Abstract:

The paper presents a quality study of the airbag gluing stage, especially the incorrect direction of the silicone cord on the airbag panel. A cortina type airbag is obtained by assembling two panels, which are overlapped and glued with a silicone bead. In the first step, all defects related to the silicon cord, i.e. wrong direction, were analysed based on data collected by the check points of the sewing lines using a QA010 check sheet, for the period of a week. At this point, five areas with a high defect frequency were detected. In the second step, for specified areas we examined the products in order to identify defect causes, respecting a sampling plan. On four random days, fifteen samples were inspected and measured, complying with ISO 9001:2000 and ISO/TS 16949. Then the production process’s ability to meet or exceed preset specifications was evaluated, by measuring the process capability. For problem solving, a “PEM – PEM” diagram was employed. The contributing factors, such as human operators, environment, methods, and materials, were investigated to look for the key areas. Based on a cause – effect analysis, the main nonconformities were underlined and assignable causes of variations detected. Finally a quality improvement plan was proposed taking into account the difficulty of the HSAB production process due to the large size of parts, as well as the cutting stage, silicone bead and pressing and sewing operations.