Standardisation of quality testing and inspection tools for product quality improvement in a selected automotive assembly organisation in South Africa

Abstract

South Africa’s quality system in the automotive sector has developed a number of methods, tools and solutions to improve quality processes. The statistically analysed data, obtained from quality tests and inspections, is one of them. Thus, the product quality testing and inspection tools play a significant role in the control of variation in the production process. A good quality system cannot function without adequate quality testing and inspection tools. It has been established that the automotive sector has an abundance of such tools in their production processes, and it is necessary that they are standardised for optimum quality results. Therefore, this study examines the effects of standardising quality testing and inspection tools for product quality improvement in a selected automotive assembly organisation in South Africa. The study was quantitative in design and examined production and related experiences of the automotive assembly organisation that has standardised its quality inspection tools for product quality improvement. The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model, using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse data. The company operates in the eThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu Natal. The study was achieved by collecting pre- and post-quarterly data for spoilage, cost of quality inspection and the external product failure as well as product quality. The results establish that the standardisation of quality testing and inspection tools does not improve product quality in the automotive assembly organisation in South Africa. However, the cost of quality testing and inspection has a relation to product quality resulting from the standardisation of quality testing and inspection tools. This study uncovers the strengths and weaknesses of standardising quality testing and inspection tools for product quality in an automotive assembly organisation in South Africa.