Established in 1982, the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) is a nonprofit association with a diverse group of stakeholders—including retailers, suppliers of all sizes, automakers, manufacturers, service providers, academia, and the government—working collaboratively to streamline industry processes via global standards development and harmonized business practices.

Quality, product development, and customer satisfaction were on the agenda for the AIAG Quality Summit held last week in Novi, Michigan. Attendees from leading automotive manufacturers to tier 1 automotive suppliers discussed quality processes to design, develop, and launch new products and vehicles that will satisfy the immediate customer, and enhance the end-consumer experience. Proactive and preventive quality measures and systems were examined.

One topic discussed was layered process audits (LPA), which have become quite popular and are often a mandatory requirement for automotive suppliers. Developed by Chrysler, LPAs offer organizations a chance to lower their cost of quality.

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