Assessment Information
The LOs for this module are as follows:
1. Identify and select sources of data and information
2. Analyse and present information to support decision making
3. Communicate results of information analysis and decision
4. Comprehend the range of tools and techniques available as support for managerial decision making
This assignment should be completed with reference to the WM Pressings Case Study and the OIL Project, as and where directed to do so.
This assignment requires you to write a 2,000-word assignment submission answering the following questions:
1. Using relevant examples from the WM Pressings Case Study & other sources, explain the difference between data and information. (20 marks) ?
2. Identify the sources of information for the quality issue at WM Pressings. Critically evaluate these sources and then select the sources that you feel will be most useful for conducting further analysis. (20 marks) ?
3. Analyse the information that you have gathered on the quality issue at WM Pressings and summarise your key findings. (20 marks) ?
4. Create a PowerPoint presentation that you will use to communicate the results of your analysis on the quality issue to the Managing Director of WM Pressings. Your presentation should be 4 – 6 slides long and should be included in your word document as a series of JPEGs (2 JPEGs per page). Do not submit the PowerPoint file (30 marks) ?
5. Using relevant examples, explain how the role of information and communication has been important in the OIL Project. (10 marks) ?
WM Pressings Case Study
WM Pressings1 is a manufacturing company based in Coventry in England. The company makes small pressed steel and aluminium parts for customers in the automotive industry.
WM pressings has five main customers as detailed in the table below.

Customer Location No of Parts Total Annual Volume of Pressings
Scheller AG Munich, Germany 46
480,000
FHS Automotive Coventry, England 32
340,000
PD Cars Birmingham, England 28 300,000
Ardale Ltd London, England 18
175,000

Magmoke Lyon, France 32 120,000

The company has 10 presses and 204 dies that it runs in order to make these components. Each press can be used to manufacture a number of different components, by changing the die. Each die is unique to a particular component. The presses and dies are known within the company simply as P1 to P10 and D1 to D204.
The company has been supplying pressed parts to automotive customers for over 40 years and has always prided itself on its reputation for high quality. However, in the past 2 years the company has seen its quality performance deteriorate sharply.
The top ten quality issues for December 2015 are detailed in the table below (this table shows parts that have been returned to WM Pressings by their customers due to defective quality).

Part Number Description Qty Manufactured Dec 2015
Qty Customer Returns
AD12766 Pressing – Inner 1242
400
SD34276 Pressing
806 220
BG65609 Pressing 356
180
DF23437 Pressing – Inner
1452 155
DD23349 Pressing – Inner 3290
150
AY54232 Pressing – Door Inner 435
140

DF78903 Pressing 546 128
PY65459 Pressing Outer 3452
124
HG40092 Pressing – Cowl 980
106

DJ67642 Pressing – Inner
765 104

AA23998
Pressing
623
102

1 WM Pressings and all other companies named are entirely fictitious organizations

Investigation into the Quality Issues
The Managing Director of WM Pressings has asked you to investigate the issue and to identify the reasons for the issues being experienced.
The first task you have undertaken is to collate the table below showing the name of the manufacturer for each of the ten parts above that were shown in the previous table on quality issues.
Part Number Description Customer
Component Weight (g)
AD12766 Pressing – Inner Ardale Ltd 100
SD34276 Pressing PD Cars
120
BG65609 Pressing PD Cars
110
DF23437 Pressing – Inner Ardale Cars
150
DD23349 Pressing – Inner FHS Automotive 110

AY54232 Pressing – Door Inner PD Cars 150
DF78903 Pressing Ardale Cars
100
PY65459 Pressing Outer FHS Automotive
120
HG40092 Pressing – Cowl PD Cars
180
DJ67642 Pressing – Inner PD Cars
100
AA23998 Pressing PD Cars
120

Next, you have asked the warranty department for an update about any claims made once the customer vehicles were actually in service, which is summarised below.

Part Number Description Customer Warranty Claims Dec 2015
AD22132 Pressing Scheller AG
18
SD34276 Pressing PD Cars 14
BG65609 Pressing PD Cars
11
AG43234 Pressing Scheller AG 7
GF48871 Pressing Scheller AG
5
AY54232 Pressing – Door Inner PD Cars
5
TR34376 Pressing – Inner Panel Scheller AG
4

SE24890 Pressing Scheller AG 4
HG40092 Pressing – Cowl PD Cars
3
DJ67642 Pressing – Inner PD Cars
2

AA23998
Pressing PD Cars 2

You have then spoken to the factory manager and asked an update about any parts that were rejected before they left the WM Pressings factory, which is summarised below

Part Number Description
Press ID Number
Die ID Number Customer
Internal Rejects Dec 2015
SF134567 Pressing Outer Panel
P2

34
PD Cars
600

SD34276 Pressing P2 35 PD Cars 500
BG65609 Pressing
P2
46 PD Cars
500
DS23009 Pressing –
P1
190 Scheller AG
400
SL87225 Pressing – Inner
P3
29 PD Cars
320
AY54232 Pressing – Door Inner
P3
31 PD Cars
306
DF78903 Pressing
P8
87 Ardale Cars
300
DF78904 Pressing
P8
88 Ardale Cars
220
HG40092 Pressing – Cowl
P2
39 PD Cars
200
DJ67642 Pressing – Inner
P2
38 PD Cars
180

SD34987 Pressing P2
43
PD Cars 180

Interviews with Key Managers
You decide to go to see the quality manager to find out what has been happening, the key parts of the conversation are recorded below.
“What is your opinion about the issues causing customer returns?”
“I realise that performance is not optimal but we are operating at a comparable level to other similar suppliers in the automotive industry”.
“What are your thoughts about the warranty data?”
“I do not look at the warranty data, this is not part of my remit – my job is to focus on customer returns.”
“What about the issues that happen in-house, scrap that is found before it leaves the factory?”
“This is the responsibility of the production manager – I do not have any influence over the production processes and maintenance programmes that he runs and which influence the quality during production”.
You thank the quality manager for her time and then go to visit the maintenance supervisor. “Are you aware of the main issues that are causing internal rejects?”
“No, the production manager does not tell me about this type of stuff.” “Do you have any particular issues with any of the presses or dies?”
“The dies are all in good condition, however presses P2 and P3 are very old and we have to deal with many breakdowns on them.”
“Do you know if these breakdowns on P2 and P3 are linked to any quality issues?”
“Not as far as I am aware, we fix the presses so that they are working again, but we do not know what happens afterwards.”
“Do you have any records on breakdowns for December 2015?” “No, we don’t keep a log of breakdowns.”
Finally you decide to speak to one of your friends who works on the shop floor, operating one of the presses. “Are you aware of the quality issues that we have been experiencing?”
“No, we don’t get told about that sort of stuff.”?“Do you experience any issues during production that may be linked to quality?”
“Yes, we can see when the presses are producing parts of uncertain quantity, however when we inform management they do not take any action until the problems become very bad or the presses actually stop working altogether.”
You are now satisfied that you have enough data and information about the quality problem. You now need to figure out the best way to analyse this data and information and then put it in a suitable format to be presented to the Managing Director.
Criteria for Assessment
This table details the weightings of the five criteria by which your work will be assessed.

Criteria
Proportion of overall module mark
1. Content and Learning Outcomes 75%
2. Evidence of reading, use of resources and research
15%
3. Accurate citations and referencing 5%
4. Presentation, grammar and spelling
5%

Total 100%

Note:

1. This assignment is neither a report or essay format. The assignment should answer each of the questions. Have an introduction to start with. Then answer each of the question. While discussing each question you can be descriptive and use graphs and tables.

2. Word count. For Q4, where you submit JPEGs, you may either consider it to be zero words or as being equivalent to 500 words. So a submission with 2200 words plus the JPEGs is OK, equally so is one with 1500 words plus the JPEGs. Hope this makes sense! References etc do not count towards word count.

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