Answers to Discussion and Review Questions
1.
Dimensions of goods quality:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
Performance-- the main function(s) of the product
Aesthetics-- pleasing to look at
Special features-- extra (secondary) functions
Safety-- reduction of risk of injury or harm
Reliability-- performance without breakdown for certain time
Durability—long service life
Perceived quality-- image
Service after sale-- handling of complaints, warrantees, maintenance
Latent quality—assumed quality (not expressed by customers but important)
Dimensions of service quality:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
Tangibles-- observable aspects of service including staff, facility, and equipment
Convenience-- availability and accessibility
Reliability-- dependability, consistency, accuracy
Responsiveness-- ability to satisfy customers’ needs
Time-- fast service, little delay
Assurance-- conveying confidence in the knowledge of server
Courtesy-- showing respect
2.
Conformance to Design Specifications during production refers to how well a good or service
being produced matches design specifications.
3.
Quality assurance involves planning for quality (so that it will be achieved). Quality control is to
perform tests to identify the defective products which will be removed or fixed. Quality
improvement is to improve the process and to solve quality problems continuously.
4.
Dimension
Performance
Aesthetics
Special features
Safety
Reliability
Durability
Perceived quality
Service after sale
Latent quality
Instructor’s Manual, Chapter 9
Television Set
On and off switches work, sound is clear, colour is natural,
picture is sharp enough
Pleasing shape, shiny cabinet
Remote control, inset picture, stereo speakers
CSA approved, will not catch fire
Will not breakdown for 10 years
Will last 20 years (with some possible defects)
Reputation (e.g. Sony)
Handling of complaints, requests for information, repair
work
Will not get damaged if moved
189
Dimension
Performance
Aesthetics
Special features
Safety
Reliability
Durability
Perceived quality
Service after sale
Latent quality
Restaurant Meal (a good)
Taste, smell, colour
Looks appetizing, cleanliness, arrangement of food
Side orders, cocktails, desserts
Sanitary handling, germ-free, fresh
Consistently good day-after-day
Large servings, will not get hungry soon
Image, reputation
Handling of complaints
Cooked right
Dimension
Tangibles
Convenience
Reliability
Responsiveness
Time
Assurance
Courtesy
Restaurant Meal (a service)
Clean table & cutlery, floor, uniforms
Long operating hours, easy parking
Consistently the same and good day-after-day
Handling of complaints, extra service
Fast, little waiting
Poise, knowledge of food & wines
Friendly, knowledge of customer
Dimension
Tangibles
Painting a House
Good paint job, cleans up mess, good ladder and brush, good
quality paint
Available when needed
Consistently excellent job after job, paint lasts & looks good
Follows instructions, performs minor repairs when asked
Reasonably speed
Professional, knowledge of colours and paint, appearance
Friendly
Convenience
Reliability
Responsiveness
Time
Assurance
Courtesy
5.
The cost of quality is the cost of poor quality. It is divide into four categories:
Example in a fast food restaurant
6.
- external (after sale) failure
wrong sandwich  customer is unhappy
- internal (during production) failure
wrong condiment  redo
- appraisal (inspection)
check temperature of a meat patty
- prevention (training, control systems)
provide standard operating procedure
Before factories, quality was assured by apprenticeship programs and being a member of a guild
(similar to plumbers and electricians nowadays). Factories used low skilled workers but also
employed inspectors to check the products at the end of the line and discard the defective ones
(i.e., performed quality control). More recently, quality assurance (Statistical Process Control
and Total Quality management) has become more important, e.g., quality control has become part
of the operator/worker’s job who use control charts to record the results of their in-process tests.
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Operations Management, 4/C/E
7.
Key contributions of quality gurus are summarized in Table 9-6. Deming is known for Statistical
Process Control and Plan-Do-Study-Act improvement methodology. Juran is known for the three
programs of quality planning, control, and improvement. Feigenbaum is known for Quality at the
Source. Crosby is known for Quality is Free and need for zero defects.
8.
ISO 9001 is an international standard for a quality management system. Its elements are
displayed in Table 9-7. ISO 9001 is important for doing global business because it provides
assurance that quality of goods will be acceptable. Therefore, the buying company need not
perform acceptance sampling on incoming goods.
9.
Elements 1: Create a quality management system: determine a quality policy and procedures,
etc, and document them.
Element 2: Management is responsible to provide funding, appoint a quality manager,
communicate its importance, and review its progress.
Element 3: Provide the Resources (people, processes, work environment, etc).
Element 4: Realize the product: plan the production process, determine the customer
requirements, ensure that product design meets the requirements, give suppliers complete &
accurate requirements for purchased parts, and produce under controlled environment.
Element 5: Measure (customer satisfaction, processes, and products), segregate defective
products, analyze results, and improve.
10.
HACCP is Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point. It is a quality management system for food
industry, focusing on possible safety problems with food products, especially fish, meat, poultry,
and dairy products. Hazards of biological, physical and chemical are considered. Control points
and plans are determined in the process to eliminate/reduce the chance of hazards entering the
food.
11.
The criteria (or principles) for Canada Awards for Excellence (CAE) include strategic leadership
and governance, planning (and environmental sustainability), customer focus, work force
(people) focus (and healthy workplace), process management, supplier/partner focus, and
organizational performance (results).
12.
There are three key features or elements in TQM. One is a never-ending push to improve quality,
which is referred to as continuous improvement; the second is the involvement of everyone in the
organization in quality management; and the third is the goal of ever-increasing customer satisfaction.
13.
Seven basic quality tools are:
a. Process flow diagram: A diagram of steps in a process.
b. Check sheet: A tally of defects by category.
c. Histogram: A chart that shows the frequency distribution of the data.
Instructor’s Manual, Chapter 9
191
d. Pareto chart: A chart that arranges categories from highest frequency of occurrence to
lowest frequency of occurrence. Pareto chart distinguishes the few critical factors from the
many trivial factors.
e. Scatter diagram: A graph that shows the degree of relationship (correlation) between two
variables.
14.
f.
Control chart: A line plot of a sample statistic with upper and lower limits to determine if
there is a problem in a given process.
g.
Cause-and-effect diagram: A representation of the relationship between an effect and the
set of possible causes that produce the effect. It is used to organize the ideas generated during
brainstorming to find causes.
a. Brainstorming is sharing ideas and thoughts in a relaxed atmosphere on a problem in order
to stimulate unrestrained collective thinking.
b. Benchmarking measures a company’s performance against the best in industry.
c. Run chart is a line plot of a variable in order to identify trends or patterns in the data.
15.
a. There are four basic steps in the plan-do-study-act cycle:
Plan. Begin by studying the problem. Collect and analyze data, and develop a plan for
improvement. Specify measures to be used for evaluating the plan.
Do. Implement the plan, first on a small scale if possible. Document any changes that are
made during this phase. Collect data systematically for evaluation.
Study. Evaluate the data collected during the do phase. Check to see how closely the results
match the original goals of the plan phase.
Act. If the results are good, standardize the new method and communicate it to all people
associated with the process. Implement training for the new method.
b.
16.
5W2H is asking questions about the process or problem which determine 5 Ws (what, why,
where, when, who) and 2 Hs (how and how much).
Steps of Problem Solving:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
17.
Define the problem
Collect data
Analyze the problem
Generate potential solutions
Choose a solution and implement it
Monitor the solution to see if it solved the problem.
No, quality tools used and their sequence of use for problem solving/process improvement vary
based on the specific application, as it can be seen by comparing the following two applications:
In “Improvement of Free-throw Shooting”, the quality tools used and their order were: process
flow diagram (not shown), run chart, cause-and-effect diagram, redesigned process flow diagram
(not shown), run chart, control chart.
1.
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Operations Management, 4/C/E
In “Honda”, the quality tools and their sequence of use were: histogram, cause-and-effect
diagram (not shown), and run chart.
In general, process flow diagram is used to understand the process; check sheets and histograms
are used for collecting and representing the characteristics of problems or their causes, Pareto
chart is used to pick a major problem or a major cause, cause-and-effect diagram is to identify
possible causes of a problem, scatter diagram is used to investigate the relationship between a
cause and a problem, and control charts or run charts are used to monitor the changes in the
problem or the cause over time.
18.
ISO 9001 is a process/document-based approach to designing a quality management system
(QMS). HACCP is similar but its focus is safety. CAE does not emphasize QMS but
management principles as in TQM.
Answers to Taking Stock
1.
The tradeoffs of spending money on quality improvement are the classical cost benefit analysis.
The cost of improvement is basically the time of quality improvement team. The benefits are
reduction in defects and/or increased-output/reduced-cost due to process improvement.
2.
Everyone who affects product’s quality: management and workers.
3.
Impact of technology on quality:
 Software to analyze the data (e.g., to generate histogram, compute correlation)
 More accurate machines
 More accurate designs (CAD)
4.
Environmental sustainability (in strategic planning) and healthy workplace (in human resource
management). Also, social responsibility used to be part of the leadership principle.
Ethics is the study of standards of behavior that promote human welfare. If workers are not
treated well (or ethically), then they will not get involved in quality management which is one of
the three elements of TQM.
Instructor’s Manual, Chapter 9
193
Answer to Critical Thinking Exercise
In a typical car assembly plant, the body of the automobile is made by cutting and forming the pieces and
welding them together. Then, the body is painted, and purchased or made-elsewhere components such as
engine, axles, seats, dashboard, and tires are assembled in some sequence. Fixing a defective part either
involves discarding it or reworking it, if possible. A better solution is prevention. Some quality problems
and their preventative solutions are:
Quality problem
Defects in raw material, parts, components
Dimension problems resulting from cutting & welding
Paint problems
Problems with assembly
(e.g., loose bolts, misaligned door)
Preventative Solution
Work with the supplier to set up a quality
management system for it
Use accurate measuring tools and jigs
Continuous improvement
Reconsider specifications, provide jigs
Answer to Experiential Learning Exercise
Answers vary. There are many products on the market that do not perform as they promise. Some are
new products that use a new technology which needs improvement; e.g., mechanical pencils sometimes
don’t advance the lead and a big part of each piece of the lead has to be discarded; solving these problems
requires more R&D. Other products don’t use sturdy material; e.g., the big wood pepper mills use plastic
grinding mechanism inside which does not last long; solving this may be as easy as using a metal grinder
inside.
Answers to Internet Exercises
1.
Visit http://www.theacsi.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=33,
choose an industry, and observe the customer satisfaction scores of the companies in that
industry. The answers will vary. For example, for automobiles & light vehicles, the scores
generally agreed with my knowledge of the industry. However, there were some surprises. For
example, top brand is Lincoln (score = 89), ahead of Cadillac (score = 86).
2.
This is a useful but difficult technical test requiring some details of the ISO 9001 which may not
be given in the textbook. The students may be required to summarize what they learnt from their
incorrect answers.
1.
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Operations Management, 4/C/E
3.
HACCP for Sanofi-aventis’s encapsulation & packaging lines for Altace:
Raw
material
(Ramipril)
from Germany
(batch approved
& labelled)
Inactive
ingredients
Weigh
Camera
Encapsulator
Mixer
Insert &
seal with
foil
Form into
blister sheet
plate
Plastic
roll
Capsules
Print lot no. & expiry
date on foil
Weigh
Cleaned
Bottles
Counter
Caps
Insert
in box
Print lot no. &
expiry date,
and attach label
Print lot no.
& expiry date
Camera
Cap &
heat to
seal
Drop in
bottle
Case
Palletize & shrink-wrap
Case
Hazard/Defect
Bacteria
Inaccurate
weight
unfilled blister
Inaccurate label
Quality plan
Critical Control Point Assurance
Control
- facility
- filter air, clean machines
after each batch
- employees arriving - wear hairnet, gown, shoe
covers
- packaging material - suppliers assure cleanliness
receiving
- Mixer
- Use 2 operators
- Encapsulation
- Weigh each capsule in a
high-speed machine
- Precisely weigh a
sample of 12 capsules
periodically
Camera after blister
formation
Bottling line camera
Instructor’s Manual, Chapter 9
Check every indentation
of every blister
Check every bottle
195
4.
Trillium Health Centre
CAE requirements at each level are listed below. Trillium’s achievements, given in the two Web
pages, are in red. Unfortunately, these pages don’t contain much of Trillium’s achievements.
Level 1
develop a mission statement
define customers
plan training in management principles and practices
Level 2
strategic planning
identifying customer needs
human resource planning
identifying, documenting, and improving key processes
supplier/partner planning
Level 3
organization demonstrates shared commitment Engaged physicians and workforce (a ‘just do it’
culture)
performs periodic planning, sets priorities, and communicates performance The Web site
http://www.trilliumhealthcentre.org/quality_safe_care/index.html, called Public
Reporting, has hot links to Patient Satisfaction, Wait Times, Infection Control, and
Hospital Standardized Mortality Ratios.
measures customer satisfaction and receives feedback
involves employees in health and safety, provides training and measures its effectiveness, and
measures employee satisfaction Healthy workplace program
analyzes, improves, and documents processes, involves customers and suppliers and benchmarks
process management
shares information with suppliers and involves them in new product design
all activities are continuously improved “At Trillium Health Centre, we are always looking at
how we are performing and use different performance indicators to get a sense of where
we excel and where improvements could be made”.
Level 4
organization demonstrates that it has achieved good to excellent overall results and at least three
years of positive trends from the improvement efforts
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Operations Management, 4/C/E
5.
City of Kamloops
The CAE requirements at each level are listed below. Kamloop’s achievements, given in the
PDF file, are in red.
Level 1
develop a mission statement In 2002, City of Kamloops decided to become a Top 100
Organization (Awareness and Commitment to initiate the Top 100 Journey).
define customers
plan training in management principles and practices Strategic focus on good Management
Principles
Level 2
strategic planning Strategy is implemented in key areas
identifying customer needs Excellent focus on clients
human resource planning Union/management partnership
identifying, documenting, and improving key processes
supplier/partner planning
Level 3
organization demonstrates shared commitment Systematic implementation evident in all key
areas
performs periodic planning, sets priorities, and communicates performance
measures customer satisfaction and receives feedback
involves employees in health and safety, provides training and measures its effectiveness, and
measures employee satisfaction
analyzes, improves, and documents processes, involves customers and suppliers and benchmarks
process management
shares information with suppliers and involves them in new product design
all activities are continuously improved Good emphasis on improvement strategies
Level 4
organization demonstrates that it has achieved good to excellent overall results and at least three
years of positive trends from the improvement efforts Good to Excellent overall results
and trends.
Measuring Success (2001-2008)
1. Client Service Satisfaction
2. Quality of Life Citizen Satisfaction Index
3. Staff Satisfaction Index
Corporate Values Scale (Trust, Innovation, Pride, Health, & Openness)
Brock University Staff Satisfaction Survey
(Job, Organization, Co-Workers cohesion, Stress, Supervision )
Staff Satisfaction Surveys
(Public Works, Fire Rescue Services, By-Law Services, Legislative
Services, Municipal Services RCMP)
Grievances
4. Recognition and Awards
Instructor’s Manual, Chapter 9
197
Answers to Problems
1.
Check sheet:
Work Type
Lube & Oil
Brakes
Tires
Battery
Transmission
Total
Frequency
12
7
6
4
1
30
Pareto chart:
12
7
6
4
1
Lube & Oil
2.
Brakes
Tires
Battery
Transmission
Check sheet
Customer Type
Residential
Commercial
Totals
Equipment Problem
Failed
Odour
7
5
2
7
9
12
Noisy
10
3
13
Residential customers
10
Warm
3
4
7
Totals
25
16
41
Commercial customers
7
7
5
4
3
3
2
Noisy
1.
Failed
Odour
Warm
Odour
198
Warm
Noisy
Failed
Operations Management, 4/C/E
3.



3
 

2
1
 
0
8:00

 


9:00

  
10:15
11:00
break
 


 
noon
1:00


2:00
lunch

3:00

 
4:00
4:45
break
The run chart shows an increasing pattern of errors just before the break times, lunch, and the end
of the shift. Perhaps workers are becoming fatigued. If so, perhaps two 10 minute breaks in the
morning and again in the afternoon instead of one 20 minute break could reduce some errors.
4.
Time
1:00-1:04
1:05-1:09
1:10-1:14
1:15-1:19
1:20-1:24
1:25-1:29
1:30-1:34
1:35-1:39
Count
1
2
2
1
1
3
1
2
Time
1:40-1:44
1:45-1:49
1:50-1:54
1:55-1:59
2:00-2:04
2:05-2:09
2:10-2:14
2:15-2:20
Count
3
2
3
2
7
4
6
2
2:20
Time
2:00
1:00
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
During 2:00 - 2:20 a.m., there is an average of 4-5 calls being made during each five-minute interval.
Perhaps more operators are required between 2:00 and 2:20 (bar closing time?).
Instructor’s Manual, Chapter 9
199
5.
Person
Lamp
Missing
Didn’t turn
completely on
Socket
Bulb
Burned
out
Power off
Loose
Lamp fails
to light
Not
plugged in
Outlet
defective
Defective
Other
1.
Defective
Cord
200
Operations Management, 4/C/E
Instructor’s Manual, Chapter 9
Morale
Personnel
Qualifications
Expertise
Selection
Motivation
Training
Working
Conditions
Operator
Error
Specifications
Sequences
Controls
Organization
Culture
Timing
Tolerances
Procedures
Methods
Machine
Tool Wear
Controls
Operation
Set-up
Maintenance
Adjustment
Quality
Controls
Handling
Consistency
Environment
Suppliers
Materials
Defective
Machine
Part
6.
201
7.
a.

7






 

Days absent
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0
20
40
60
Age
Age and Days absent are inversely related. Older employees missed fewer days.
b.

5
Error rate
4

3



 
 
2
1
0
0
14
20
25
Temperature
30°C
Error rate is non-linearly related to temperature. It increases in colder or hotter temperatures. The
lowest error rate occurs around 20 degrees Celsius.
1.
202
Operations Management, 4/C/E
Rain
Weather
Instructor’s Manual, Chapter 9
Slippery
Night
Distractions
Condition of
the driver
Age of driver
involved
Condition of
vehicle
Profile of driver
Hills or curves
Oncoming head lights
Age of vehicle
Type of vehicle
Vehicle Characteristics
Driver Characteristics
Intersection
Sun light
Curvature of
the road
Speed limit
Snow
Road Characteristics
Wind
Ice
Vision
Accident
8.
203
9.
10.
Dimensions
1. Tangibles
Examples
Appearance of the pharmacy and the staff
2. Convenience
Location of the pharmacy and the hours of operation
3. Reliability
Is the prescription correctly filled every time?
4. Responsiveness
Willingness to answer questions about the medication
5. Time
How long did you have to wait?
6. Assurance
Knowledge of the pharmacist in answering your questions
7. Courtesy
Friendliness of the server
Critical Control Point
Control Plan
Receiving
Visually inspect (meat patties should be frozen; buns fresh, etc.)
If new supplier, test to make sure the goods are hazard-free
Check the temperature setting daily (approx. -18 degrees c?)
Test (calibrate) the temperature monthly
Record the time thawing starts for a batch
SOP: wear gloves
Control temperature and time
Test the temperature and time daily
Clean the grill daily
SOP: wear gloves
keep buns in plastic bags before toasting
Keep toaster clean
Test the temperature and time daily
Keep wrapping paper clean before use
Freezer (for meat patties)
Thawing (for meat patties)
Grilling (for meat patties)
Toasting (bun)
Wrap
11.
Hazard/Defect
Bad taste & odour
Critical Control Point
6.
Unsafe (poison)
8. Cooking
Decomposed (rotten)
6.
Inaccurate weight
14.
1.
204
Quality plan
Assurance
Control
-Train workers to
Check for odour of
recognize bad smell
each batch of fish
- Buy from certified
fishermen
Follow SOP for temp &
time
Buy from certified
fishermen
Test temp and time
once a day
Visually inspect all
fish
Use accurate scales
Calibrate once a week
Operations Management, 4/C/E
Answer to Mini-case: North Shore University Hospital
From the chart, it appears that the “Discharge to bed tracking system (BTS)” and “Clean to admission”
time intervals have both high average and extreme values. Some solutions are:
1. Clerical Support Associate communicates the discharge time to the PCA/SCA as soon as it occurs
and this is captured in the discharge document.
2. Admission RN is provided (e.g., by reformatting her beeper to the BTS) with immediate notification
of a clean and ready bed.
Answer to Mini-case: Walkerton's Tragedy
1.
Quality characteristics of drinking water include:
 Clean (no debris)
 Colourless
 Odourless
 Good taste (fresh)
 Germ-free
 Not too much chlorine but enough
2.
A process flow diagram for water treatment of well water:
Well water 
3.
Screen 
Add chlorine 
Test 
Town pipes
HACCP analysis for developing a quality management system for well water treatment:
Critical Control Point
Control Plan
Well
Make sure it is protected from run offs and hazards
Visually inspect daily
Send samples for testing monthly
Control the amount of chlorine added; keep records
Test the equipment monthly
Provide SOP for adding & testing chlorine
Test the amount of residue chlorine in the treated water daily
(there should be approx. 0.5 milli-gram per litre left)
Send samples for external testing for germs, e.g., E-coli (weekly)
Government performs inspection annually
Test water from some town taps for residue chlorine weekly
Add chlorine
Test
Town pipes
Instructor’s Manual, Chapter 9
205
Answer to Mini-case: Chick-n-Gravy Dinner Line
This case provides the opportunity for students to acquire some insight into analyzing quality problems.
You may prefer to give them some initial guidance or let them grapple with it on their own. The essence
of the case is to examine the data and draw conclusions about where problems may be. Data can be
organized in a number of ways. One useful way is the following:
22
18
14
11
Under filled
Improper
seal
Spilled /
mixed
Unacceptable
taste
Missing
item
5
Pareto Chart
To identify the causes, a check sheet can be used to identify the line and time of day:
Under filled
#1
#2
Morning
0
1
Afternoon
3
3
Missing Item
Spilled/Mixed
#1
#2
#1
#2
1
11
0 11
2
2
1
4
0
7
7
2
5
11
7 18
Unacc. taste
Improper seal
#1
#2
#1
#2
4
14
7 21
0
5
5
4
6 10
0
1
1
1
5
6
6
8 14
14
8 22
1
10 11
Looking more closely, we can see that 21 out of 22 unacceptable tastes occurred in the morning, and most
were produced by Line #1. Ann could focus on this lead, trying to find the cause(s), and then eliminating
it (them).
1.
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Operations Management, 4/C/E
Answer to Mini-case: Tip Top Markets
Based on the analysis of the check sheet given below, the stock outs are the major type of complaint. Tip
Top markets need to concentrate on solving the shortage problem. Four possible major causes for
shortages exist: 1. Forecasting problems; 2. Supplier Delivery problems; 3. Spoilage; and 4. Inventory
Inaccuracies. Further analysis of these four causes is necessary to identify the root cause.
Type of Problems
Wrong
price
Date
Checkout
line service/
charging
mistakes
Long
waiting
lines
Store/
parking lot
conditions
Out of stock
(shortage)
Other
July 13






July 20







July 27






TOTAL
4
13
32
3
5
4
Answer to Mini-case: Staples Extended-Service Warranty Process
Quality problem
Quality Assurance plan
The need to call the Toronto service center to get a claim
number
Having to turn in the laptop when only the power supply
unit is defective
Store staff was unable to use the Repair
Depot Technician Service Request software quickly
Having to wait more 6 weeks for a repair
Store staff was unfamiliar with computer to bring up the
Service Request
Misplacing a customer’s item (the laptop box)
The store staff should be able to get customers’ statement
Instructor’s Manual, Chapter 9
The store staff should be able to identify the power supply
unit and order it
Change the software; train the staff
Institute a faster turnaround time and enforce it
Change the software; train the staff
Need to either not require the box from a customer (bec. it
is not needed) or make sure it is sent back together with the
laptop
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