Ensuring Supply Chain Wide Quality Conformance : An exploratory study of strategies used by companies in the automotive industry

Abstract: Problem: The increasing complexity of supply chains have created a need for more well-developed quality processes that all stakeholders understand and ultimately adopt. Considering that the automotive industry generally involves thousands of components and suppliers, it makes the automotive supply chain complex by nature, and therefore challenging to control. Thus, it is of interest to create a better understanding of how companies within this large network manage to ensure quality conformance.   Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explore and understand the strategies that are employed by companies working within the automotive industry in order to realize a supply wide conformance within quality.   Method: Primary data were collected from seven interviews with representatives from six companies; three major automotive companies, two tier-one suppliers and one tier-two supplier. The findings were analyzed using thematic analysis with the aim of finding recurring themes and categories that could be further analyzed in relation to previous literature.   Findings: The findings show that there are four recurring areas in which companies work to ensure quality throughout their supply chain. These are (1) Standards & Systems, (2) Risk Minimizing Activities, (3) Organizational Culture, (4) Involvement & Development. Furthermore, a relationship between these four areas have been identified.