The competitiveness of automotive component manufacturers is no longer driven by the price at which they sell their components but by the quality of the products they deliver. Vehicle assembling corporations are inclined to moving their business to component manufacturers that deliver quality components as opposed to delivering low-priced components with poor quality. An automotive component manufacturer which manufactures vehicle side-steps through a blow-moulding process was struggling with the implementation of the principle of built-in-quality. This was reflected in their traditional reactive approach of using quality gates as opposed to driving built-in-quality in their conversion operations. This has resulted in high labour requirements (inspectors), high rate of reworks and scrap which impacted significantly on the profitability of the manufacturer. Given the severity of this problem, the aim of the study was to develop a strategic approach to aid automotive component manufacturers in the implementation of built-in-quality in their manufacturing streams. Several lean manufacturing techniques such as Pareto analysis, 5why analysis, standard operating procedures, time studies, and statistical process controls were employed to identify operational gaps and opportunities in the manufacturing streams, to develop a strategic approach to implement built-in-quality. The results of the study were the implementation of built-in-quality on a manufacturing line, and the development of a 4-step approach for manufacturers to attain built-in-quality in their processes that was guided by Deming’s Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle.

Keywords: Automotive component manufacture, Built-in-quality, Lean manufacturing techniques, Quality gates, Strategic approach.