Dong Bing, Liang Rong, Guan Bing, Xue Jiang, Shang Ying
(SAIC General Motors-Wuling Automobile Co., Ltd., Chongqing Branch, Chongqing 400120)
Summary:based on the increasing application of the IATF 16949 quality management system standard in automotive enterprises, our coating workshop has thoroughly studied and implemented the relevant requirements and methods of IATF 16949, combined with the workshop's current situation, to optimize the overall quality management of the workshop from aspects such as organizational environment identification, knowledge management, and effective communication. This has enhanced the workshop's overall quality management capabilities, providing a guarantee for producing high-quality and stable products.
Keywords:IATF 16949; Organizational environment; Knowledge management; Effective communication; Change management
1. Quality Management Requirements for Painting Workshops
Our painting workshop, one of the four main production processes, involves priming, bonding, sanding, coating, and finishing operations. Currently, the workshop's quality management is primarily based on the Global Manufacture System (GMS), with detailed requirements established for personnel involvement (PI), standardization (STD), shortening production cycles (SLT), manufacturing quality (BIQ), and continuous improvement (CI), ensuring stable quality in the manufacturing process. With the ever-changing market demands, the workshop produces 5 different models, and its annual production has increased to over 300,000 units. To meet the increasingly stringent product quality requirements of the market and adapt to the constantly changing production environment, the workshop needs to continuously optimize its quality management system, and implement more comprehensive, stringent, and efficient requirements to manage the production process, in order to achieve the goal of high-quality and efficient output.
The IATF 16949:2016 standard, released on October 1, 2016, promotes the use of "process-based approach + risk-based thinking + PDCA" models to effectively leverage opportunities and prevent unexpected outcomes, thereby improving organizational effectiveness and efficiency, and meeting customer requirements and enhancing customer satisfaction. This philosophy perfectly aligns with the need for optimizing quality management in painting workshops. Therefore, implementing the requirements and methods of the IATF 16949 quality management system to optimize and improve the quality management of painting workshops is both feasible and necessary.
2. Optimizing Quality Management in the Painting Workshop
2.1 Enhance the recognition of the construction environment.
based on GMS requirements, the existing quality management system in the painting workshop primarily distinguishes between internal and external organizational environments. Specific requirements and management procedures have been established for the internal environment, while the external environment has only been superficially identified and confirmed, without further in-depth analysis and management.
According to IATF 16949 requirements: The organization should identify the various internal and external factors that affect its ability to establish and maintain a quality management system and its results, which are related to its mission and strategic direction. The organization should monitor and assess this information regarding internal and external factors. In simpler terms, the organization needs to: 1) Identify and document the relevant internal, external, positive, and negative factors affecting the organization; 2) Ensure that the established quality management system is suitable for the identified internal and external environmental factors; and 3) Monitor and assess information related to these environmental factors and make improvements as needed.
based on these requirements, a comprehensive evaluation and management checklist for the workshop environment was developed through brainstorming. This checklist, specific to the workshop, is listed in Table 1. The management procedures for the painting workshop environment have been further improved, covering aspects such as impact type, impact importance, monitoring frequency, and monitoring methods, to ensure a better match between the workshop's quality management system and identified environmental factors. As a result of the improved environmental management procedures, negative environmental factors in the painting workshop had a significantly reduced impact on quality in 2019.
2.2 Leverage knowledge management advantages
based on IATF 16949's requirements regarding an organization's knowledge, such as "the organization shall identify the necessary knowledge," "this knowledge shall be maintained," and "the organization shall review existing knowledge to determine how to obtain or access further necessary knowledge and knowledge updates," the painting workshop has optimized its previous approach of focusing on knowledge management over communication, primarily by: actively expanding knowledge acquisition sources, including internal sources (such as intellectual property, knowledge and experience gained from problem-solving) and external sources (such as standards, academic exchanges, and professional conferences); establishing a comprehensive knowledge training and update review mechanism to ensure that organizational knowledge is readily available to all while ensuring that the organization can promptly update and innovate its knowledge to meet evolving needs and trends.
By optimizing the knowledge management system, we maximize the benefits of knowledge management, ensuring the smooth operation of the painting workshop while also promoting organizational growth and preventing knowledge loss due to personnel turnover. This creates a positive environment for continuous growth and development.
2.3 Emphasize the importance of effective communication
As production output increases and the number of product types and quality management meetings grows, effective communication becomes increasingly important due to the frequent changes in communication partners and the uncertainty of communication content. In accordance with IATF 16949 requirements, clarifying what, when, who, how, and who should communicate is essential for establishing effective communication. After collecting all quality management-related meetings (as listed in Table 2), the coating workshop should review and evaluate the effectiveness of the communication, focusing on the purpose, content, and scope of communication, as well as the communication partners. This ensures that the meetings are efficient and practical, and that the communication is reliable.
By carefully managing the frequency and content of communication regarding quality management meetings, we have significantly reduced the time wasted on communication, improved the previous situation of "communication without results," and freed up more time for on-site personnel to address and resolve site issues, thereby improving product quality.
2.4 Enhanced Change Management
After completing this step, ensure that all changes are approved and documented, so that all approved changes are implemented and all relevant information is recorded, allowing all relevant personnel to be promptly informed of the changes. Through this management process, changes on site are better controlled, reducing the impact of uncontrollable factors on site quality, and ensuring stable quality output.
3. Conclusion
In the increasingly mature automotive market with constantly evolving customer demands, continuous in-depth study of industry guidelines such as IATF 16949, coupled with the continuous improvement of on-site quality management requirements, is essential to ensure stable and controlled manufacturing processes, achieve excellent product quality, and meet and exceed customer expectations. This, in turn, will further enhance the competitiveness of the enterprise.
(Please refer to Modern Coatings & Coatings, Issue 3, 2020)