Master technicians at heart of Infiniti's pursuit of quality

Xu Liuyin is a jujiang, or master worker, at Infiniti's Xiangyang plant in China. She claims her hands can feel the difference between 40 and 50 micrometers, about the diameter of six to eight hairs. [Photo/China Daily]

The head of Infiniti's China operations believes people matter more than machines when it comes to making cars.

"Speaking of quality, I don't think machines play the most important role. It is people who produce cars, so what matters is whether they want to do it well in the first place," said Daniel Kirchert, president of Dongfeng Infiniti Motor Co.

The automaker's emphasis on the importance of people is most evident at its Xiangyang plant in Hubei province, where 36 of its 2,500 employees are jujiang, or master workers.

On average, jujiang workers have been in their fields for at least 19 years and are extremely skillful and critical to ensure and improve the quality of making vehicles.

Xu Liuyin is one such jujiang. Her hands can feel the difference between 40 and 50 micrometers, about the diameter of six to eight hairs.

Xu's hands move at least a kilometer each day and have moved 5,000 km since she entered the industry 19 years ago, she said.

"People work seems simple. But only well-trained people have such ability to detect such differences and a strong sense of responsibility. That is what I am proud of," said Xu.

Kirchert said jujiang represent a spirit of continuous focus and challenge to offer their customers outstanding quality and experience as well as Infiniti's commitment to long-term, sustainable development in China.

The jujiang spirit has helped the Xiangyang plant create world-class vehicles.

"Infiniti has four plants worldwide－in the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom and here in Xiangyang－and I have been to all of them. I am confident in our Xiangyang plant. We made a lot of preparations two or even three years before the plant started production to ensure it meets our global standards," said Kirchert.

A 2014 Infiniti assessment gave the Xiangyang plant a score of 4.5 out of 5 points, the same score as its plant in Japan.

Infiniti's emphasis on quality has helped the brand win the heart of customers despite an overall slowdown in the Chinese auto market.

Infiniti sold 28,429 vehicles through the first nine months in China, a 36.76 percent surge from the previous year.

From January to September, there was a slight uptick of 0.3 percent in auto sales from the same period last year.