Design Quality: Learning from the Mistakes of the US Auto Industry

By JAKE

TRUEMPER

@trump29

• Like the Internet boom of the

„90s, automobile manufacturing

was exploding on the scene.

• As many as 3,000 firms

organized to produce autos.

• Big three of the early 1900s

were Olds, Ford & Cadillac.

• Henry Ford‟s first two ventures into

auto manufacturing didn‟t stick.

• One of those two ventures, The Henry

Ford Company, became Cadillac,

which became a central part of

General Motors.

• Massive influence on industry

thinking.

Hi, I’m

Henry.

• While many competitors focused on

high-end cars for the rich, Ford

focused on lowering prices, and

increasing sales by way of

productivity improvements.

• Accessibility tactic: Internet

Explorer, Windows, Android

• Ford also put much of the company

profits into innovations.

Everyone

should totally

get one of

these things

• Ford product diversity is minimized

in order to maximize production

efficiency.

• Workers are paid well.

• Roaring „20s… life is good.

• Find a new frontier

• Saturate the market

• Stay on top

• Ford technology gets stale.

• GM grabs market share.

• 1929, Stock market crash, hello

great depression.

• Henry Ford gets flaky, Ford Motors

struggles.

• 1941, WWII saves Ford‟s butt.

• PRODUCE, PRODUCE, PRODUCE!

• 1950-1967 was a good time for the

big three US auto manufacturers.

• Small manufacturers went bankrupt.

• Any overseas competition had been

bombed to irrelevance.

• Emphasis on cost cutting to

maximize profit.

• Focus on large vehicles due to

higher profit margin.

• Japanese imports soared.

• US consumers were willing to wait

for Japanese cars with Japanese

engines.

• Reliability was far superior to US

autos.

• US‟ Big Three suffer from chronic

over-production, and failed to

foresee consumer demand for fuel

efficient cars.

• American statistician and quality

guru, W. Edwards Deming.

• Previously worked for the US

Department of Agriculture, Bureau of

the Census, and taught statistics at

Stanford.

• Influenced by Walter Shewhart.

• “Quality can be improved only if top

management is part of the solution.”

• 1950, Deming goes to Japan.

I did it!

• June through August Deming met with

hundreds of Executives, Engineers,

Managers, and scholars to teach his

quality philosophy.

• Told the Japanese that they could

capture the markets of the world by

learning to produce quality goods for less

effort and materials.

• “Continuing information going into the

system to improve it and the product.”

• Today Deming is a well regarded national

figure in Japan, and the Deming prize

was founded in his honor.

• While US manufacturers were

focused on price, the Japanese

focused on Quality.

• By applying his techniques,

Japanese manufacturing reached

previously unheard of levels of

productivity.

• Japanese cars became synonymous

with thoughtful design and reliability.

2001 Consumer Reports

• American and European vehicles had 21

problems per 100 vehicles.

• Asian manufacturers: 12 in 100.

2002 Consumer Reports

• Toyota: 10 in 100

• Honda, Hyundai: 11 in 100

• Chrysler: 20 in 100

• Ford: 23 in 100

“Create constancy of purpose towards

improvement of product and service…”

• Establish focused goals of satisfying the

customer.

• Base decisions on long-term focus of the

organization, not short-term performance

measures.

User-centered thinking can be achieved

through integrated teams This is where Apple and

Google really succeed

“Adopt the new philosophy.”

• Everyone is responsible for adopting the

new philosophy, from low-level worker to

top management.

• … but especially top management.

Communicate to your entire company who the user is

and design with that user in mind – try User Personas

“Cease dependence on inspection to

achieve quality.”

• Quality should be designed into products

and processes.

• Inspection adds nothing to the value of a

product and consumes resources.

• Prevent Defects instead of detect them.

Conduct iterative user testing early

and often, prior to development and

throughout Catching problems early means

significantly less rework later

“End the practice of awarding business

based on price tag.”

• Try to move to a single supplier in order

to insure quality consistency.

• Eliminate suppliers that cannot prove

quality.

Don’t be Ford, cutting costs wherever possible

while your competitor is improving quality Don’t create silos with a wide variety

of partners

“Improve constantly and forever the system

of production and service, to improve

quality and productivity, and productivity,

and thus constantly decrease costs.”

• To remain competitive always seek to

better products and services.

Innovate, don’t rest on your laurels

Invest time in creative thinking – try

lots of ideas, validate with users

“Institute training and retraining.”

• Everyone is an important link in quality.

• Bring in people to teach design to all

levels, because everyone in the process

matters.

Don’t pretend to be an expert in

something you’re not trained on

Take UX training, get involved in user testing Don’t be cheap

“Institute leadership.”

• A leader‟s aim should be to help people

do a better job.

• Leadership isn‟t supervision.

• Bring in experts that can be thought

leaders.

• Focus not on productivity, but quality.

• “Do your best, continually seek to

improve that best, look out for the people

you are responsible for, and recognize

that everyone is in this together.”

“Drive out fear, so that everyone may work

effectively for the company.”

• Open two way dialogue.

Dialogue should be open between a company

and the end user as well, whether that user is

internal, end-customer, or b2b

“Break down barriers between

departments. People in research, design,

sales, and production must work as a team

to foresee problems of production and in

use that may be encountered with the

product or service.”

• Create common purposes and values.

• Each department should serve not

management but other departments that

uses it‟s outputs.

Put developers, designers, and UX pros in the same room, all excited about

creating an engaging experience, and you’ll come up with some great ideas that

are far more likely to become a reality than departments in silos

“Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and

targets for the work force asking for zero

defects and new levels of productivity.”

• All these create adversarial relationships.

• Poor quality is caused by the system, not

the work force.

• Eliminate unreasonable expectations.

Unreasonable expectations are far more likely

to demotivate than motivate, so create

reasonable timelines

Allow time for vetting creative ideas, there has to be time

dedicated to ideation if a company is going to innovate

“Abolish numerical quotas for the workforce

and numerical goals for management.”

• The responsibility of managers must be

changed from sheer numbers to quality.

• Numerical quotas are useless without

processes that emphasize quality.

“Remove barriers to pride.”

• Eliminate performance reviews and merit

systems

• These barriers to pried cause

competition and short-term results.

“Institute a vigorous program of education

and self improvement.”

• Even in areas not directly job related.

“Put everybody in the company to work to

accomplish the transformation.”

• The transformation is everyone‟s job.

http://linkedin.com/in/jaketruemper

THANKS!

@trump29

[email protected]

314.881.1900 [email protected]