Question 1

Case: Delta Plastics, Inc. (B) Jose De Costa, director of manufacturing at Delta Plas- opposed to starting production until R&D had fully tics, sat at his desk looking at the latest production completed testing and refining the new material. How- quality report, showing the number and type of prod ever, the CEO of Delta had ordered production despite uct defects per week (see the quality report in Delta objections from manufacturing and R&D. Jose carefully Plastics, Inc. Case A. Chapter 5). He was faced with the looked at the report in front of him and prepared to task of evaluating production quality for products made analyze the results. with two different materials. One of the materials was new and called "super plastic" due to its ability to sus- Case Questions tain large temperature changes. The other material was 1. Prepare a 3-sigma control chart for both produc- the standard plastic that had been successfully used by tion processes, using the new and standard material Delta for many years. (use the quality report in Delta Plastics, Inc. Case A. The company had started producing products with Chapter 5). Are both processes in control? What can the new "super plastic material only a month earlier. you conclude? Jose suspected that the new material could result in 2. Are both materials equally subject to the defects? more defects during the production process than the 3. Given your findings, what advice would you give standard material they had been using. Jose had been Jose? f containers made with the new material. Market tor came out with a similar design. At one point George ng believed the new material could revolutionize the looked at Isabelle and asked: "Are you certain that the ndustry, so it pushed for rapid production, arguing product is safe?" She replied that it was. "Then, he said hat the sooner the new products were available to "conducting more testing is unnecessary. QUALITY REPORT I STANDARD MATERIAL Week 1 Week 2 Defect Type M T W Th F M T W Th F 1. Uneven edges 1 2 2 3 2 3 1 1 2 0 2. Cracks 3 2 3 0 3 2 2 3 3. Scratches 1 2 3 4 241 0 2 3 4. Air bubbles 4 2 2 3 4 4 3 2 4 3 5. Thickness variation 1 0 4 0 2 1 1 20 Week 3 Week 4 Defect Type M T W Th F M T W Th F 1. Uneven edges 2 2 1 3 2 3 1 1 2 2 2. Cracks 3 2 2 1 2 3 3. Scratches 3 1 3 3 0 3 4. Air bubbles 3 1 2 2 4 2 4 5. Thickness variation 1 1 3 0 2 2 1 N- 4 2 N 1 ON N 1 O NO 1 1 2. 0 ter Group Assignment VitalSource Booksheit: Uper X 182 CHAPTER 5 . Total Quality Management Defect Type 1. Uneven edges 2. Cracks 3. Scratches 4. Air bubbles 5. Thickness variation NOON II SUPER PLASTIC (NEW MATERIAL) Week 1 Week 2 M T W Th F M TW Th F 2 2 3 2 0 3 3 6 4 7 4 4 3 1 0 0 1 1 4 3 1 0 1 2 0 1 N N 0 2 0 NNOS NNWN Week 3 M T W Th F Week 4 M T W Th F 1 Defect Type 1. Uneven edges 2. Cracks 3. Scratches 4. Air bubbles 5. Thickness variation 2 6 1 AN NAN 4 0 3 5 2 7 1 1 1 5 1 6 0 4 20 3 7 3 5 NON N 0 3 1 5 4 1 Oo 6 0 4 1 The final decision came from Jonathan Fine, Delta's CEO. He agreed with George. "If product safety is guar- anteed, small problems in production differences in quality, he was not sure what actions to take