The purpose of the following exercises is three-fold. First, they are intended to make the students learn in-depth about process capability analysis. Second, they are intended to make the students become aware that quality control is a key area where ethical violations can occur, and to force them to think about approaches that can be used to prevent such unethical behavior. Third, students are forced to think about applying Taguchi methods to systems other than manufacturing.

1. When analyzing the capability of a process, you find that the value of C_p is greater than 1, but the value of C_pk is less than 1. Is this process capable? If not, what steps should you take to correct the problem?

2. Use some examples to discuss some of the areas in quality control that have the potential for unethical behavior. What steps would you take to prevent such behavior?

3. Apply the Taguchi-loss function to an Information System.

4. Please read the following mini-case studies and answer the questions that follow:

The Taguchi-loss function argues that a system should have a minimum loss to society over its entire lifecycle. Suppose you were asked to lead a team designing a new patient registration system for your hospital and you wanted to ensure quality standards for the system. How might Taguchi’s methods help you with your planning and decision making? In other words, where would you focus your efforts to minimize costs of the new system?

For example, suppose you had identified a variety of costs of the new system, including costs related to:

1. Planning and designing the system. There are a number of potential costs to consider related to designing a system.
(1) Non-conformance costs: under-designing a system so it doesn’t perform all the activities necessary or over-designing the system to include features that your staff don’t need or will not use.
(2) Cost of lost opportunities: loss of benefits as a result of a system that does not provide its users or customers with needed information.

2. Warranties: Warranties are security protection to ensure that sensitive patient information is kept confidential. Consider the costs of creating a patient registration system that could accidentally leak critical insurance or medical history information.

3. Maintenance and support costs: What will the costs to the hospital be in the case where the system is prone to breakdowns or needs to be constantly monitored (personnel costs for continuous monitoring)?

4. Disposal, upgrade, and replacement costs: Your team needs to consider whether there will be disposal costs associated with replacing old equipment (what about environmental costs of this disposal?) or upgrade costs, including downtime, while all the hospital’s systems are linked to the new patient registration system?

Questions

1. Referring back to the principles behind the Taguchi-loss function, what are some strategies your team can adopt to minimize costs associated with each of these four elements in the new information system implementation?

(1) Strategies for minimizing planning and design costs.

(2) Strategies for minimizing warranty costs.

(3) Strategies for minimizing maintenance and support costs.

(4) Strategies for minimizing disposal, upgrade, and replacement costs.

2. Suppose you were to apply a similar approach to improving food service at a local restaurant. Using the principles behind the Taguchiloss function, what are some strategies your team can adopt to identify and minimize costs associated with some of the critical cost centers you identified in the restaurants operations?