Productivity, Industrial Engineering and Cost Reduction in Automobiles

Value Engineering of Automobiles



2012
https://www.atkearney.com/automotive/ideas-insights/article/-/asset_publisher/LCcgOeS4t85g/content/frugal-re-engineering-innovatively-cutting-product-costs/10192?_101_INSTANCE_LCcgOeS4t85g_redirect=%2Fautomotive%2Fideas-insights


Cost-effective continual re-engineering (or continuous improvement in manufacturing parlance) of a product is the essence of frugal re-engineering.

For example, plastic parts can be redesigned to be made of polypropylene instead of costlier fiber-reinforced plastic, and low-temperature specs can be relaxed for window-channel grease in temperate regions that don't have harsh winters.



2003

NISSAN CONTINUED TO LEAD THE INDUSTRY IN PRODUCTIVITY IN FISCAL
YEAR 2003. ITS PLANTS ARE CONSISTENTLY THE MOST PRODUCTIVE IN
JAPAN, THE US, AND EUROPE. WITH NISSAN PRODUCTION WAY,

The Nissan Smyrna Plant set a new benchmark for productivity in fiscal year 2003, according to Harbour Report North America. The Report noted that the plant, located in Tennessee state and which
produces the Altima, reached the figure of 15.74 labor hours per vehicle—the highest ever in the history of the Report.

In a remarkable seventh year running, Nissan’s Sunderland, UK plant was ranked number
one in Europe, according to the World Markets Research Centre. And Nissan remains the productivity leader at home in Japan.

Productivity alone is not the goal, of course. Through Nissan Production Way (NPW) , the company continues to work towards true Douki-Seisan—a build-to-order system schedule that is synchronized
with the customer’s needs, to provide a higher level of service, more individualized choice, and swifter product production and delivery. The NPW sets out two “never ending” goals: to continuously work for the synchronization of Nissan’s manufacturing with customer needs, and an ongoing
quest to identify problems in the manufacturing process and to put solutions in place.

http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/DOCUMENT/PDF/AR/2003/ar2003_10.pdf


Updated 13 August 2016,  17 June 2015