Implementation of the "Three Compliances and Two Adherences" Improvement Initiative to Continuously Enhance Product Quality

Nidec KDS Elevator Motor Co., Ltd. is one of the high-quality suppliers specializing in providing elevator components for the elevator industry. It offers a comprehensive range of products, enabling it to supply customers with elevator components (as shown in the attached drawings) featuring various traction ratios, rated loads, and rated speeds. Upholding the spirit of "continuously improving operations, meeting customer expectations, enhancing customer value, and achieving outstanding performance" to support customers' success, the company regards ensuring product and service quality and improving customer satisfaction as key operational indicators to fully drive the sustained development of the enterprise.

At the beginning of September, the Installation Workshop launched a two-month quality improvement campaign themed "Three Compliances and Two Adherences". The purpose of this campaign was to strengthen the awareness of all employees regarding the improvement principle of "operating in accordance with documents, operating in accordance with processes, operating in accordance with work instructions, adhering to work discipline, and adhering to process discipline", and to enhance the operational skills of all staff.

The core to the rapid implementation of the "Three Compliances and Two Adherences" lies in execution. The specific management method required for in-place execution is Layered Process Audit (LPA). With LPA as the main tool, comprehensive improvements focusing on the 5M1E (Man, Machine, Material, Method, Environment, Measurement) aspects were carried out in the Installation Workshop. The "Layered Process Audit" is designed to engage all employees in reviewing the "Three Compliances and Two Adherences", raise the quality awareness of all staff, and help establish a framework-based thinking and direction for action in the subsequent improvement activities.

Personnel Planning

The initiative emphasizes the participation of all employees, with managers at different levels involved in the on-site audit activities of the production site. Based on the company's organizational structure, the levels involved are as follows:

• Level 1: General Manager

• Level 2: Chief Operating Officer / Production Manager / Quality Manager

• Level 3: Production Supervisor / Process Engineer / Quality Engineer

• Level 4: Team Leader

The audit frequency varies among leaders of different levels. For example:

• Team Leaders conduct audits once per shift.

• Production Supervisors, Process Engineers, and Quality Engineers perform audits once a week.

• The Chief Operating Officer, Production Manager, and Quality Manager carry out audits once a month.

• The Chairman and General Manager conduct audits irregularly.

Audit Plan Development

Firstly, considering the long duration of the improvement initiative and the desire to better demonstrate the effectiveness of the improvements, it is necessary to plan the activities and formulate a Layered Process Audit Schedule. While it is relatively easy to adjust the LPA for engineers, it can be difficult to temporarily schedule the time for senior leaders to participate in LPA. Therefore, an audit plan is essential and must be issued in advance.

On-Site Implementation

In the early stage of the initiative, the "Three Compliances and Two Adherences" were promoted during the morning meetings of the Installation Workshop, encouraging employees to actively participate in quality improvement efforts and speak up to report potential quality hazards in the operation process. To improve efficiency, checklists covering relevant dimensions were developed. After operators take up their positions, some may be unfamiliar with the environment, and more often, they may fail to identify potential issues at the production site in a short period of time due to familiarity. Thus, prompts from the checklists are required to carry out the work.

Improvement Tracking

Every Thursday, workshop supervisors, QA (Quality Assurance) personnel, and ME (Mechanical Engineering) staff jointly conduct line inspections of all workstations, with a focus on identifying quality hazards at workstations with unstable quality. Due to the wide coverage and large number of audit items, there are many audit findings that need to be identified and closed. Audit findings only mark the beginning of continuous improvement on the production line; how to correctly and effectively close these findings is a crucial part of the continuous improvement of the production line.

Achievement Display

The content of Layered Process Audits is extensive. To monitor the efficiency and quality of the audits, the actual implementation of LPA is displayed in a way similar to a dashboard. The displayed content includes: the completion rate of implementation, the number of audit findings, the completion rate of improvements, etc.

Through the implementation of this Quality Month improvement initiative, the quality awareness of all employees has been significantly enhanced, and quality indicators have been greatly improved. Specifically, defects related to the "Man" factor in 5M1E have been significantly reduced; the rates of missing installation, wrong installation, and mixed installation have decreased notably; potential quality hazards in relevant processes have been greatly reduced; and the operational quality of processes has been continuously optimized. As a result, the first-pass yield and the finished product first-pass qualification rate have increased by 1-2%, while customer complaints and product returns have decreased significantly. These obvious improvements in data fully demonstrate the effectiveness and value of the improvement initiative.

The successful holding of this Quality Month improvement initiative has created a favorable atmosphere in the workshop where quality is continuously focused on and excellence is pursued. Through the implementation of the initiative, the company has not only improved employees' quality awareness and skill levels but also achieved tangible improvement results, laying a solid foundation for enhancing the company's overall product quality and service standards.

Looking ahead, the company will continue to focus on the continuous improvement of quality, further deepen the concept of "Three Compliances and Two Adherences", and promote the continuous improvement of the company's quality level. At the same time, the company will also continue to pay attention to the growth and development of employees and provide them with more opportunities for learning and self-presentation.

In future Quality Month initiatives, the company will further enrich the forms of improvement activities, expand the scope of participation, and encourage more employees to participate in comprehensive quality improvement activities. Additionally, the company will strengthen communication and cooperation with sister departments and workshops, learn from advanced quality management concepts and methods, and continuously improve the company's 3Q (Qualified Employees, Qualified Company, Qualified Products) level!