A New Approach to Improve the Design Quality of Chinese National Brand Vehicle

Abstract

With the rapid development of China’s automotive industry, improving the vehicle design quality has become a serious challenge to the Chinese OEM’s. Using some effective quality analysis tools and methods, this paper demonstrates how to convert customers’ subjective demands into feasible engineering design solutions; thereby improving vehicle design quality. The paper also explores how to predict achievable design quality targets for vehicle development. A new approach is proposed for design quality improvement of Chinese national brand vehicles. JD Power quality evaluation methods have identified the major differences subjectively between Chinese national brand vehicles and international (JV) brand vehicles. But, the identified issues need to be classified into specific engineering design quality problems. By means of a competitive benchmark analysis, specific customer issues can be analyzed and ranked. Then, DFMEA, QFD and other technical tools are used to prevent the occurrence of vehicle design quality defects. Furthermore, the solvable and unsolvable design quality problems are summarized and counted during early design stages. The vehicle design quality targets are accordingly predicted and precisely set up. Through the methods mentioned above, many design quality problems that have occurred in previous vehicle programs can be solved, and the quality targets for new vehicle development programs can be predicted at an early stage. This systematic approach minimizes potential shortcomings of a vehicle design and development process which is traditionally based on individual engineer’s experience. Young and relatively inexperienced engineers are provided with a clear process for avoiding future design quality problems. Implementation of such a product development process provides a new approach that can rapidly improve the design quality of Chinese national brand vehicles.