Since Asian automakers, with Toyota leading the pack, has been slowly eating up the American market, many American automakers have begun rethinking their design and management strategies.
Chrysler is one of those American automakers that needs to do some rethinking, especially after its Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Nitro last year failed to get the consumers’ attention. But these duds won’t be for long as the company goes Six Sigma.
Chrysler began working with ASI Consulting Group in Livonia about 18 months ago. The firm, which previously worked closely with Hyundai Motor Co. to improve its vehicles, has helped Chrysler use a system called “Design for Six Sigma” to help engineers better determine upfront what features and qualities customers want in new vehicles.
The firm was hired to help “make a cultural change to move that needle to be proactive,” Klegon said. “We’re taking this on as an extreme change in the way we do predictive quality from the standpoint of customers. It’s embedded in our vehicle teams and it’s embedded in our components team.”
Rethinking strategies should be the order of the day for all businesses. Six Sigma or DFSS may or may not do the trick. But it’s a good start. I took a peek at Chrysler cars and they are all beautiful. Why they didn’t hit the mark is a mystery to me.
Source:
Autos Insider, Chrysler rethinks design after duds, a featured link from iSixSigma.
[…] First, there was news about Chrysler adopting DFSS thereby making them more proactive and receptive the what their customers want. […]
[…] I am just surprised that there is no mention of Six Sigma or DFSS, or any other initiative that the company will be going into or will be continuing to weather the storm. […]