In automotive manufacturing, reducing quality costs can be like trying to bail out a leaking boat. You can empty bucket after bucket over the side, but you can’t get above water until you plug the leaks themselves. A new leak often appears the moment you fix another one, and the fixes themselves might only be temporary.
Manufacturers are finding that layered process audits (LPAs)—a type of high-frequency audit involving all layers of management—are a singularly powerful method for permanently repairing those leaks.