SOUTHERN POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY
QA6640 - Quality Cost and Supplier Evaluation
Spring Semester 2007
Research Module Assignment One


General Instructions

Answer all three of the following questions using Microsoft WORD.
Your name must appear at the top of the first page of your Microsoft WORD document.
When you have finished, attach your Microsoft WORD document to an email addressed to the Professor.
Your answers are due no later than midnight on February 5, 2007.
You may submit your answers early but late submissions will receive a grade of zero.

The Professor's email address is: Professor_Atkins@yahoo.com


This is a RESEARCH Module Assignment.
Your answers MUST include reference material from sources in addition to the course textbook.
You may use other textbooks, journal articles, or information published on the internet.

You MUST include footnotes in your answers when you reference material from the textbook or from other sources.

You have three options for showing your references:
  1. You may use footnotes at the bottom of each page, or
  2. You may group all the footnotes together at the end of the paper as end notes, or
  3. You may place each footnote in parenthesis at the end of the corresponding paragraph.
Missing or improperly referenced footnotes will significantly reduce your grade on this module assignment.


Learning Objectives for Research Module Assignment One

Assignment One focuses on establishing a partnership between a customer and a supplier. When this assignment has been completed, the student should have:
  1. An understanding of the quality principles that benefit both the customer and the supplier.
  2. An appreciation for the technical and managerial considerations involved in customer/supplier partnerships.
  3. A comprehension of the mathematical indexes currently used in the evaluation of quality.

Module Assignment One Questions

  1. What are some tangible measurable benefits to a company and to its suppliers when they both agree on a specific set of quality standards and the way in which those standards will be evaluated?

  2. Select any ONE company (not your own organization) and explain how it is currently working with its suppliers to improve quality, reduce costs, and improve overall system performance.

  3. On Page 28 of Chapter Three the author shows the equation for PCI, which is also know as Cp. Compare and discuss this index in relationship to the Motorola Six Sigma Quality Concept.