First Toyota now Honda..whose NEXT to fall (brand damage) because of Poor Quality..but remember they have more than 5,000 car parts suppliers..they are also the culprits!

Do you know actually what is the definition of Quality and all that matters in Quality?

The many Great Gurus of Quality have stated:

Dr.Deming:Quality is delighting the customer.

Dr.Juran: Quality is Fitness for use.

Dr.Crosby:Quality means Conformance to Requirements.

Dr.Kaoru Ishikawa:Total Quality Control is a Thought Revolution in Management

Dr.Imai:Kaizen means Improvement.

and many more quality definitions by Quality Gurus.

Now,beginning this year we hear about Toyota (No.1 Auto Manufacturer in the World) “BIG Quality Problem” and today Ramli read about Honda’s “BIG Quality Problem” and soon maybe more Giant Auto Manufacturers are ready to announce in public their same “BIG Quality Problem” so that this kind of public announcements may “soften the blow” from the market (customers) for any serious quality problems reported or found in the market (customers) or “still in the company’s premises” ie.cars not sold yet to the market.

Ramli once taught Quality Control Circles (QCC) to Malaysia’s Proton car manufacturer based in Shah Alam Plant  and from Ramli’s observation of the factory and office premises plus the Proton People (including Leaders) that is  ” to see with his own eyes,listen with his own ears and sense with his own heart”   Ramli believes a “Quality Car can be made with Quality People” all the time BUT they must adhere to all the teachings of Quality Gurus like  Quality Management Absolutes as described by Dr.Crosby plus Dr.Deming’s “System of Profound Knowledge ” and Dr.Juran’s “Juran Trilogy”

Nowadays because demand is so good and globally the case and supply need to be as fast as possible (afap) or as soon as possible (asap) the great tendency of that “greed factor” will surfaced and thats where ZERO DEFECT become secondary what more 6Sigma (yes,you can telerate 3 defects in a million) also become not important (this is Ramli’s theory need to confirm with all the facts and datas like doing the cause verification in the fishbone diagram study by the QCCs)

Furthermore like PROTON,all major car manufacturers are supported by their car vendors or suppliers which maybe over 5000 of them supplying to the main car manufacturer like PROTON regularly right from the screws,windows,brake pads,car seats,safety belts,air bags,horns,etc…so many actually…normally all the body,painting,assembly of parts and final inspection will be done in the main car manufacturing factory and only after all this are done well with final approval by QC will these completed cars then send to the market either domestically or overseas.Even that their car sales company will also do some standard checking before releasing the cars to the rightful buyers.

So,if you understand QUALITY all the checking you make on the cars your factory produced will not give 100% guarantee that there will be no error or quality problem (customer complaints)

QUALITY MUST BE BUILD AT THE DESIGN STAGE

MAKE QUALITY PEOPLE BEFORE MAKE QUALITY CARS

These are the important quality slogans well worth thinking and acting everyday by all people in your company either you make cars,biscuits or underwears….

What Ramli suggests to World Business Leaders are the following:

1.Study again what is Quality for this 21st Century? And like Juran once remarked “the 2oth century is the century of productivity and this 21st century is the century for quality” maybe what this Quality Guru said is true…

2.Remember “Make Quality People before Making Quality Products” as what Tan Sri Konosuke Matsushita once remarked a long time ago.

3.Always follow the “PDCA” cycle in doing things like Dr.Deming have taught the Japanese Top Mgmt also a long time ago..

4.New thoughts or buzz words are good nowadays but with no strong evidence of R&D,success stories and people building,they must be used with CAUTION not WITH THE WOW FACTOR  since without deep thoughts,research and applications they can become “sleeping volcanoes” and a danger to human lives and business turmoils..

5.and many more…(contact Ramli for details at +6019-2537165 or email: ramlipromoter@yahoo.com)

Ramli have attached the article about today’s news on Honda’s BIG Quality Problem as well as the ongong Toyota’s BIG Quality Problem:

Honda airbag fault fuels Japan’s auto woes

AFP – Thursday, February 11,2010

TOKYO (AFP) – – Honda, Japan’s second-biggest carmaker after crisis-hit Toyota, Wednesday recalled more than 400,000 vehicles to fix airbags that it said can explode and spray out potentially deadly metal shards.

The recall, the third related to the defect since late 2008, includes top-selling Accord and Civic cars sold in the United States and Canada as well as models marketed in Japan, Mexico, Taiwan and Australia.

Honda said the defective airbag inflators could rupture, “resulting in metal fragments passing through the airbag cushion material and possibly causing injury or fatality to vehicle occupants”.

The expanded recall of 437,763 vehicles covers models made in 2001 and 2002, mostly in North America, and also includes family-friendly models such as the Odyssey and CR-V.

Honda said it knew of 12 incidents involving the defect and one fatality, but added that there had been no new reports since last year.

The latest safety recall adds to the woes of Japan’s auto industry, a key export earner of Asia’s largest economy, with Toyota making global headlines over its faulty accelerator and brake systems.

Hans Greimel, the Asia editor of Automotive News, said Honda’s airbag problem was “significant” but said the company was “coming under increased scrutiny now because of the Toyota problem”.

“I think all automakers are coming under pressure because of the increased intricacies and complicated nature of today’s cars,” Greimel said. “There are a lot of electronics in the cars. A lot of things that can go wrong.”

Toyota on Tuesday expanded its global recall to over 400,000 of its Prius and other petrol-electric hybrid models. The world’s biggest car maker has now pledged to fix 8.7 million vehicles worldwide. Related article: Toyota announces mass Prius recall

Toyota dealers in Japan have started fixing software problems that can make brakes slow to respond in the third-generation Prius, the company’s flagship hybrid.

Toyota has also said it is recalling more than 7,000 Camry sedans with power steering problems in the United States, while US authorities say they are “reviewing” complaints about steering problems from Corolla drivers.

Company president Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the Toyota founder, has publicly apologised and plans to fly to the United States soon, where his company faces a congressional grilling and a host of lawsuits. Related article: Toyota boss ‘expected’ to testify in Congress

Angry US consumers and Congress members claim Toyota knew about the dangerous problem of “sticky accelerators” for years but was slow to respond until it was forced into action by federal authorities.

Japan’s centre-left government — which took power last year promising to put the interests of consumers before those of big business — has also ramped up pressure on Toyota, one of Japan’s most iconic companies. Related article: Toyota crisis hits hometown

Transport Minister Seiji Maehara, after publicly upbraiding Toyoda on Wednesday, said he expected the company boss to face Congress if US lawmakers request his presence.

However, Toyota officials in Tokyo said they were unaware of such plans.

A House of Representatives committee in Washington postponed a hearing on the Toyota recalls from Wednesday until February 24, after huge snow storms engulfed the US capital.

The Asahi Shimbun daily reported that a contrite Toyota had turned down an energy efficiency award from the government in light of the recall troubles.

Greimel of Automotive News said that Toyota, a company not used to crises, was enduring a “perfect storm” after looking unstoppable during its rise to global dominance.

“They are having their first operating loss in 70 years. Now their quality has been questioned like never before,” he said. “It is a classic fall-from-grace story.”

What’s YOUR Understanding about Quality & Innovation-Here’s more to read and really understand -ref.American Society of Quality (ASQ)

ASQ Report: Innovation and Quality — A Marriage That Works

Companies Take Fresh Approach to Balance Ideas, Efficiency

Milwaukee, Wis., January 27, 2010 — Despite recent news reports to the contrary, quality processes are not stifling creativity at major U.S. corporations. In fact, some highly profitable companies are using unique approaches to strike a balance between efficiency and innovation, according to a new report released today by ASQ (American Society for Quality), www.asq.org.

In the report, ASQ profiles two major companies—DuPont and Procter & Gamble—well-known industry innovators that have taken steps to fully integrate the creativity-generating functions of R&D and product development with regular process management structures and practices.

DuPont uses a variety of Six Sigma methods as well as Stage-Gate®, a carefully designed business development process that encourages both consistency and speed. The aim is reduced waste in the design, development and commercialization of new products.

“There’s no reason why Six Sigma should hamper innovation—if used properly,” said Liz Keim, past president of ASQ who coaches businesses in quality management. “Companies need to understand that quality process tools aren’t appropriate for all pieces of a job and should carefully analyze where they can best benefit the bottom line.”

P&G maintains that a major driver of its innovation is a unique mix of quality processes that provide structure. Two major examples are Future Works, an organization of multidisciplinary teams that seek innovation opportunities outside of existing business units, and Corporate Innovation Fund, which focuses on high-risk, high-reward ideas.

“More than any other factor, systems are the way we avoid dependence on ‘eureka!’ approaches to innovation,” said Robert McDonald, P&G chief operating officer. “We select innovation projects, allocate resources and ultimately bring the best innovations to market with highly disciplined processes and systems.”

The following are tips for businesses that are working to balance quality processes and innovation:

• Keep things in perspective: Quality is broader than Six Sigma, and innovation is broader than breakthrough invention.

• Innovation occurs in social systems. Treat it like a team sport involving real-life interactions of multitudes of real people.

• Go outside the boundaries of your own organization for innovation insights. Collaborate with customers, suppliers, business partners, and academia.

• Think of innovation not as a series of unrelated eureka moments, but rather as a process—a change process that can be managed with familiar change management and quality management methods.

• Establish a widespread culture of innovation in your organization. And build innovation-enhancing capabilities throughout a customer-centered value stream.

• Challenge the common assumption that innovation is inversely related to structure.  Common knowledge will give you only common results no different than what everyone else is doing.

• Encourage divergent thinking during ideation and convergent thinking during development.

To view the complete report Fresh Thinking on Innovation and Quality, visit www.asq.org/2010/01/innovation/fresh-thinking-on-innovation-and-quality.pdf.

ASQ, (The American Society for Quality) www.asq.org, has been the world’s leading authority on quality for more than 60 years. With more than 85,000 individual and organizational members, the professional association advances learning, quality improvement and knowledge exchange to improve business results and to create better workplaces and communities worldwide. As a champion of the quality movement, ASQ offers technologies, concepts, tools and training to quality professionals, quality practitioners and everyday consumers. ASQ has been the sole administrator of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award since 1991. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., ASQ is a founding sponsor of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a prominent quarterly economic indicator, and also produces the Quarterly Quality Report.

Note:

Ramli also conducts training&consultancy in areas of :

1.WORLD CLASS PERFORMANCE

2.REVOLUSI AKSI (ACTION REVOLUTION)

3.TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM)

4.PROJECT TEAMS LIKE QCC@ICC,KMK@KIK,MQT

5.CORPORATE UNIVERSITY (IN HOUSE U)

6.TEAM BUILDING

7.OTHERS ON REQUESTS…

CONTACT:+6019-2537165 (RAMLI) OR EMAIL: ramlipromoter@yahoo.com

Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ramlipromoter

ZERO Accident -How to achieve?What Pro-Active & Preventive Actions to take?

The recent express bus accident along the Ipoh Highway with 10 deaths and many more injured really make us wonder (at least for Ramli) can we really make our Bus Journey Safe especially when our children travel all the time when they come back for the Holidays from their Universities or Schools away from Home!
LIke my eldest daughter,Nur Amirah she will travel from Kuala Trengganu to Shah Alam everytime there is a U Break for the holidays and the logical choice of travel will be by Express Bus like Trans Natoonal,Sani Express,Mutiara and many other bus express companies.
When I asked her to travel in the morning or daylight for her next trip she still likes to take the night bus bcoz its cooling,beat the traffic jams,can have a good sleep and she knows by Subuh she is already in Shah Alam.However I caution her to travel in the morning for this initial safety measures since night travelling is not yet fully guaranteed when you have bus drivers saying they fall asleep while driving and that coz the accidents like the tragic one in Ipoh recently.How can we tolerate such indiscipline and unprofessional approach towards the driving profession.Can you allow your airline pilots to say the same thing when they take off or wants to land their planes?If they are driving their ownselves then its their life at stake BUT when you have over 40 or even 300+ passengers like the aeroplane then PLEASE make sure all drivers or pilots abide to the strictest rule and discipline of making sure all passengers safety travel are at their best control.
So just to make sure these proactive and preventive mesasures to make TRAVEL SAFE,Ramli have list out some important points (for your consideration and ground and air travel cos safety measures)
Pro-Active & Preventive Measures to make travel safe with almost ZERO Accidents:
1.Drivers must be medically fit and pass the “driver’s safety checks” before allowed to drive their buses.
2.All buses must passed all safety check points based on the Safety Check List
3.Safety clearance must need multiple parties approval and cross checks eg.Driver,Administration Dept,Quality&Safety Assurance Unit Personnel
4.Safety clearance from Road Transport Dept about Today’s Weather and Road Conditions
5.Passengers being brief about what they can do if they witness any wrong doings or improper bus driving by drivers concerned.Can press the STOP BUS ALARM BUTTON if necessary along the journey
6.Install CCTV at all driver’s place to monitor driver alertness,quick response and safe driving at all times of the day
7.Stop Night Time Travel or allow Night Time Travel for only few passengers excluding children and senior citizens.
8.and many more….
Risk Management is good but without discipline and continual improvement in our processes we can “be attack” by sudden problems and can cause great loss to lives,assets and confidence of the people to our products and services.
The airline companies have done very well with their almost ZERO air accidents in as many hundred thousands of flights they do along the year/s and that is because of the strictest measures they impose on airline safety assurance to all airline cos in the world and they do not tolerate for any such infringements or “short cut” measures for safety and quality.
The bus companies like in Malaysia must do the same and only with the strong and determine leadership shown from the Transport MInistry for all matters related to travel safety can we as passengers or commuters be assured that travel is in good safe hands and we can rest n relax in our journey from one point to another all the time.Inshallah.
In Allah SWT we trust our fate BUT all man made errors must be stopped at once and we must achieve ZERO ERRORS in all our work all the time.
To know more about ZERO Defect and its importance,please read Philip Crosby books-He is the ZD Guru after all.
To contact:
Ramli Abu Hassan
hp:+6-019-2537165
email: ramlipromoter@yahoo.com