Anton Andres / Nissan | September 26, 2018 16:44
Nissan to overhaul emissions testing procedures following investigation
Following lapses in production inspection and emission testing, Japanese automaker Nissan has concluded their internal investigation and have submitted their findings to the authorities. The report was submitted to the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) after the agency made recommendations to the company.
Back in July 9, 2018, Nissan reported the following two areas of misconduct in exhaust emissions and fuel economy sample testing. These were discovered as a result of voluntary internal checks. There, they found deviations from the test environment, as well as the rewriting of measurement values. This meant that the cars rolling out of the Japanese factories during that time were built inconsistently.
Some cars came out of the plants with misaligned wheels and headlights, varying horn volumes, brake pedal travel and parking brake travel, and steering issues. In their investigation, Nissan pointed out ten main causes of inspection lapses, and these are:
Reduced respect for standard operating procedure among inspectors
Absence of gemba (on-location) management
Insufficient kanken (investigative) training
Insufficient number of kanken inspectors
Insufficient equipment
Management of vehicle plants
Management-level personnel at plants
Insufficient compliance at Nissan
Unreasonable test specifications
Reduced respect for the kanken
With those points identified, Nissan has released several personnel, as well as an overhaul of inspection procedures. New inspectors have been put in place while more intensive training has also been implemented. Sample testing will also be more frequent to keep the vehicles consistently in compliance. Gemba and Kanken will be further explained to trainees in order to fully understand Nissan's visions and ideals, as well as develop a customer-oriented mindset.
