Week Two Overview

Week Two Content Outline: Improving Processes

OBJECTIVE: Apply learning curve theory to increase individual and organizational performance.

Resource: Technical Note 4 (Ch. 4) of Operations Management for Competitive Advantage

Content

• Learning Curves (in Chase, Jacobs, & Aquilano)

o Application of Learning Curves (pp. 135-136)
o Plotting Learning Curves (pp. 136-137)
• Logarithmic Analysis (p. 137)
• Learning Curve Tables (pp. 137-140)
• Estimating the Learning Percentage (pp. 140-141)
o General Guidelines for Learning (p. 141)
• Individual Learning (pp. 141-142)
• Organizational Learning (pp. 142-143)
o Learning Curves Applied to Heart Transplant Mortality (pp. 143-145)

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate a process by applying statistical process control techniques.

Resource: Technical Note 8 (Ch. 8) of Operations Management for Competitive Advantage

Content

• Process Capability and Statistical Quality Control (in Chase, Jacobs, & Aquilano)

o Variation Around Us (pp. 348-349)
o Process Capability (pp. 349-351)
• Capability Index (pp. 351-354)
o Process Control Procedures (p. 354)
• Process Control with Attribute Measurements: Using p Charts (pp. 354-357)
• Process Control with Variable Measurements: Using X and R Charts (pp. 357-358)
• How to Construct X and R Charts (pp. 358-360)
o Acceptance Sampling (pp. 361-362)
• Operating Characteristic Curves (p. 362)

OBJECTIVE: Describe approaches to Total Quality Management (TQM).

Resource: Ch. 8 of Operations Management for Competitive Advantage (Chase, Jacobs, & Aquilano)

Content

• Quality Management: Focus on Six Sigma (in Chase, Jacobs, & Aquilano)

o Total Quality Management (pp. 320-321)
o Quality Specification and Quality Costs (p. 322)
• Developing Quality Specifications (p. 322)
• Cost of Quality (pp. 323-324)
• Functions of the QC Department (pp. 324-325)
o Six-Sigma Quality (p. 326)
• Six-Sigma Methodology (pp. 326-327)
• Analytical Tools for Six Sigma and... [continues]

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