The Assignment

The following assignment allows students to apply the concepts and tools presented in this book. Students should complete the assignment, not simply scan the description and assume they "got it." Completing the assignment will solidify understanding of quality concepts and tools before readers attempt to apply them in real project practice.

Background

Beads R Us is a producer of high-quality plastic beads for commercial use. The production process is as described in the red bead experiment. Workers produce beads in lots of fifty by dipping a paddle into a bin of beads and withdrawing fifty at a time. Some of the beads are red; red beads are defective. If the production lot is less than fifty, the absent beads count as defects. Recently, management has become dissatisfied with the number of defects during production. Beads R Us obtains materials from Bead World, one of three suppliers worldwide. Materials include defective beads, which must be eliminated prior to delivery to customers.

A major customer of Beads R Us has informed management that it will reject any future delivery that includes more than fifteen defective beads in a sample of fifty to be taken on the receiving dock at the time of delivery. Beads R Us has engaged your project team on a consulting contract to analyze its process, and identify any shortcomings, and recommend solutions.

Data Collection

Six members of your project team were secretly sent to Beads R Us as new employees to gain first-hand experience with the bead production process. They worked for five days before being withdrawn. The performance data for the six team members are summarized as shown in this table:

Figure 1- Results of a red bead experiment

The six team members also prepared a report of their work experiences. The key points in their report are summarized below.

Training is not good. New hires are not given any training. They are immediately placed on

the production line and told to do what the person next to them is doing. Beads R Us calls

this "on-the-job training."

Communication is not good. Workers are not allowed to ask questions and are not allowed to

talk to each other while on the line. Anyone caught talking is punished. Beads R Us managers tell workers that there is no time for frivolous behavior. They are paid to work, not talk.

Management is not good. When things go well, managers take all the credit. When things do not go well, managers blame the workers and threaten punishment.

Leadership is not good. Managers are seldom seen on the production line. When they do show up, they walk quickly through the area and tell people to do better or their jobs are at risk.

The work environment is not good. The production area is covered with posters containing quality slogans such as "Mistakes cost us money," "Work hard, keep your job," "We're counting on YOU," and "No defect is a good defect." Workers have trouble understanding the meaning of these slogans and have no idea about how to implement them.

Quotasareunreasonable.Managementhasassignedquotasforproductionthathavenever been achieved by anyone. Managers continually harp on the quotas and threaten punishment of those who do not make quota.

Rewards are inconsistent and inequitable. Two people can produce the same quality and one gets a reward while the other does not. A worker can be rewarded one day for good performance and punished the next day for poor performance. A worker who performed particularly well one day received an on-the-spot bonus and a pin that said "Employee of the Day." The next day, the same employee was fired for poor performance.

Requirement

Apply your quality knowledge and meet all contractual requirements. Specifically: Analyze the process of bead production at Beads R Us. Identify any shortcomings that indicate inability to meet customer requirements. Recommend solutions that eliminate any shortcomings.

Tips

This practical exercise does not include a prescribed solution. Readers should be creative in their solution approach; results will vary from reader to reader. Readers should apply as many of the quality tools as possible. Some tools are intended for group use. Not all may be beneficial. Readers will better understand the utility and limitations of the tools as they try to put them to use. Here are some suggestions.

Collecting data

A check sheet might be prepared to show defects by day or by worker. The matrix in

Figure 1 is already a collection of data.

Understanding data (6 Point) Ahistogrammight be used to show how defects are distributed by worker or by day. APareto chart might be used to identify defects in descending order by worker or by day of the week. Ascatter diagrammight be used to investigate a possible relationship between days of the week and the number of defects produced.

Understanding processes (2 points) Acontrol chartmight be used to determine system performance and if expected performance meets customer requirements. (Hint: All 30 productions must appear on the x-axis, with the number of defects on the y-axis. They may be plotted either by worker/ by day or by day/by worker.)

Analyzing processes (4 Points) ) Acause and effect diagrammight be used to identify causes and root causes of defective beads. (Hint: When determining categories, consider the information provided by the six team members in their report.) Apillar diagrammight be used to identify the relationships between suspected causes and results.

Solving problems (8 Points) ) Force field analysismight be used to identify and understand the forces that affect quality performance. It might provide a foundation for improvement action.Brainstormingmight be used to identify causes when using process analysis tools or to identify possible improvement actions. An affinity diagrammight be used to organize and better understand the random results of brainstorming. Nominal group techniquemight be used to gain consensus on priorities of action to be recommended.

Recommendations should be presented to Beads R Us as a final report, with relevant quality tools attached for clarification and justification.The Assignment

The following assignment allows students to apply the concepts and tools presented in this book. Students should complete the assignment, not simply scan the description and assume they "got it." Completing the assignment will solidify understanding of quality concepts and tools before readers attempt to apply them in real project practice.

Background

Beads R Us is a producer of high-quality plastic beads for commercial use. The production process is as described in the red bead experiment. Workers produce beads in lots of fifty by dipping a paddle into a bin of beads and withdrawing fifty at a time. Some of the beads are red; red beads are defective. If the production lot is less than fifty, the absent beads count as defects. Recently, management has become dissatisfied with the number of defects during production. Beads R Us obtains materials from Bead World, one of three suppliers worldwide. Materials include defective beads, which must be eliminated prior to delivery to customers.

A major customer of Beads R Us has informed management that it will reject any future delivery that includes more than fifteen defective beads in a sample of fifty to be taken on the receiving dock at the time of delivery. Beads R Us has engaged your project team on a consulting contract to analyze its process, and identify any shortcomings, and recommend solutions.

Data Collection

Six members of your project team were secretly sent to Beads R Us as new employees to gain first-hand experience with the bead production process. They worked for five days before being withdrawn. The performance data for the six team members are summarized as shown in this table:

Figure 1- Results of a red bead experiment

The six team members also prepared a report of their work experiences. The key points in their report are summarized below.

Training is not good. New hires are not given any training. They are immediately placed on

the production line and told to do what the person next to them is doing. Beads R Us calls

this "on-the-job training."

Communication is not good. Workers are not allowed to ask questions and are not allowed to

talk to each other while on the line. Anyone caught talking is punished. Beads R Us managers tell workers that there is no time for frivolous behavior. They are paid to work, not talk.

Management is not good. When things go well, managers take all the credit. When things do not go well, managers blame the workers and threaten punishment.

Leadership is not good. Managers are seldom seen on the production line. When they do show up, they walk quickly through the area and tell people to do better or their jobs are at risk.

The work environment is not good. The production area is covered with posters containing quality slogans such as "Mistakes cost us money," "Work hard, keep your job," "We're counting on YOU," and "No defect is a good defect." Workers have trouble understanding the meaning of these slogans and have no idea about how to implement them.

Quotasareunreasonable.Managementhasassignedquotasforproductionthathavenever been achieved by anyone. Managers continually harp on the quotas and threaten punishment of those who do not make quota.

Rewards are inconsistent and inequitable. Two people can produce the same quality and one gets a reward while the other does not. A worker can be rewarded one day for good performance and punished the next day for poor performance. A worker who performed particularly well one day received an on-the-spot bonus and a pin that said "Employee of the Day." The next day, the same employee was fired for poor performance.

Requirement

Apply your quality knowledge and meet all contractual requirements. Specifically: Analyze the process of bead production at Beads R Us. Identify any shortcomings that indicate inability to meet customer requirements. Recommend solutions that eliminate any shortcomings.

Tips

This practical exercise does not include a prescribed solution. Readers should be creative in their solution approach; results will vary from reader to reader. Readers should apply as many of the quality tools as possible. Some tools are intended for group use. Not all may be beneficial. Readers will better understand the utility and limitations of the tools as they try to put them to use. Here are some suggestions.

Collecting data

A check sheet might be prepared to show defects by day or by worker. The matrix in

Figure 1 is already a collection of data.

Understanding data (6 Point) Ahistogrammight be used to show how defects are distributed by worker or by day. APareto chart might be used to identify defects in descending order by worker or by day of the week. Ascatter diagrammight be used to investigate a possible relationship between days of the week and the number of defects produced.

Understanding processes (2 points) Acontrol chartmight be used to determine system performance and if expected performance meets customer requirements. (Hint: All 30 productions must appear on the x-axis, with the number of defects on the y-axis. They may be plotted either by worker/ by day or by day/by worker.)

Analyzing processes (4 Points) ) Acause and effect diagrammight be used to identify causes and root causes of defective beads. (Hint: When determining categories, consider the information provided by the six team members in their report.) Apillar diagrammight be used to identify the relationships between suspected causes and results.

Solving problems (8 Points) ) Force field analysismight be used to identify and understand the forces that affect quality performance. It might provide a foundation for improvement action.Brainstormingmight be used to identify causes when using process analysis tools or to identify possible improvement actions. An affinity diagrammight be used to organize and better understand the random results of brainstorming. Nominal group techniquemight be used to gain consensus on priorities of action to be recommended.

Recommendations should be presented to Beads R Us as a final report, with relevant quality tools attached for clarification and justification.

USING THE RUBRIC ANSWER THE QUESTION