Supporting the operator: the key to customer satisfaction

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1
INTRODUCTION 1
COMPANY GOALS 2
ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVES 2
MANUFACTURING SUPPORT SYSTEM (Supporting The Operator) 3
TEAM CONCEPT 4
TEAM MEMBER RESPONSIBILITIES/ROLES 4
TEAM LEADER RESPONSIBILITIES/ROLES 6
TEAM LEADER SELECTION CRITERIA 7
GROUP LEADER RESPONSIBILITIES/ROLES 7
NUMMI TRAINING COURSES 9
KAIZEN (Continuous Improvement) 10
SUGGESTION PROGRAM 11
PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES 12
WORKPLACE ORGANIZATION 13
ANDON 14
STANDARDIZED WORK 14
THE WALL 18
SAFETY 18
TRAINING 19
NUMMI SUPPORT SYSTEM (Supporting The Operations) 19
HUMAN RESOURCES 20
PURCHASING 20
FINANCE 21
PRODUCTION CONTROL/MATERIALS MANAGEMENT 22
QUALITY CONTROL 22
MAINTENANCE 23
ENGINEERING 24
CONCLUSION 25

White Paper

SUPPORTING THE OPERATOR:

THE KEY TO CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

By

Joao Sidney Fernandes
Paint Shop Superintendent
General Motors do Brasil
8-965-7632

Jose Joaquim Fo.
I.E. Planning Supervisor
General Motors do Brasil
8-965-7885

February 7, 1992

GM RESTRICTED

Ref.# 95.1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The objective of this "WHITE PAPER" is to describe and analyze the reasons why NUMMI focuses its total organization on supporting the operator, with the ultimate goal being customer satisfaction.

The NUMMI Production System consists of a total set of concepts that are interdependent. Each of these concepts has its own importance.

The secret of the NUMMI success is to provide an environment that allows all of these concepts to work together. This creates a "synergy" which increases the effectiveness of the total system. In other words, the effectiveness of the whole is much greater than the sum of the individual contributions.

INTRODUCTION

NUMMI shares with most of the companies in the world the goal of achieving customer satisfaction by offering high quality products at the most competitive prices. So, what makes the difference when we compare NUMMI to other automakers?

NUMMI believes