LexFather

Nissan creates large staff of quality inspectors
Hans Greimel
Automotive News
August 21, 2008 - 10:53 am ET


TOKYO -- Nissan Motor Co. is boosting the number of quality control inspectors and engineers more than twentyfold to 5,300. The goal is to halve the number of quality complaints on new cars by 2012.

The company's Infiniti luxury brand ranked slightly above average in the 2008 Vehicle Dependability Study released this month by J.D. Power and Associates. But the Nissan brand came in below average and far behind rivals Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.

Little surprise then that quality has emerged as a top issue in Nissan's midterm business plan.

"Quality commitment is one of the three commitments in our GT2012 business plan, and Nissan is putting in a lot of focus and effort to meet our commitments," spokeswoman Pauline Kee says.

As part of the push, Nissan will roll out more quality control training for workers and boost the number of engineers helping suppliers with quality issues to 1,000 from five. Meanwhile, the ranks of engineers certified as quality inspectors will be increased to 4,300 from 250.

Ten directors also have been tapped as quality control heads responsible for any quality breakdowns, the company said. The goal is to catch parts problems earlier.
Nissan is targeting the number of customer complaints logged within three months of a new model's release, the ratio of defective components and the need for repairs.

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

Interesting.

But are Infiniti's problems with engineering quality or build quality? I mean, they can have all the inspectors they want while building a car, but if it was poorly designed with engineering flaws, the problems are much deeper...

speedflex

I would imagine that that's why they are beefing up the number of engineers who work with suppliers.

Big Andy

Infiniti is launching in Europe shortly and in preparation they are paying a great deal of attention to quality. Interior plastics and fitments are being brought up to standard, extra seals on doors will improve wind noise and the engines are being developed further. These improvements will filter back into US spec models as time goes on.

GFerg

Great move on there part. Nissan really lost its way when they merged with Renault, producing some CHEAP vehicles. But, wow I had no idea they dropped so low. Below average?? Thats rough.

UDel

Most quality/reliability problems with cars are from poor engineering and cheap materials not the actual people screwing the car together. There is not too much an auto worker can do to cause a car to have reliability/quality problems these days, if a screw is not put in or something no connected it will easily be seen by someone else or quality control, all wrenches and screwdrivers are electrically torqued and torque the bolt or screw at the exact same setting every time or an error shows up in the process. I have never had an issue with any of my cars that I could narrow down to the autoworker building the car and I have never really heard of anyone having a issue that the person building the car would be directly responsible. It is 99% bad engineering, computer/machine/electronic errors, or cheap/subpar materials that cause quality/reliability issues. Nissan/Infiniti just have to spend more building their cars and focus on quality materials and better engineering to improve quality/reliability.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Well said UDel. Installing a door panel or connecting wiring harnesses isn't rocket science. But if the door panels are installed with cheap crappy clips, it's the engineering/material fault.

speedflex

That's an oversimplification of the process. A car is made of thousands of parts made by dozens of outside manufacturers. Each part has to be built to a certain standard. It's important to make sure the suppliers who make the parts for the car are doing it to your standard. If you involve yourself at the earliest stages of design and manufacture you ensure a higher quality part and if you do this comprehensively then your total product will be better. That's why Nissan is spending the dough on engineers who can work with and have input with suppliers. You do the same thing with your final assembly as well.

You can have a car that's flawlessly bolted together but if the parts it's made of lack integrity then all you have is a well-built car that will fail over time. Just ask VW.

I8ABMR

Thats awesome. I LOVED my G35, but it gave me headaches every now and then and it was annoying to always have to take the car if lame stuff. I like my cars to run perfectly. It just took a little more leg work with an infiniti. I still misss that car. I am happy to hear the news because they do make better drivers cars than lexus and toyota imo ( better brakes, steering feel, dialed suspensions)

flipside909

They finally realized this after all the years of doing the Ghosn Method?

Zephyr

iTrader: (1)

It's funny. Take a whole line that was altered to "appeal to the masses" and look what happens. You generally get some pretty ugly and poor quality vehicles (frontier, sentra, maxima,Titan etc) But then you let the original traditions and don't let the new corporate structure get in the way, you get some good results (350z, GTR).... maybe Nissan should go back to their roots...

LexFather

Got this post at another forum. Is this more a PR move than anything....

Redpaste

iTrader: (4)

Too late. Nissan/Infiniti has lost me FOREVER!

POS G35!!!

I actually kept my first-aid kit from my G35 and was thinking about putting it in my GS for a back-up, but then I realized the first-aid kit will probably make my entire car rattle.

mmarshall

I partially, but not totally agree, UDel. We all know that Nissans and Infinitis, after the much-publicized buyout by Renault, switched to El Cheapo interior/material quality for several years. But, while that made for some rather unpleasant vehicles, it did not necessarily affect their reliability. They continued to remain average or better in reliability until they started building trucks and SUV's at the Canton, MS plant..........THEN is when the reliability of the vehicles from that specific plant took a nose dive other that of other Nissans; virtually to the bottom of the auto industry. THAT specific plant........with the specific machines, tooling, workers, and internal plant operating procedures.........has been the source of most of Nissan/Infiniti quality problems, affecting the vehicles built in that plant.......primarily the Titan, Armada, and QX56. The Nissan/Infiniti cars, including those built just a few miles away at their Smyrna, TN plant, have been quite reliable. Why? Because the Smyrna plant doesn't have problems like they do at Canton. The Canton plant has had big problems since Day One...and they still are not all completely solved.

Is it specifically the workers at the Canton plant? I won't go out on a limb and make a supreme judgement here; it is probably a complex problem. I noted above that machines, tooling, and operating procedures may all play a part, but it should also be noted that MS has a reputation for low education, low income, and unskilled workers.....and, of course, it takes sharp skills to build today's vehicles properly.

<VENOM>

Did you burn oil, you mentioned rattles, how bad was the car if you don't mind mentioning, my Maxima has a squeaky belt whine, needs a new pulley I think, not to happy about making an extra trip to the dealer but whatever, it seems every car I own always has something small go wrong