UAZ Patriot
An increase in the warranty for a year is a gift for the 70th anniversary of the plant, which is celebrated this year. And, as they say at UAZ, the result of work to improve the legendary Kaizen production system. UAZ employees are proud to have started kaizen among the first Russian enterprises, back in 2004, a few years after Severstal bought the plant and a new management team came to the leadership.
12 years later
I was at UAZ for the first time before buying it by Severstal, in 1999. Then it seemed that the plant did not have long …
UAZ Patriot
Tightness is checked in the sprinkler chamber. This time, with passengers, Tightness is checked in the sprinkler chamber. This time with passengers
And here is a new invitation to mark the increase in warranty. The city is the same, near-factory territory has not changed much, except perhaps more foreign cars. But what's inside? The first thing we, Moscow and Ulyanovsk journalists dressed in work overalls, was carried out on the main assembly line … The place is recognized. But the situation is completely different, new. Clean, bright, tidy young workers. And the conveyor runs so fast that it was difficult to take pictures: neither equipment nor people wait until you select the desired angle and settings.
UAZ Patriot
The last thing we are shown in production is the post of anti-corrosion treatment of cars with Swedish equipment. His device also became a step towards increasing the guarantee. The last thing we are shown in the production is the post of anti-corrosion treatment of cars with Swedish equipment. His device was also a step towards an increase in warranty.
Mikhail Khizhov, head of the production system, and Sergey Smolkin, head of the quality management department, comment on each operation. The most curious thing is how quality inspectors work. These are 50 people at 13 control posts installed at key assembly sites, self-monitoring posts “Running on drums” and “Toxicity testing”, QC, “Descent from the conveyor” and “Hunter” posts. Each car is accompanied by a special booklet - an assembly control card, where marks are placed on operations, records of defects and their elimination, and on the last sheet are stamps of specialists responsible for the final tests.
All operations are regulated in detail. For example, at a checkpoint with break-in drums, each car is driven 1 km with the front axle turned off at a speed of up to 60 km / h and sequential gear shifting, then with the front axle turned on 3 km at the same speed and iterates through gears, another 1 km with the front axle turned on, low gear transfer case, with acceleration in all gears. After they carry out a toxicity test and make an entry in the card. If someone forgets how operations are performed, next to each post there is a large information board where you can find all the data …
UAZ Patriot
Continuous kaizen
Apparently, Sollers managers are satisfied with their work, but of course they don’t talk about complete success - not all UAZ owners, let’s say, are satisfied with the quality of their cars. What is in the way? The factory speaks of the notorious “human factor”, and also blame suppliers. On the other hand, let’s recall Toyota’s massive reviews with half a century kaizen and total automation … Ulyanovsk managers call training and various types of motivation, including raising salaries and bonuses, as methods of combating the “human factor”.
As for the reviews … It’s bad that the cars turned out to be defective hoses. It is good that they were replaced promptly at official service centers, and errors were easily recognized. Ulyanovsk say that this is also an element of the new quality control system.
UAZ Patriot
In the hands of the quality inspector, the Symbol mobile information collection terminal, which instantly sends data about vehicle defects to the central server. The quality inspector, in the hands of the Symbol mobile information collection terminal, which instantly sends vehicle defects information to the central server.
Japanese-Russian phrasebook UAZ
Andon - visual quality control of products. In the event of a defect, the worker must stop the conveyor to replace the defective part or eliminate the malfunction;
jidoka (jidoka) - built-in quality, a method of preventing possible problems;
kanban - literally translated from Japanese as “card”, the method of “pulling production” and deliveries on time;
kaizen - constant changes for the better, Japanese philosophy or practice, focusing on continuous improvement of production processes, development, auxiliary business processes and management; it was first used in a number of Japanese companies (including Toyota) during the recovery period after the Second World War;
kaizen - proposals - practical ideas of the enterprise employees aimed at improving production processes, submitted in a special form and considered by special commissions;
muda - the actual loss of working time and effort, unproductive activities of employees of the enterprise; Toyota Executive Director Tahiti Ono identified seven species of mud, Western marketers have eight species;
pokayoke - error prevention system;
hedzun - alignment of the flow.
The classic principles of kaizen
- Customer focus
- Continuous change
- Open recognition of problems
- Advocacy for openness
- Creation of work teams
- Project management with cross-functional teams
- Formation of “supportive” relationships
- The development of self-discipline
- Informing each employee
- Delegation of authority to each employee
In my opinion…
Anton Karpov
To reduce the risks of delivering defective parts to the conveyor, we introduced requirements for the production system and the quality control process of suppliers. Each supplier passes certification annually to determine the level of compliance with our requirements. If the supplier does not meet the specified parameters, we will switch to an alternative supplier. Unfortunately, in the Russian market, not all automotive component manufacturers comply with the standards. For this reason, the key components installed on cars of the Patriot family, imported.
Anton Karpov, General Director of UAZ Distribution Center LLC
