Masters in Quality Systems – 3rd year -completed other Papers- just this year due to time restraints..
School of Sciences. After You have finished the Assignments, I still need to get into them obviously to add my st.no, name ..etc..
Assignment 2 Define / Measure [15%] —DUE ON THE 30/4/18
Aim: To define a process and appropriate measures to use in tracking improvement. Refers to Units 2 and 3 of the study guide.
Part 1 Defining the process and measures Select a process that you are familiar with. It may be a work-related process or one from another area of your life. Ideally, it will be the process that you will subsequently attempt to improve over the duration of this course.
- a) Develop a SIPOC (Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers) diagram (e.g. figure 2.1) indicating clearly the various elements associated with the process, namely: suppliers, inputs, controls, resources, outputs, suppliers. No process flow chart is needed at this stage. [10 marks]
- b) For this process, identify one (currently used or possible) measure that is Critical to Quality (CTQ), AND one measure that is Critical To Process (CTP). For each of these two measures, explain what category of data is produced (see section 3.1), and how the data are used for monitoring or improvement? (10 marks)
Part 2 Baselining the process
Read carefully through (at least) the first three readings of unit 3. Then read the following case scenario and answer the questions that follow.
Case scenario A multinational organisation has an annual funding round for its internal departments, where departments can apply for central funding for significant new appointments, equipment or other resources. The funding approval process involves three stages of verification (departmental, regional and corporate), where paperwork is checked for accuracy and completeness. Each stage results in three possible outcomes for the applicant department: (1) acceptance to the next level, (2) return for revision and resubmission, or (3) outright rejection. Revised applications can be resubmitted following minor amendments, but rejected applications cannot be resubmitted to that year’s funding process. The application form contains 10 fields, where each field represents an opportunity for a non-conformance (defect) to occur. We can assume that any field is either correctly filled out or not. An incorrectly completed field constitutes a defect for this situation, while a form that is rejected or returned for revision can be considered defective.
In view of the time and resource invested by departments in making funding applications, a DMAIC project has been launched to improve the acceptance rate for funding applications (by trying to reduce the number of rejected applications). It is estimated that (on average) each initial application costs a department $5000, and each revision costs another $1000 in time spent. As an initial baselining exercise to determine the extent of the problem, an audit of 130 applications (made over the previous year) is conducted, in which it is found that:
Following stage 1, 8 applications were returned to the applicant for resubmission, and 14 applications were rejected outright. The returned applications were all successfully resubmitted and passed through stage 1. The total number of incorrectly completed fields found at this stage was 34.
Following stage 2, 5 forms were returned to the applicant for resubmission, and 7 were rejected outright. The returned applications were all successfully resubmitted and passed through stage 2. The total number incorrectly completed fields found at this stage was 15.
Following stage 3, 3 forms were returned to the applicant for resubmission and 4 were rejected outright. The returned applications were all successfully resubmitted and passed through stage 3. The total number incorrectly completed fields found at this stage was 9.
As part of the baselining stage of the project, and making any assumptions you think appropriate (please state these), calculate for the above case:
- a) The percentage defective [4 marks]
- b) The Defects Per Unit (DPU) [4 marks]
- c) The Defects Per Million opportunities (DPMO) [4 marks]
- d) The rolled throughput yield (RTY) [6 marks] (drawing a flow diagram might help you with this).
- e) The (current) cost of poor quality (COPQ) [6 marks]
- f) The approximate sigma level (use table 1 on page 3 of unit 3 reading 1 by T.M. Kubiak. Do not include the standard ‘1.5 sigma shift’ shown in the table and discussed on page 4 of the reading). You can round your answer up of down to the nearest table value (no need to interpolate). [2 marks]
- g) Give your view of the current state of the process, and whether a 6 sigma improvement process is justified. [4 marks]
Show your reasoning / calculations.
Assignment 3 Measure Stage [20%] –DUE ON THE 11/06/18
AIM: To graphically analyse data and understand process variation using basic tools; to derive appropriate, actionable conclusions from data analyses; and to gain an appreciation for the value careful planning has in good data collection.
Part 1 Case analysis
The Panorama Cleaning Company (PCC) produces a range of cleaning agents including industrial strength soap for use in workshop washrooms. Recently a number of clients have complained that the soap is not lasting as long as it used to. While the formula used by the PCC has not changed there have been changes made to operating procedures on the soap line. Analysis of the problem through brainstorming and flowcharting has lead to the conclusion that a possible cause is the size of the bars – the bars of soap may be underweight. Soap bars have a target weight of 155 grams (on average).
PCC staff were asked to record daily samples on the actual weight of soap bars. A sample of five soap bars was selected and weighed each day over four weeks (20 days). The actual weights of the bars of soap (in grams) are given in Stream as assignment 3 data.xls.
It is believed by operators that a change in an operating procedure means the process variation might have changed for the worse after day 10.
Part A) Summarise the data
Develop a frequency tabulation and histogram for these data. Label the axes and label the histogram with any appropriate information. [5 marks]
Calculate appropriate statistics to show the central tendency (position) and spread (variation) of the data. [5 marks]
From the above graph and summary statistics only, what can you presently determine about the weights of the soap bars? Is there any evidence in the data of a change in the process after day 10? [5 marks]
Part B) Plot the data on control charts (see unit 3).
Select an appropriate type of control chart (or pair of control charts) and plot the relevant data on this (these) charts. Justify your choice of chart(s). [10 marks]
Based on what you see, is the process currently in control? Fully explain what the control chart(s) is exhibiting in terms of type of variation, any obvious patterns, and control limits. [10 marks]
Part 2 Critiquing your own process measures
Look at the Second reading in unit 4, ‘Data Sanity’. Figure 2.1 in the reading summarises Balestracci’s concept of and criteria for conducting a ‘data inventory’.
Use one of your CTQ measures from part 1 of the previous assignment, OR select another measure from your own workplace and apply the data inventory criteria to that measure. Conclude from your analysis whether or not the measure can be considered a ‘good’ one. Fully justify your arguments.
If you are not currently in work, or have issues of confidentiality, you may use some other measure that is in common usage and that affects you in some way. This may be for example an economic indicator of some kind, annual road accident statistics etc.
[15 marks]
As a rough guide, you should write up your analysis for part 2 in max. 1000 words. Please explain all acronyms, conventions etc. that are used in the organisation to make the answer understandable to the lay reader!
Assignment 4 Analyse Stage [15%] —DUE ON THE 30/7/18
AIM: To graphically analyse data and understand process variation using basic tools; to derive appropriate, actionable conclusions from data analyses; and to gain an appreciation for the value careful planning has in understanding and dealing with process variation.
Part 1
The following problem is a continuation of the case study on Panorama Cleaning Company (PCC) from Assignment 3, Part 1.
After your prior analysis and the actions taken as a result, you feel confident that the process is more in control and predictable. However, your customers have now specified that you provide soap bars to within 1% of the stated label weight.
You decide to conduct a process capability analysis and collect 5 samples a day for the next 20 working days.
[Data set available in Stream as assignment 4 part 1 data.xls]
- a) Conduct a process capability analysis.
Use an appropriate diagram to illustrate the process capability [4 marks]
Use capability indices to measure the Cp, Cpk, Pp and Ppk capability indices (include all calculations) [12 marks]
- b) Answer the following questions:
How capable is the process in meeting the customer’s needs? Fully explain the results of your analysis from part a). [4 marks]
Make recommendations to management based on the above. [5 marks]
Part 2 Assess the current capability of your selected process (previous assignments) using any methods (graphical or numerical) you feel are appropriate. You may need to collect some process data to do this.
287.731 Statistical Methods for Quality 15
What improvement actions are appropriate based on your analysis? [15 marks]