Some business improvements involve a giant leap forward. An example of this would be the
development of a revolutionary new product such as the bicycle or, more recently, the iPod or modern
wind turbines to create green energy. However, of more importance to most businesses is ongoing small
step improvement. Leyland Trucks continually makes improvements to everything it does based on the
Japanese principle of Kaizen. Leyland Trucks manufactures trucks under the DAF brand in Leyland near
Preston, Lancashire. As well as production in the UK, DAF manufactures in Eindhoven in Netherlands
and Westerlo in Belgium. Leyland and DAF are both part of the North American company, PACCAR
Inc.
In 2006 DAF’s three manufacturing plants in Europe, including that at Leyland, produced a record
56,700 trucks of between 7.5 and 44 tonnes (the heaviest vehicles on the road). One in every four trucks
sold in the UK is by DAF. New truck registrations in Europe were almost 268,000 in 2006 and DAF
currently has a 15% share of this European market. The current business objective is to increase the
market share to 20%. Without doubt, when a company wants to achieve its objective, it needs to have a
plan to get there this is termed the strategy.
DAF’s strategy for Leyland to achieve this objective has two main elements: (a) continuous
improvement (b) increasing production capacity from 18,000 to 25,000 units. In the pursue of its
achievement of the objectives highlighted above, Leyland has just appointed you the Operations and
Quality Director to oversees the successful implementation and accomplishment of the new strategic
direction. As a first step towards this direction, you have been directed to prepare a detailed report to be
submitted to the management board explaining certain areas of quality management. This report must be
word processed and should be between 3500 and 4000 words and must cover all the areas identified
below if you must achieve a pass for the module. The report must also show significant evidence of
academic theory and critical examination of any point and ideas that may be put forward by you. Define the term “quality” and explain this definition in terms of business
providing manufacturing products, and also those providing services. Your
work must be supported with examples and be justified
Discuss in detail, the process you will put in place to ensure adequate
inspection of product or service quality and assurance to the company’s
customers.
Task 3
(Assessment criteria 1.3)
You should identify and discuss in detail the range of approaches you will
adopt or follow in order to ensure a robust management of quality in the
organisation.