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The Current Situation - Reliability & Quality |
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, automobile manufacturers recalled 24.8 million vehicles in the first 10 months of 2004. This number breaks the previous high of 24.6 million recalls set in the entire year of 2000.
Aon Global Insurance Services estimates that the cost for recalling an automobile model can be as high as $250 million – based on transportation charges, advertising costs, storage facilities, the need to inform distributors, etc. They base this estimate on the following figures - an average automotive recall takes about 250 days, and the daily cost of recalling an automobile model is about $1 million.
In an effort to reduce these recalls, the automobile industry is involved in improving product quality, reliability and safety. The Chrysler/Ford/General Motors Supplier Quality Requirements Task Force developed the Quality System Requirements QS-9000. The standard is a harmonization of Chrysler’s Supplier Quality Assurance Manual, Ford’s Q-101 Quality System Standard and General Motor’s NAO targets for Excellence. It is structured according to ISO 9001:1994 Section 4 and includes automotive requirements to the general ISO requirements for a supplier’s quality system.
Automotive engineers are using the FMEA methodology to gain a competitive advantage by improving their product and process quality. Realizing that a weak link in their quality process is controlling supplier quality, the major manufacturers are starting to require that their suppliers meet set quality standards. One method that the major manufacturers use to ensure that their standards are met by the suppliers is by analyzing and reviewing their suppliers' FMEA's.
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