Effects of Using Combined Approach of Quality Circles and 7 Steps Method in Automotive Industry. A Case Study

Quality is strictly regulated in any industry, but an extra attention is paid to the automotive field. Thus, quality control is needed to keep costs down, to identify problems before a piece or product is delivered and to ensure they are safe for man’s use.

This paperwork presents a case study from automotive industry, of applying a combined approach of both Quality Circles and the 7S Methodology to reduce the number of claims and improve quality, highlighting the importance of establishing the quality circle in production factories and the effects of the implementation. A systemic outlook and an appropriate involvement support the company’s continuous improvement efforts.

The introduction presents general information on the quality circles and its advantages, and besides gives an insight on the seven steps tool. Going forward, the step-by-step combined approach of the mentioned tools are described, showing in parallel the evolution of the implementation in an automotive respectable company. The paper ends up with the formulation of conclusions regarding the deduced effects.

Keywords

• 7 steps

• Automotive industry

• Quality circles

• Quality