This Assignment assesses the following module Learning Outcomes (Take these from the module DMD):
This assignment will assess all the following learning outcomes:
LO1 – Recognize the need for quality management and the relevant tools and techniques;
LO2 – Explore suitable techniques for deployment of quality, reliability, and maintenance in manufacturing;
LO3 – Assess quality & reliability issues relating to the performance of engineering artefacts;
LO4 – Recommend and plan suitable experiments for quality engineering;
LO5 – Critically evaluate and present the outcomes for a given problem.
Assignment Brief:
This assignment is to prepare a report to answer the following questions considering the current business environment. With this you are required to provide an answer for each section:
Section A
The idea behind the concept of maintenance is “the process of preserving a condition or situation or the state of being preserved”. However, maintenance can have a different meaning for every firm and can be performed following different approaches, for example: “corrective maintenance” and “preventive maintenance”.
(a) Choose one of the aforementioned maintenance strategies and, using one example from the real world, define and critically discuss the application of the strategy.
(b) Then, discuss and critically evaluate in maximum 500 words at least the TWO benefits and TWO limitations of adopting the selected strategy.
Section B
Consider the following case study: an airline company such as EasyJet or Ryanair. Both the named companies mentioned above are well-known low-cost airlines since they charge customers with very low prices. In different occasions, both companies have declared that they “cut the cost in their operations without cutting the cost of safety”. However, as for any other airline, maintenance must be performed in order to operate a safe flight and to avoid the deterioration of the very expensive fleets, especially when aircrafts operates a significantly high number of flights every day.
For this reason, you are required to:
(c) Critically discuss the implications of maintenance for an airline company in terms of quality and reliability
Section C
The control chart is a graph used to study how a process changes over time. Data are plotted in time order. Control charts become extremely popular in the late 90s due to their simplicity. In fact, control charts can be seen as a very useful tool to support the personnel to identify when a problem occurs within the production process.
(a) However, the causes of variations that lead to output variability can be various. Critically discuss the difference between common causes and assignable causes – include in the discussion one example for each type of cause.
(b) Then, in maximum 500 words, describe and evaluate the usage of control charts in a manufacturing environment.
Blank-Ink Ltd is a manufacturer of printer toner. In the plant a strong culture about quality and Statistical Process Control (SPC) exists. However, a new production line has been set up for production. The line has a few differences from the already existing ones. For this reason, the quality manager decided to build a new control chart for the process.
(c) Construct a control chart to monitor the proportion of non-conforming products. In your answer you are to highlight the control limits and plot the control chart. Then, looking at the results, discuss whether the process is in control.
