Extrude-rite Corporation, a manufacturer of industrial machinery and components for the plastics industry, has recently had several product quality problems. These have occurred both before and after product shipment. In a meeting that the President of Extrude-rite has called on the topic with her direct reports, she tells them that she isn't sure whether they, as an organization, have a clear, agreed-upon definition of what quality is at Extrude-rite. She tells them that she believes they must have this agreed-upon definition before moving further toward quality improvement. She asserts that they must develop this definition because customers are getting upset and rework costs are too high. She also thinks that if they can come up with the right definition, it could be a competitive advantage for Extrude-rite. She assigns them to come back next week with some ideas, and they will hammer out a standard definition of quality for Extrude-rite.

Key Player's

Shelly Comstock (President): Team, we have recently experienced a rash of quality issues, and I, for one, believe we need to get our quality management reinvigorated finally. But first, we all must agree on a definition of quality.

Titus Silvern (Production manager): Shelly, I appreciate your concerns and agree that we need to improve in all quality management areas. We in manufacturing certainly could benefit from any improvement because there is nothing more disruptive to our operation than having to do things twice! We could upgrade our equipment in some critical areas. In that case, we could hold many closer tolerances and eliminate the machine malfunctions that have contributed to some of our scraps and rework costs. Concerning the definition, you want; it must include conformance to engineering specifications. We could come closer to those specs more consistently with some new equipment. And one other point I would like to add is that some of these engineering designs are difficult for the machine! James, can you get your engineers out on the shop floor more often to see what we in production have to go through? It would also help to get human resources to support us in taking disciplinary action when our operators and mechanics make dumb mistakes! Anyway, I will give some thought to a definition that works for Extrude-rite.

Sylvia( Sale & Marketing) Thank you, Shelly, for bringing this quality issue to the forefront. My sales and marketing people receive the brunt of the customers' dissatisfaction when one of our products or services does not meet their expectations. Why, the other day, one of my salespeople had to endure a long tirade from one of our main customers about how a component we shipped to her just three months ago broke after just 100 hours of use! You know how word of those kinds of events gets around in this industry! It makes me worry about our future in this increasingly competitive environment! And I don't know if it fits in this discussion, but they are getting upset about our long lead times and delivery reliability too! Anyway, I will give this some more thought and let you know what I think we should have for a definition of quality. We need to focus on what our customers want!

Fred( Planning Management) Well, I know everybody blames me for the problems with delivery reliability. Our customer demand is so erratic, and we can't get much information from sales and marketing on what is coming down the pike doesn't help. But back to the quality issue, it would make our planning group's job a lot easier if we could cut down on this scrap and rework, not to mention the machine breakdowns! The fact that our processes are not as reliable as they should be contributes to all these problems, including quality! Titus, what are you doing about getting some reliable processes on the shop floor? The current situation is driving my planners and me crazy!

James (Manager of Engineering) Hey, team, I hear you and the pain you are experiencing. Shelly, I want to add my thanks for bringing this to a head. Since I accepted the additional job of quality improvement manager a few months ago, I have been asking for more resources from inspectors. This would also help us handle our supplier's quality issues. I know there is more to the quality problem we have than just a lack of inspectors, but until we can start getting to some root causes, we need to stop the bleeding! I know budgets are tight, but if we don't control this quality issue, our customers will go elsewhere!

Activity

After Reviewing the Scenario, Your Role, and both Key Player's sections, formulate your recommendations and post them in the Week 1 Discussion Topic "Defining Quality."

 As a consultant who is sitting in on the meeting atExtrude-Rite, how have you observed that each of the role players contributes to a general definition of quality at this company, and how each of the departments represents specific traits of quality? How would you define the quality frame at Extrude-rite if you were asked?

• The definition of quality
• The basis of quality management
• The importance of quality management
• Quality management and competitive advantage
• Quality management throughout the supply chain