Hilcrest Auto Case Essay - 976 Words

Hilcrest Auto The Importance of Quality Issues Hilcrest Auto is a manufacturing company specialized in producing specific parts for automobile assemblers. Hilcrest Auto is currently facing quality control issues, possibly leading to financial issues or threats of losing future contracts. Quality control has been an essential concern for most manufacturing industry. Low-quality control in the manufacturing process could increase the cost of good manufacturing and returns from customers. However, quality control is especially critical in the automotive supply industry. One reason is that there are only limited numbers of consumer firms dominated by Ford, GM, and Daimler-Chrysler. Producing parts that are not â€Å"up-to-spec† could result in†¦show more content†¦This discrepancy would be significant to Hilcrest Auto, which is not considering overtime or third shift under the current circumstance. There are several potential solutions for Bailey, the quality manager and business unit manager of the Small Parts Divisi on of Hilcrest, under this circumstance of the quality issue and shortness of supply. First, Bailey is considering imposing an immediate improvement in quality control. Bailey is also considering adding the third shift or purchasing a new machine to increase productions. Immediate Improvement Bailey is considering adding two more steps to the production for Hilcrest in order to improve the quality of heater core tubes: the re-shaping process and the gauging inspection. The re-shaping process takes seven seconds per tube, which is not constrained by capacity. The gauging process, on the other hand, will take virtually no time, but scrap five percent of finish parts. On a â€Å"good day† level of production, Hilcrest will reject 65 tubes per shift, resulting 650 units deduction in the weekly supply. Bailey is facing a situation to sacrifice production level in order to ensure quality control. In addition to that, Hilcrest is required to hire an additional full-time operator for $48,000 to supervise new operating processes. Third Shift In order to meet the market demand, Bailey can also add a third shift to increase the production level. By