QA6640 Chat Room Transcript
January 17, 2007
Prof. Atkins 20:22:10
The chat room is closed for this evening. It will reopen next Wednesday at 7:35
pm.
Prof. Atkins 20:20:14
If there are no more questions, we can close the chat room for this evening.
joel 20:18:48
Thanks and good night.
Gleiter 20:18:01
Thank you! and good night everyone.
Prof. Atkins 20:17:20
Joel,
Thank you for bringing this error to my
attention.
Module assignment one will be due on February 5.
Michael Ginn 20:15:13
Good Night Every One!
Alan Dial 20:15:04
Feb 8 for Module 1 Assignment?
gstevens 20:14:44
Thanks and have a good night
Rich Weaver 20:13:48
Thank you. Good night!
Alan Dial 20:13:48
No questions here...thanks.
joel 20:13:26
Prof. Atkins:
I noticed the deadline for Module 1 Assignment in the website is different than
the one listed when you are in the Module 1 link. What is the correct date?
Prof. Atkins 20:13:14
If there are no student questions, then we can close the chat room for this
evening.
Prof. Atkins 20:12:20
Future chat room discussion questions will be similar to the one this evening. You
will be asked to discuss a topic from the textbook based on your own esperience
with your company, or previous company, or any company you wish.
This provides all the students in the class with some practical current information on how the textbook material is actually being used in business and industry today.
Prof. Atkins 20:08:24
Gleiter:
Your answer posted two-seconds after the
deadline and that could be due to a slow internet connection. Therefore, I will
include your answer in the evaluation of tonight's discussion answers.
Gleiter 20:07:22
Kimberly Gleiter
kgleiter@hedonline.com
I previously worked for a packaging company that
acquired a plant that catered to the pharmaceutical industry. Our new customers
required that we follow certain protocol to audit our suppliers (even those
they suggested that we utilize) to qualify or certify them. A manufacturer
audit system is described by Bossert as; a systematic way of assessing the
quality program at the manufacturer to evaluate, document, and ensure that the
product produced is of the quality level the customer desires. In order to
maintain the business, we dedicated resources to fly out to a particular
supplier site and conduct a series of audits. Unfortunately, the results were
not favorable and even the supplier admitted that they did not have the
resources to maintain the robust quality management system required by our
customer. This created a difficult situation. Our customer required that we
utilize this supplier though this supplier did not pass the audit and did not
have the desire to make the improvements needed. The question of whether this
supplier could still be used pended for months and unfortunately I left the
company before a final decision was made. I think the practice of auditing
suppliers can be extremely beneficial, but in this instance it seemed to be a
lose-lose situation. They were a low cost supplier of a product that was
difficult to procure and this outweighed the results of the audit.
Prof. Atkins 20:07:20
The thirty-minutes are now up. Responses posted after this message appears will
NOT be evaluated for chat room participation credit.
Students may now ask questions if they wish.
el hamraoui 20:05:58
hanane el hamraoui
helhamra@spsu.eduThe company I chose is a new European company that uses the
information quality system. This company called Revelance, manufactures
detergents products in Spain and distributes detergents of different use to
individuals (as retailers) who then sell the product from their house to
companies for cleaning issues and to families by knocking at their doors in
Morocco. The system the company uses is the quality information system
collecting information about most requested quality characteristics through the
sale people. The system has succeeded because the company kept improving the
products and providing good quality.
Michael Ginn 20:04:54
Michael GinnEmail: ginnmichael@hotmail.com 1. A manufacturer audit system.The
company I will reference to is a tier two automotive supplier (CNC Machining).
I worked there as a quality manager. This company is a smaller batch/job shop
(35-40 employees). It had a couple of jobs that ran every day, but the rest of
the parts were job shop stuff. I say this to explain how important an audit
system is even in a smaller manufacturing plant.An audit system is especially
important when you are an automotive supplier due to the QS-9000/ TS-16949
quality registration. This company was setup for an annual audit by a third party
outside registrar. The third party registrar would check every year to insure
we performed audits that covered all areas of quality system, and problem areas
within the plant would require more than one audit per year. This impart would
insure the quality system was robust. Any non-conformances that were found
during the audit would require a three part corrective action. The corrective
action would be carried out in a team setting to eliminate the quality problem
found in the audit. After implementing the corrective action there would be one
audit per month for the next two months to check for the effectiveness of the
corrective action.Per the companies quality registration these audits were kept
as records. They would be kept for five years. This is great if you file all
the audits under the audit topics (Ex: Audit 1.2 – Gauge Calibration). A person
could look back over a five year period and see what problems and changes were
done to that section of the quality system.
Komic 20:04:04
Daira Komice-mail address: daira.komic@cardinal.comI chose to discuss A
Manufacturer Audit system.The company I audited provides sterilization services
for medical device manufacturers. The company is ISO 13485:2003 certified;
therefore the quality system is determined by requirements of this
international standard. ISO 13485:2003 specifies requirements for a quality
management system where an organization needs to demonstrate its ability to
provide medical devices and related services that consistently meet customer
requirements and regulatory requirements applicable to medical devices and
related services. Although the company provides only gamma irradiation services
to the company of interest (manufacturer), the quality system was audited in
whole. The areas of interest were organization structure, processes,
interaction of the processes, process improvements, and corrective and
preventive action system. The supplier was notified about the audit several
weeks ahead the time of the audit. The supplier quality manual and the procedures
were audited against the ISO 13485 requirements. Conformance to the procedure
was checked by reviewing documentation and observing actual activities on the
floor.
gstevens 20:02:47
Glenn Stevens
Email: Anandale@comcast.net
Discussion Question:
On the bottom of Page 7 in the Bossert textbook there is a very brief
discussion of the five basic components of a distributor supplier program as
follows:
1. A manufacturer audit system.
2. A shipping/packaging control system.
3. A storage control system.
4. A specification program.
5. A quality information system.
Select any ONE of the above five systems (or programs) and discuss it in detail
as it applies to a SPECIFIC example that you are familiar with.
You may discuss your example in reference to any ONE of the following:
The company you now work for, or
a company you have worked for before, or
a company you are familiar with.
Your discussion should cover the following three issues:
1. Briefly describe the company you have chosen.
2. Briefly describe the type of system you will discuss.
3. Use a specific example to help explain the system, and include as much
detail as possible without exceeding the thirty-minute time limit for your
response.
Company Profile: The company I have chosen is
one that is in the furniture retail industry and essentially purchases goods
from a variety of manufacturers and resells these to the public through its
network of stores. The company is a regional one.
System Type: The system is a performance quality
system that is computer based that is used to store quality performance
indicators and then to store performance results of the delivered goods and
delivery effectiveness of the manufacturer.
Details: The company is desirous of selling a
new line of furniture from a manufacturer. In this case the manufacturer is new
to the company and has no proven track history.
The quality system allows the business managers
to first research the manufacturerer and create a profile of the manufacturer,
The research includes checking their financial viability and health,
organization maturity, and track record, manufacturing capability, management
team, production practices and process, competency of the manufacturing staff,
technology and equipment usage, other independent references. This profile
about the manufacturing company is stored in the database.
Once the manufacturer has been selected to be considered, the Quality
Management System produces a Statement of Work component that list the specific
quality attributes or characteristics that the manufacturer is expected to
supply. Each attribute is provided a ranking of importance and a description.
The following are some of the quality attributes- Timeliness- measure of goods
being delivered on time, Product Quality- measure of number of defect found
with the delivered furniture, Product Quantity- any variation from the
requested number of products to be delivered. Communication Effectiveness-
measure of how much information is provided, Problem Resolution Effectiveness-
Measure of how quickly problems are attended to.
The manufacturer as part of the acceptance process will agree to these quality
specifications.
Performance Monitoring. Supervisors are tasked with updating the Quality
Management System with the performance results over time based on each
shipment. At specific periods (this is configurable) reports are generated that
shows the quality score of the manufacturer. The scores ( weighted rankng *
quality factor of 1- critical 2-high, 3-medium, 4-low )for each quality attribute
is determined and then totaled for all the quality attributes. This final score
is used in benchmark analysis. The information is shared with the management of
both the company and the manufacturer as part of the review process, based on
the contractual obligations. By using a computerized system and using objective
scores, each manufacturer is compared to others. This helps the company to make
fact based decisions in how to conduct its future business relationships with
the manufacturer.
joel 20:02:04
QA6640
Joel Centeno
jcenteno@twt.com
Description of the company:
The company I worked for is Tutogen Medical. This company manufactures human
allograft for use in spine and knee surgery as well as hernia repair. The
company also made skin grafts for use in burned victims. The selling point of
these products is that the final package can be stored at room temperature for
five years. Zimmer Dental (a medical device company specializing in orthopedic
devices) was one of the distributors of Tutogen’s products.
Manufacturer Audit System:
With this component, the distributor establishes a system where the
manufacturer’s quality system is evaluated. The distributor ensures the
conformity of the product and how well the customer’s requirements are met by
evaluating the manufacturer’s commitment to quality. This can be done for
instance, by an on-site audit where the manufacturer’s quality system is
evaluated. Such evaluation is documented.
Example:
Zimmer Dental placed Tutogen Medical facilities (Florida and Germany) on a
semiannual audit schedule. Typically, a firm contracted by Zimmer Dental would
come to Tutogen’s facility (announced or unannounced) and would audit the
Quality System against ISO Standards and FDA Regulations. If nonconformities
had been identified during the audit, Tutogen Medical needed to respond within
a specific timeframe with a corrective action plan. This requirement was
stipulated in Tutogen-Zimmer distribution agreement.
Rich Weaver 20:00:31
Richard Weaver
Raweaver02@aol.com
Topic chosen: manufacturing audit (question #1)
Background: Johnson Controls, Inc (JCI) provided
seat assemblies for the General Motors plant in Tarrytown, NY. Completed seat
assemblies were trucked to the plant, and secured to the vehicle. Their
facility was app. 50 miles from the assembly plant.
Problem: Through returned J.D. Power Initial
Quality surveys, we found that there was an unacceptably high level of
complaints on seat workmanship.
Initial reaction: We began incoming inspection
on seats. As expected, rejects were high, and the re-ordering and replacement
of bad seats was labor-intensive and costly. Material complaints were
documented, cost recoveries were input. Soon representatives of JCI management
were on hand to witness the discrepancies. As expected, the quality standards
we used were vague and shifting. It was costing both us and them a great deal
of time and money.
Better approach: JCI management suggested a
series of workshops to resolve the differences, and solicited our help in
improving the quality. A number of positive actions were taken:
1. There was some skepticism on the part of JCI
about the scope of the problem. We organized a random sampling of ready-to-ship
vehicles. Personnel included GM Quality, Supplier Quality support people, and
Production and Quality people from JCI. The consensus was that the problem was
real, and worse than JCI thought.
2. A workshop was held to better define accept /
reject criteria.
3. A team of Quality department employees began
weekly visits to the JCI facility. We reviewed their build process, and
suggested several changes to their system. We found that standardized work was
not being followed, job instructions were spotty, at best, and final Inspection
was inadequate. JCI was very receptive to our suggestions, and changes were
made quickly.
What had begun as a typical adversarial and
hostile encounter gradually turned into a positive experience. Each side
realized that there was much to be learned from the other, and much to gain
from working together. In particular, GM expertise in inspecting units on a
moving conveyor was useful to JCI, and I believe that they took many of the
suggestions made during our manufacturing audits, and utilized them at other
facilities.
Alan Dial 19:59:33
Alan Dial
Alan.Dial@ge.com
Briefly describe the company you have chosen.
I have chosen to discuss GE Contractual Services (GECS). GE Energy is a primary
business unit of General Electric. GE Contractual Services is a division of GE
Energy. GE Energy provides power technology solutions for Independent Power
Producers (IPP) and public utilities. The business provides consulting, sales
of turbine packages, installation of such packages, operation and maintenance,
as well as service contracts for the warranty of these packages. Contractual
Services provides long-term contractual and financing solutions for companies
on purchased GE OEM equipment.
Briefly describe the type of system you will discuss.
I have chosen to discuss the Quality Information System that GE Contractual
Services utilizes for its Quality Management System (QMS). The system is called
“Powersuite” and was specifically designed for GE Energy. The system has 2
components to it: “Audit Tracking System” and the “Compliance Calendar”.
Use a specific example to help explain the system, and include as much detail
as possible without exceeding the thirty-minute time limit for your response.
The Audit Tracking system primary function is to record, monitor and provide
reporting of Non-Conforming Items (NCI’s). The reporting feature is extremely
helpful for creating visibility to leadership of their portfolio performance in
the QMS. The second module is called a “Compliance Calendar”. This module acts
like an event scheduler, similar to an MS Outlook Calendar, which allows the
user to schedule tasks that are mandated by their QMS procedures. An example of
its use in the area of Supplier Management is as follows: The end user is
required by its Supplier Quality Procedure to monitor the performance of its
Suppliers. Failure of a supplier to meet stated guidelines mandates the
generation of a Supplier Non-Conformance Report (NCR). This NCR is required to
be maintained on record until it is time for the Supplier Annual Review. The
NCR can be stored at the site on a database that is backed up in a remote
location to protect the information and can be recalled for each vendor at time
of review. The Compliance Calendar schedules the Supplier Review event and
notifies the responsible parties by automatic email generation. If the
responsible party fails to complete the compliance task within a prescribed
amount of time, then the task is escalated by email to his/her manager. This is
beneficial because it keeps the Facility Managers motivated to complete tasks
on time. The reporting tool allows us to monitor how log it takes for a manager
to complete his/her tasks. The manager’s bonus structure is partially dependent
on the sites compliance.
Christopher J. Wellman left the chat at 19:59:25
Romero 19:58:52
Natasha Romero
nromero@spsu.edu
I have not received my text book yet but I am
going to take a stab at answering the question any way.
A shipping/packaging control system:
1. I currently work for Sandia National
Laboratory. We are a contractor to the Department of Energy and Department of
Defense. Our mission is national security.
2. I am going to discuss the system that we have in place which is our internal
shipping and receiving system. This system is used to deliver and track the
delivery of items which are shipped to members of the work force from external
parities.
3. I am going to explain the process which takes place when an item is received
at our shipping and receiving department, then distributed to the owner of the
item. I will use the example of an employee who has just purchased a laptop
computer. The laptop computer would be delivered to the shipping and receiving
department from the vendor. The shipping and receiving department would enter
the received item into their system and a sticker is generated which has
specific delivery information (owner, bldg number, room number) and code for
which they use to distribute the laptop to the appropriate holding place for an
employee who will do the actual distribution. At this time an e-mail is also
generated notifying the owner of the laptop that shipping and receiving has
received the laptop (this is a generic message that states that they have
received an item) and an estimated date of delivery is given. This date is
usually 2 to 3 working days after the laptop is received. The laptop is then
taken from the warehouse where it is waiting to be delivered and delivered to
the appropriate owner. The delivery personnel have set schedules in which they
delivery items to specific building on a set schedule. After delivery the delivery
person marks the laptop in the system as delivered. Then an e-mail is
automatically generated notifying the owner that their item has been delivered.
Brad McGuire 19:58:27
Brad McGuire
bmcguire@spsu.edu
QA6640 - Jan 17
1. Defense Contract Management Association (DCMA) - This is the government
organization that works in alliance with the United States Air Force and is the
direct customer of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.
2. The Manufacturing Audit System - DCMA works in concert with both Lockheed and
the Air Force in Marietta. In doing so, DCMA also has complete freedom to
perform audits of the various aircraft assembly areas at any time.
3. DCMA utilizes manufacturing audits on a daily basis in the F-22 Assembly
area. Each time an area of the aircraft is “closed out” (final panel
installation) DCMA is called by Lockheed’s QA Inspectors to audit the panel
area and inspect the inside of the aircraft. During this time, DCMA may also
audit the entire aircraft assembly position thereby assessing the area’s
cleanliness, potential safety hazards, or tools that are not identified or
properly signed into the work area. DCMA also does a complete comprehensive
audit of every completed aircraft before the aircraft rolls out the door
inspecting areas such as the wheel wells, weapons bays, crew station, and
aircraft exterior prior to company flights. After these systematic audits, DCMA
then creates weekly reports that formally assess and evaluate Lockheed’s
quality performance. These reports are then transferred to monthly and yearly
reports of which are compared to the company’s overall goals and objectives.
The overall purpose of these audits is exactly as the text states, “to
evaluate, document, and ensure that the product produced is of the quality
level the customer desires”.
Christopher J. Wellman 19:57:41
Christopher J. Wellman
cwellman@spsu.edu
A specification program:
The company I have chosen is a supplier to our
company. We purchase Color and Monochrome Sensors from this company, which are
manufactured by a Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) Manufacturer. We provide our
specification to our distributor, which defines the performance and
environmental requirements from our customer that the Sensor must satisfy.
Our distributor is responsible for ensuring we
have sensors in stock ready to satisfy our delivery requirements. The
responsibility inclues keeping us informed on when COTS items reach the end of
their life cycle in advance, so we may start working on replacements before
current sensors are no longer available.
In addition our distributor is required to
obtain detailed records for verification of sensor performance requirements
from the manufacturer. Finally, our distributor is responsible to harden the
COTS Sensor to ensure that it will meet environmental requirements such as
temperature, vibration and shock.
Regards,
Chris Wellman
Prof. Atkins 19:35:40
Chat Room Question
At the top of your answer to the following chat room question please include
your full name and the one Email address you prefer to use to receive
correspondence from the Professor during Spring 2007. You will receive feedback
about your answer to the following question by email tomorrow.
You have thirty-minutes to answer the following
chat room question:
On the bottom of Page 7 in the Bossert textbook
there is a very brief discussion of the five basic components of a distributor
supplier program as follows:
1. A manufacturer audit system.
2. A shipping/packaging control system.
3. A storage control system.
4. A specification program.
5. A quality information system.
Select any ONE of the above five systems (or
programs) and discuss it in detail as it applies to a SPECIFIC example that you
are familiar with.
You may discuss your example in reference to any
ONE of the following:
The company you now work for, or
a company you have worked for before, or
a company you are familiar with.
Your discussion should cover the following three
issues:
1. Briefly describe the company you have chosen.
2. Briefly describe the type of system you will discuss.
3. Use a specific example to help explain the system, and include as much
detail as possible without exceeding the thirty-minute time limit for your
response.
It is suggested that you type your answer into a
Microsoft WORD file. When you have finished answering the chat room question,
then you should copy and paste your entire answer into the Message window
above. Then click the [POST] button. Your answer will then appear in the chat
room for everyone to read.
You MUST post your answer in the chat room no
later than thirty-minutes AFTER this question first appears in the chat room.