QUESTION 1 Quality Management Principle (30 marks)

1. Explain in your own words the terms continuous and continual improvement and how they differ (5 marks)
2. Describe what you understand by the quality management principle of Improvement (10 marks)
3. Discuss four (4) examples of organisation quality improvement programs (10 marks)
4. How might you measure Improvement from a TQM program at the top level of the organisation? (5 marks)

Question 2 Statistical Process Control (30 marks)

The quality team at Rig Concrete Testing Company feel that the executive management team ignore the companys science related to wind tower foundation technology which has contributed to several of the quality issues experienced at wind farms. In your own words, write a section of the business report that provides a concise answer for each of the following questions that both the executive and operations team will read.

Rig Concrete Testing Company tests approximately 12 wind tower foundations per week. The process manager measures the strength of the concrete foundations (MPa) for each wind tower to be installed. As part of the process, a subgroup of 6 measurements is randomly taken each time the wind tower foundations are tested. This occurs during a 12-hour test on every wind tower foundation. There was an issue with testing during sample 5 that is under investigation.

The results of the analyses are given in Table Q2.

SampleWind Tower Foundation Strength (MPa)174.9374.7275.0174.9574.8374.81274.7774.8574.6774.6974.9274.73374.9974.6674.8774.9874.7974.81474.6775.0274.7374.7575.0574.69574.8876.8376.9876.8776.8276.83674.7074.9774.7774.7474.9674.83774.9774.7475.0574.9774.7474.88874.6975.0274.7574.6674.8874.91974.8674.8274.9574.9074.7374.791074.6674.9874.8174.7375.0674.881174.9674.8974.7274.7374.8874.681274.6674.9474.7774.8974.7475.03

Table Q2 Wind Tower Foundation Strength (MPa)

1. Calculate the upper and lower control limits of an and R Chart for the data (5 marks). Note: Constants for the calculation of Upper and Lower Control limits for and R Charts are given in the Appendix.

1. Plot the and Range charts and hence determine whether the process is in control (10 marks).

1. If the process is not in control, what do you have to do to bring the process under control? (5 marks).

1. How can you show that the process is now under control? Demonstrate this task (10 marks).

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS (40 MARKS)

(300 to 500 words each question references not required)

Question 3 (12 Marks)

Everything varies.

1. What are the two general causes of variation in a process? (3 Marks)
2. Which of these causes can be affected by a worker in the operations team? (2 Marks)
3. If a process goes out of statistical control, what quality tools would you use to identify the cause of the problem? Why? (5 Marks)
4. When the process is returned to control, how may you determine the cost to the business of a customer wishing to tighten specification limits on key product attributes? (2 Marks)

Question 4 (8 Marks)

Explain what the balanced scorecard is and why it is an effective tool for determining how an organization is performing. (8 marks)

Question 5 (8 Marks)

A key factor for sustaining organisation success is Customer Focus.

1. Explain your personal definition of quality. (3 Marks)
2. Explain a process that organisations use to ensure their capability to meet customer requirements? (5 Marks)

Question 6 (12 Marks)

Describe what Demings improvement cycle means to you? (4 marks)

Choose any 2 of Demings 14 points for management and show how they support his theory of profound knowledge. (8 marks)

APPENDIX A

nA₂D₃D₄21.8800.0003.26731.0230.0002.57440.7290.0002.28250.5770.0002.11560.4830.0002.00470.4190.0761.92480.3730.1361.86490.3370.1841.816100.3080.2231.777

n = the number of samples in each group

A₂, D₃ and D₄ are constants used in the following calculations

Control Charts

Range Charts