NAME: SUSHEEL KUMAR S S

REG. NO:201286
CASE ANALYSIS

Discussion questions

Case 1:
1. In the range chart, several points are found to be outside the control limits. Does this
mean them process is incapable?

Control charts are used to determine whether a process is in statistical control or not. If there
are no points beyond the control limits, no trends up, down, above, or below the centreline, and
no patterns, the process is said to be in statistical control.

Capability is the ability of the process to produce output that meets specifications. A process
is said to be capable if nearly 100% of the output from the process is within the specifications.
A process can be in control, yet fail to meet specification requirements. In this situation, it is
required to take steps to improve or redesign the process.

2. Historically range charts rather than the SD charts were used to monitor the spread
of manufacturing process. Why?

Because the subgroup size is less than 9. If the subgroup size is greater than 9 SD charts can
be used. Range can be used to understand the difference between the highest score and the
lowest score. Conversely, the standard deviation can be used when we're interested in
understanding how far the typical value in a dataset deviate from the mean value.

Case 2:
1. What is the magnitude of cost of quality problems at the R2 plant. How effective were
its past procedures for quality management?

In 1984,
• Cost of sampled scrap in quality control alone = $5,40,000
• Cost of operator-sampled scrap = $7,40,000
• Cost of the finished product rejected when sampling identified to be having excessive
defects = $2 million

Hence the total cost of quality problems at R2 plant = $3.28 million

Total earnings for the year 1984 = $25.7 million
Hence, they were spending 12.7% of their net earnings only on quality control.

Quality control process and its effectiveness:

1. Previously QC auditors sampled 15 cartridges randomly (each containing 10 frames) out of

every lot containing approximately 5000 cartridges (amount produced in one 8 hr shift). They
have rejected just over 1% (50 cartridges out of 5000) of the product produced.
2. Prior to the QC audit, the operators at each stage of the process were to sample 32 random
cartridges out of each lot. Even the operators rejected 1% of the product produced. But the
operators did not record the data they collected because of lack of time. If operator were
uncertain about the quality of a specific lot, they would send it on believing that quality control
was better equipped to make final determinations.
3. In 1984, R2 quality control had grown to 125 inspectors, who used to sample cartridges all
day long.
4. As they were spending almost $3.28 million on quality control which is 12.7% of their net
earnings for the year 1984.
5. Auditors inspected the cartridges in large quantities. Cartridges that passed were sent back
to the production to be repacked and in the process of unpacking and repacking, some cartridges
were damaged.
6. To avoid losing more production, some operators salted boxes: if they felt that one series of
cartridges might be marginally defective; they would intersperse them in other cartridges.
7. Operators often did not record samples, resulting in fewer recorded samples than requested.

All the above-mentioned problems are causing them to sample more products and reject more
which is further leading to increase in quality control costs. Hence the processes were not
effective and we can also say that effectiveness of quality control is less in reality than on
paper.

b) The past procedures effectiveness for quality management are as follows:

• The past procedures for quality management randomly sampled around 15 cartridges
and if there defect as in excess in allowable limit, lot was held and further tested and if
a greater number of the sample were found defected then the number of samples
increased in next lot.
• The number of samples tested increased ultimately increasing the number of defected
cartridges. There was no standardization of process and sampling was not the solution
of reduction in the number of defects. QC Auditors rejected 1% of the products
produced in 1984 which was over 20 cartridges from the lot of 5000
• Thus, the cartridges which were found defected were rejected. Also, the sample testing
of the polaroid cartridges incurred the additional cost of labour, packing, unpacking and
repacking of the product and also cost of discarding the product if found defect in it.
Moreover, the sampling method was just to test the defected cartridges but did not
contribute to the reduction of overall defects.
• Another quality management process was to the camera that was used to test the
cartridges was having the standard specifications were used but in reality, the camera
used by customers did not function precisely to the specification and since standard
specifications of camera was used for testing; quality process easily missed the
problems related to the interaction of film with imperfect cameras.
• As quality control did not add value to the Polaroid and the company wanted to reduce
the cost by reducing the number of sampling and avoid the rework. Plant’s accounting
system showed the average loss of 25-30 sample cartridges loss per shift.
• The defects were passed through the entire manufacturing process unnoticed and the
existing measurement at quality control showed low defects rates.
Case 3:
1. What benefits the quality management bring to man field?

Quality Management Systems enable businesses in highly regulated industries to consistently

apply quality processes to produce products which meet customer expectations and regulatory
requirements. QMS frameworks such as ISO 9001:2015 provide a comprehensive blueprint for
customer-focused quality management based on principles for leadership, the workforce,
processes, improvement, evidence-based decisions, and relationships.

1. Operational Consistency:

Inconsistent operations are the enemy of total quality management. Without standardized
operations, your organization cannot consistently ensure the quality of products or improve
efficiency. Business researchers have found that inconsistent business processes can have five
times more negative impact on the customer than the delivery of an inferior product. In highly
regulated industries, inconsistent processes which result in unreliable product quality can have
particularly severe consequences.
Operational consistency is a foundational component of Quality Management Systems.
Implementing a QMS requires companies to define and describe the best practices for all
business responsibilities, from quality control to management review. Creating standard
operating procedures (SOPs) and a prescribed series of checks and balances minimizes the risks
of nonconformances and maximizes organizational efficiency.
QMS implementation helps companies achieve stability in project activity and aligns efforts
towards the production of quality products which meet customer expectations. A consistent
approach to operations can save money. Business process standardization can reduce process
costs by 15 percent and reduce errors by 30 percent. Operational consistency can offer other
measurable benefits such as reduced process throughput times, fewer customer complaints, and
superior forecasting ability.

2. Continuous Improvement:

Continuous improvement is among the core principles of ISO 9001 and other quality
management systems. ISO writes that “continual improvement should be a permanent objective
of the organization.” When adopting a QMS leads to cultural change, embracing the principle
of improvement can have lasting benefits to the organization such as stronger performance,
strategic leadership, and staff engagement.
Continuous improvement should be a primary objective for every member of the workforce to
adopt the principles of gradual improvement and breakthrough improvement. SOPs should
support the use of regular audits and assessments against the QMS framework to ensure
progress towards standards. By training every member of the organization on the use of Plan-
Do-Check-Act or Deming cycles, the organization can create a culture of constant problem
solving and innovation.

3. Employee Communications and Onboarding:

Recently, Forbes predicted that “employee experience" would be the preeminent corporate
priority for the year to come. Employee experience, or EX, is defined as the total of an
employee's interactions with the organization and culture, spanning from recruitment and
onboarding to environment and technology. "Experiential organizations" who invest in culture,
collaboration, and education experience higher rates of innovation and customer satisfaction
than other organizations.

ISO 9001 addresses the importance of internal communication, specifying that “top
management shall ensure that appropriate communication processes are established within the
organization and that communication takes place regarding the effectiveness of the Quality
Management System.” This verbiage places the responsibility directly on senior leadership to
drive a positive employee experience, but it also emphasizes the importance of two-way
communication in the organization. Organizations are encouraged to create a collaborative
culture where employees provide frequent feedback.

Without cultural change, a QMS is nothing more than a series of documents and policies.
Employee communications are at the core of creating a quality-driven culture where people
openly share information and understand the company's values. Communication and education
are vital to obtaining employee buy-in to quality objectives. Educating employees on the
customer and quality systems is an ongoing objective, but training and education efforts should
begin with a standardized onboarding process for new hires.

4. Evidence-Based Decision Making:

An effective Quality Management System should create standardization where standardized

processes add value, and promote flexibility when needed to achieve quality objectives or
continuous improvement. One area where QMS should encourage flexibility is the adoption of
evidence-based decision making based on real-time oversight into systems and data.

In practice, the concept of evidence-based decision making involves the use of data gathered
through monitoring and measurement methods. This data is compared to the desired outcomes
and organizational quality objectives. The real-time use of data and metrics can provide an
objective understanding of whether a process is successful or requires correction. Data-
informed decisions are made possible by @MS software which provides real-time oversight
into systems for training, document management, compliance, and CAPA.

Evidence-based decision making can benefit the organization by removing subjectivity from
leadership. The real-time use of data can facilitate continuous improvement toward strategic
goals. An eQMS system which provides transparency can enable organizations to mitigate the
risks of non-compliance or product quality issues in real-time.

2. What makes the implementation of the man field quality management system so
successful?

Implementation of quality management system should result in many long-term financial

gains. Here is the list of few benefits of effective implementation of a QMS:

• Achieve organizational goals.

• Reduce costly errors.
• Improve customer satisfaction.
• Market your business more effectively.
• Manage growth more effectively.
• Improve documentation availability.
 • Correct issues to improve products and services.
• Grow market share in new territories and market sectors.
• Creates a culture of quality.
• Embed vision for all projects.
• Better internal communications.
• Consistent products.
• Measure performance of individuals and teams.
• Improve compliance.

Case 4:
1. Explain the key points in the case:

• The house of quality begins with the customer, whose requirements are called customer
attributes (CAs)—phrases customers use to describe products and product characteristics.
• To bring the customer’s voice to such deliberations, house of quality measures the relative
importance to the customer of all CAs. Weightings are based on team members’ direct
experience with customers or on surveys.
• Companies that want to match or exceed their competition must first know where they stand
relative to it.
• When objective measures are known, the team can eventually move to establish target values—
ideal new measures for each EC in a redesigned product. If the team did its homework when it
first identified the Engineering Characteristics, tests to measure benchmark values should be
easy to complete.

• The house relieves no one of the responsibility of making tough decisions. It does provide the
means for all participants to debate priorities.

• In setting targets, it is worth noting that the team should emphasize customer-satisfaction values
and not emphasize tolerances.

• The principles underlying the house of quality apply to any effort to establish clear relations
between manufacturing functions and customer satisfaction that are not easy to visualize.

• If a technique like house of quality can help break down functional barriers and encourage
teamwork, serious efforts to implement it will be many times rewarded.
• The principal benefit of the house of quality is quality in-house. It gets people thinking in the
right directions and thinking together.