Case Study:

Introduction

Overall, Steve Edwards, vice president of Marketing at Dittenhoefer’s Fine China, is very pleased with the success of his new line of Gem-Surface china plates. Gem-Surface plates are different from regular china in that the plates have a special polymer coating that makes them highly resistant to chipping and fading. Not only are the plates more durable, they are also completely dishwasher safe.

In order to manufacture the new plates, Dittenhoefer’s has leased a special machine to apply the coating and has put in place a drying system to “cure” the coating on the plates. The research and development (R&D) lab has determined that in order to prevent defective plates, it is important that the machine apply the polymer coating at the proper temperature and in the proper thickness. Specifically, R&D has written up the following guidelines:

Coating Thickness. The optimal polymer-coating thickness is 4 microns. If the coating is > 5 microns, the plates will take too long to dry. If the coating is < 3 microns, the plates will be inadequately protected.

Coating Temperature. The polymer coating needs to be applied at a temperature between 160 degrees Fahrenheit and 170 degrees Fahrenheit, with the target temperature being 165 degrees Fahrenheit. If the temperature is lower than 160 degrees, the polymer will not adhere properly and will flake off. If the temperature is higher than 170 degrees, the polymer coating will fade the design on the plates.

Quality Problems

Traditionally, quality control at Dittenhoefer’s has consisted of visually inspecting finished items for defects (chips, cracks, etc.) as they are being packed for shipment. This was acceptable in the past, when defects were few and far between. With the new polymer-coating technology, however, this has caused some serious problems.

For instance, on one Friday during the Christmas season, the packers noticed that nearly all of the plates they were getting ready to ship had faded designs, which suggested that the temperature of the polymer-coating machine might be too high. Sure enough, when a supervisor went back to check on the polymer-coating machine, he found that the thermostat was set at 190 degrees. Apparently, someone had set the temperature higher to clean the machine but had forgotten to reset it back to 165 degrees. The good news was that the problem was easily fixed. The bad news was that the machine had been running at 190 degrees since Wednesday. In the interim, 2,400 plates had been run through the coating machine. In the end, Dittenhoefer’s had to destroy all 2,400 plates and was late making shipments to several important customers.

In another instance, a worker just happened to notice that the polymer-coating machine was not using as much raw material as expected. When the worker measured the thickness of the coating being applied to the plates, she found out why: The coating thickness was only 2.4 microns. A quick check of plates being dried and those being packed revealed that they, too, had a coating thickness of around 2.4 microns. While manufacturing was able to correct the problem and save these plates, no one knew how many plates had been shipped before the problem was discovered.

Question:

On which dimensions of quality does Dittenhoefer’s compete? How are these dimensions being threatened by the problems in the manufacturing and customer service areas?