1. Is this company’s commitment to quality realistic? Explain.

If you’ve ever picked up your supermarket’s private-label pretzels or tortilla chips, the snacks you enjoyed might well have been made by Shearer’s Foods in its Ohio factories.
If so, those snacks came from a company that wants to deliver nothing short of perfection to its own employees, its consumers, and the stores where they shop. That expectation is expressed in the company’s slogan, “Shearer Perfection in Every Bag.” Shearer’s interprets “perfection” widely: perfection in its products, in marketing and distribution support for stores, and in a corporate culture dedicated to the well-being of employees, their community, and the environment.
Shearer’s continually adopts new procedures and technologies in efforts to ensure this high quality.
Computer systems on the production lines provide a constant flow of data. Statistical readouts on touchscreens display quality measures from a variety of sensors.
For each production job scheduled, operators check a screen that uses images of a ticking alarm clock to specify which tasks are required for start-up, quality checks, and other procedures, as well as when each task must be completed. If a problem arises, the system notifies the responsible technician or supervisor, so that person can address the problem right away. Employees responsible for machinery keep abreast of operations by checking computer monitors displaying green icons for normal operation, blue for idle equipment, and red for problems such as a test that hasn’t been performed.