[IAmGroot]

Hello Team,

Recently I reclaimed my life, i.e., took ownership of Tata Safari XZA+ Adventure Persona Tropical Mist variant. I have followed the Tata Safari review thread on team-bhp from day one till 166 pages. It was a tough decision, especially Toyota Hycross coming in as last-minute option. More on the decision making and delivery experience in another thread. In this thread wanted to highlight something that I came across during a routine clean-up of my SUV interiors.

I had minor niggles post-delivery, engine check light coming on and going away after a long ride. The dreaded DPF regeneration issue, I guess. This in addition to the 5-6 attempts it takes to close the tail gate. During PDI I also saw water on last row. The sales team attributed this to their cleaning process.

Post a weekend drive to Mahabaleshwar, vehicle was up for an interior wipe down. Those red mud marks on light seats look bad. During wipe down I found a small piece of paper in a crevice between front passenger seat and right arm rest. A Quality control check list of sorts. I am not sure whether it belongs to my car or just a piece of trash from another car. It is for Harrier and Safari, going by the model H/S mentioned in the sheet and is from factory going by the stamps. Also, the tail gate issue I am facing is precisely one of the items on the QC sheet. It says OK to most items but not for the tail gate. Instead, it mentions a 6-digit number, could be defect ID.



I am curious to know what the sheet means, especially the "spec" column, and why only nine items are part of this sheet? Are these like known issues and they have a special check list to address these issues? Paradoxically If Tata has a special checklist of know quality issues, then they are doing an excellent job of making sure these issues are not passed-on to customer and then not so respectable job at assembly, since these issues should not be there in first place.

It also raises another question. The VIN of my car MAT123456PXA78912(Masked except for 10th and 12th character) interprets to Jan 2023. And if this piece of paper is indeed from my car them the timestamp of 15 Dec indicates it is not January 2023 manufactured car.

Thanks.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by IAmGroot

It also raises another question. The VIN of my car MAT123456PXA78912(Masked except for 10th and 12th character) interprets to Jan 2023. And if this piece of paper is indeed from my car them the timestamp of 15 Dec indicates it is not January 2023 manufactured car.

Maybe - the check-sheet might just be prepared and printed on 15 Dec 22, used on whenever it was used thereafter? A PDI wont be such a short PDI - could be a part of one team’s check on assembly line that messed up and not finding right record instead of stopping it from going out of factory or enforcing redo, they chose to send it out and so you got it with tailgate issue?

The best could be to work with TaMo folks and ask them to verify: if any reliable source in TaMo can cross check your VIN, Defect remarks etc to be from factory floor or something from Dealer. If nothing else - just leave it here and drive car. These bugs in your head tend to become larger over period of time - don’t loose your peace of mind over this.

[srh]

Originally Posted by IAmGroot

Hello Team,



Also, the tail gate issue I am facing is precisely one of the items on the QC sheet. It says OK to most items but not for the tail gate. Instead, it mentions a 6-digit number, could be defect ID.

Attachment 2429444

I am curious to know what the sheet means, especially the "spec" column, and why only nine items are part of this sheet? Are these like known issues and they have a special check list to address these issues? Paradoxically If Tata has a special checklist of know quality issues, then they are doing an excellent job of making sure these issues are not passed-on to customer and then not so respectable job at assembly, since these issues should not be there in first place.


Thanks.

This would most likely be an output from a previous inspections where this defect list would have been compiled. This checklist would then be populated during re-inspection after concerned workers confirm that issues are fixed.

Of as you say, it could be a special additional checklist to cover defects that have been observed in many vehicles produced.

The VIN number is stamped at a specific work station in the manufacturing process. So while this inspection maybe happened on 15th Dec 22, the vehicle reached the stamping work station in Jan-23.

[ReventonLover]

Originally Posted by IAmGroot

.

It also raises another question. The VIN of my car MAT123456PXA78912(Masked except for 10th and 12th character) interprets to Jan 2023. And if this piece of paper is indeed from my car them the timestamp of 15 Dec indicates it is not January 2023 manufactured car.

Thanks.

Hi. To answer your first query, looks like a standard fit and finish check sheet to me. Body panels have standard specifications for crevices/gaps between them.

Coming to the second part, the BIW (unpainted sheet metal welding assembly) would have been assembled and VIN stamped in the month of January. No worries there mate. Assembly lines are huge and have significant stocks as well.

[daksh0510]

Originally Posted by srh

The VIN number is stamped at a specific work station in the manufacturing process. So while this inspection maybe happened on 15th Dec 22, the vehicle reached the stamping work station in Jan-23.

Agree that VIN stamping and PDI might be on different dates, but shouldn't VIN be stamped 'during' the manufacturing process (when the car is on the assembly line) and PDI be done in areas like the factory stockyard, which would be 'after' the car has rolled off of the assembly line?

[kiku007]

Update to the April-23 template:
Item#10: Don't leave CPA Issues Checklist inside the car. Return the Checklist to the Supervisor.

[condor]

1. The date of inspection is not given any where in the remarks/observations/responses on that sheet.
2. There is a date on that sheet - but it is printed. Could be date when the checklist was printed.
(As practice, we put dates in the footer of important documents, often to track versions etc).

3. There is no identifying info to say that this checklist is for your Safari.

4. Why only 9 items ? Cant expect one person doing the full QC of a car - it's better when split between a few checkers.

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by kiku007

Update to the April-23 template:
Item#10: Don't leave CPA Issues Checklist inside the car. Return the Checklist to the Supervisor.

You beat me to this message

Having experience in leading Operations @ a mechanical engineering cum SPM equipment manufacturing company I can safely say that this the shoddiest piece of official document I have ever seen.

Traceability - ZERO (IamGroot - this may very well be another cars paper left in your car glove box)
Branding - zero
Document # - zero
Version # - zero

I can go on, but my God, if this is the quality of document used at a QA/QC dept; God save them.

[pjbiju]

This looks like a list of areas with quality issues that customers may have been complaining about or found through internal quality checks and apparently fixed. So the checklist is to validate that the fix or process changes they did are indeed working or looking okay for the said vehicle.

Given that, I completely agree with svsantosh. They should be able to link the feedback to some sort of a system for review. Otherwise it is pretty useless unless the intention is only to fix the issue when found and not be bothered with those any further.

[Theyota]

You guys are reading too much into it. This looks like a check list for the operators or auditors on assembly line. There are multiple lists like this for different work stations on the assembly line. I can't explain why the header/footer of the document is missing though.

[Ton Ami]

After looking at this document, I am too eager to read their Quality Assurance Plan.

On a serious note, this checklist looks too basic for a big manufacturer who has also collaborated with MB and Fiat for few things, at a point in time.

My uneducated guess would be that it is a checklist prepared by/for QC trainees who were just discovering the concept of checks and approval. Though I must say that traceability is the first thing that has to be kept in mind for any quality process..

[MT_Hyderabad]

I see a lot of scope of digitisation in this department.

I would have wanted this QC checklist on a hand held tab which has all the checked entries digitised and audit ready, like who did it, when did it, etc. This will also ensure that a completely checked vehicle, with all the checklist ticked OK, goes to the customer finally.

On the lighter note, OP and other such lucky customers will be elated to find a hidden tab in their car!

[frewper]

Looks like they need to put a QC check for not forgetting the QC sheet in the cabin.

[WorkingGuru]

Manufacturing a mass market car should be a very process driven streamlined procedure with minimal loopholes & scope for errors. "Minimal" because even Toyota can falter, but that must happen only very very rarely.

A car carries people at speed, on road, in traffic. This is why consumers pay healthy prices to ensure they get a roadworthy product.

This is why I posted on another thread earlier that the gender of the people on assembly line is simply immaterial, its only their experience & expertise that counts.

iamgroot, basic prudence dictates one must at least request Tata for a check-up to ensure there is no issue. This is not to scare you, but just a minimal due diligence that one owes oneself when they may come across loose ends.

[IAmGroot]

Originally Posted by WorkingGuru

basic prudence dictates one must at least request Tata for a check-up to ensure there is no issue. This is not to scare you, but just a minimal due diligence that one owes oneself when they may come across loose ends.

That's exactly what I did today during my first servicing. Car was checked and all my reported issues were acknowledged and fixed. Mainly, tail gate issue is fixed and also front right suspension had a thud sound over large speedbreakers, that too is now resolved.

Car also passed with flying colours during first heavy rain drive yesterday. No leakages from sunroof or any other place. So all the issues in the QC sheet are non-issues.