Assessing the impact of quality improvement on production defectiveness: a case study on an automotive manufacturing industry

Abstract

Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE) is a crucial performance metric for manufacturing production efficiency. Since the automotive industry is vital to the economy, growing demand from customers and competition has further increased the need for optimised production through an increased OEE. The study evaluates the volume target affected by quality defects, encompassing calculations of First Time Capability (FTC), and assesses the relationship between the implementation of quality control tools and the contribution of quality losses on OEE in the paint shop of automotive manufacturing plants. The study applies a mixed method, evaluating the various production defects at the paint-shop section of the automobile industry and applying both qualitative and quantitative quality tools in identifying nonconformities. The paint quality was assessed using visual inspection and paint thickness measurement in the range of 4–7 mils using the paint thickness gauge and production data using qualitative tools. A correlational research design was adopted using qualitative and quantitative techniques to determine the correlation between the quality output and the knowledge of quality tools by the focus group in charge of producing and inspecting the painting quality output. The results indicated that the paint shop does not meet the volume targets due to quality defects. The study also showed that approximately 78% of the shop-floor workers at the paint shop section were deficient in the significance of OEE and quality tools to productivity. In comparison, the system has a current OEE of 88.7%. The study further identified missing qualitative strategies and non-compliance with relevant ISO-8504 standards.

Keywords

• Overall equipment efficiency
• nonconformities
• quality defects
• automotive paint-shop
• quality tools
• first time capability