...A cost analysis on the relationship between cost and quality in the manufacture of the WGU Widget 3.0 has been conducted and the findings will be discussed in this memo. Taking into consideration the costs associated with the production of Widget 3.0, we will discuss the following: Appraisal Costs, Prevention Costs, and finally Failure Costs both internal and external. Appraisal costs relate to the costs of ensuring quality and for uncovering defects. These costs are related to inspections, testing, test equipment, labs, quality audits, and field testing. Prevention costs include both planning and administrative systems, interaction with vendors, training, quality control procedures, and emphasis on design. Failure costs are broken into two subcategories, Internal and External failure. Internal failures include defective material, incorrect machine settings, carelessness, and mishandling of materials. External failure is associated with defective products or poor service provided to the customer. Appraisal costs and quality considerations for Widget 3.0 production Analysis indicates 45% of the final cost of the product is attributable to inspection, testing, and quality audits. This portion of the cost is broken down into 80% to inspection of materials received from vendors, 15% quality audit of the final product, and 5% testing of each component of Widget 3.0. Prevention costs associated with Widget 3.0 35% of the final costs are considered Preventative in nature....
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...| Company A | Memo To: Supervisor From: Brian Nunez Date: 12/3/12 ------------------------------------------------- Re: Cost Quality Considerations ------------------------------------------------- Company A has been producing consumer tangible products in the United States and abroad for more than a decade. We pride ourselves in producing products that anyone can enjoy, no matter age, race, or gender. Our most popular product to date is the Ninja Juicer 2000. This memo will address three cost quality considerations for the Ninja Juicer 2000. The first recommendation is in the area of prevention costs. In order to save the company time and money, there has to be a more detailed defect prevention plan. A great way to ensure fewer defects in the Ninja juicer 2000 is by developing an automated system that assembles the main components of the Ninja juicer 2000 automatically. Assembling the main components of the juicer is becoming more difficult as demand for the juicer has risen. Due to this increased demand, human error has increased. An automated assembly line will drastically decrease human error, and will decrease production time. Tradeoffs for this approach include the potential layoffs of employees, and the high cost to get the automated assembly line up and operational. Although costs may be high at first, the automated assembly will pay for itself the first year. The next recommendation is in the area of appraisal costs. Our company spends thousands of dollars...
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...BMA Task 2 WGU Boot Division - Where Is This Division Costing The Company Money? Work tools old, outdated, or broken, slows production/quality Work tools old, outdated, or broken, slows production/quality No new hire formal orientation/training or on-going training for established staff No new hire formal orientation/training or on-going training for established staff Professional Phone etiquette skills lacking with Phone Reps; Reps unaware on how to deal with various types of unsatisfied customers Professional Phone etiquette skills lacking with Phone Reps; Reps unaware on how to deal with various types of unsatisfied customers No employee Satisfaction Surveys to gauge employees overall job satisfaction or voice their ideas No employee Satisfaction Surveys to gauge employees overall job satisfaction or voice their ideas Work areas are to “Hot” in the summer and to “Cold” in the winter makes for uncomfortable work environment Work areas are to “Hot” in the summer and to “Cold” in the winter makes for uncomfortable work environment Customer Service Customer Service Customers put on hold for extended period of time – On Avg. hold time before Reps speak to customers is 26 minutes Customers put on hold for extended period of time – On Avg. hold time before Reps speak to customers is 26 minutes Workplace Environment Workplace Environment Inadequate workspace for employees; distractions from too much noise Inadequate workspace for employees; distractions...
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...Memo To: President of Quality Assurance CC: Chief Operating Officer From: Vice President of Quality Assurance Date: [ 5/12/2014 ] Re: Costs of quality; trade-offs As you know, when dealing with quality issues, we must consider the costs associated with quality. According to Stevenson (2008), there are three categories of these costs: appraisal, prevention, and failure. Appraisal costs may be defined as "Costs of activities designed to ensure quality or uncover defects" (Stevenson, 2008, p. 421). We incur appraisal costs when we inspect or test products, or conduct other activities to reveal defects in our products or to assure that they are free of defects. These costs include the costs of the inspectors, quality audits, tests, test equipment, and field testing. Each time someone takes a mechanical pencil off the conveyor belt and tests its functionality, he or she is inspecting, or appraising, our products. Each such occurrence causes appraisal costs. Prevention costs are the costs "of preventing defects from occurring" (Stevenson, 2008, p. 421). We pay prevention costs when we plan ways to prevent defects: planning and administration systems, training, quality control, working with vendors, and attempting to decrease defects by paying extra attention to design and production. Every hour that designers spend working on ways to improve our mechanical pencils we pay prevention costs. The same is true when our procurement people attempt to get better materials and when...
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...BMA1 TASK 3 Many companies in the United States as well as around the globe are starting to develop an Entrepreneurship approach in their businesses. Here is a brief summary that identifies some of the entrepreneurial actions that organizations use to create opportunities for innovation. Independent Action Organization can benefit by allowing and encouraging individual employees or teams of employee’s to be creative and pursue new ideas or visions for the organization (Bateman, Bateman, Snell & Snell, 2012). Risk taking Organizations that are willing to take risks and financially invest in new products and ventures, puts them in the position to launch new ideas into their own markets or create new untapped markets before competitors that tend to stay on a proven path are able to do (Bateman et al., 2012). Proactive Organizations that are proactive in addressing potential problems that may arise and see all the possible opportunities are able to create new markets before organizations that tend to be reactive instead of proactive (Bateman et al., 2012). Competitive Aggressiveness Action oriented organizations are driven to take over a market and capitalize quickly. This allows the company to expand and make opportunities for themselves before their competitors in the marketplace (Bateman et al., 2012). Companies that promote entrepreneurial culture, empower employees to pursue new ideas, take risk backing those ideas, are proactive in their...
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...Stanley Matter WGU, BMA1 Task 304.4.4-01 INNOVATION AND CHANGE The highly competitive marketplace of today forces most companies to innovate if they want to keep a competitive advantage. Innovation is the driving force that is shaping the majority of successful corporations. A company that builds a culture of innovation will find itself on the offensive and the corporation will continue to grow. Innovation can generally be regarded as innovations concerning process and innovations concerning product. Most companies are trying to innovate in both parameters. Large corporations are endeavoring to develop an entrepreneurial spirit as found in smaller companies, start-ups, and sole proprietorships. This gives them greater flexibility and greater creativity, allowing them to develop and market new products or services more quickly. Companies who can achieve this are generally rewarded with four main advantages. 1. First Mover Advantage By being the first to enter a new market, bring a new product to market, or radically improving an existing product the company can gain an advantage over the existing market or potential market. While contrary to popular thought Apple did not invent the smart phone. However, they did radically improve it with many innovative features. In its initial launch in 2007 they sold 270,000 iphones in the first 30 hours. The iphone set the benchmark for the industry. Through continuous innovation it has been a leader in...
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