Read the case description below, watch the 2 videos in this module that accompany the case.

Read the case description below, watch the 2 videos in this module that accompany the case.

Frito-Lay,
the mutual-billion-dollar snack food giant, produces billions of pounds
of product every year at its dozens of U.S. and Canadian plants. From
the farming of potatoes-in Florida, North Carolina, and Michigan-to
factory and to retail stores, the ingredients and final product of Lay’s
chips, for example, are inspected at least 11 times: in the field,
before unloading at the plant, after washing and peeling, at the sizing
station, at the fryer, after seasoning when bagged (for weight), at
carton filling, in the warehouse, and as they are placed on the store
shelf by Frito-Lay personnel. Similar inspections take place for its
other famous products, including Cheetos, Fritos, Ruffles, and Tostitos.

In
addition to these employee inspections, the firm uses proprietary
vision systems to look for defective potato chips. Chips are pulled off
the high-speed line and checked twice if the vision system senses them
to be too brown.

The company follows the very strict standards of
the American Institute of Baking (AIB), standards that are much tougher
than those of the U.S Food and Drug Administration. Two unannounced AIB
site visits per year keep Frito-Lay’s plant on their toes. Scores,
consistently in the “excellent” range, are posted, and every employee
knows exactly how the plant is doing.

There are two key metrics in
Frito-Lay’s continuous improvement quality program: (1) total customer
complaints (measured on a complaints per million bag basis and (2)
hourly or daily statistical process control scores (for oil, moisture,
seasoning, and salt content, for chip thickness, for fryer temperature,
and for weight).

In the Florida plant, Angela McCormack, who holds
engineering and MBA degrees, oversees a 15-member quality assurance
staff. They watch all aspects of quality, including training employees
on the factory floor, monitoring automated processing equipment, and
developing and updating statistical process control (SPC) charts. The
upper and lower control limits for one check point, salt content in
Lay’s chip, are 2.22% (UCL) and 1.98% (LCL), respectively. To see
exactly how the limits are created using SPC, watch the Frito Lay
Control Charts video in the Module below that accompanies this case.

In the Excel document (below in this Module) you are going to:

A.
Create a new set of UCL and LCL measurements based on the below sample
data and using the provided population parameter for standard deviation.

B.
Write a paragraph to Angela explaining whether or not the new
salination process (from which we obtained the sample data) is
delivering a new set of UCL/LCL measurements that is within the
specifications set by the current set of control limits. In other words,
does the new set of UCL/LCL measurement exceed the prior limits
(meaning it is unacceptable) or equals or is less than the current
specifications?

C. Using the sample data build an SPC chart similar to the one contained in the second video in the Module below.

D. Answer the other two critical thinking questions about Frito Lay’s chosen distribution method and quality demands.

Discussion Questions (to be answered in the Excel Spreadsheet)

1.
Angela is now going to evaluate a new salt process delivery system and
wants to know if the upper and lower control limits at 3 standard
deviations for the new system will meet the upper and lower controls
specifications currently used (2.22 and 1.98). The population standard
deviation is s = .07 and each sample is n=4.

The data (in percent) from the initial trial samples are:

Provide
your findings to Angela (This should be done as a memo-type paragraph
describing your method of researching the request and your results).

Follow-up Critical Thinking Questions:

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Frito-Lay drivers stocking their customers’ shelves?

3. Why is quality a critical function at Frito-Lay?