Quality in the automotive industry: striving for excellence with "zero defects"

Quality in the automotive industry: striving for excellence with "zero defects"

It refers to both perceived quality (the aesthetics of parts, the comfort felt in vehicles...), compliance with various technical and regulatory specifications (particularly in terms of safety), execution performance, but also the overall relationship with the customer and consideration of their general satisfaction throughout the lifecycle of the developed products. More than a function, it is a culture of "zero-defect" that involves discipline, daily rigor but also creativity, common sense, and transparency. A daily challenge, as the automobile undergoes its greatest transformation since the invention of the internal combustion engine.

Quality: a fundamental differentiator in our industry
One might think that, for an automotive equipment supplier like FORVIA, only technological innovation allows it to stand out to its OEM clients. However, quality remains a key differentiator in our industry. First, because it is an area (if not the only one) that each player in the sector can still fully control within their scope of action. Then, because the car product is improving and thus becoming more complex - maintaining a uniform level of quality throughout the production process is a real challenge. Finally, because this quality imperative concerns the entire lifespan of the vehicle, far beyond just its manufacture.

For an equipment supplier, this first involves understanding and knowing how to translate the client's requirements into a good product design, that is, a technical design of parts and manufacturing processes that perfectly meets the OEM's standards and expectations in terms of perceived quality – sometimes integrating, for the same part (and without affecting securities or solidity attributes), two levels of aesthetic finishes depending on the range of vehicles developed by the OEMs. And all this, from the first try! Hence the need to rely, from the innovation phase, on a solid foundation of standards from which developments will be made.

It also involves building a robust industrialization process using standards and simulation, to succeed in the crucial phase of launching mass production – a pivotal moment in our industry where Quality processes take on their full meaning. The challenge is then to succeed in manufacturing hundreds of thousands of parts each day over time, with a minimum of waste (defective parts as well as technical waste) to reduce our environmental impact and costs, in sites with very diverse specialties. This requires in-depth expertise in engineering and logistics, as well as rigorous application of all procedures, both internally and with our suppliers.

Achieving excellence in quality finally involves following the product throughout its life, through an in-depth customer relationship that allows problems to be resolved as soon as they are detected. At FORVIA, we have thus developed the 5Star application, to get direct and almost immediate feedback from our clients throughout the program's lifecycle.