'On the Road Again' Promoting Quality
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During the 11th Quality Control Conference in November 1961, Torao Hayashi, DENSO’s first president, receives a heartwarming award certificate for winning the Deming Prize for quality.
In 1961, DENSO President Hayashi shared the good news that DENSO had earned the prestigious Deming Award, a globally recognized emblem of unparalleled quality control. In his comments on September 21, 1961, he spoke these prescient words:
“Our work is directly related to human life. If automobiles cause accidents, human lives are at risk … We must establish and embellish the reputation that DENSO is a great company that manufactures quality products. Let us all continue to unite and work now and in the future toward those common ends.”
Just a few decades later, as consumers in North America were grappling with consecutive automotive safety events, DENSO set out to re-energize President Hayashi’s words. In 2009, DENSO International America (DIAM) launched a quality campaign to strengthen associates’ quality mindset and emphasize the foundational aspect of excellence in everything they did.
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More than 40 dedicated associates from DENSO Manufacturing Tennessee (DMTN) volunteered to compete in the annual Quality Skills Competition on Saturday, March 3, 2012. At the competition, participants were timed as they inspected various parts and challenged their ability to be the fastest to find the flaws.
A Caravan of Quality
“We developed a road show and training that featured visuals, quality experts, leader boards and messaging about quality’s role in the products we were manufacturing, and how those quality products were critical to the potential wellbeing of the end user,” said Eric Benson, who joined DENSO in 1998 as a Quality Engineer.
From 2012 through 2018, virtually every location in North America participated in an aspect of the quality campaign. Some lessons were tailored to a specific area or function, while other elements targeted a broader internal audience with the theme that quality involves everyone.
“We were challenged with this initiative because DENSO associates were, and are, highly sensitive to quality. Now, we were adding another layer of messaging and tasks to an already full workday,” said Benson. “We knew they were busy, but it was critical to remind them to always make the right decision, to be cautious, careful and most importantly understand and embrace the essential ‘why’ of DENSO quality.”
The “What If” Scenario
To that end, Benson and his team created scenarios of what could happen if complacency resulted in a defect and caused a vehicle to, say, overheat on the freeway or stall in a remote area.
Associates responded to that strategy.
“We asked them to consider their family being stranded in the middle of nowhere or stuck on a busy highway. Then we challenged associates to achieve perfect quality with the reminder of what was at stake,” Benson explained.
Benson said the campaign improved quality while creating greater awareness of the many products and systems DENSO provides. Additionally, associate training now includes connecting associates to the product he or she manufactures, showing them where that part is installed on the vehicle, and how it functions.