Yoshiya Inamori, new vice president of manufacturing at Proton, on current issues and ways to improve

Yoshiya Inamori, new vice president of manufacturing at Proton, on current issues and ways to improve

During a group interview with Yoshiya Inamori, the new vice president of manufacturing at Proton provided some insights into some of the current issues affecting the national carmaker, and how he plans to address them.

The main objective has been made clear from the start – get Proton back to the top spot in Malaysia. Naturally, this requires sales numbers to be larger than current (5,083 units in October), which Inamori says has made it difficult to secure profits.

“The Shah Alam and Tanjung Malim (plants), relative to their big area and big capacity, they have very (low) volume. I think in that sense, I see some difficulties to profit here.”

Inamori also commented the systems within Proton plants were satisfactory as they conform to various ISO certifications (9001 and 14001 for Tanjung Malim; 9001 for Shah Alam). However, the number of model launches is a concern for him, as quality assurance for each model can become an issue.

Yoshiya Inamori, new vice president of manufacturing at Proton, on current issues and ways to improve

He was referring to Proton’s four-model offensive last year, where the new Perdana, Persona, Saga and Ertiga were launched within months of each other.

“Last year, Proton launched four new models in one year. So, I think it’s causing some quality issues here, because even in Japanese automotive companies, we usually put a six-month gap between model launches. So, four launches in one year, it never happens, even in Japanese automotive companies. It’s very difficult to keep the good quality if we launch four models in one year,” he explained.

When asked if he thought quick, successive launches should no longer be done, Inamori said, “no, for the future, it should not happen because for customers, quality is more important.

He elaborated by saying, “for the delivery, we always try to provide perfect quality for customers, but in the plant, it’s still a little bit busy because of the (quick) four models launched. So, I see problems, quality problems in the plant, and we are spending a lot of time to fix this plant. In the factory, I need to improve (things) and reduce the repairing costs.”

Yoshiya Inamori, new vice president of manufacturing at Proton, on current issues and ways to improve

“Actually, we just launched the cross-functional team (CFT) from October, we call it the CFT activity, and we have eight CFT teams. Put simply, for quality, profitability and customer satisfaction, we set up a team for the three months of October, November and December. Within this three months, we are expecting big improvements for not only quality but also the cost and customer satisfaction.”

“I see lots of room to improve for costs, but I think if we finish all the quality improvement activities, we can reduce the repair time, and make the factory more efficient which will help in cost reduction.”

Inamori also responded to a question posed to him, which asked if the number of variants would be reduced to streamline Proton’s line-up. “From a production standpoint, I’m not asking to reduce the number of products. If possible, if one product has too many options or variants, I may ask. For example, if some colours are not selling very well, we can ask to reduce the number of colours for example. Such kind of activity I think,” he said.

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Gerard Lye

Originating from the corporate world with a background in finance and economics, Gerard's strong love for cars led him to take the plunge into the automotive media industry. It was only then did he realise that there are more things to a car than just horsepower count.

 

Comments

  • Borneo darul seram on Nov 22, 2017 at 12:10 pm

    Wow 10 car model only sold 5,083 units in October. Y still keep insolvent bisnis?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 13 Thumb down 9
    • Dr John Gagal on Nov 22, 2017 at 1:50 pm

      How to improve Proton:

      1. Get engine supply from Daihatsu/Toyota. Kick out Campro.

      2. Get gearbox supply from Aisin/Toyota. Kick out Punch CVT.

      3. Put the signal stalk on right-side steering wheel.

      4. Give 10-yrs car warranty unlimited mileage.

      5. Give 10-yrs free car service (parts + labour).

      Do all the above sure Proton can get 1 million sales.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 35
      • 1. Dunwan dinosar moving backwards engine
        2. Dunwan ancient jepunis gearbox. ZF better.
        3. Keep signal stalk at right like Mesidis & BMW
        4. Can, but must topup RM10k. Mau?
        5. Can, but must topup RM20k. Mau?

        Do all the above sure Proton can get 1 million sales.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 33 Thumb down 8
      • sam123 on Nov 23, 2017 at 10:07 am

        How to improve Proton:

        1. Keep REBADGING
        2. Keep Local Supplier
        3. Keep REBADGING

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 7
    • Raja Celup on Nov 22, 2017 at 2:01 pm

      10 car model only sold 5,083 units means Proton is selling sports cars like Porsche.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 21 Thumb down 0
  • Proton oh Proton on Nov 22, 2017 at 12:20 pm

    emm… your are right somehow its too late for Proton.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 3
  • lilytan on Nov 22, 2017 at 12:23 pm

    Quality is important. But design and features are paramount. Just look at perodua. Good design, decent features and good workmanship. Compare to proton, aging design, aging features and bad workmanship.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 17 Thumb down 21
    • falldisc on Nov 22, 2017 at 3:11 pm

      and not to forgot – syok sendiri marketing. our cars have racing handling, win races in malaysia (only) and use HPF.. bla3

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 19
  • Mohd Ishak on Nov 22, 2017 at 12:33 pm

    My advice to Inamori is, why don’t you stop the production of failed models.

    For example, Ertiga….how many have you guys sold? Hardly can see any on the road

    The Perdana also, time to put a stop to it cause you are paying hundreds of millions of royalty to Honda unnecessarily just for Government servants. Very low volume car.

    Better give our Government officials Persona to use.

    It is wise for Proton to just produce 2 cars. The Saga and Persona. Only then, the company will be back to profits.

    After all, statistics have shown, Saga and Persona make over 70% of Proton’s TOTAL SALES.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 29 Thumb down 9
    • walauweh on Nov 22, 2017 at 2:06 pm

      ertiga isnt a problem cuz not much rnd cost,just assembly cost. its a nearly fully rebadge mpv. The sale is slower,but not really bad cuz actually previously had a waiting lists for vvt plus variant cuz they r short of supply.

      perdana, that is a waste cuz nearly 300 millions spent, almost the same as new saga development n new persona development, but sales figures is rather worst than tiara n savvy.

      but persona n saga are clashing each other. eventhough persona is a big brother of saga, but why not make a entry level variant of new persona, but spend rnd cost of making saga towards making new persona perfectly. no need to order many new parts persona or develop new mould cuz it shares the same design as iriz.

      thats why proton has a lot of debt with vendors, cuz they always need to order new parts n the volume is low, so high cost.

      that is the problem when an auto company being handle by those who isnt come from automotive background.

      look at how geely appointed their men, all have good knowledge of how global auto works.

      There r a lot of talented designer in proton, trust me, but end product doesnt reflect their talents due to limitation imposed by the top position.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 27 Thumb down 2
      • The Ertiga is taking up valuable production slots, even thou not much R&D is spent is basically sales cannibalisation with the ageing Exora (Which is now older than Perodua’s oldest model and its main competitor, the Alza). The Perdana is a waste of resources that should have spent either developing a new Exora or develop a SUV cash cow.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • Can we change the logo? the logo feels no quality for many years

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 10
    • Dr John Gagal on Nov 22, 2017 at 1:58 pm

      Yes put back the previous logo with Proton name on it.

      Now with only rimau head logo, people will ask what is that? Thundercat?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 0
  • 12yrsold on Nov 22, 2017 at 12:56 pm

    Inamori said – “Within this 3 months, we are expecting Big improvements for not only quality but also the cost & customer satisfaction.”
    Looks like Inamori is admitting that Proton has a lot to improve B4 they can be profitable.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 13 Thumb down 0
    • walauweh on Nov 22, 2017 at 1:55 pm

      yeah, its the japanese style, never afraid to admit mistake openly, n work to rectify it. Luckily proton now is under geely as major stake holders, if not, this inamori wont have a chance to work in proton for a longer time.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 2
  • new era for p1
    vendor need catchup fast or else bye2
    i believe p1 will go no2 again..no1 forget it

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 0
  • hyin21 on Nov 22, 2017 at 5:53 pm

    Reading many of the comments here….maybe Proton no need hire Inamori San, just read paultan enough already

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 24 Thumb down 0
    • 12yrsold on Nov 23, 2017 at 8:29 am

      He he he. The difference is Inamori is an “Expert” & he get paid for his opinion.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
 

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