The Delphi hierarchy process-based study of quality engineering in Malaysia and Indonesia automotive companies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically evaluate the critical factors for successful quality engineering (QE) implementation in automotive-related companies in Malaysia and Indonesia. The existence of these critical factors for the successful application of QE would help the automotive industries, especially in Malaysia and Indonesia, to be able to investigate their current QE practices and how they could be improved. Design/methodology/approach – Delphic hierarchy process (DHP) methodology is used in this study. The DHP method is a combination of the Delphi method and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach for determining the ranking of the factors and sub factors needed for successful QE implementation. The Delphi method is employed to gather data from automotive experts in both countries and the AHP approach is used to rank the critical factors for success of QE practices. Findings – The findings of this study showed that the automotive industries in Malaysia and Indonesia stressed the importance of management responsibility and people management for the successful implementation of QE. Strategic quality planning, continuous improvement, and technology- and production-related resources are the most important sub factors for successful QE in both countries. Research limitations/implications – The series of rounds that took place during the Delphi method increased the length of time required for data collection and the follow-up process. On the basis of the consideration given, the limited resources included time, financial resources, and technical availability for this study, which resulted in the small sample sizes used. Practical implications – The ranking of the critical factors and sub factors for QE implementation could be useful for automotive-related companies in Malaysia and Indonesia to create action plans for improving their QE implementation. Originality/value – The instrument that was developed is a contribution toward characterizing critical factors for QE. Using DHP methodology, nine factors and 31 sub factors have been validated through a series of rounds of the Delphi method. It was developed based on industry experts’ inputs. Therefore, the critical factors represent actual situation for QE success.