Kia Case Study
Information systems help kia solve its quality problems
Page: 48 1. Why was it so difficult for kia to identify sources of defects in the cars it produced?
It was difficult for Kia to identify sources of defects in the cars it produced because the information Kia had to report was stored in at least seven different systems run by Kia’s warranty, parts, consumer, and legal affairs departments. So, the fragmentation of this information in different systems prevented Kia from forgetting a complete picture of defects.
2. What was the business impact of Kia not having an information system to track defects? What other business processes besides manufacturing and production were affected?
The business impact of Kia not having an information system to track defects is that it created a series of stopgap software to extract the required information out of these various computer systems and collect it manually. But this would have been time consuming and would not provide any other benefits to the company. Besides the manufacturing and production that was affected, the part sales get affected, warranty claims consumer complaints increased. 3. How did Kia’s new defect-reporting system improve the way it ran its business?
Kia created a defect early warning system that could identify problems such as faulty brake which help improves cars quality. This is done by combining warranty claims, part orders, field reports and consumer complaints. As a result of this the warranty claims will be reduced and the customer satisfaction will increase. 4. What management, organization, and technology issues did kia have to address when it adopted its new quality control system?
Kia enlisted infogain, a Los Gatos, California, software consulting firm to help it design a new system solution. Infogain created a software engine that examines six Kia systems for warranty claims, parts sales, vehicle inventories and stores the essential information in a single common data
Page: 48 1. Why was it so difficult for kia to identify sources of defects in the cars it produced?
It was difficult for Kia to identify sources of defects in the cars it produced because the information Kia had to report was stored in at least seven different systems run by Kia’s warranty, parts, consumer, and legal affairs departments. So, the fragmentation of this information in different systems prevented Kia from forgetting a complete picture of defects.
2. What was the business impact of Kia not having an information system to track defects? What other business processes besides manufacturing and production were affected?
The business impact of Kia not having an information system to track defects is that it created a series of stopgap software to extract the required information out of these various computer systems and collect it manually. But this would have been time consuming and would not provide any other benefits to the company. Besides the manufacturing and production that was affected, the part sales get affected, warranty claims consumer complaints increased. 3. How did Kia’s new defect-reporting system improve the way it ran its business?
Kia created a defect early warning system that could identify problems such as faulty brake which help improves cars quality. This is done by combining warranty claims, part orders, field reports and consumer complaints. As a result of this the warranty claims will be reduced and the customer satisfaction will increase. 4. What management, organization, and technology issues did kia have to address when it adopted its new quality control system?
Kia enlisted infogain, a Los Gatos, California, software consulting firm to help it design a new system solution. Infogain created a software engine that examines six Kia systems for warranty claims, parts sales, vehicle inventories and stores the essential information in a single common data