Enhancing Quality in Toyota Products

Project Brief

The main aspect of the project is to improve the quality and maintain the effectiveness of Toyota so that the customers are attracted. Customers are one of the effective stakeholders of the company and they tend to maintain the quality of products for better profitability. The foundation of quality assurance system is based upon in product durability, reliability, safety, and eco-friendliness. The company is taking measures to meet the standards of the market so that the brand image is enhanced in terms of attaining quality. The intention is to meet quality of the products by maintaining time in an effective manner.

Parent Organisation

Toyota Industry ensures that quality of products is maintained through careful manufacturing along with thorough testing. The company is of the opinion that quality is the lifeline of products leading to management issue. The main factor of the company is to enhance quality and at the same time responsibly meet customer needs and social responsibilities. The approach of the company is to enhance quality mainly the product quality so that durability, reliability and safety are adhered. Creating various levels of quality and responsibly meeting the expectations for satisfying customer positively increases the level of trust (Lexus, 2019). Today in the business to sustain in the long run quality is one of the key management issues. Total quality of the business which includes marketing quality, total quality affects the corporate image along with brand. For the success of the company and Lexus which is a popular multinational company. Toyota is one of the leading companies that operate its business across the globe (Lexus, 2018).

Business Case

Toyota is one of the leading global brand which focuses upon quality assurance to satisfy customers. The main aspect of the project is to determine quality management for Lexus. Lexus is considerably one of the effective automobile sectors with strong market presence. It is leading in terms of revenue and sales because of the increasing sales of the hybrid electric vehicles. The company assures quality in the hybrid electric car sales and it is one of the companies which has created mass acceptance of hybrid cars across the world. As per the structure of the company it is noted that it is a strong player in the hydrogen fuel vehicles as well (Toyota, 2005). Toyota and its division, Lexus is also gaining vitality for future mobility by assuring quality so that the vehicles are able to augment sales across the globe. Considering upon Lexus vehicle brand it is noted that it is a luxury brand and is one of the most fasted growing manufacturers.

Introduction to Audit

Introduction

The quality of the project is to ensure commitment of employees towards customers and stakeholders. The main focus of the quality manual is to meet the changing needs of customers and to offer better services so that the improvement is continuous. The main intention of the company is to innovate products through continuous innovation and development for successful business operations of Lexus. Quality manual is vital as it helps to deliver product in time with quality by considering upon operational costs.

Rationale of Audit Manual

The quality audit manual is of relevance to understand the product quality and maintain standards. The audit manual is effective in maintaining better standards and growth by assuring compliance within the system of production. Audit is important to not only assure quality but also ensure quality along with timely delivery of products. The rationale is to improve the production of products and maintain quality for better profitability. ISO 9001 and TS16949 is a standard which is being considered in the manual audit for ensuring quality.

ISO 9001

The report is based and developed by ISO 9001 internal audit team after internal audit on 27-4-2019 was completed. The audit was initiated on 25-4-2019 and finished on 27-4-2019 within the company. The audit is implemented to ensure the product quality, innovation ad other related factors.

Relevant Standards

Total quality management is considered to maintain the standard and to ensure productiveness that leads to greater effectiveness and growth. Lexus is trying to maintain the operation costs through timely delivery of products with the set quality and standards. The company has set a standard which is about maintaining quality and innovation based upon continuous growth.

Internal Audit objectives

The objective of the audit is to maintain the quality by reducing the operational costs. The team was auditing to maintain the standard through quality and regular innovation as per the changing needs.

Scope

Lexus is one of the most innovative manufactures under the brand name of Toyota in term of quality and production system. The company is taking measures to meet the changing needs of customer through regular quality inspections and continuous innovation. The intention is to understand the changing needs of customer and develop quality vehicles to increase the mobility. The aspect of company is to set new standards which are high in terms of quality assurance so that sales of the luxury brand augments along with total quality management. Lexus is a strong brand and it maintains excellence while building vehicles in terms of designing and attaining accuracy along with consistency. The uninhibited performances impact the company experiences in creating quality for exceptional customer experiences. The scope of Lexus is that it creates a strong environment by empowering life of people. The company explores innovation with the help of technological breakthroughs. Core technologies, modern material affect the quality of the vehicles thus impacting the profitability. The competence of the company is based upon regular innovation so that the changing needs of people are met in the changing environment. The scope can be determined by analysing the timeline of Lexus. The below picture depicts the timeline for Lexus the brand:

Audit

Purpose Audit Manual

The purpose of the audit manual is to attain better knowledge about the company and its features. Lexus is a strong brand as it creates value through expressive craftsmanship, driver inspired technology along with uncompromising versatility. Lexus is assuring quality through offering technological innovation along with delivery experiences. The main intention of the company is to improve quality and create effectiveness so that customers attain greater effectiveness. For the effectiveness of the company and to augment its technological growth it is vital that functions within the organisation are well planned and effective (Brazeal, 2010). The company is ensuring quality by assuring quality system for durability in the product and to assure reliability along with safety. The main factor of Lexus is to maintain eco- friendliness so that customer attains greater experiences. For the successfulness of the company it is vital that Lexus obeys market standards in terms of sales along with services. The main intention of the brad is to enhance quality and enrich brand image. The company focuses upon customer focussed strategy so that the development is effective (Cognizant, 2015). Lexus is innovative automobile and it is of progressive luxury with quality assurance, innovative design along with technological capability. Ethics play a strong role to ensure recognition and business reputation so that ethical practices creates quality assurance. The objective of the company is to deliver valued customer experiences through managing quality assurance in terms of high quality products. It is vital to sustain long term quality and regular innovation for growth and effectiveness. The culture within the organisation and the total quality management impacts the product quality and sales. Furthermore, the Lexus model is hybrid in nature and started operations in the year 1989. The model is sold in 80 countries in the present day scenario and Toyota has 18 variants of the same. However, the company wanted to ensure quality to be the topmost priority to attract customers across the world on the basis of their demands of energy friendly cars.

Audit Manual process

The audit manual process is about the basic policy of the company is to improve the attributes on the basis of the corporate culture and to ensure quality so that customers are satisfied. Toyota follows the continuous Kaizen theory which is about continuous improvement along with commitment so that the awareness is created. The commitment towards quality leads to safety improvement, peace of mind along with customer satisfaction. The sustainability of products is based upon quality measures and various quality measures. Quality assurance system is the key to success therefore company integrates just in time production along with socio technical system for better product development (Sengupta & Sengupta, 2013). Lexus is well designed and offers process value through proper designing and consistency. Quality is assured by reducing waste, managing transportation, reducing wastage of movement and stock. Lexus have strong quality which is based upon continuous improvement in terms of creativity and innovation. Within the corporate structure it is vital that quality is assured through creating respect within the members. Mutual trust and understanding creates positive attributes and growth. The main aspect of the company is to innovate products through taking measures. The management is of effectiveness in Toyota when the control process is effective and systematic in nature. The manual audit process for the Lexus model is closely linked with the corporate governance structure of the company. Notably, for the Lexus model, the quality reporting of the faulty models, total quality management of the products in each of the stages of the manufacturing process. The management process of Toyota include systematic handling of the products in terms of monitoring the quality of the Lexus model, which further forms the overall manual quality audit process.

Audit Assessment

Audit Manual

The Audit Manual is of importance as it states about the quality of the product. The operational managers are responsible for augmenting the services so that the operational system is effective. The manager of Lexus is responsible for managing the quality management, capacity planning along with scheduling activities. The strategic quality objective of the company is to design materials so that customer demand is met. The focus is to make fast effective decision which is management focused that positively impacts the operations on the basis of quality assurance. The main intention of the quality assurance system is that it helps to integrate innovation for developing new products (Sengupta & Sengupta, 2013). Integrating the Just in Time system so that the logistic system is improved thus reducing the production time. Quality assurance is of importance for the growth of the company because it is about improving quality circles on the basis of kaizen. Contextually, it is noted that Lexus is a luxury brand and it is marketed across the globe for augmenting the sales. It is one of the fastest growing car producers as it follows the notion of Customer First and Quality First principle. The main factors is to customise products by focussing upon quality so that the audit and development is effective (Toyota, 2007).

The corporate structure of the company is well focused as it concentrates upon quality assurance through regular improvement. According to the assurance on quality, specified in the vision of the company, every employee in every division of the company, including Lexus maintain a continuous and keen consciousness regarding issues and a feeling of ownership in their work. It is worthy to state in this respect that quality audit is of importance because the idea is to strengthen the market opportunity by improving the internal along with external audit quality. It is a smooth process which is used to examine the quality of the system so that the management system is effective (Toyota, 2005). It is an essential part for managing quality of the vehicles and its sustainability to ensure profitability.

Audit

Quality audit is about determining quality activities so that the results are planned and the company is able to meet the desired objectives. The audit is done by the auditors for the process to be systematic and management to be effective. For the quality audit to be effective it is witnessed that Toyota implemented strict monitoring system so that the defects in the manufacturing is reduced. This has a direct impact over the cost of production along with management so that the product is developed in an effective manner. The quality system in Lexus is simple yet effective because the focus is upon coordinating the process and improving the overall quality. The quality guidelines includes

Lexus offers quality support to its customer for maintaining lifestyle and to innovate products (Lexus, 2019). New quality audit system is about reducing cost and making products which are defect free thus improves the revenue of the company. The quality culture of the company is about continuous improvement so that employees are able to create awareness through increasing commitment. Behaviour of employees affects the organisational quality along with product quality. The main attribute of Toyota is to serve customer first and maintain quality responsibly so that the company is able to increase the market share along with revenue (Cognizant, 2015). Quality management is about coordinating products by adhering to the customer complaints and closely monitoring the product designs. The main intention of Lexus is to improve the business process by maintaining exceptional productions so that the product fulfils the changing requirements of customer. The quality operation of Lexus is flexible along with adaptable as the main factor is to increase customer satisfaction. The main aspect of quality is to increase higher profits and assure sustainability by reducing along with eliminating manufacturing errors. The quality management is one of the most vital factors of Toyota and it increases the competitive advantage thus increasing profitability by assuring quality in the supply chain (Brazeal, 2010). The quality is assured through focussing upon customer needs and by upgrading products so that a sense of enjoyment is assured. These aspects are determined through quality auditor thus increasing the effectiveness. Continuous improvement is vital for the success of the company as it increases growth and adaptability because the focus is upon cost reduction and quality management.

Monitoring and Control

Quality Monitoring and Controls

Quality is the lifeline of Toyota as it believes in offering quality innovative products so that customers are satisfied. Toyota quality assurance functions are to offer product quality, designing quality, manufacturing quality so that the brand gains effectiveness. As per the quality statement the main idea is to develop products which are ‘market in’ approach. This ensures that the quality of products is high in terms of design so that customer is satisfied (1Toyota Motor Corporation, 2019). Quality is assured mainly in the production level so that the quality is maintained and delivery is in time. Quality is vital for the development of products so that the production is effective in terms of durability and workmanship. Lexus as a brand tends to offer quality products along with after sales services to satisfy customer needs and create excellent experiences (Toyota Motor Corporation, 2019). The system of quality assurance and quality control is depicted through the help of diagram below:

Quality assurance is about maintaining global market to attain the confidence of people to augment corporate value. Quality is assured through implementing effectiveness in the supply chain so that the standard is maintained in terms of encouraging international standards. It is important for the company to maintain standard by dealing with quality issues. Quality issues imply to property damage but to reduce the issues global quality control department is considered upon (Toyota Motor Corporation, 2019). The audit is about collecting information that leads to compliance through proper monitoring so that the integration in effective to meet the market quality.

Issue and Change Control Procedure

Issues can be mitigated by ensuring better monitoring facilities so that the control is effective and the strategy is well planned. The main intention of the control procedure is to maintain proper responsibilities and assure quality. To attain effectiveness in production and reduce defects quality guidelines are implemented. The main intention is to enhance quality and meet customer responsibility. The approach to quality is unique as it is about product durability and marketing quality. The approach of quality within Toyota is effective as it is based upon the customer expectations. The main principle of the company is that it tries to meet the quality on day to day basis so that the production system is effective. The production system of Toyota is designed to examine the quality in terms of designing and quality review. For the success of the company it is vital that managers plan the actions and designs the product by accomplishing the quality level (Sengupta & Sengupta, 2013). The company proactively manages quality in various levels which includes design quality, production quality, marketing quality and brand quality. For the quality assurance the main guideline is to assure cleanliness, streamline standards along with preventing defeat functions.

Audit and Risk Procedures

Audit and risk procedures are part of the quality and control factors. The focus is upon supply chain management across the world so that the critical quality issues can be managed. The quality assurance is about focusing to prevent production of defective vehicles so that people are satisfied with the products. Lexus is taking measures to attain higher quality supply chain so that the quality is maintained. The main intention of the company is to promote quality enhancement through integrating policies and evaluating the standard benchmarks (Lexus, 2018). Lexus is creating distinctive features through improving its design and managing various attributes which includes climate control system. Technology plays a strong role in creating drivers that increases the level of competence along with safety. Lexus being a luxury brand is improving its quality not only through offering customisation in its product but also through creating knowledge base dynamism. Customer service to customer is part of quality assurance as it deals with safety, comfort along with technological aspects. The main intention of the company is to maximise value by creating enhanced delivery experiences. The risk of the audit is to identify the needs and standards required so that the risks can be mitigated.

Summary

From the study it can be comprehended that quality management and assurance is vital for the success of the company. It increases the market share and helps to increase the level of satisfaction so that the sales are augmented. Quality assurance is of relevance because it helps to increase the value and reduce defects in products and at the same time reduces costs. Lexus as a brand is gaining effectiveness and is trying to maintain quality audit by monitoring the changes and controlling the quality. The corporate structure of Lexus is to enhance creativity and value by maintaining quality through the help of advanced technologies. The quality audit of Lexus is about enhancing stability and sustainability through effective control and creating better customer experiences.

References

Sengupta, M. & Sengupta, N., 2013. Toyota Motor Corporation: Committed to Quality, Rewarded by Smiles. Cases in Management, pp. 1-40.