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drives into the repair bay for the very first time, he sees a sign hanging in the ceiling
above the cars that says, Fixed right the first time, 100%. Well that sounds good to
Mr. Johnson, and he remembers that when he bought the car they offered hospitality
service. They offered free oil changes and free state inspection services. They offered
free transportation back to your home or office if your car was in for repair, and he
2
This case note is written by Bruce Winston for the purpose of class discussion of
Management Principles and Techniques for MGMT642 Total Quality Management. It is
not meant as a means of presenting good or bad management.
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Total Quality Management
remembers in the hospitality document that if the car wasn t fixed right the first time,
Southern Auto would provide a loaner car free of charge for the customer s use. He
meets one of the service technicians and describes the problem of the car not starting,
battery being charged, fan running, having the car towed, staying overnight, and
agrees to leave the car until the next day.
At 5 p.m. Mr. Johnson gets a call from the technician saying that they found the
problem and there is a switch on the fan that was faulty. It has been replaced, oil has
been changed, and the total bill comes to $64.00. Mr. Johnson can pick up the car
anytime he likes; they were open until 8:00 p.m. that evening. Mr. Johnson arranges
transportation and picks up the car.
Two months later, Mr. Johnson notices a problem with the transmission. When it
shifts into overdrive, there is extensive vibration. Mr. Johnson is not a mechanic;
however, he believes that the car is trying to shift into overdrive too soon. Since most
of his driving was highway driving and it was probably not a big deal, he decided to
keep an eye on it and see how things progressed.
Two months went by, and Mr. Johnson experienced the same problem with the car not
starting, the battery running down, and upon jumping the car, finding out the fans
come right back on again. Mr. Johnson takes the car into Southern Auto, talks to the
service technician, describes the problem from before, the fan problem now, and the
shuttering vibration problem which he believes is associated with the transmission.
Mr. Johnson leaves the car early in the morning. At noon he receives a call from the
service technician saying that they could not find anything wrong with the fans or the
electrical system, and they couldn t find any of the vibration problems that Mr.
Johnson was talking about. However, the tires may be out of round, that would cause
the vibration, and since the two front tires are beginning to show wear, and the car
has 35,000 miles on it, Mr. Johnson ought to consider replacing the front tires. Charge
for today s visit: $65.00. Mr. Johnson picks up the car, takes it to a tire service place,
has two new tires put on and asks for an alignment. The car did need a slight
alignment. So now with two new tires and an alignment, this bill comes to $140.00.
Mr. Johnson drives out and notices that there is no more shuttering when the car s
transmission shifts. Feeling he has solved the problem, he feels good about the car.
About one week later, the shuttering returns, this time growing more noticeable.
Three months go by, and Mr. Johnson again experiences the same problem with the
fans. This time in the morning when he gets up, the car will not start. He uses his
wife s car to jump his own car, and again the fan comes on as soon as the battery
cables are connected. Mr. Johnson takes the car into the Southern Auto dealership,
drives back into the service bay, and again sees the sign Fixed right the first time,
100%. He asks for the same service technician which helped him before and he says,
This is the third time that I have brought this car in for these problems.
The service technician says, Do you have the repair bills from the other times?
Mr. Johnson says, Well I m not sure, they may be in the car, but you have them on
computer record, at least that is what I was told.
The service technician says, Well, we just put in a new computer system, and we
don t have the details on your past service work anymore. I see you did bring the car
in, but I don t know what for or what was done. Mr. Johnson relays all of the
concerns and problems before, describes the problem, asks the service tech to go for a
ride with him to feel the vibration. Twice during the short drive, the vibration
occurred, very mild but it occurred. Mr. Johnson leaves the car early in the morning.
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Lesson Three - Quality Definition and Measurement
At noon Mr. Johnson gets a call from the service technician who says, We ve
researched the problem with the fan and we believe that the fan relay, which
measures the temperature of the water, is faulty and we are replacing it. We ve
inspected the transmission, and we find problems with the linkage and a problem
with the throttle body housing, which also affects the rate of transmission shifting.
Cost: $450.00. Understand that Mr. Johnson has extended warranty, but none of this
applies under extended warranty. Also, since there are no more details about his past
service work, Mr. Johnson doesn t have proof that this was being brought back for the
same problem as before. Mr. Johnson picks up the car.
Three months later, while driving in Columbia, his car begins to overheat. He stops at
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