Technology Management Tm314W

Chapter 2 – Proofreading Exercise

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

Chapter two of our textbook looks at the role that quality plays in a number of

industries, including manufacturing, service, education, and health care. According to

the text, offering quality products and services is critical to any firms efforts to gain

market share, detain customers, and sustain profitability.

Quality assurance programs have exited in manufacturing for quite some time.

Many of these efforts were simulated by the automotive industry in the 1980s, as Ford,

GM, and Chrysler demanded that their network of suppliers improve quality. In the

world of product design, some firms such as Motorola has set a goal of achieving six

sigma quality, which is a level of quality that does not allow for more than 3.4 defects

per million opportunities. As part of this effort, Motorola needs to ignore these product

characteristics that are most valuable to customers, and then decide weather these

characteristics can be achieved through the design of the the product.

The text also mentions that the quality of materials and parts becomes more critical

as the use of flexible automation increases. Many firms have recently begun to indict

just-in-time scheduling, and this type of scheduling requires suppliers to deliver their

products in a timely manor and to insure that these products are of the highest quality.

In order to help supplier’s achieve these goals Motorola provides them with extensive

training and assistance.