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Production Methods - Activity

The Times 100 series of case studies cover a wide range of real business situations, one of which is a study of the production methods in use at Nissan's Sunderland car plant. The plant is one of the most modern car plants in Europe and has consistently been in the very top of the productivity league tables. The case study helps you to have some understanding of the factors that contribute to this success.

Nissan production line

Part of the production line at Nissan's Sunderland plant. This image was taken by a partner company of Nissan who supply software solutions to help businesses. In this case, the project was to develop a database to capture the unique Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) for each vehicle passing through the production line.
Image reproduced with permission from David Saville, Aldex Software Ltd.

For this activity, we are using the Times 100's Nissan case study [PDF, 255 KB](http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/downloads/nissan/nissan_9_full.pdf).

Tasks:

  1. Read through the 9 sections - each of which is concise and relevant - noting the following points.
    1. What market segments is Nissan UK seeking to target?
    2. What were the key reasons for locating in Sunderland?
    3. What type of production method is used at Nissan's Sunderland plant?
    4. Such production methods can lead to boredom and monotony in the workforce - how does Nissan attempt to avoid this problem?
    5. What are the key requirements of the Total Quality Management (TQM) system in place at Nissan?
    6. Nissan uses a Just-In-Time (JIT) stock control system. What are the advantages and disadvantages of such a system to a company like Nissan?
    7. With regard to the JIT system, how far did the location decisions help Nissan to be able to adopt such a system?
    8. Why is investment in staff development so important to productivity levels at Nissan?
    9. What are the main principles of Kaizen?

Study Skill Hint:

When making notes, try reading through the whole page, then attempt to summarise the key points related to the guide questions in your own words. Then go back and check the page again against your notes - amend any inaccuracies. This approach helps you to build understanding rather than just copying information - the difference between a shallow learning approach where the information covered will have been forgotten by the next lesson and a deeper approach to learning where you can use the information gained in different contexts - i.e. in an exam!

  1. Given the method of production currently used by Nissan in Sunderland, what steps would need to be taken to switch to a cellular production system?

Study Skill Hint:

There is no right or wrong answer to this question - it is designed to make you think. In so doing, you will have to put yourself in a position and imagine a picture of a manufacturing plant that you might never have experienced before. If this is the case, try to look at some images of car manufacturing plants - the Presentation [756 KB](http://www.bized.co.uk/educators/16-19/business/production/presentation/methods.ppt) has some examples. Once you can visualise the layout, you would have to think of what would need to be done to change the current layout to a new layout required by cellular production methods. You might be way off the mark in terms of what would really need to be done but the process of thinking it through, visualising the process and identifying the practical difficulties will help you to understand more fully the issues surrounding production.

  1. Whilst Nissan is a very successful and productive plant, it does face a number of challenges in the future and compared to some plants elsewhere in the world, it is positively inefficient! Look at and read the information in the following press release - Nissan and Suzuki Confirm Major Manufacturing and Model-Sharing Alliance (http://www.globalinsight.com/SDA/SDADetail6066.htm). Write a short 500 word report outlining your views on the key strategies that Nissan could take to meet some of the challenges which it faces in the future.

These links may also provide some further background for your answers and research: