A report issued by McKinsey & Company predicting trends up through 2020 in the global automotive industry identifies four challenges that will affect the industry’s growth.  With these four challenges in mind, we offer quality solutions that effectively hedge or otherwise prepare those working within the industry.

• Complexity and cost pressure
• Diverging markets
• Digital demands
• Shifting industry landscape

“To capture future growth and find profit from these challenges – and to mitigate their risks – OEMs cannot simply turn to their traditional toolbox. They need to review and adjust their strategic priorities, deploy the appropriate investments and resources, and develop new skills to execute these strategic objectives.”

The automotive aftermarket faces it’s own challenges as well, discussed in detail within the Aftermarket Outlook 2020 report.  According to the report, challenges include:

Are you a Quality Aficionado?

Use the Likert-type scale below to answer the 20 questions, and then total up your score. Download a copy here for a template to write directly on and/or share with your colleagues and friends!

Strongly Disagree>  1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5  <Strongly Agree

1. You notice non-conformances in products when you go shopping. You may or may not speculate what the root cause could be.
2. You notice inefficiencies in the processes of various organizations you interact with outside of work. You often identify how you would do it better.
3. Customer ratings have a significant weight on your personal purchase decision-making process.
4. You notice the word “quality” whenever it’s referenced in a company name or other commercial message.
5. You love data (metrics).
6. You’ve had more than one conversation with family and friends about the importance of quality.

World Trade Month is observed each year in May.  The objective of this recognition is to create awareness, identify trends and drive market opportunities.

World Integrated Trade Solutions offers extensive data related to world trade.  The same site offers interesting visualization options such as the word cloud referenced below.

In a 2015 ranking of the top 20 export countries worldwide via Statista, China ranked first in exports with an export value of about 2.28 trillion US dollars.

As a follow-up to an an article we posted in March, we wanted to go into more specifics regarding on-site supplier verification.

As noted, it’s not always cost effective to do a comprehensive ISO based or general QMS audit for each supplier you’re considering working with. But, there are basic questions looming that you need to make the right decisions…

One option for supplier verification is a basic on-site check.

What you find out:

• Factory information
  • Type of ownership, address & contact information
• Production Capacity (Annual Basis)
  • Category, total capacity, units shipped & % capacity
• Export Markets
  • U.S., EU, South America, etc. & % volume
• Key Clients (Past Year)