Zircotec's Ceramic Coating

It is a range of ultra high performance plasma-sprayed ceramic coatings to protect components from the effects of fire, heat, wear, abrasion and corrosion.

Our ceramic coating is highly effective when used on engine exhaust system components including exhaust manifolds, exhaust headers, cat boxes, turbochargers and tail pipes, helping to protect sensitive components from the effects of heat. As an exhaust coating they reduce underbonnet temperatures, increase engine performance, help solve engine packaging issues, and improve engine compartment safety. Based on our proprietary ThermoHold^® formulation, our ceramic coating range can only be applied by Zircotec. A series of patent applications are in progress (with two now granted) to protect our technology. Our coatings have been proven to:

• Reduce underbonnet temperatures by up to 50^oC (122^oF), as independently measured & confirmed by DAMAX Race Engineering;
• Increase engine performance, eg. a 30^oC drop in intake air temperature can deliver a 6% increase in power, or can increase engine efficiency leading to less fuel usage;
• Extend the life of vulnerable components and thereby enhance engine reliability.

PLASMA-SPRAY PROCESSING

General Plasma Spray Processing - Plasma-spray processing is a relatively specialised high temperature industrial process that utilises an electrically generated plasma to heat and melt the feedstock material. The process is capital intensive and requires significant electrical power. It offers a method of depositing a feedstock material (the material that is being plasma-sprayed) as a solid coating over an underlying target material. It can also be used to produce free standing parts made from just the plasma-sprayed material. Deposits having a thickness from just a few micrometers (µm) up to several millimeters can be produced using a variety of feedstock materials, including metals and ceramics.

The feedstock material is normally presented to the plasma torch in the form of a powder or wire. This feedstock melts rapidly within the plasma torch, where the typical operating temperature is ~10,000^oC (18,000^oF). It is then propelled as small molten droplets via a carrier gas towards the target material. When the molten droplets contact the target material they flatten, rapidly solidify to form a deposit that remains adhered to the target material. There are a large number of parameters that influence the interaction of the feedstock with the plasma jet and the substrate, and these parameters can lead to wide variations in the final product and product quality. These parameters include feedstock type and composition, feed rate, plasma gas composition and flow rate, energy input, torch geometry, nozzle design, nozzle offset distance, substrate cooling, etc.

The plasma-sprayed deposits consist of a multitude of pancake-like 'splats', formed by flattening of the liquid droplets. As the feedstock powders typically have sizes from micrometers to above 100 micrometers, the splats have thickness in the micrometer range and lateral dimension up to hundreds of micrometers. Small voids occur between the splats thereby trapping either air or the carrier gas whilst the splats cool rapidly leading to quite rapid crystallisation and large grain size. It is also possible for the deposited material to exist in metastable phases due to rapid cooling (i.e. crystalline structures that would normally only occur at very high temperature). Small micro-cracks and regions of incomplete bonding can also occur under certain plasma-spray conditions. The deposited material can therefore have properties that are significantly different from the bulk feedstock materials, eg. lower strength, higher strain thermal and electrical conductivity. By controlling plasma-spray parameters it is possible to control and make use of these changed material properties to suit specific applications. 

This technique is mostly used to produce coatings on structural materials. It can be used to provide protection against high temperatures, corrosion, erosion and wear, or to change the appearance, electrical or tribological properties of the surface. The technique can also be used to replace worn material. Free standing parts in the form of plates, tubes, shells, etc. can be produced. The technique can also be used for powder processing (spheroidisation, homogenisation,modification of chemistry, etc.). In this case, the substrate for deposition is absent and the particles solidify during flight or in a controlled environment such as water.

Design

Strategy and Design

 Recall from our discussion of operations strategy that product design must be consistent with the overall strategy of the firm. In general, we would expect firms that have a low-cost strategy to have fairly standard products that change very little over time. A firm with a differentiation strategy might have a large variety of products, highly innovative products, or products with many features.

• Low Cost Strategy
• Standardized Products
• Little Change over Time

• Differentiation Strategy
• Customized Products
• Large Product Variety
• Highly Innovative Products
• Products with Many Features

It is essential for designers to know the overall strategy of the firm when designing new products. Increasingly firms are using differentiation as a way to compete. We would expect the design function to be extremely important when a differentiation strategy is employed by the firm. Designers must also be aware of basic design principles that allow new products to:
 

Come to market quickly,

At a competitive cost, and

Of high quality

A good design process is essential for excellent product development.
 

The Design Process

The stages of the design process are illustrated in the diagram below:
 

Generally, ideas are generated, then studied for feasibility. If the product is feasible, a preliminary design is generated from performance specifications, and a prototype is built. Process planning and final design are worked out during the next stage, and final design and manufacturing specifications are spelled out. Manufacturing begins when the product and process designs are finalized.

Idea Generation

Ideas come from many sources, including:

• Customers
• Competitors
• Suppliers
• R & D and Product Development Departments

Some companies label ideas from customers as market-pull and ideas from R & D as technology push. While ideas from customers are thought to be the most important, many products come from internal units specifically designed for product development.

Example: When IBM developed its first portable computer, individuals of exceptional talent were grouped together and sent off-site to develop the new product. Many companies use the "think-tank" approach for new products. Products that are highly technical often require development to begin with technical experts since customers have not yet thought of the product. After product introduction, customer input is essential for product improvement.

Other idea tools

Feasibility Study 
 

A feasibility study is an analysis to determine if a market exists for the product, and if so, will financial returns be adequate enough to support the product? Several of the analyses that must be done include:

•  Market analysis -- assesses the demand for the product through demographic studies, customer surveys, interviews, focus groups, and market tests.

• Economic analysis -- examines pricing policies for the new product; compares price and cost for the sales volume, and estimates the financial return for the product

• Technical and strategic analysis -- assesses any new technology needed for the product or process; evaluates the strategic fit of the product with the rest of the firm.

Preliminary Design

 A prototype is built from preliminary designs and performance specifications (instructions of what the product is supposed to do). The complete design process is an iterative process that involves building, testing, changing, testing, etc. Design is concerned with both form and function.

       Form -- the physical appearance of the product

       Function -- the performance of the product

Final Design and Process Planning

 Final design is the stage at which detailed drawings and design specifications (product size, composition, form) are produced. Detailed drawings were called blueprints in the past, but now most detailed drawings are donewith computer-aided design (CAD). If you've ever seen blueprints or CAD drawings, you know that they contain many technical details and instructions that allow anyone working with the product to understand how it is made. Some details of process planning might also be included on the drawings. Process plans indicate which parts are purchased, which machinery must be used, how products are assembled, etc. Manufacturing specifications are detailed instructions for producing the product.
 

Improving the Design Process           

 As we mentioned earlier, more firms are using differentiation to be competitive. Since differentiation often requires uniqueness in the form of exceptional products, good design processes are essential. Poor design processes result in delayed market exposure and poor product quality. One major problem with poor design processes is excessive use of engineering change orders (ECOs). ECOs are documents that detail changes that must be made to a product after final drawings have been released. They are expensive and time-consuming.

Example: Manufactured or modular homes are becoming increasingly popular for modest-priced housing. With modular homes, framing, floors, windows, doors, and walls are constructed and assembled in a factory, then transported to a homesite. The foundations, and sometimes roofs, are made at the homesite. Suppose a window was designed into the middle of a bedroom wall, but the customer notices that he will have more room for furniture if the window is placed off-center. Changing the location of the window will require an ECO -- which means changes on the architectural drawings, rework of the existing window, scrapping of existing framing, etc. Delivery of the home may be delayed, and workmanship may suffer if workers rush to make the change.

Improving Design Processes Using multi-functional design teams Using concurrent engineering for product and process planning Design for manufacture (DFM) and design for assembly (DFA) Design for the environment Measuring design process quality Using quality function deployment (QFD) Designing for robustness

Design Teams

Design teams composed of marketing, manufacturing, and engineering are necessary for getting timely information from all relevant decision areas. Others who may be useful team members include customers, suppliers, dealers, lawyers, and accountants. Cross-functional teams are some of the most effective since each function has information unique to its own discipline. There is less danger that one person will duplicate another's work when cross-functional teams are used. Furthermore, early communication about particular functional needs allow for early planning to cover each detail.
 

Concurrent Design

Not so long ago, manufacturers used to talk about engineers "throwing the drawings over the wall" to manufacturing. This phrase was used in reference to the fact that engineers and manufacturers did not communicate about products very well. Engineers may have specified parts or production processes that were not available or were difficult to obtain. It was manufacturing's role to accomplish monumental feats of production without complaining. Today, we recognize that such failure to communicate is bad business.  Concurrent engineering requires early manufacturing involvement or continuous manufacturing involvement.

Design for Manufacture

In recent years, more attention has been paid to technical methods of design improvement. Some important technical concepts are:

Design for manufacture (DFM) -- designing a product so it can be produced easily and economically.

Product simplification -- designing products using a minimum number of parts and simplest manufacturing processes.

Standardization -- using interchangeable parts on multiple products so that some parts can be manufactured in high volumes for economies of scale.

Modular design -- combining standardized building blocks, or modules, in a variety of ways to create unique finished products. Modular design can also mean building a few common "platforms," then adding different features to make customized products. It is a method of gaining the benefits of low cost standardized parts without losing the design flexibility that allows customers to choose their options.

Design for assembly (DFA) -- a set of procedures for reducing the number of parts in an assembly, evaluating methods for assembly, and determining an assembly sequence.

The figure below shows a good example of design for manufacture.

Example: Whirlpool is known for its excellent international products strategy. Appliances around the world differ substantially. Not only are there differences in size and aesthetic appearance, but technical requirements also differ dramatically. Electrical voltages and environmental requirements in each country make appliance design quite complicated. Yet Whirlpool was successful in finding those parts of appliances that are common across a number of countries and using them as platforms on which to add country-specific features. By using such a design strategy, Whirlpool is able to source its high volume parts at low cost from the best manufacturers in the world while using local manufacturers for its more unique parts.
 

Design for Environment (DFE)

 Around the world (and particularly in Europe), concern for the environment is growing. New standards are being developed so that products can be designed to reduce their burden on the environment. Some design guidelines include:

• Reduce packaging
• Design for recyclability
• Design for re-use
• Design for easy repair
• Use recycled materials
• Minimize the use of materials

ISO standards for environmental design are listed under ISO 14000.
 

Measures of Design Quality

When we speak about quality in this section, we are not talking about product quality. We are concerned about how well a design group has followed the principles we have discussed so far when designing a product. If a group is interested in measuring how well it is following good design principles, it should measure things like:

• Number of component parts and product options
• Percentage of standard parts
• Use of existing manufacturing processes
• Cost of first production run
• First-year cost of field service and repair
• Total product cost
• Total product sales
• Sustainable development (a measure of design for environment)

Setting good design goals and measuring them is one way to ensure that design groups will seriously pursue better ways of designing products.

Quality Function Deployment (QFD)

 We've discussed the importance of communications when new products are developed. One method of guaranteeing communication among departments, suppliers, and customers is to use quality function deployment (QFD). QFD offers a structured approach for matching customer requirements with technical requirements at every stage of the design and manufacturing process. QFD uses a tool called a house of quality. The Figure below shows the parts of a house of quality.
 
 

On the left-hand side of the house, marketing would determine the essential characteristics of a product important to a customer. The "voice of the customer" drives QFD. Just below the roof, the engineers and designers would list the technical requirements of the product (related to customer needs) they typically design and specify. On the far right, the design group's product is assessed against competitors' products. The center portion of the house shows the relationship between the customer needs and technical requirements, while the roof shows how each technical requirement is related to another. The important analytical portion of the house is at the bottom. Here, the data from the other parts is analyzed for cost and technical difficulty, then rated for customer importance. Where there is a gap between what the customer sees as important and where our design group's competitive assessment is low, there should be changes made. An example of a completed house of quality is illustrated below.

The house of quality actually begins a communications chain that relates requirements for the final product to a series of requirements throughout the design and production process. Product characteristics for the final product become the customer requirements for the parts suppliers. Part characteristics then become the customer requirements for the process planners, and so on. The Figure below shows the relationships between the house of quality and successive design houses. It should be obvious that this structured approach forces a great deal of thought to be put into each level of design and production.
 

Design for Robustness (Taguchi's Contribution to Quality)

Robust designs are product designs that allow a product to function properly under a wide variety of environmental conditions. For example, an automobile that can as smoothly in Alaska and Arizona as it can in middleAmerica is a robust design. Conditions that cause a product to operate poorly (called noise) can be separated into controllable and uncontrollable factors. From a designer's viewpoint, controllable factors are parameters typically specified by the designer -- like material used, dimensions, and processing requirements. Uncontrollable factors are under the user's control or part of the user's environment -- things like heat, humidity, settings, degree of maintenance provided, etc. The designer's job is to choose values for the controllable factors that react to the possible occurrences of the uncontrollable factors:

Robust Design: Influence of Controllable Factors > Influence of Uncontrollable Factors
 

IN-LINE EXERCISE      The following factors must be considered when designing refrigerators. Indicate whether each factor is controllable or uncontrollable. Number of times the door is opened and shut Number of BTUs of thermal energy extracted by the refrigeration unit Number of shelves Amount of food stored in the refrigerator Size of the storage compartments Answer

Reliability

Reliability -- the probability that a given part or product will perform its intended function for a specified length of time under normal conditions of use. For example, tires are expected to last for 40,000 miles when used on normal terrain. A product or system's reliability is a function of the reliabilities of its component parts and how the parts are arranged. Reliability is one of the most important measures of product quality. Reliability is often expressed as a proportion or percentage, like 90%. A reliability of 90% means that the product will operate as intended for a certain time period 90% of the time.

Let's take a look at how reliability can be used along with design for manufacture, specifically when manufacturing a system.

A system is any product composed of more than one component. Components can be connected to each other in two ways:

• In series, or in such a way that all components must operate if the product or system is to operate.
• A fuel tank -- connected to a fuel hose -- connected to a fuel pump -- connected to fuel injectors is a system with components in series.
• If one of the components in the fuel system fails, the entire system fails to operate.
• Think of a series system as water flowing through a pipe and series of valves. If one valve closes, the water flow stops.
• System reliability for series systems is expressed as

R_s = R₁R₂R_{3 . . .} R_n, where n = no. of components in the system

Series Reliability

• In parallel, or in such a way that if one component fails, a similar or identical component will take over its function. Parallel systems are said to be redundant.
• The space shuttle has redundant computers. If one computers fails, another takes over its function.
• Think of a parallel system as a pipe that branches off into two pipes with valves in them, then re-joins into a single pipe on the other side of the valves. If one valve closes, water can still flow through the other side.
• System reliability for parallel systems is expressed as:

R_s = 1 - (1 - R₁)(1 - R₂). . . (1 - R _n),     or  

R_P=R₁+R₂(1-R₁)     if only two parallel components are present

Parallel Reliability

Another way to think about computing parallel reliabilities is to reason as in the following example:

Example: If two electrical resistors are installed in parallel, and each has a 90% reliability, that means each resistor will operate 90% of the time. One resistor may fail, and that may occur 10% of the time. During that 10% of the time, the other resistor is likely to work, but only 90% of the time. If we multiply 90% times 10%, we get 0.9, or 9% of the total time that the second resistor will provide backup. This tells us that during the time when the first resistor fails, the second resistor will work 9 out of 10 times. Since failure of the first resistor occurs only 10% of the time, our second resistor covers us 9% of the total time. To summarize, the first resistor covers us 90% of the total time, and the second covers us 9% of the total time, or 90% of the 10% failure time. Adding the reliabilities together, we get 90% for the first resistor and 9% for the second resistor, for a total of 99%. Mathematically, we can say R_P=R₁+R₂(1-R₁)

EXAMPLE We can compute system reliabilities for different systems by reducing each component into its equivalent series reliability. Suppose we have the following system:  What is the system reliability? The first step is to reduce the parallel reliabilities into the equivalent series reliability, so we must find the reliability of the RB - RB parallel system: RBB = 1 - (1 - RB)(1 - RB) RBB = 1 - (1 - 0.92)(1 - 0.92) RBB = 1 - (0.08)(0.08) RBB = 0.9936 The equivalent system is now: It is now possible to compute the system reliability since all components are at their series equivalents:  RS = RA RBBRC RS = (0.95)(0.9936)(0.99) RS = 0.9345 Suppose we did not have the redundant component at B. Our reliability would be RS = (0.95)(0.92)(0.99) = 0.8653. You can see that we improved our system reliability (0.9345) significantly by adding the redundant component B.

IN-LINE EXERCISE Compute the system reliability for the system below.  First compute the series equivalent for the two parallel systems, then compute the reliability for the entire system. Compute these: RAA=? RBB=? RCC=? Then compute RS Answer

Improving Reliability to Reduce Redundancy

Now, we see from the series reliability equation that it makes sense to keep the number of parts in a system as small as possible. As the number of parts in series increases, we increase the probability that one will fail. In some instances, however, system reliability may not be good enough, and the number of parts may have to be increased by putting them in parallel. Note the difference: in the case of parallel parts, we are installing an identical or similar part, not an entirely different part. Still, there are ways to improve reliability while also reducing redundancy:

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Example: Boeing is a company that wanted to reduce the number of parts used on the Boeing 777, a  wide-body jet. Its earliest wide-body jet, the Boeing 747 uses 4 engines to support the needs of the aircraft. The engines are installed in parallel so that if one engine fails, the three remaining engines will continue to operate. The Boeing 777 has only two engines -- much larger than those on the Boeing 747. Does that mean that the Boeing 777 is less reliable than the Boeing 747?  No -- each individual Boeing 777 engine is made to be more reliable than each of the four engines on the Boeing 747, so the Boeing 777 is actually more reliable than the Boeing 747. 

Technology in Design

 New product development is increasingly necessary to maintain competitiveness. One tool that has dramatically improved the ability to design new products is the computer.

Computer-aided design (CAD) is a software system that uses computer graphics to assist in the creation, modification, and analysis of a design. Some features of CAD include:

• geometric modeling - the use of basic lines, curves, and shapes to generate the geometry and topology of a part 

• automated drafting - the production of detailed drawings directly from the CAD database  

• computer-aided engineering (CAE) - simulating operating conditions of a part on the computer and analyzing it for movement, stress, interference, and thermal properties.

• link to computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) - the automatic conversion of CAD design data into processing instructions for computer-controlled equipment and the subsequent manufacture of the part as it was designed. 

Benefits of CAD include:

• reduced lead time for new product introduction
• quicker product changes
• quicker product testing
• real-time access to design information
• improved design process through better communication
• more alternatives to be considered

Service Design

We live in a service economy.  The proportion of services in the GDP is large, but not as large as the proportion of labor employed in services.  It is more difficult to find productivity savings in services because of the large labor content.  Service design, therefore must be carefully considered. Service design has some unique characteristics that differentiate it from product design. We will review these, then discuss design concepts for service. 

Characteristics of Service

1. Services are intangible. Services are experienced; they cannot be touched, felt, or seen. Service design is based on expectations of the experience. Many differences exist for what customers expect for the experience and from the provider.
2. Services have high customer contact. Customer contact makes production of the service highly visible, unlike production of tangible goods. High visibility means that a positive encounter between the customer and provider is essential. 
3. Services are perishable. Since services cannot be stored in inventory, service design must define not only what is to be delivered, but also where and when.
4. Consumers do not separate the service from the delivery (production) of the service. Services are produced and consumed simultaneously. Service design must specify how the service is produced, including :

• the level of customer participation in the service process
• front-room (visible) vs. backroom (invisible) tasks
• role and authority of the service provider
• the balance of touch vs. tech (level of automation)

6. Services tend to be decentralized and geographically dispersed. Many small outlets make up most services. Service organizations can become large, often through franchising or "chains," but dispersion means that decision-making and control tends to be more localized.
7. Services are consumed more often than products, so there are more opportunities for service "moments of truth" (chances to succeed and fail).
8. Services can be easily emulated, so new service improvements may occur even more rapidly than product improvements 

Concurrent Engineering

CONCURRENT ENGINEERING: WHAT IT IS AND HOW IT WORKS

Automotive suppliers face a number of challenges. Automotive systems are becoming more advanced, while delivery timeframes are increasingly shorter. At the same time, automakers are continually calling on suppliers to reduce costs.    To satisfy these contradictory requirements, DENSO was one of the first in the industry to adopt concurrent engineering.    Concurrent engineering works like this: people from a variety of departments, including product planning and production engineering, are brought together in multidisciplinary teams at the start of the product design process. This collaborative approach gives everyone involved equal access to the project's concept, blueprints and objectives. Design parameters are then fine-tuned based on in-depth discussions and parallel decision making within the team, so that remedial actions are taken well before the new product advances to the manufacturing phase. Cost estimates—including everything from personnel expenses to transportation costs—efficiency and quality can also be assessed more accurately to devise the optimum procurement and manufacturing processes. Cost and delivery times are both factored into the manufacturing process during the design phase, allowing us to achieve innovative cost reductions and significantly cut delivery time.    This differs from the conventional linear approach to manufacturing, where product planning departments create the initial concept, designers use the concept to construct blueprints, and the production engineering department designs a manufacturing process based on these plans. Each of these activities is done independently and without discussion. The Fruits of Concurrent Engineering In January 2001, we were asked to design a new type of alternator for the 2002 Toyota Celsior and Estima. The new alternator had two requirements—it had to be more compact, and it had to have a higher power output than its predecessor.    To increase output, our product design team proposed increasing the number of coils in the alternator. But that led to a number of issues: The limited space available meant that engineers had to use finer wires to increase the number of coils. Due to the higher temperatures resulting from the required increase in power output, the coil wire had to be even more resistant to heat. Existing alternator production line equipment was incapable of manufacturing alternators with more coil windings.                                                                                  Taking on these challenges, DENSO's material engineers created a new type of high-performance wire that was finer and offered greater heat resistance, while the Machinery and Tools Department successfully developed proprietary manufacturing equipment capable of attaching coils inside components with smaller dimensions. At the same time, our production engineers used simulations to develop the best manufacturing equipment and processes for smaller alternators. These cooperative and concurrent efforts allowed us to meet the customer's requirements: alternator output was boosted to 85 amps from 55, while the diameter of the alternator core was reduced to 128mm from 135. Manufacturing costs were also cut by 30 percent.

THE BENEFITS: SYSTEMIZATION, MODULARIZATION AND STANDARDIZATION

Concurrent engineering processes do more than just streamline the design and development phases of new product creation; they also lead to smaller and lighter components, systemization and modularization, and standardized components,making us more competitive.    While compact automotive components help to reduce the size and weight of vehicles and increase cabin space (benefits for our customers and end-users), they help us in our own operations as well. We can cut the amount of materials used; reduce the size of manufacturing equipment; and scale back warehousing. Naturally, this results in a lower cost base.    Systemization and modularization also benefit both suppliers and automakers. Fewer parts in a component mean materials costs are lower, assembly costs are reduced, and production lines and logistic networks are smaller. In short, we can make products with the same functionality using smaller facilities and less investment. Standardizing components, which entails using common internal devices and systems without sacrificing outward individuality and appearance, allows us to respond to automaker model changes without losing time or resources.

ENHANCING QUALITY: ADVANCED MANUFACTURING EQUIPMENT AND SKILLS

Quality has to be built into production processes. That is why we trust our highly skilled associates and our highly reliable equipment to achieve the DENSO standard of quality. These are standards other companies find hard to match.   How do we know? Our consistently strong showing at the WorldSkills Competition, formerly known as the Skill Olympics, is one way. In this competition, skilled technicians from around the world compete in a range of technical challenges that require micron-level accuracy. In the last WorldSkills Competition, DENSO associates participated in five categories, winning medals in all five competitions. In the instrument-making category, DENSO has won the gold medal six years in a row. Because most production lines are highly automated, this kind of expertise is vital in the construction of “mother machines,” core manufacturing equipment employed in our production lines. Designed and manufactured in-house by the Machinery and Tools Department, these machines allow us to make components in unique and innovative ways.

LOWERING COSTS: AIMING TO ACHIEVE A GLOBAL MINIMUM COST

Since DENSO produced its first component in the 1950s, we have consistently worked to achieve a global minimum cost lower than that set by the customer. This process is even more difficult and demanding as automakers establish competitive global cost bases and automotive component makers face ever-tougher demands to reduce unit costs.    Concurrent engineering helps us accurately set a global minimum cost—and deliver on it.    The shared knowledge flowing from concurrent engineering allows each department to provide advice on how best to reduce the final cost of the component: by altering the initial design, adapting manufacturing processes or devising optimal materials, while keeping mid-process changes to an absolute minimum. Aware that most of the cost of a new product is incurred in the initial design phases, we target this stage of the process to deliver cost reductions to our customers.

REDUCING DELIVERY TIME: INITIATIVES BEGIN AT THE DESIGN STAGE

In the conventional linear approach to manufacturing, delays occurring in one part of the process have an unplanned effect on the rest of the cycle. These incremental delays build up, putting added strain on the production process and leaving less room for maneuver.    Our unique approach to manufacturing means we avoid this pitfall. At DENSO, “delivery” means more than getting products to customers on time. It is a concept that is factored into every part of the manufacturing process. Multidisciplinary teams cooperate at all phases of the process to devise innovative ways to cut delivery times. Every department plays a crucial role. Working hand-in-hand with automakers, DENSO enhances logistics and inventory control efficiency, and speeds up delivery by carefully reviewing and fine-tuning every part of the process. This way the burden is shared, reducing pressure on the end of the process and helping us to meet tight delivery targets.

QCD: AT THE HEART OF EFFORTS TO BOOST GLOBAL SHARE

By realizing world-leading levels of QCD performance, we are aiming to enhance customer satisfaction and ultimately increase DENSO's share of the global automotive components market. Put simply, QCD is crucial to a key objective in our current medium-term management plan: capture the leading global share in 23 automotive product categories. N-Time Technology: Driving Productivity Improvements N-time technology is a phrase unique to DENSO. It was created to define technologies that drive dramatic improvements in productivity, not easily expressed with ratios. Instead, the word "times" is used. Heat exchange component production lines are a good example of how we have applied this technology to significantly boost manufacturing efficiency. Other benefits include a reduction in production line area and the creation of next-generation components that deliver real improvements in performance. Specifically, we introduced N-time technology soldering equipment that reaches its optimum operational temperature 4 times faster than earlier devices, speeding up the manufacturing process. Proprietary equipment using N-time technology was also installed at other stages of the production line, resulting in an overall increase in processing and assembly speeds of 2 to 3 times. The combined benefit of all our improvements in the heat exchange component production line was an increase in output of 1.5 times.

THE UNIVERSAL PRODUCTION SYSTEM: UNIFORM QCD PERFORMANCE

In building an optimum global manufacturing framework, we have to consider a range of local issues: the needs of automakers, workforce skills, procurement costs, and personnel expenses, to name just a few. Using this information, we rapidly adapt our universal production system to the local business environment and have it up and running with minimal investment. This tried and tested approach means we can quickly achieve uniform QCD performance wherever we operate.

THE VITAL INGREDIENT: INVESTING IN PEOPLE

No matter how advanced our facilities or materials, people are still the vital ingredient—it is DENSO associates who make the difference. They take to heart our approach to mono-zukuri, our commitment to Quality First, and help us create new manufacturing technologies.    In April 2001, we established the DENSO E&TS Training Center Corporation in Japan to evaluate skills and provide technical training. This company enhances the skills of two key groups of engineers: those involved in product development and those helping to fabricate the finished products on the factory floor. Building stronger ties between these two groups of engineers ensures that concurrent engineering remains an integral and widely accepted element of DENSO’s corporate culture. The center also supports overseas facilities through training programs designed to foster the skills that our technicians need. Devising Optimum Equipment and Workflow Processes Concurrent techniques are not limited to product development processes. We also use them to develop manufacturing equipment.    On the factory floor, machinery and tools, production engineering and production control departments work closely with engineers, managers and other associates to devise optimum equipment and workflow processes.    Creating simulated production lines from cardboard is one technique we use. The approach was first employed in Thailand in 2002 to boost productivity and incorporate the expertise and work-related ideas of local personnel. Prior to installing new manufacturing equipment, we build life-size production lines made from cardboard and wood that incorporate mock-ups of the new equipment currently under development. This allows us to simulate and monitor actual workflow processes, helping us to reduce startup lead times. If we notice any potential flaws in the system, we can rapidly make adjustments to fix them. Moreover, we can achieve output targets almost as soon as a new production line comes on stream, helping to further reduce costs.