Delivered to Customers’ Hands with Confidence in the Job We Do
Quality Assurance Fosters Pride
and Requires Commitment
It’s been a full ten years since I was first assigned to our quality assurance department. For the first five years, my job was to randomly select one finished product that had passed our internal inspections, measure its noise level and various other quality assurance items, and issue a Certificate of Final Inspection for it. This is a crucial process for ensuring the quality of each mass-produced lot. If any mistakes get past us at this stage, they may end up reaching the market as is, so I carried out my work with a firm commitment to avert any recalls by catching and preventing issues before they could happen.
After that, I was transferred to a section focused on refining and finalizing a product’s quality before mass production begins, and today, I work with our development engineers to conduct a wide range of evaluations. Much of my current job focuses on durability. I originally joined Yamaha Motor because I love motorcycles, so while riding models to evaluate them is enjoyable, I make sure to always remain aware of the seriousness of the job—to never overlook even the slightest feel of something being off.
We are tasked with evaluating pre-mass production models that our development engineers have spent a lot of time refining. But because we do this from a perspective closer to that of actual customers, there are times when I have to tell the engineers that something hasn’t yet reached the level of quality our customers expect and to reassess it. In moments like these, I feel the weight of the responsibility on my shoulders. Since my decisions can lead to product specification changes or additional countermeasures, there must always be clear reasoning and accountability behind them.
At the same time, even when our opinions clash with those of the development departments, there is a deeply rooted culture at Yamaha of respecting feedback from QA, and we engage in constructive discussions that take input from both sides into account.
The quality assurance departments have the final say before a product is sent to market. To meet our customers’ expectations, I will continue to do my job with sincerity and keep in mind the responsibility we have in ensuring excellent quality.
Quality Assurance Contributes
to Enhancing Brand Value
For our durability riding tests, we spend a period of time commuting to one of our test courses, and several of us take turns riding stints in the saddle all day long. Of course, we’re not hoping or expecting to find issues, but “I’m going to find something today!” is the kind of mindset we approach the job with, so after a whole day of riding while maintaining that level of focus and concentration, our minds and bodies are completely spent.
What motivates me in this job is knowing firsthand that my senses and experience directly connect to enhancing the value of the Yamaha brand. I take real pride in that.
Still, the test course isn’t the only place we conduct evaluations. With new models equipped with novel features or mechanisms, we also sometimes run tests on public roads to assess their performance under certain conditions, like riding at night when you can expect something outside the ordinary to happen. Recently, I was responsible for real-world road testing* our Yamaha Automated Manual Transmission (Y-AMT) when integrated with an adaptive cruise control system, as well as a Matrix LED headlight system—all world firsts for a production motorcycle. I felt that we were able to refine these technologies to a level of quality we could deliver to customers’ hands with confidence, and sharing that sense of accomplishment with Uchimura-san, who worked on the project with me, was incredibly rewarding.
When it comes to building up QA experience, I feel there’s really no end to it. Just the other day, I felt what I thought might be a potential problem and asked a senior colleague for help. We ran checks and re-evaluations over and over, and as we shared opinions and perspectives, he ultimately concluded that there was no problem, carefully explaining to me the reasoning and thought process behind his decision. By comparing it with my own view, I was able to understand and accept his explanation.
Through conversations like these, I’ve come to realize that being able to examine quality from both subjective and objective perspectives is what leads to more precise evaluations. Going forward, I want to continue sharpening my QA skills while further developing this outlook.
*ACC：Adaptive Cruise Control
*Y-AMT：YAMAHA AUTOMATED MANUAL TRANSMISSION
*Real-world road tests are done to evaluate and verify the performance and safety of mid-development vehicles and systems in actual traffic environments in order to improve quality and accumulate knowledge. These tests are carried out with strict adherence to local laws and regulations, due concern for safety, and with the prior approval of the police and other relevant bodies.
