APC 2001 Annual Report Download - page 29

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Annual Report 2001 ●Challenges 22•23
Optimizing the product
development process
Customers are at the heart of the product
development process, which is essential to growth
and competitiveness. We work to satisfy their
expectations by offering global lineups, whenever
possible, as well as ranges tailored to specific
market conditions. By leveraging concurrent
engineering techniques, digital simulation
and teamwork via intranet and extranet,
we have considerably shortened lead times over
the past three years.
Rooting out excess costs
with Six Sigma
The Six Sigma method aims to achieve rapid
performance gains in all functions. Its goal is to
eliminate the slightest defect, with “defect” being
defined as any reason for customer dissatisfaction.
To do this, Six Sigma relies on the systematic
control of all processes, from procurement
to development, production and delivery.
Multiple indicators are used to quantify non-quality
costs, performance targets and progress achieved.
To attain excellence, Six Sigma drops the notion
of steady incremental improvements in favor of high
standards that allow the organization to introduce
relevant indicators in all areas.
Pioneering certification
to the new quality standard
The ISO 9000 standard, as revised in 2000,
is more demanding than the earlier version.
Its goals are product conformance and customer
satisfaction. This dual objective requires close
cooperation between all corporate functions
and the definition of specific targets
and performance-tracking indicators.
In 2001, all automation design, production,
sales and service operations in France were certified
to ISO 9001: 2000.
In addition, our subsidiaries in South Africa, Brazil,
Venezuela and Bulgaria were the first companies
in their respective countries to be certified
under the new standard.
>
>
>
> Reduce non-quality costs by 50%.
> Reduce time to market for new products
by 50%.
Targets for 2004