DECEMBER - 20218 MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTSIN MY OPINIONQuality is not negotiable ­ especially with premium products such as automobiles. To achieve 100 per cent quality, products are meticulously inspected, errors noted and reworked. Nowadays, analysis is aimed at uncovering procedural and conceptual insufficiencies. Up to now, static reports from numerous key performance indicators (KPIs) have been at the forefront of daily quality work in plants.The trend towards individualization and derivatization increases the complexity of production systems. Electrification and hybridization bring completely new production processes with them. The mixed operation mode in automobile factories ­ the integration of different derivatives of all drive forms on one line ­ leads to a permanent ramp-up situation.Lean production has been established as a dogma for quality work in production. Lean processes focus on the consistent reduction of waste (`Muda') and aim for maximum robustness. `Poka Yoke' plays a vital role as a design principle for fail-safe processes and systems. Continuous improvement pursues the permanent optimization of production processes regarding quality and efficiency.So far, quality work has taken place based on key figures, which are used to evaluate the production processes and the market. These key performance indicators are designed in such a way that they reflect the performance of production over several production stages. This approach, however, is in clear contrast to the philosophy of decentralized defect prevention and elimination. Besides that, it is becoming increasingly difficult to use the aggregated KPIs for targeted defect reduction. At the BMW Group, all quality characteristics are recorded (semi-) automatically or manually in a database, depending on process suitability. This data is often analyzed in spreadsheet programs and made available in the form of static diagrams or key figures (also digital) on the shop floor as part of visual management.An innovative approach is to look at errors not only in aggregated form but also directly on the shop floor in The Power of Visual Analytics for Quality WorkBy Matthias Schindler, Cluster Manager, Smart Analytics and Frederik Schmihing, Visual Analytics BMW Production system at BMW GroupMatthias Schindler
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