Nissan's Sunderland plant places qu

Nissan's Sunderland plant places quality at the heart of its operation and has one fundamental quality objective: to be the best-in-class for customer quality performance, in all markets in which its cars are sold.

Like all Nissan plants around the world, the Sunderland plant operates a Total Quality Management system (TQM), which is designed to ensure the ongoing success of the operation.

At its core is the philosophy of putting customer satisfaction at the top of the list of priorities and understanding their requirements.

TQM requires the full participation of every employee in a constant quest to improve the quality of the products, people and working environment. Within the TQM approach, Nissan places a great emphasis on understanding the root cause of concerns and then ensuring that these are resolved effectively through the application of a PDCA cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act).

Leading this quest is the Quality Assurance department, which is split into three main areas with the following responsibilities:

Vehicle Quality Assurance (VQA) – responsible for the overall quality of the final vehicle from the initial build within the plant to coordinating service and warranty actions once it has been delivered to the customer.
Parts Quality Assurance (PQA) – oversees all of the suppliers, and the parts that they deliver to the plant.