04 Task Performance 1 1
04 Task Performance 1 1
04 Task Performance 1 1
Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK Limited (NMUK) is the UK's largest car manufacturing plant which
is located near Sunderland. In terms of the number of cars produced annually for every person employed,
it has been Europe's most productive car plant for the past seven (7) years.
This achievement is no accident. It was designed and planned for from the outset. This case study
looks at some of the key elements that have contributed to Nissan's success.
NMUK handles all aspects of the manufacturing/assembly of the Primera, Micra, and Almera ranges:
By the end of 2003, NMUK produced 331, 924 vehicles, over 70% of this output was exported to
55 markets worldwide.
Aside from NMUK, Nissan operates four (4) other UK sites.
Nissan Design Europe (NDE) supports design teams responsible for aspects such as color and trim
design, digital design, modeling, design strategy, and communications. The main focus is on
design for the European market, but this Nissan sub-division also contributes to global design.
Nissan Technical Centre Europe (NTCE) is in Cranfield. This is a center of excellence for the design
and development of vehicles for Nissan's European operations. NTCE is part of Nissan's worldwide
network of development centers (in Japan, USA and Europe). Each center focuses on cars
prepared for specific markets; Cranfield concentrates on European customers' requirements.
Nissan Motor (GB) Ltd (NMGB) is the sales & marketing division for the UK. In ten years the
company has sold over 1 million vehicles to UK buyers. The product range caters for different
consumer needs, and includes:
o Micra (small, economical town car)
o Almera, Tino (medium sized multi passenger vehicle: MPV)
o Primera (saloon, hatchback and estate)
o X-TRAIL, Terrano, Patrol GR (4 X 4 vehicles)
o A complete range of Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV) - Kubistar, Primastar, Interstar, Terrano
Van, Cabstar and Pickup.
Lutterworth Parts Distribution Centre is the Alliance (Nissan and Renault) parts distribution and
storage facility which delivers over 135,000 parts per week to Nissan and Renault dealerships
throughout the UK and Southern Ireland.
Production
At NMUK, the production flow draws on three main production shops, as well as support areas. The
three main shops are:
Body assembly
Painting
Final assembly
Widely different processes generate different jobs across three (3) main broad areas.
The machinery is scheduled to work at a given level although when demand requires it; there is
flexibility in regard to both the machinery and the workforce of 4,300. At the moment, with a two-shift
pattern, NMUK has a total production capacity of around 360,000 units/year - a third shift can be
introduced which would take production up to 500,000 units/year if and when required.
Flow Production
Nissan's Sunderland plant is technically highly advanced. It uses sophisticated robotics and
computer integrated manufacturing techniques to create a carefully monitored production process that
reduces errors to an absolute minimum. Automated machines can only do so much however; the human
element remains vital. Organizing an effective flow of production at Nissan has involved developing a way
of doing things and an attitude towards work based on giving responsibility to employees at every step.
This approach raises employees' morale, and reduces absenteeism, which could severely impact on
continuous flow production.
Nissan expects and requires its employees to become multi-skilled decision makers. Most
employees also want that for themselves. Reaching that goal involves:
Training employees to develop their skills
Encouraging them to make decisions
Organizing employees into participative teams
Developing open-channel, multi-directional communication systems
Placing quality at the heart of flow production
Flexible working practices
Providing the employee variety within his/her role.
The open communication policy includes daily face to face meetings between management and
employees, a company council, employee surveys, and employees having ready access to the company's
intranet system.
TQM is an ongoing process; a way of thinking and doing that requires an 'improvement culture' in
which everyone looks for ways of doing better. Building this culture involves making everyone feel their
contributions are valued and helping them to develop their capabilities.
Just-in-time technology
With a just-in-time approach, specific vehicles and their components are produced just-in-time to
meet the demand for them. Sub-assemblies move into the final assembly plant just as final assemblers
are ready to work on them, components arrive just in time to be installed, and so on. In this way, the
amount of cash tied up in stocks and in work-in-progress is kept to a minimum, as is the amount of space
devoted to costly warehousing rather than to revenue-generating production. Nissan's just-in-time
process depends not on human frailty but on machine precision.
Every vehicle is monitored automatically throughout each stage of production. A transponder
attached to the chassis leg contains all of a vehicle's production data e.g. its required color, specification,
and trim. This triggers sensors at various points along the production line thus updating the records.
When, for example, the transponder sends a message to the production system at a supplying
company to produce a seat in a particular color and trim, this triggers the relevant response and a seat to
the required specification is produced. Further along the production line the specifically produced seat
arrives to meet the vehicle to which it belongs - just in time.
Conclusion
Productivity levels at Nissan's plant in Sunderland, and the quality of final production there, have not
happened by chance or good fortune. They stem from an all-embracing approach to a production process,
designed to bring out the best in both people and machines. It continues to be conspicuously successful.
1. Enumerate and describe, with examples, which critical components of total quality management did
Nissan use in its operations.
2. Research on Nissans vision and mission. How did they incorporate these in the company?
3. What are the core values that can be seen in Nissans total quality management? Use examples to
defend your answers.
4. Describe how Nissan used just in time management to ensure quality in its products.
The answers to the case must be typewritten, double-spaced, on short bond paper. Use
Calibri, Times New Roman, or Arial font, with font size 12.