Business Standards Magazine Motors On in November

BSI highlights the significance of standards in the motoring industry

The October/November issue of Business Standards, published by Caspian on behalf of the BSI Group, will focus on the benefits that standards are having on the automotive industry. The lead editorial comes from Ford's COO and longest serving member, Sir Nick Scheele who provides an in-depth account as to why quality has been the key driver to Ford's success.

The article highlights Mr Scheele's early desire to lead a car industry based on quality. This was triggered from a video seen twenty years ago, which showcased Japanese and American consumers pointing out the faults on their vehicles. When contrasted, Japanese cars fared considerably better than their American counterparts. Scheele thought then: "The Japanese are really coming after us.

"I had previously thought that quality costs money. In fact, poor quality costs far more, both from the consumers' and manufacturer's viewpoint. I realised that a focus on quality was absolutely fundamental going forward."

Today, the focus on quality continues as Ford, the second largest carmaker in the world, battles it out for market share world-wide with other top manufacturers.

Specifically, Ford and many other manufacturers throughout the supply chain are benefiting from the automotive version of ISO 9001:2000, called ISO/TS 16949.

ISO/TS 16949 requires the continuous, systematic improvement of management processes. This has become the significant differentiator between manufacturers and has replaced traditional comparisons such as the quality of actual car components.

ISO/TS 16949 also means greater focus on the customer. Mr Scheele says:

"Now, the quality of interaction and relationships at both the purchasing and service levels is where there is ability to gain an edge over other car makers."

Wayne Booker of BSI, the former Ford vice chairman also believes that quality is key to the automotive industry. He says: "The change in the industry is that take-up rates of automotive quality management systems have increased in recent years, and that includes companies in Asia."

Worldwide, the top adopters of TS 16949:2002 are currently: Germany, France, USA, Spain and Italy, with the UK slow to implement. BSI is leading the TS 16949 markets in the US and UK with market shares of 35 and 37 per cent, respectively.

This edition of Business Standards magazine aims to provide the automotive manufacturer, across all tiers, with valuable information on why they should commit to standardisation.

-ENDS-

For more information please contact:

Wilma Tulloch on +44 (0)20 8996 6330 OR
Marc Edney on +44 (0)20 8996 6330