【英语科技】质量问题迫使丰田改变汽车开发流程

Toyota Motor Corp. is stretching out how long its new models are tested before they go into production and reducing the number of outside engineers it uses in a bid to overcome a spate of quality problems.

Randy Stephens, a senior Toyota engineer based in Ann Arbor, Mich., said company executives recognize that there were quality issues with the last generation of its vehicles, which were developed while the company was in a global-growth mode. Executives began talking about making changes nearly a year ago, he said, but the recent recall problems have spurred the company to act.

'As we looked at this past generation of vehicles it did seem to be all about the growth of the company, and there were lapses,' said Mr. Stephens, who works at the Toyota Technical Center near Ann Arbor and is in charge of the Toyota Avalon, a large sedan. 'We are definitely reforming the processes to be ultracareful.'

The changes in development follow Toyota's announcement that it will recall up to 270,000 Lexus models globally because of an engine problem that could cause stalling.

The Japanese auto maker has been ravaged by quality and safety concerns in the past six months. It has recalled more than 8.5 million vehicles globally for problems related to unintended acceleration and tens of thousands more for steering, braking and gas-tank flaws in vehicles across its lineup.

Executive Vice President Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota's chief engineer globally, is spearheading the effort, which is similar to a move in 2006 after Toyota had a spike in quality problems. Product-development times may be extended by two to six months, said a senior Beijing-based Toyota sales and marketing executive.

Toyota is trying not to lengthen the overall development time for a vehicle, which is 21 or 48 months depending on when you start counting, Mr. Stephens said. The idea is that other parts of the process could be shortened to allow more testing.

In addition to extending product-development lead times, Mr. Uchiyamada and his engineering team have decided to cut the number of engine and other key-feature variants and options to simplify and narrow the scope of engineering work, allowing engineers to focus more on quality.

Toyota may also further reduce the use of virtual, computerized engineering and use more vehicle prototypes. Doing so extends development time and increases costs.

In the case of the Avalon, which is developed and engineered in the U.S., Mr. Stephens said he is adding four weeks of testing to his development schedule. The testing will include using consumers and independent engineers to put 'fresh eyeballs' on the models before they enter production. He said Toyota will use prototypes when necessary.

'I think taking a step back and making sure that they have all of their processes in mind is probably a prudent move,' said Michael Robinet, an automotive analyst with IHS Automotive.

The company is also working to return development work that had been sourced to outside engineers back to Toyota employees. Some outside engineers work side by side with Toyota's engineers inside Toyota research and development centers. But using contractors has led to a breakdown in communication and potential misunderstandings, Mr. Stephens said.

A senior Toyota engineer said the company uses outside engineers to do about 30% of its development work globally and seeks to reduce the ratio to 10%. Toyota spokeswoman Cynthia Mahalak, of the Toyota Technical Center, said she couldn't confirm the ratios.

'We're definitely trying to do that,' Mr. Stephens said. 'We are trying to do as much in-house as we can. It makes more sense for us. It is easier to control and understand the process.'

Toyota had long held the U.S. crown for top quality and reliability among car makers. But last month, researcher J.D. Power & Associates said the Toyota brand fell to 21st from 7th overall in its annual Initial Quality Survey of new vehicles.

Meanwhile, Toyota's U.S. market share declined to 14.3% in June from 15.3% a year earlier, according to Autodata Corp. Even more telling, Toyota's market share through the first six months of 2010 is 15.1%, down from 17% at the end of 2009.

In a study released last week, Edmunds.com found that used-car prices have risen by an unprecedented amount in the past year for nearly all brands except Toyota.

'Our daily job is as intense and thorough as it has ever been,' Mr. Stephens said. 'These issues that have come up were really a surprise for us-- but a wake-up call because things can slip by.'

丰田汽车公司(Toyota Motor Corp.)开始延长新款汽车投入生产之前的测试时间，并减少聘用的外部工程师的数量，以便消除一系列的质量问题。

European Pressphoto Agency丰田全球总工程师内山田武(Takeshi Uchiyamada)统帅开发流程的调整。丰田驻密歇根州安娜堡的高级工程师史蒂芬斯(Randy Stephens)说，公司高管承认最新一代汽车存在质量问题。这批汽车是在公司处于全球增长模式时开发出来的。他说，高管们一年前就开始讨论进行调整，不过是最近的召回事件刺激公司付诸行动。

史蒂芬斯在安娜堡附近的丰田技术中心工作，负责丰田大型轿车亚洲龙(Avalon)业务。他说，当我们审视最新一代汽车时，它确实看起来完全是为了公司的增长服务的，存在失误；我们肯定要改进流程，变得格外谨慎。

在调整开发流程之前，丰田宣布将在全球召回至多27万辆雷克萨斯(Lexus)，因为引擎问题可能会引发汽车突然熄火。

过去六个月来，这家日本汽车生产商一直受到质量和安全问题的困扰。该公司已经因突然加速问题在全球召回了850多万辆汽车，还因转向、刹车和油箱问题召回了数万辆各种款式的汽车。

丰田执行副总裁、全球总工程师内山田武(Takeshi Uchiyamada)统帅开发流程的调整，这项行动与2006年丰田汽车质量问题剧增之后的举措类似。丰田驻北京的一位高级销售和市场高管说，产品开发时间可能会延长两到六个月。

史蒂芬斯说，丰田正努力避免延长一款汽车的总体开发时间，根据开始时间计算方式的不同，一款汽车的开发时间为21或48个月不等。他们的想法是可以缩短其他环节，以便有更多的时间进行测试。

除延长产品开发时间外，内山田武及其工程师团队还决定减少引擎和其他主要功能的变量和选择，以便简化并缩小工程工作的范围，使工程师更多地专注于质量。

丰田还可能会进一步减少虚拟、计算机辅助工程设计的使用，更多地使用样车。这样做会延长开发时间、增加成本。

斯蒂芬斯说，对于在美国开发和设计的“亚洲龙”，他将在开发时间表上加进四周的测试。测试中，将让消费者和独立工程师从他们的角度来评鉴车型，然后才会投产。他说，丰田将在必要情况下使用工程样车。

咨询公司IHS Automotive分析师罗比内特(Michael Robinet)说，退后一步并留心各个步骤，我想这或许是一种谨慎的做法。

丰田也在着手收回包给外部工程师的开发工作，让自己的员工来做。一些外部工程师在丰田的各个研发中心同丰田的工程师一起工作。但斯蒂芬斯说，使用外包商造成了沟通不畅和潜在的误解。

丰田的一位高级工程师说，外部工程师做了全球约30%的开发工作，公司希望把这个比例降到10%。在丰田技术中心(Toyota Technical Center)供职的丰田发言人马哈拉克(Cynthia Mahalak)说，她不能证实这两个数字。

斯蒂芬斯说，我们肯定是在这样做，我们尽量把尽可能多的事情在内部进行，这样对我们更加合理，能够更方便地实施控制、理解流程。

丰田的质量和可靠性曾经在美国长期雄居各家汽车厂商之冠。但上个月研究公司J.D. Power & Associates说，在它针对新款汽车的年度“初始质量调查”(Initial Quality Survey)中，丰田品牌的整体质量从第七位下降到了第21位。

与此同时，研究公司Autodata Corp.的数据显示，丰田6月份在美国的市场占有率也从一年前的15.3%下降到了14.3%。更有说服力的是，丰田在2010年上半年的市场占有率是15.1%，低于2009年年底的17%。

汽车调研网站Edmunds.com上周公布的调查发现，几乎所有品牌二手车的价格在过去一年都已经上涨，涨幅前所未有，但这当中没有丰田。

斯蒂芬斯说，我们的日常工作是有史以来最紧张而全面的，这些已经出现的问题实在是出乎我们意料，但它们也警醒了我们，因为有些问题可能不引人注意。