORA (Component Oriented Requirements Analysis) in an effort to identify and assign various levels of importance
pertaining to customer needs and wants. This approach will enable Virtual-TQM to satisfy customer requirements.
APPLIED METHODOLOGIES:
Component Oriented Requirements
Analysis or CORA will be the primary focus of the applied methodology. This approach
will be utilized in conjunction with Quality Function Deployment (QFD) as a means to control all facets of the concept to
market lifecycle to avoid a lack of synchronization between customer and manufacturer.
This analysis will enable the service provider or manufacturer to concurrently engineer product/processes with the
aim of meeting the customer needs. The QFD approach will assist in design of
the product and will ultimately result in a product that meets the customer requirements.
In effect the customer is part of the design team. By defining, identifying
and prioritizing one can correlate the needs of the customer to efficiently engineer the process/product. This team effort,
also known as (TOPS) or Team Oriented Problem Solving method involves customer feedback as a means of steering the design
and manufacture of a particular product.
MAIN BODY OF THE PROJECT:
The CORA spreadsheet effectively displays solutions to TQM requirements. The analysis relies on customer requirements and feedback and the concurrent engineering/software solutions
that will be utilized to address them. In order to quantify the above, correlation
values are set in the CORA matrix: 1, meaning 'low level correlation', or 3, meaning 'medium', or 9, meaning 'high level correlation'.
These values could be subject of discussion, therefore should be determined as part of a CORA Team activity.. The ratings will correlate the level of CORA and QFD. The
CORA methodology also assesses and gives Absolute Importance ratings to competing companies and is weighed against Virtual-TQM’s
abilities to ensure that a measure of criticality is kept in check and that our customer rating is continuously higher than
our competitors. The ultimate goal in utilization of these methods will ensure
we maintain a positive rapport with our customers and that we maintain a level of capabilities above our competitors.
CORA SPREADSHEET https://wnordling.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/NordlingCORA_TemplV5.xls
The analysis of the CORA spreadsheet shows that customer needs and subsequent engineering
responses result in a high absolute and relative importance ratings. Virtual TQM's commitent to its automated packaging
lines result in a better overall product rating in comparison to competitors. Not suprisingly the customer feedback
shows high ratings on average.
CASE VIDEO FILE ANALYSIS:
As
part of this exercise four full length video files were viewed and assessed to determine how each company approaches Total
Quality Managent with an emphasis on quality requirements. The following contains a question and answer approach to
each respective companies video file.
Q: What quality requirements might AISIN-AUTO clients have?
A: AISIN-AUTO is a company that specializes
in automobile parts that are modular by design and are made to fit various automobile models.
The company specializes in drive trains along with chassis, body and engine components for primarily Japanese auto
makers. The need for precision parts is crucial in that these parts must have
the ability to be integrated with various manufacturer designs. Their clients stake
their repuatation on parts supplied to them by AISIN. The components must be reliable, safe and have the ability to
be integrated into their own design.
Q: How does AISIN reduce
variability with their products to meet quality requirements?
A: The collaboration
between AISIN and the auto makers is driven by customer needs and wants. In order
to be successful, AISIN caters to the globalize auto industry by standardized modules.
Innovative design results in attractive components that can be incorporated in a multitude of automobiles and therefore
gives them greater exposure. There overall design incorporates simplicity
and effectively minimizes defects. The simplistic and standardized design approach
maximizes their products compatibility with that of their clients. Their
design approach also uses similar technology applications to assist in collaborative efforts with their clients.
Q: Does AISIN collaborate with clients in the design
of their components to meet the clients expectations and quality requirements?
A: AISIN works closely with their clients engineering
groups in the design phase. This reduces wasted effort that might not meet the requirements of their clients.
The interaction affords AISIN the luxury of knowing exactly what the clients requirements are.
Q: Does newer technology drive the quality requirments
of companies and how does AISIN meet that demand?
A: AISIN interacts with many companies within the automobile
industry and is constently aware of newer technologies that would lend itself to a higher quality product. Car manufacturers
are always looking to design and build a higher quality product. AISIN is aware of this and incoroporates nice
to haves into some of their products. They offer things such as self leveling headlamps that can regulate light intensity
ot prevent glaring effects. Headlamps are a technology has been around to the early days of automobile manufacture
and they continually find ways to improve upon it.
Q: What quality requirements must AISIN be conscious
of with respect to the integration of their components to the industry as a whole?
A: AISIN approaches this by development of modular components.
The standardized components can be fitted to many different car makers designs. They minimize the size with increased
precision. This translates to compact components that are easily installed. Replacement parts are easier to find
as they do not have individualized designs.
Q: What are some of the quality requirements that California Motors provides to their customers?
A: California Motors incoroporates requirements of their customers into there designs. One of their primary customers
is the military for example. The designs focus on functinality and not necessarily aesthetics. The vehicles they
produce are of rugged construction and are built to withstand the rigors of everyday use by military personnel. The
emphasis is put on vehicle that are non-tacttical with predominant use for base operations.
Q:
What are some of the requirements to mimize impact of California Motors prototypes
with respect to the environment?
A: California
Motors has designed a prototype that has a greater fuel efficiency
than a typical mitilitary vehicle. Its almost scooter like and serves as a means transport individual personnel around
the base. A requirement is that it provides rapid transport. It comes in a hybrid form, and can
utilize various fuel sources such as diesel and electric.
Q:
What are some of the requirements to mimize varibility with components?
A: California
Motors concepts are simplistic by designed. The components can be mass produced keeping the price down
which is a major factor that most companies attempt to achieve. By mass producing it also ensures that the
components are easy to obtain.
Q:
What are some of the quality attributes that California Motors builds into their
product with respect to the operator?
A: Ingress and egress to the vehicle
is a critical requirement for a military vehicle. One of the complaints against traditional military vehicles like the
Humvee is that it takes some effort to get in and out of. The designs incorporated large door openings that allowed for
greater mobility for the operator.
Q: What are some of the quality requirements that California Motors takes into account with familiarity of ther
product to military personnel?
A: The company had also focused on a design
components that many personnel were familiar with. This often overlooked detail
reduces the learning curve in terms of maintenance of the product. Interchangeable
parts are readily available and in some instances already on hand. This eases
the compatibility of the newer prototype with that of vehicles already in use. The
end user feedback is a testament to their ability to identify with their customer and to incorporate that into their design. Another important factor is that their designs are not limited to military vehicles. Minor changes to their design allow the flexibility to transform their product to
something that may be more civilian friendly.
 COGNEX-VISION is a company that caters to the manufacturers of products. COGNEX
utilizes vision systems to accurately inspect parts to ensure that the product meets specific requirements set forth by the
manufacturer. Identifying defects during the manufacture ring phase ensures that
the consumer is receiving a quality product. The feedback that is received during
the inspection phase is utilized to aid in the design of specific products to alleviate future defective parts. These vision systems can perform more than one task to ensure quality guidelines are adhered to. They can be used to gauge physical dimensions such as measuring tolerances and distances of certain features
on their product. They can assess weather or not defects are present. Robotic guidance can assist in programming the vision systems to look for specific quality attributes. The vision system can also be utilized for identification of a product so that it
knows allowable dimensional characteristics of the product. A link to statistical
based software is also used to spot flaws in a process before parts are even made. The
capabilities of these devices is unique in that three dimensional attributes can be measured.
The DucatiStarKawa video was not necessarily about an individual
companies product but more about the affiliation of multiple companies coming together to form a unique quality product. Each of the companies were represented by their respective products and each contributed
its specific quality attribute to the overall product. In doing so the collaboration
of all of the components resulted in a product that would not necessarily be as successful without the other. Each company was recognizable for their specialty components. The components not only functioned at optimal performance but also were attractive
to the consumer. The components served a dual function; high performance characteristics
and eye appeal, two desirable attributes in any product. The video also showed breakthroughs that differ from traditional technology such as belt drives for the
motorcycles. The various styles showed that the consumer selectiveness is taken
into account. The racing bikes were designed primarily for speed and handling. The cruising bike was designed for comfort and was showier with the incorporation
of graphics. The quad obviously designed for off-road use had exemplified toughness
and durability. The design of each is ultimately driven by the end user and is
specific to the environment in which they will be used. The overall concept is
similar with the add-ons and specific designs making each one unique.
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