Track: Quality
Abstract
Company X, based in South Africa, has noticed an increase in the number of Body in White (BIW) assembly defects from year to year (2017-2020). The review of historical operational data records revealed that most of the defects recorded were related to BIW dimensional management. The goal of this study was to investigate the theoretical strategies, systems, and success factors for managing BIW dimensional quality and to identify gaps in Company X's BIW dimensional quality management systems and strategies. This study chose a case study as the appropriate research strategy, and questionnaires were developed and distributed to participants from Company X for data collection purposes. For the purposes of data analysis, descriptive statistics were used in this study. The findings of the data sources similarities and differences study revealed gaps between the findings of the literature review, questionnaire responses, and historical data findings. The study findings revealed that Company X had most of the systems and strategies (as suggested by theory) in place for a company to achieve optimal results, but the company was failing to meet its desired quality and production targets. Furthermore, the study recommends that the Company X facility implement a 100 percent online measurement system with a defined measurement sampling frequency.