Expanding product audit methodology throughout the automotive supply chain to facilitate improvement in craftsmanship during new product introduction

: In the automotive segment, quality and reliability can no longer distinguish a premium vehicle from other automotive brands. Therefore premium manufacturers must compete on the perceived quality that a product exhibits, known as craftsmanship. Craftsmanship is affected by both the level of the design and the ability to conform to that design in the production environment. This means a company's New Product Introduction (NPI) process can have a significant effect upon craftsmanship. Also with more complex design and manufacturing processes being outsourced to the supply base, the relationship between suppliers and the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) is critical to craftsmanship definition and execution. This paper focuses upon how conformance to craftsmanship design can be achieved through the introduction of a common product audit methodology throughout the supply base. The adoption of this methodology was found to achieve rapid part maturation in terms of quality and craftsmanship during the delivery stage of New Product Introduction