OM ASSIGNMENT 4
Q1. A quality control inspector at the Beautiful Shampoo Company has taken
three samples with four observations each of the volume of shampoo bottles
filled. The data collected by the inspector and the computed means are
shown here:
If the standard deviation of the shampoo bottle-filling operation is 0.2
ounces, use the information in the table to develop control limits of 3
standard deviations for the operation.
Q2. A production manager at Ultra Clean Dishwashing Company is
monitoring the quality of the company’s production process. There has been
concern relative to the quality of the operation in accurately filling the 16
ounces of dishwashing liquid. The product is designed for a fill level of 16.00
+- 0.30. The company collected the following sample data on the production
process:
(a) Are the process mean and range in statistical control?
(b) Do you think this process is capable of meeting the design standard?
Q3. A production manager at a Contour Manufacturing plant has inspected
the number of defective plastic molds in 5 random samples of 20
observations each. Following are the number of defective molds found in
each sample:
Construct a 3-sigma control chart (z _ 3) with this information.
Q4. U-learn University uses a c-chart to monitor student complaints per
week. Complaints have been recorded over the past ten weeks. Develop 3-
sigma control limits and chart using the following data:
Q5. University Hospital has been concerned with the number of errors found
in its billing statements to patients. An audit of 100 bills per week over the
past 12 weeks revealed the following number of errors:
(a) Develop control charts with z = 3.
(b) Is the process in control?
Q6. Compute the Cpk measure of process capability for the following
machine and interpret the findings. What value would you have obtained
with the Cp measure?
Process mean = 80
Process standard deviation = 5
Machine data: USL = 100
LSL = 70
Q7. George Stein sat in his large office overlooking Chicago’s Michigan
Avenue. As CEO of Gold Coast Advertising, he seemed to always be
confronted with one problem or another. Today was no exception. George
had just come out of a long meeting with Jim Gerard, head of the board for
the small advertising agency. Jim was concerned about a growing problem
with lowered sales expectations and a decreasing customer base. Jim warned
George that something had to be done quickly or Jim would have to go to the
board for action. George acknowledged that sales were down but attributed
this to general economic conditions. He assured Jim that the problems would
be addressed immediately. As George pondered his next course of action, he
admitted to himself that the customer base of GCA was slowly decreasing.
The agency did not quite understand the reason for this decrease. Many
regular customers were not coming back, and the rate of new customers
seemed to be slowly declining. GCA’s competitors seemed to be doing well.
George did not understand the problem.
What Do Customers Want?
GCA was a Chicago-based advertising agency that developed campaigns and
promotions for small and medium-sized firms. Its expertise was in the retail
area, but it worked with a wide range of firms from the food service industry
to the medical field. GCA competed on price and speed of product
development. Advertising in the retail area was competitive, and price had
always been important. Also, since retail fashions change rapidly, speed in
advertising development was thought to be critical. George reminded himself
that price and speed had always been what customers wanted. Now he felt
confused that he really didn’t know his customers. This was just another
crisis that would pass, he told himself. But he needed to deal with it
immediately.
Case Questions
1. What is wrong with how Gold Coast Advertising measures its quality?
Explain why Gold Coast should ask its customers about how they define
quality.
2. Offer suggestions to George Stein on ways of identifying quality
dimensions GCA’s customers consider important.
