Introduction
Nowadays, the Tesla company occupies a leading position in the production of electric vehicles. Tesla has risen quickly to become one of the planet’s most rapidly growing businesses. Tesla’s success can be ascribed to the auto industry’s innovation. Tesla has built a reputation as an environmentally conscious firm that specializes in the production of electric vehicles and parts for them. Tesla’s stated goal is to assist the world in making the transition to renewable power. The firm began as a specialized player in the automobile industry, manufacturing market-disrupting luxury electric vehicles. Model S, as well as Model X, are two products that have upset the car industry by emphasizing global pollution. By integrating lithium battery technologies and acquiring SolarCity, Elon Musk and the company have evolved from a specialist differentiator to a comprehensive differentiator business plan.
Personalized cars, regular software updates, solar panels, supercharger connectivity, and autonomous driving technologies set them apart from the competition. Tesla’s lithium deposits have been valued through close relationships with material suppliers, resulting in lower material prices for their highly automated production lines. Tesla’s marketing team is one of the top sellers and offers personalized online shopping. Elon Musk’s Twitter accounts for their media exposure, and there is not a much-paid advertisement. Since its Human resources focused productivity, Tesla has developed an active workplace culture and increased Total Quality Management (TQM) metrics. Tesla’s protracted innovation strategy centers on electric car efficiency, charging infrastructure, and ecologically friendly products such as solar array tiles. Tesla’s objective is to accelerate the world’s transition to alternative energy sources. The Roadster is the company’s first cutting-edge, large voltage car. Tesla first joined the automobile industry as a specialized electric cars company, concentrating on high-tech automotive categories with a strategic advantage to differentiate itself from major manufacturers by delivering sustainable, ecologically responsible electric cars.
Human resources are used to meet their successful applies and efficiency strategies by hiring people who share the organization’s values, having a fast-paced, long-hour working atmosphere, rigorous recruiting and training procedures, and continuing to expand globally to meet their business targets. It took the company a long time to achieve production efficiency. This article was written to explore Tesla’s approach to global car manufacturers, lean approach, complexity, and room for improvement.
The Development of Lean Principles
Tesla Motors transformed the automotive business with lean management, enabling the arrival of the electric car with never-before-seen qualities such as a long-range of kilometers without the need to refresh, faster speed than combustible cars, and lower maintenance costs. Katayama and Bennett, “despite the apparent superiority of lean production compared with conventional mass production systems, however, there are now questions being asked in Japan concerning its robustness as an approach to cope with future economic and market conditions.” (p. 8). Tesla’s objective is to make electric vehicles as well-known as gasoline ones. To do so, they must develop inexpensive vehicles that can meet the enormous market desire produced by the possibility of pollution-free transportation. Elon Musk has altered his thinking on what it will take to meet manufacturing targets. He has progressed from feeling that over-automation was the answer to his efficiency issues to lately admitting that some tasks should be performed by hand. Elon complimented limited robots that transport materials to various machines across the building using basic sensors and magnetic strips.
The concept of learning versus optimization is maybe one of the most fundamental underlying aspects of the Tesla story as it unfolds. There is no denying that Elon Musk is a visionary, and many Tesla skeptics gush about the joys of actually driving one. According to Costa et al. (2018), Continuous Improvement (CI) efforts might help this business deal with the challenges posed by the global economy’s economic and political conditions. However, given the importance given to the founder as he strives to remedy a constant stream of disasters, the company’s current troubles suggest a built-in aversion to contemplation, education, and adaptation.
Tesla’s robot-based production approach is in direct opposition to Toyota’s human-based production strategy. Toyota has adopted artificial manufacturing processes that were expected to be more adaptable to training than the Lexus models previously marketed. Tesla’s goal is to create artificial intelligence and automated machines that will eliminate human error from the manufacturing process. Tesla estimates that when it has the optimal production system, with machines that enable error-free production and no need for time-consuming labor training, its production capacity will expand from thousands to millions in a short amount of time.
As part of its objective to become a worldwide leader in the automotive industry, the firm plans to expand its market globally by opening new offices and facilities. According to their career page, they want to tackle the world’s problems by hiring bright people from all over the world and creating an inclusive workplace. This is their manufacturing performance approach, which entails creating facilities and employing personnel from all over the world rather than depending just on their local workforce.
Tesla’s customer service approach was also primarily compatible with lean thinking. Tesla promised to produce more value with fewer resources by selling vehicles directly to customers and keeping in constant contact with each client via the internet. Another milestone was the ability to update each vehicle’s software on a regular basis to introduce new features and fix problems highlighted by users. Tesla began a pattern of setting extremely ambitious launch dates for the S, X, and 3 models, then gradually slipping them as issues with integration tests of the vehicles and beta versions of the manufacturing systems used to make them arose. Finally, the real-time to market appears to be comparable to that of the top traditional automobile businesses.
The Challenges and Pressures Faced by Tesla
Tesla has regularly fallen short of its manufacturing and sales targets. The corporation continues to make dubious projections about its productivity and yield: it has dropped and then raised pricing for automobiles that have yet to enter production. Tesla is also being investigated for fraud, following Elon Musk’s settlement of a separate fraud case. Tesla is still the most well-known name in electric automobiles and premium electric vehicles, and it intends to keep it.
Tesla may appear to be a breath of new air in comparison to the centuries-old carmakers who dominate the vehicle business with their gas-guzzling behemoths. The corporation is fascinated with developing electric and self-driving automobiles, as well as a variety of other cutting-edge technology, including massive batteries that can collect energy from the sun. People and other intelligent creatures evolved to adapt to an ever-changing environment. As a result, they can surprisingly effectively deal with unexpected situations and differences between expected and actual events. Many factors contribute to human intelligence, including our capacity to pay attention to the right things at the same time, reason about them, develop models of what is happening to predict what will happen next, and so on. Both humans and animals can change their bodies in different conditions to achieve their goals. These dynamic characteristics of biological systems are helping scientists advance not only in bioengineering but these technologies are also entering the automotive industry.
Machine learning, on the other hand, does not yet match the intellect and flexibility of humans. Today, artificially Intelligent methods inspired by neural systems are capable of learning to recognize comparable circumstances such as a traffic light turning red or a ball dropping on the ground even more intelligent than people. Robotics advancements also allow new mobile robots can respond to unexpected items in their physical surroundings. Adaptability is, however, limited in both circumstances to changes within a narrow range of objects or occurrences.
Musk wants to build a fully automated plant; its ultimate goal is to overcome the limitations of human speed. More can be achieved at a fantastic rate. However, challenging environments such as a fully automated plant require highly adaptable robots to adapt to unforeseen conditions and each other, just like living organisms. More research is needed to incorporate natural resiliency into robotics and artificial intelligence. It is not known when and in what full form automation will become possible without human intervention.
Tesla regularly sets production plans that it cannot meet, such as with the production of the Model 3. Tesla faces intense competition from both the company and other emerging EV makers, in addition to existing financial problems. When the term fraud hangs around every step, Tesla risks severe legal problems; for example, the company was accused of violating the rights of workers, and there are also problems with their cruise regime. Tesla continues to receive advice from the SEC whistleblowers, despite the fact that Musk was forced to pay off the SEC due to privatization fraud.
The Approaches to Quality Management and Organizational Sustainability
Human resource management is used to satisfy their product or process and efficiency plans by employing individuals who share the company’s vision, having a fast-paced, long-hour working atmosphere, rigorous recruitment and training procedure, and continuing to expand globally to accomplish their business goals. The company’s primary goal is to hasten the expansion of renewable energy by hiring the smartest and brightest people from across the world who share their enthusiasm for changing the world and are prepared to work in a fast-paced, inventive environment. Tesla aims to continue creating continuous ideas and supporting improvement opportunities by retaining human capital capabilities in order to build the production of the electric car industry. By attaining these objectives, Tesla creates an organizational behavior that rewards and compensates its staff for being creative and innovative to increase their technological capabilities.
Young people like the intense work environment since it has a simple structure framework that allows everyone, regardless of ability, to be seen and contribute their new ideas, which is something that few huge organizations accomplish. The corporation intends to continue requiring long hours in the coming years as a result of its more ambitious innovation goals. A rigorous recruitment process is also followed by the organization. The hiring process begins with a background check of each candidate’s experience, achievements, and technical ability, followed by inquiries regarding the company’s culture; the next phase is onsite discussions with Tesla personnel and technology and engineering testing, followed by the CEO’s confirmation.
Organizations are looking for strategies to improve management as quality improvement requirements grow in the commercial world. Quality management has become increasingly important in achieving organizational success in a variety of industries. Businesses today see a methodical quality approach as critical to meeting goals using a variety of tactics and methodologies. According to Välikangas, “Tesla may contribute to making the car a vehicle for enhanced personal mobility” (p. 467). Total Quality Management stands out among these strategies. TQM’s beginnings and rise in popularity in the United States may be traced back when excellent innovators created superior foundations to boost business efficiency.
As a result, despite its conspicuous achievement, its administration has yet to thoroughly explain the existing brand difficulties. Customers will stay dissatisfied till that moment comes. This is a perilous position because significant automakers such as Ford and Toyota are considering entering the electric vehicle market. Tesla may lose market share to makers of more fuel-efficient automobiles as a result of this. On the other hand, Tesla can use TQM concepts to avert this future threat by boosting customer happiness. Customers always value quality items, and they are more likely to identify with a brand that exudes quality. Tesla would be trying to promote quality by using all eight pillars of the TQM approach.
The company will not be the first automaker to use TQM in its manufacturing operations. Toyota, the Japanese automaker, has long depended on TQM to improve its corporate culture. During WWII, Toyota rose to prominence as a premier automobile manufacturer in the mid-1940s. TQM’s customer focus and people’s happiness align with the company’s “customer first” and “respect for people” attitude. As a result, Tesla may use Toyota’s successful development and diffusion of TQM to show that no industry is more applicable to TQM than the automotive industry.
Tesla, without a doubt, has exceptional management, as proven by its rapid development. Elon Musk’s prior initiatives, such as PayPal and Space X, have shown to be successful. Communication and integrated design are two of the essential TQM principles that Tesla has employed. In the workplace, effective communication is regarded as a critical factor in achieving success. Employees operate in lean workplaces where they are in regular contact with their bosses in order to facilitate communication. In the organization, aspects of collaboration, such as plans, timeframes, and tactics, are addressed seriously.
As a result, Tesla’s management is in continual communication with its staff and consumers. Christopher and Peck (2004), “supply chain managers strive to achieve the ideals of fully integrated, efficient, and effective supply chains, capable of creating and sustaining competitive advantage” (p. 1). Tesla’s system is well-integrated. Despite the fact that the company is divided into several departments and expertise, efforts are made to keep the whole thing running smoothly. To put it another way, procedures and departments are linked together to produce a unified system. At Tesla, integrating functions improves smooth communication while ensuring that teams remain coordinated, allowing for process improvement in line with TQM goals.
Tesla, as a forerunner in the electric vehicle industry, must master the principle of continual progress. The correction of flaws found in previous models must be included in subsequent models. Notably, the cars must be built in such a way that both the software and hardware may be upgraded. By replacing non-functional parts with upgraded ones, this strategy would make it easier to repair any recognized flaws. Tesla’s long-term goal has been described as creating a wide range of autos, including inexpensive cars, but the business will need to adapt its approach to meet a long-term scope. The corporation is committed to phasing out gasoline-powered vehicles from the market. Without a defined strategy, organizations like Tesla may find themselves acting as the master of none since, without one, a business is more prone to drift from goal to goal rather than charting a clear path forward.
Conclusion
With lean management, Tesla Motors revolutionized the automotive industry, enabling the arrival of the electric automobile with never-before-seen attributes such as an extended range of kilometers without the need to recharge, faster speed than gasoline-powered vehicles, and cheaper maintenance costs. Tesla wants to mass-produce electric cars and make them as common as gasoline-powered cars. To do so, they will need to build affordable cars that can meet the enormous market demand produced by the promise of pollution-free travel. Elon Musk has shifted his position on what it will take to meet production targets. He has gone from feeling that over-automation was the answer to his productivity woes to recently admitting that some tasks still need to be done by hand. Elon commended the facility’s low-tech robots, which use simple sensors and magnetic strips to transport materials to different machines.
Employing people who share the organization’s values, having a fast-paced, long-hour working environment, rigorous recruiting and training procedures, and constantly expanding worldwide to achieve their business goals are all used by human resource management to meet their product or process and efficiency plans. The company’s major goal is to accelerate renewable energy development by attracting the smartest and brightest people from across the world who share their enthusiasm for making a difference and are willing to work in a fast-paced, inventive environment. Tesla intends to keep developing new ideas and supporting possibilities for progress by keeping human capital capacities in order to expand the electric vehicle industry’s output. Tesla establishes a culture that celebrates and compensates its employees for being creative and innovative in order to improve their technological skills by achieving these goals.
References
Christopher, M., & Peck, H. (2004). Building the resilient supply chain. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 15(2), 1-14. Web.
Costa, L., Godinho, F., Moacir, F., Lawrence D., & Gómez Paredes, F., (2018). Lean, six sigma and lean six sigma in the food industry: A systematic literature review. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 82, 122-133.
Katayama, H., & Bennett, D. J. (1996). Lean production in a changing competitive world: A Japanese perspective. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 16(2). 8 – 23. Web.
Välikangas, L. (2018). Forum on Tesla and the Global Automotive Industry. Management and Organization Review, 14(3), 467-470.