Improving the accuracy of external appearance quality assessment

We inspect the external appearance of products based on the finishing painting grade we decide for each part, because it is greatly affected by the painting. However, inspection of the external appearance has depended for a large part on visual examination by the inspectors, which meant that the judgments determining pass or fail have differed, depending upon the examining inspector. To resolve this problem, we issued a guide to painting appearance, illustrated with many photos and boundary samples in fiscal 2008 to improve the accuracy of external appearance quality assessment.

In the painting appearance guide we defined painting defects such as burnishing marks¹, flow lines² and spots³, and showed them in photos. We also showed many examples of painting defects categorized by parts such as the front, rotating unit and the track in the guide, which failed the external appearance inspection. We prepared these examples by recording paintings which failed the inspection at the worksite one by one, and we will continue to gather examples.

The painting appearance guide and boundary samples were distributed to eleven premises of group companies in Japan and to seven premises of group companies outside Japan in order to improve the accuracy of external appearance quality assessment. We will make further efforts so that inspectors use the standards and thereby ensure that the pass or fail assessment does not differ according to the examining inspector.

1.burnishing mark : burnishing mark remains on finishing painting
2.flow lines : part of the painting film is too thick and runs
3.spots : spots on the painting film surface

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