Case Cranston Nissan

1. Categorize the quality problems in this case.

It is apparent that there was a number of quality problems associated with the negligence of the body shop:

The first problem was categorized as the timing of products and services. The timing of delivery of the fixed

car did not satisfy Mr. Monahan’s requirements. The repairs took much longer than anticipated, and every

time the customer called to check up on his car, a new problem that did not exist before seemed to arise.

This lack of efficiency is bound to ruin the customers’ satisfaction with Nissan’s service.

The second issue was associated with a form of materials requirement planning. The shop failed to have the

right materials at the right time which might have resulted from the inefficient procedure and forecast. The

shop had assured Mr. Monahan that it would replace his damaged rubber moulding, but, nearly five days

later, the mechanic informed him that the moulding was out of stock and hasn’t been ordered yet. This will

make the firm become an unresponsive firm in the eyes of customers.

The third quality problem area was the lack of both internal and external communication between two

departments. Firstly, the lack of internal communication can be seen by incoordination between two

departments. Secondly, the poor communication to customers can be illustrated by that fact that Monahan

had to deal with multiple personnel at the body shop. Since the shop lacked coordination, it seemed that no

one really cared about his situation, and the problems were probably passed around instead of being fixed.

He was charged for the multiple repairs, even though the service department manager assured him that no

cost would be incurred.

The fourth issue was the unreliability of service that Nissan provided for the customers. For instance, it

took the customer around eighteen days to get the fixed car even though the shop promised to do that in

three or four days. This frustrated the...