Toyota Changing the Way It Develops Cars to Improve Quality

Toyota is lengthening the time it takes to test new vehicles before production and is reducing the number of outside engineers it uses to improve the quality of its vehicles, reports the Wall Street Journal.  TMC Executive Vice President Takeshi Uchiyamada is spearheading the effort that includes:

–increasing pre-production quality testing
–using less virtual engineering and more vehicle prototypes
–reducing the number of engine and other options on model lines to allow engineers to focus on quality
–bringing development work that has been sourced to outside engineers back inside

Randy Stephens, a senior Toyota engineer at the company’s Michigan technical center, says the company will increase testing by four weeks on the American-developed and engineered Avalon sedan. “We are definitely reforming the processes to be ultra-careful,” he adds.

The story says the changes may extend product development times by two to six months, but Toyota is searching for ways to shorten other parts of the process.

“I don’t think they are going to go backwards from an efficiency standpoint,” notes IHS Automotive Analyst Michael Robinet, “but what they may do is put more checks and balances in.”

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