Logistics quality initiative taken by Ford Motor

Logistics quality initiative taken by Ford Motor

Introduction

In today's competitive global market there is a stress upon companies to be more competitive by offering better quality products. To achieve better quality companies need to constantly improve their products. Total quality management focuses on improving the quality of a product on a regular basis in order to increase customer satisfaction. TQM helps identify easier and more effective procedures to produce quality products. The focus has now shifted in not just surviving as a company but gaining the number one position by improving products, methods and overall culture of the company. TQM ensures that a company is adopting quality methods focused on increasing quality. In order to further illustrate the value of applying total quality management within a company the Ford motor case study will be analyzed (Viswanathan, 2008).

Discussion

Ford Motors is currently one of the leading automotive manufacturers in the world. The company was found in 1903 and sells commercial vehicles, luxury cars, trucks, tractors and automotive parts. Recently Ford motor has started working with a leading Logistics company Penske which is considered to be a leading logistics company trained in the application of six sigma practices and it recently worked closely with Ford motors to identify key areas within the company that were lacking. Together they identified various areas that were costly, and the inbound carrier also had various discrepancies that could have weighed the company's performance down (Ford, 2012)

Background

Currently Ford Motors owns and produces automobiles under some very prestigious brands; Ford, Mazda, Mercury, Lincoln, Land Rover, Aston Martin and Volvo. They manage an extremely complex manufacturing, assembling, transportation and distribution networks. Ford previously maintained 20 American assembly plants; each plant operated their own logistics operations. The plants were following decentralized approach which even though ensured control ...