Ideas for quality and continuous improvement can come from the most unconventional sources. As an automotive supplier, improving competitiveness, quality, and productivity are always top of mind. Put simply, in this industry, companies live and die by continuous improvement. As the only tier-one supplier dedicated exclusively to advanced wheel-to-wheel steering, Nexteer Automotive launched last year with a fresh approach to quality and manufacturing precision. We at Nexteer challenge what is normal and strive to uncover nontraditional methods that help us work smarter and more efficiently for our automaker clients.

For me, inspiration came in the form of competitive figure skating. My daughter is a figure skater and is constantly training to improve her on-ice form and jumps. One of the tools used by her coaches and trainers is Dartfish, a video analysis software. This motion analysis technology has a solid reputation in the sports community; in fact, 95 percent of medals won by the United States during the Vancouver Olympics were won by athletes and teams who trained with Dartfish.

 …