You have to admire the fact that Kia chose a few months back to begin publishing a blog to it’s English speaking customers. Unlike some other corporate blogs that are written by the professional spin doctors, Kia’s BUZZ blog is written by employees, complete with the occasional translational gaff. I love it!

Today’s post comes from Chil-Young Kwon, a member of the Production Management Team. Chil-Young describes a bit of the birth of an automobile and how it progresses down the production line. It is interesting to learn about the buffer zones, where partially built units can sit in the event of an accident, yet will not slow down the line. Perhaps his most insightful thought is regarding the uniqueness of each car, something that impatient consumers often don’t consider:

The fact that a car begins production according to options ordered by a customer can be considered a merit of the car. Most other manufactured goods tend to be ready-made. For example, cookies, TVs and shoes. No manufacturer will mass produce an item according to individual preferences, but automobiles are produced with the options that a customer selects.

Kia is working on an ordering system that will allow dealer orders to head directly to the manufacturing facility to speed up production. Hopefully this will get unique vehicles into their new owners quicker, but you know there will still be consumer who doesn’t appreciate what goes into accommodate their more unusual requests.

Keep the posts coming Kia, it looks like you are getting some great customer feedback on BUZZ.