Question

Prepare an evaluation of quality within the organization you have chosen.

I chose the Coca Cola Company

• Use information learned in this course and in prior courses in statistics or quantitative methods, apply the appropriate tools to find the source of quality problems that the organization is facing, and create an improvement plan. In doing so, use your knowledge of Six Sigma Breakthrough.
• Prepare your evaluation of quality within the organization you have chosen, suggest the best practices of total quality, and propose an approach for how your organization might move from traditional practice to a Total Quality orientation to achieve competitive advantage.
• Paper length: 500

Answer 1

Solution:

CC is the world's largest marketer, distributor, and manufacturer of non-alcoholic beverages with 400 brands such as S, CZ, F, and P.

This write-up will outline the organisation's current quality management system and its effectiveness at meeting product demands and consumer needs. Recommendations about how the system can be improved have also been outlined.

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CORE

CC products have various packaging formats, including glass, aluminum cans, and plastic bottles. As the company continues to grow its portfolio and supplier base in global markets, it also becomes more prone to higher regulatory requirements and customer expectations. Thus, the CC system must create and sustains the highest standards and processes to ensure consistent quality – from its concentrate production to bottling and product delivery. To maintain consistency and reliability, CC follows the CC Operating Requirements (CORE). CORE is an Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) that ensures all operations have the same production standards and distribution of beverages. CORE aims to achieve the highest standards in product quality, health, safety, and sustainability standards at CC.

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The Quality Management System

It is essential to ensure consistency and high-quality standard for every product. The standardized bottle of CC has multiple fields that need to be checked at the production stage to ensure that high quality is being met. The most common checks include ingredients, packaging, and distribution. Much of the testing that occurs is during the production process, as machines and a small team of employees monitor the progress.

CC uses several inspections throughout its production process, especially in testing the CC formula, to ensure that each product meets specific requirements. Inspection refers to the sampling of a product after production to reduce the chance of product recall.

CC uses both Quality Control (QC) and Quality Assurance (QA) throughout its production process. QC focuses on the manufacturing line itself, whereas QA focuses on its entire operations process and related functions, to be able to address potential problems quickly. In QC and QA, state of the art automation, check all aspects of the production process, such as: checking the consistency of the formula, the creation of the bottle (blowing), fill levels of each bottle, labeling of each bottle, overall increasing the speed of production and quality checks, which ensures that production demands are met. QC and QA lower the risk of defective products; problems are found and resolved in the production process; for example, defective bottles are placed in a waiting area for inspection.

QA also focuses on the quality of supplied goods to CC, such as sugar, which is supplied by T&L. QA can also involve the training of staff, ensuring that employees understand how to operate the machinery. CC ensures that all staff members receive training before their employment to operate machinery efficiently. Machinery is also under constant maintenance, which requires highly skilled engineers to fix problems and help CC maintain high outputs.

Every bottle is also checked by computers to ensure the correct fill level and label. Any faulty products are removed from the main production line. If the QC finds any errors, the production line is frozen up to the last sound check that was made. The CC bottling plant also checks the utilization level of each production line using a scorecard system. It allows managers to increase production levels if necessary.

CC also uses Total Quality Management (TQM), which involves the management of quality at every level of the organization, including; suppliers, production, and customers. The focus on TQM allows CC to maintain a competitive advantage through increased customer satisfaction. CC ensures that every staff is involved in the production process, thus improving morale and motivation, overall increasing productivity. TQM practices can also increase customer involvement as many organizations, including CC relish the opportunity to receive feedback and information from their consumers.

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The Production Process

Before production starts, cleaning is performed to rinse internal pipelines, machines, and equipment. Cleaning is often performed during a switchover of lines, for example, changing C to S to ensure no contamination. This quality check is performed for both hygiene purposes and product quality.

CC uses a database system called Questar, which enables them to perform checks on the line. All materials are coded. Each line is issued a bill of materials which ensures that the correct materials are put on the line. Without this system, product quality would not be assessed at this high level. Other quality checks on the line include packaging and carbonation, which is monitored by an operator who notes down the values to ensure they meet standards.

To test product quality, further lab technicians carry out over 2000 spot checks a day to ensure quality and consistency. This process can be before production or during production, which can involve taking a sample of bottles off the production line. Quality tests include CO₂ and sugar values, micro testing, packaging quality, and cap tightness. These tests are designed so that total quality management ideas can be put forward. Continuous improvement can also be used to adhere to environmental and social principles. Any sources of waste, scrap, or rework are potential projects which can be improved.

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Innovative Quality Check Practices

Every CC product has a code on it that can be used to trace the production batch details. Thus, in case of any quality issues/complaints, the faulty group of products can be recalled before the problems impact other customers. They also follow an OTIF (On Time In Full) rating system, allowing distributors to rate CC delivery timeliness and if the full stock was delivered. CC also uses mystery shoppers to examine the quality of the products and how satisfied customers are.

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Recommendation for Improvement

Overall, CC has an efficient and productive quality management system. However, there are some opportunities for improvement both in the short and long term. There is some challenge regarding the environmental impact of the raw material, mainly used in packaging. In the future, they may have to use more recyclable materials. Therefore, the use of continuous improvement is critical to innovate and come up with the most sustainable packaging available. On the one hand, they need to reduce their carbon footprint; on the other, different materials may affect the product quality and the cost.

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Conclusion

CC focus on quality is reflected in its consistent score of above 94% in the Global Product Quality Index rating. This system's effectiveness allows them to scale up by creating distribution centers all over the world, which follows the same quality principles. This quality system promotes the CC brand by adopting sustainable approaches that maintain consistency in the quality of the products, packaging, processes, and factory facilities.