Discussion Post: Quality Improvement Process at a Company
For this discussion, you will consider the following process in a product packaging operation: Every 15-20 minutes a pallet of boxed product is delivered from the packaging line. A team member pulls individual boxes of product from a pallet, one by one. He runs them over a scanner that verifies he has the correct product for that job, then places them in a carton. Overall, the team member's work pace is fast enough to meet the current production requirements. Two or three times a minute, however, the scanner's computer faults and he must stop and interact with the keyboard to clear the error and restart the program. The team member is clearly irritated when this happens.For your initial post in the discussion forum, be sure to address the following:
a) If you were a manager at this company, how would you address this problem? Identify the problem, explain your role in addressing the problem, and describe obstacles that you might face and need to overcome.
b) How would you approach running a kaizen event in this area to address this problem?
Respond to at least two of your peers by evaluating their approaches to addressing the problem and suggesting additional strategies. Support your suggestions by sharing an example of inefficiencies you've personally observed either at work, in an organization you are familiar with, or even as a customer or patron. What solutions could have improved the quality management process in that situation?
The response should include a reference list. Using double-space, Times New Roman 12 pnt font, one-inch margins, and APA style of writing and citations.