Trend #6: Reducing the Cost of Quality and Fixed Costs

In such a highly competitive, fluid, global market, quality must be a “given” for every supplier. Any manufacturer producing less than world-class quality simply is unlikely to survive in a world where OEMs have a wealth of suppliers from which to select. Therefore, suppliers will need to compete by reducing the cost of quality – offering valuable, reliable systems at a lower cost than competitors and by lowering their fixed costs within their plants. Just as knowledge workers relied on suites of software to achieve these goals in the office, automotive companies will be implementing integrated solutions on a larger scale to keep quality high while the costs of operations diminish. The focus must be on consistently improving productivity over the long term and forming strategic partnerships up and down the supply chain to reduce the total cost of quality.