CASESTUDY: BAYFIELDMUDCOMPANY

GROUP 1 I201
 I. Background
InNovember2015,JohnWels,acustomerservicerepresentativeo
fBayfieldMudCompany,wasummonedtotheHouston
warehouseofwetlandDriling,Inc.,toinspecthre boxcarsofmud-
treatingagentsthatBayfieldMudCompanyhadshipedto
theHoustonfirm.
(Bayfield’sCorporateOfficesanditslargestplantarelocatedinor
ange,Texas,whichisjustwestofthe Louisiana-
Texasborder.)Wet-
landDrilinghadfiledacomplainthathe50Poundbagsoftreatingag
entsthatithadjustreceived fromBayfieldwereshort-
weightbyaproximately5%.

Thelight-weightbagswereinitialydetectedbyoneofWet-
Land’sreceivingclerks,whonoticedthatherailroadsidescale
ticketsindicatedthathenetweightsweresignificantlylessonal
thre oftheboxcarsthanthoseofidenticalshipmentsreceived
onOctober25,202.Bayfield’strafficdepartmentwascaledtodeterm
ineiflighter-weightdunageorpaletswereusedonthe shipments.
(Thismightexplainthelighterweights.)Bayfieldindicated,how
ever,thatnochangeshadbenmadeintheloadingor
paletizingprocedures.Hence,Wet-
Landrandomlychecked50ofthebagsanddiscoveredthatheaverage
netweightwas47.51
pounds.Theynotedfrompastshipmentsthathebagnetweightsave
ragedexactly50.0pounds,withanacceptablestandard
deviationof1.2pounds.Consequently,theyconcludedthathesam
pleindicatedasignificanceshort-weight.(Studentsmay
wishtoverifythisconclusion.)Bayfield,wasthencontacted,and
Welswasentoinvestigatethecomplaintandissueda5%
creditoWet-Land.

Wet-
Landmanagement,however,wasnotcompletelysatisfiedwithonly
theissuanceofcreditfortheshortshipment.Thecharts
folowedbytheirmudenginersonthedrilingplatformswerebased
on50-poundbagsoftreatingagents.Lighter-weightbags
mightresultinporchemicalcontrolduringthedrilingoperation
andmightadverselyaffectdrilingefficiency.(Mud-treating
agentsareusedtocontrolthepHandotherchemicalpropertiesof
theopenduringdrilingoperations.)Thiscouldcausesevere
economiconsequencesbecauseoftheextremelyhighcostofoiland
naturalgaswel-drilingoperations.Consequently,special
useinstructionshadtoaccompanythedeliveryoftheseshipments
tothedrilingplatforms.Moreover,thelight-weightshipments
hadtobeisolatedinWet-
Land’swarehouse,causingextrahandlingandporspaceutilizatio
n.Hence,Welswasinformedthat Wet-
LandDrilingmightsekenewsuplierofmud-
treatingagentsif,inthefuture,itreceivedbagsthatdeviated
significantly from50pounds.

ThequalitycontroldepartmentatBayfieldsuspectedthatheligh
t-weightbagsmayhaveresultedfrom“growingpains”athe
orangeplant.Becauseoftheearlierenergycrises,oilandnatur
algasexplorationactivityhadgreatlyincreased.Thisincreas
ed
activity,inturn,createdincreaseddemandforproductsproduc
edbyrelatedindustries,includingdrilingmuds.Consequently
, Bayfieldhadtoexpandfromoneshift(6A.M.to2P.M.)toatwo-
shift(2P.M.to10P.M.)operationinmid200,andfinalytoa thre-
shiftoperation(24hoursperday)inthefalof202.
Theaditionalnightshiftbagingcrewwastaffedentirelybynewem
ployes.Themostexperiencedforemenweretemporarily
assignedtosupervisethenightshiftemployes.Mostemphasiswas
placedonincreasingtheoutputofbagstometheever-
increasingdemand.Itwasuspectedthatonlyoccasionalreminde
rsweremadetodouble-checkthebagweightfeder.(A
doublecheckisperformedbysystematicalyweightingabagonasc
aletodetermineiftheproperweightisbeingloadedbythe
weight-
feder.Ifthereisignificantdeviationfrom50pounds,corective
adjustmentsaremadetotheweight-release mechanism.)

Toverifythisexpectation,thequantitycontrolstaffrandomlysample
dthebagoutputandpreparedthefolowingchart.Sixbags
weresampledandweightedeachhour.

Table 1: Sample Data representing the Bag Output

RANG
E
AVERAGEWE LOWESTWE HIGHESTW
TIME IGHT IGHT EIGHT RANG
(POUNDS (POUND (POUNDS E
) S) )
6:0 AM 49.6 48.7 50.7 2.0

7:0 AM 50.2 49.1 51.2 2.1

8:0 AM 50.6 49.6 51.4 1.8

9:0 AM 50.8 50.2 51.8 1.6

10:0 AM 49.9 49.2 52.3 3.1

1:0 AM 50.3 48.6 51.7 3.1

12:0 PM 48.6 46.2 50.4 4.2

1:0 PM 49.0 46.4 50.0 3.6

2:0 PM 49.0 46.0 50.6 4.6

3:0 PM 49.8 48.2 50.8 2.6

4:0 PM 50.3 49.2 52.7 3.5

5:0 PM 51.4 50.0 5.3 5.3

6:0 PM 51.6 49.2 54.7 5.5

7:0 PM 51.8 50.0 5.6 5.6

8:0 PM 51.0 48.6 53.2 4.6

9:0 PM 50.5 49.4 52.4 3.0

10:0 PM 49.2 46.1 50.7 4.6

1:0 PM 49.0 46.3 50.8 4.5

12:0 AM 48.4 45.4 50.2 4.8

1:0 AM 47.6 4.3 49.7 5.4

2:0 AM 47.4 4.1 49.6 5.5

3:0 AM 48.2 45.2 49.0 3.8

4:0 AM 48.0 45.5 49.1 3.6

5:0 AM 48.4 47.1 49.6 2.5

6:0 AM 48.6 47.4 52.0 4.6

7:0 AM 50.0 49.2 52.2 3.0

8:0 AM 49.8 49.0 52.4 3.4

9:0 AM 50.3 49.4 51.7 2.3

10:0 AM 50.2 49.6 51.8 2.2

1:0 AM 50.0 49.0 52.3 3.3

12:0 PM 50.0 48.8 52.4 3.6

1:0 PM 50.1 49.4 53.6 4.2

2:0 PM 49.7 48.6 51.0 2.4

3:0 PM 48.4 47.2 51.7 4.5

4:0 PM 47.2 45.3 50.9 5.6

5:0 PM 46.8 4.1 49.0 4.9

6:0 PM 46.8 41.0 51.2 10.2

7:0 PM 50.0 46.2 51.7 5.5

8:0 PM 47.4 4.0 48.7 4.7

9:0 PM 47.0 4.2 48.9 4.7

10:0 PM 47.2 46.6 50.2 3.6

1:0 PM 48.6 47.0 50.0 3.0

12:0 AM 49.8 48.2 50.4 2.2

1:0 AM 49.6 48.4 51.7 3.3

2:0 AM 50.0 49.0 52.2 3.2

3:0 AM 50.0 49.2 50.0 0.8

4:0 AM 47.2 46.3 50.5 4.2

5:0 AM 47.0 4.1 49.7 5.6

6:0 AM 48.4 45.0 49.0 4.0

7:0 AM 48.8 4.8 49.7 4.9

8:0 AM 49.6 48.0 51.8 3.8

9:0 AM 50.0 48.1 52.7 4.6

10:0 AM 51.0 48.1 5.2 7.1

1:0 AM 50.4 49.5 51.4 1.9

12:0 PM 50.0 48.7 50.9 2.2

1:0 PM 48.9 47.6 51.2 3.6

2:0 PM 49.8 48.4 51.0 2.6

3:0 PM 49.8 48.8 50.8 2.0

4:0 PM 50.0 49.1 50.6 1.5

5:0 PM 47.8 45.2 51.2 6.0

6:0 PM 46.4 4.0 49.7 5.7

7:0 PM 46.4 4.4 50.0 5.6

8:0 PM 47.2 46.6 48.9 2.3

9:0 PM 48.4 47.2 49.5 2.3

10:0 PM 49.2 48.1 50.7 2.6

1:0 PM 48.4 47.0 50.8 3.8

12:0 AM 47.2 46.4 49.2 2.8

1:0 AM 47.4 46.8 49.0 2.2

2:0 AM 48.8 47.2 51.4 4.2

3:0 AM 49.6 49.0 50.6 1.6

4:0 AM 51.0 50.5 51.5 1.0

5:0 AM 50.5 50.0 51.9 1.9

Averag 49.1 3.7

e
 a) TheBaffledMudCompanyhashadsomeproblemswiththeir50
poundbagsoftreatingagents.Theysent
shipedsomebagstoWetLandDrilling,Inc.Thatwerefou
ndtobeshort-weightbyaproximately5%.Wet
Landfirstdidtheirownresearchonhowmanybagsweresh
ortandbyhowmuch.Theyrandomlysampled
50bagsandfoundtheaveragenetweightobe47.51pounds
.WetLandthencontactedBaffledMud
abouthesituation.Baffledgavea5%creditoWed-
Landforthemistakes.WeLandnotcompletely
satisfiedwiththecreditbecausetheerrorsinweighto
fthebagscouldImpactheiroperations.

InourevaluationoftheBayfieldMudCompanyoperationswewillc
onductananalysisofthebagweightproblem.We
willanalyzeinoureportourfindings,whichwillincludethefollo
wing:

• HowdidthequalityisueatBayfieldhapenandwhoismindful.
• Sugestionsonimprovingorkepinguplegitimatequalitycon
trolsothisisuewon'tocuragain.
• Anycontroloutlinesandotherinformationtohelpyourinv
estigation

II. StatementoftheProblem

Inthecasethatitwasuspectedthatonlyocasionalremindersha
dbenmadetodoublechecktheweight-federb
ag.Ifsignificantdeviationfrom50poundsocurs,correctiveadj
ustmentstotheweight
releasemechanismaremade.Toverifythisexpectation,thequa
litycontrolpersonelsamplerandomlyandweighev eryhour

a) AnalysisoftheBagWeightProblem

Tomeasuretheprocess,weanalyzethesamplesstatisticsdoingthe
folowingcalculations::

-Desiredmean:
mean(x)=50.0 standarddeviation( )=1.2

-Samplesize=6

-ThefolowinginformationwasextractedfromTable2:
UperRange(D
4)=2.004
LowerRange(D
3)=0
MeanRange(R-
bar)=3.7

 x= / n=1.2 6=1.2/2.45= 0.489.

Ata99.73%confidenceintervalZ=3

-X -ChartLimits

UCLX = X+ 3 x=50+ 3×0.489=50+ 1.47=51.47

LCLX = X- 3 x =50–1.47=48.53

-R-barChartLimits

UCLR=D4*(R-bar) LCLR=D3*(R-bar)

Therefore,theuperandlowercontrolimitsfortheRangeare:

UCL=(2.004)*(
3.7)=7.4148
LCL=(0)*(3.7)
=0

b) Employe
empowermentisoneofthekeyaspectsofdealingwithth
isproblem,thishastobedonethrough
continuoustraininganddevelopmentoeducatethemon
howtofollowguidelinesandproceduresetby
thecompany,andhowtoreporthem.
Setinguppoliciesandprocedurestomonitorandrepor
tmachineproblemshastobeinplaceformachine
operatorstoreportmachineproblemsandotherineffici
ency.Thiswillbeapartofthecompany’sTotal
QualityManagementplan.Continuousimprovementoft
hemachineshouldbedoneonaregularbasis, suchasbi-
monthlyoranually,asthismachineisakeyasetotheco
mpany’srevenuemodel.The
 companycanputinplaceautomatedtestingdevicestoinspe
cteverysingleunithatisproduced.Inthat
case,machineoperatorswillbeinformedofanydefectsint
hefunctionalabilityofthemachinesand
detectingevensmallshiftsintheproduction.

III. AreasofConsideration

Table 2: Factor of Computing Control Chart Limit (3-sigma)

Sample size, n Mean Factor, A2 Upper Range, D4 Lower Range, D3

2 1.88 3.268 0
3 1.023 2.574 0
4 0.729 2.282 0
5 0.577 2.115 0
6 0.483 2.004 0
7 0.419 1.924 0.076
8 0.373 1.864 0.136
9 0.337 1.816 0.184
10 0.308 1.777 0.223
11 0.285 1.744 0.256
12 0.266 1.716 0.284
13 0.249 1.692 0.308
14 0.235 1.671 0.329
15 0.223 1.652 0.348
16 0.212 1.636 0.364
17 0.203 1.621 0.379
18 0.194 1.608 0.392
19 0.187 1.596 0.404
20 0.18 1.586 0.414
21 0.173 1.575 0.425
22 0.167 1.566 0.434
23 0.162 1.557 0.443
24 0.157 1.548 0.452
25 0.153 1.541 0.459

Day Shift

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3

Tim Averag Lowest High Averag Lowest High Averag Lowest High
e e Weight Weight e Weight Weight e Weight Weight
 Weight (pound (pound Weight (pound (pound Weight (pound (pound
(pound s) s) (pound s) s) (pound s) s)
s) s) s)
6:00 49.6 48.7 50.7 48.6 47.4 52.0 48.4 45.0 49.0

7:00 50.2 49.1 51.2 50.0 49.2 52.2 48.8 44.8 49.7
8:00 50.6 49.6 51.4 49.8 49.0 52.4 49.6 48.0 51.8
9:00 50.8 50.2 51.8 50.3 49.4 51.7 50.0 48.1 52.7
10:00 49.9 49.2 52.3 50.2 49.6 51.8 51.0 48.1 55.2
11:00 50.3 48.6 51.7 50.0 49.0 52.3 50.4 49.5 54.1

12:00 48.6 46.2 50.4 50.0 48.8 52.4 50.0 48.7 50.9
1:00 49.0 46.4 50.0 50.1 49.4 53.6 48.9 47.6 51.2

Control Charts

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3
 EveningShift

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3

Tim Averag Lowest High Averag Lowest High Averag Lowest High
e e Weight Weight e Weight Weight e Weight Weight
Weight (pound (pound Weight (pound (pound Weight (pound (pound
(pound s) s) (pound s) s) (pound s) s)
s) s) s)
2:00 49.0 46.0 50.6 49.7 48.6 51.0 49.8 48.4 51.0

3:00 49.8 48.2 50.8 48.4 47.2 51.7 49.8 48.8 50.8

4:00 50.3 49.2 52.7 47.2 45.3 50.9 50.0 49.1 50.6

5:00 51.4 50.0 55.3 46.8 44.1 49.0 47.8 45.2 51.2

6:00 51.6 49.2 54.7 46.8 41.0 51.2 46.4 44.0 49.7

7:00 51.8 50.0 55.6 50.0 46.2 51.7 46.4 44.4 50.0

8:00 51.0 48.6 53.2 47.4 44.0 48.7 47.2 46.6 48.9

9:00 50.5 49.4 52.4 47.0 44.2 48.9 48.4 47.2 49.5

Control Charts
Day 1
Day 2

Day 3
 NightShift

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3

Tim Averag Lowest High Averag Lowest High Averag Lowest High
e e Weight Weight e Weight Weight e Weight Weight
Weight (pound (pound Weight (pound (pound Weight (pound (pound
(pound s) s) (pound s) s) (pound s) s)
s) s) s)
10:00 49.2 46.1 50.7 47.2 46.6 50.2 49.2 48.1 50.7
11:00 49.0 46.3 50.8 48.6 47.0 50.0 48.4 47.0 50.8
12:00 48.4 45.4 50.2 49.8 48.2 50.4 47.2 46.4 49.2
1:00 47.6 44.3 49.7 49.6 48.4 51.7 47.4 46.8 49.0
2:00 47.4 44.1 49.6 50.0 49.0 52.2 48.8 47.2 51.4
3:00 48.2 45.2 49.0 50.0 49.2 50.0 49.6 49.0 50.6

4:00 48.0 45.5 49.1 47.2 46.3 50.5 51.0 50.5 51.5
5:00 48.4 47.1 49.6 47.0 44.1 49.7 50.5 50.0 51.9

Control Charts

Day 1

Day 2
Day 3

Theresultsfromthestatisticshowthatherewasastatisti
calcontrolonthedayshiftforthefirst2days,thatis,the
weightofthebagsfellwithintheoperationallimits.Theas
umptionisthatbecausetheproblemexistsacrosallthe
shiftsthentheremaybeaproblemwiththemachine,posibly
amalfunctionorgradualdeteriorationofqualitydueto
machinewear.
Thisisobecausestatisticshashownthathemachinehasbenperf
ormingtostandardsbeforetheproblemarise.
Becausethemachineoperatesaceptablewithinthecontrollimi
tforshift1andshift2.

Forallshiftstatisticshowthatproductionwasindedoutofcon
trol.
Inconcluding,therewasasmallchangeintheaverageofthebagw
eights.Theaverageweightsofthebagfellwithin
theaveragelimitexceptforoneshift,thishowsthathemachine
isoperatingataconsistentlevelbutnotwithinthe
aceptablecontrollimits.
IV. AlternativeCoursesofAction
a.)
BayfieldCompanywillsuspendtheirqualityasuranceinchar
geduetoincompetenceinordertopreventhi
skindofconflict.
Anothersolutionisthatheycaninstallsecuritycamerast
omonitortheiremployesiftheydotheirjobsinre
alworkinghours.
Eventually,theycanhireanewqualitycontrolspecialistw
ithastrongcommitmentothejob,whocanrevie
wtheprocesperiodically

V. Recommendation
BayfieldCompanyshouldrevisetheirqualitymanagementp
lan.First,theyshouldchecktheir
machineriesbeforetheoperationtoavoiderrorsanddis
asters.Secondoptionistheyshouldhireanew
qualitycontrolspecialisthatcouldmonitortheoperati
onsfromtimetotimetoavoiderrors.