Question

Kray Co. manufactures high-quality knives for use in the meat processing industry, and operates in an industry which values and rewards consistent production quality. Technical innovation over the past decade has given the industry a good supply of high quality steel in raw material form. Kray Co. recognizes the need to establish and maintain strong quality controls for labor activities. A company quality team has asked you to assist the company in recommending either a goalpost conformance quality plan or an absolute quality conformance plan to monitor its manufacturing activities.

Required: 1. Briefly distinguish between the two approaches to ensuring conformance with production standards.

2. Explain how the Taguchi Quality Loss Function (QLF) operates within the absolute quality conformance plan.

3. Do you think worker reaction to the two plans in Part (1) above might be different? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Kray Co. manufactures high-quality knives for use in the meat processing industry, and operates in an industry which values and rewards consistent production quality

Kray Co. recognizes the need to establish and maintain strong quality controls for labor activities

A company quality team has asked you to assist the company in recommending either a goalpost conformance quality plan or an absolute quality conformance plan

Required: 1. Briefly distinguish between the two approaches to ensuring conformance with production standards.

goalpost conformance quality plan- What is Quality Planning ? Quality planning represents trying not to make too many mistakes and always keeping project working towards the goal creating the right product .

“ Fitness to use “ and Customer satisfaction is more related word in this matter. Need to build product to fit customer needs.

Conformance to requirements is the core of both customers satisfaction and fitness to use

Goalpost Conformance – relates to Quality control . Quality specification expressed as a specified range around the Target Performance Level

Absolute Quality Conformance – represents No Variance – Exact meeting of the Target number with No Variance Allowed .

Required: 2 Explain how the Taguchi Quality Loss Function (QLF) operates within the absolute quality conformance plan.:

Discuss about Quality Loss Function ( QLF) – this concept developed by Taguchi ( Japanese Person). This is beyond Goal Post Conformance Quality . This view completely disagree with Goalpost view . As per Taguchi , Quality can not confined within specified Limit but need to understand whether this is creating a Financial loss or not . As per QLF approach , the closer to the Target value is Better , Smaller is better approach or Larger is better approach

Under tis approach , limit should be set to minimize losses ,

To maintain more Quality product / output , most important to focus on the reduction of variability of product characteristic around a specific Target value . With help of this QLF approach it will help to reduce cost by :

1. Actual distribution closer to the Target Value
2. Reduce Variability

         All the above unique quality is never exist in Normal Standard Goalpost concept .Normal Standard Goal Post concept like the number of Quality defects based on defect rate Defects are identified and no cost concept has been mentioned in this concept. We fix up upper and lower limits . if anything is not falling the limits is consider defect . This concept completed ignored by Taguchi .    

3) Do you think worker reaction to the two plans in Part (1) above might be different? Why or why not?

Definitely reaction will be different – As we already highlighted above that Goalpost Conformance Quality set up Target as well as specified limit and monitor performance accordingly . Where as in case of Absolute Quality conformance No set up of Target as well as No Variance.

I think Worker should go with proper target base approach with proper variance based work method