text: The most important measurement in manufacturing is 
  
  the global cost per unit. During NISSAN 180, we achieved 
  
  a cost reduction of 14 percent per unit, including indirect 
  
  costs, or 8.3 percent in direct costs. We also evaluate our 
  
  performance in time to delivery using three different 
  
  measures. One measure is from customer to customer, and 
  
  the time from order to delivery—an especially important 
  
  calculation for our build-to-order system. We’ve reduced 
  
  this interval to 24 or 25 days, and have set a target of 
  
  about 18 days. 
  
  The second measure is from the “model freeze” stage 
  
  until the start of production, which is an important factor for 
  
  both manufacturing and R&D. With the recent launch of the 
  
  Note in Japan, we brought this down to 10.5 months for 
  
  the first time. The third measure is the time from the start 
  
  of production to full production. The standard is about two 
  
  months. Our target is two weeks, which we achieved with 
  
  both the Tiida and the Note. While a faster rate could 
  
  present quality issues, we produced these two cars with 
  
  speed and high quality. 