Bayfield Mud Company Essay

The Bayfield Mud Company has had some problems with their 50 pound bags of treating agents. They sent shipped some bags to Wet Land Drilling, Inc. that were found to be short-weight by approximately 5%. Wet Land first did their own research on how many bags were short and by how much. They randomly sampled 50 bags and found the average net weight to be 47.51 pounds. Wet Land then contacted Bayfield Mud about the situation. Bayfield gave a 5% credit to Wed-Land for the mistakes. But We Land not completely satisfied with the credit because the errors in the weight of the bags could impact their operations. Wet Land informed Bayfield Mud that if something like this happened again, they would take their business elsewhere. Bayfield’s response to all this was to expand a one-shift to a two-shift operation. Then, they had to expand to a three-shift operation. The additional night-shift bagging crew consisted of all new employee. The most emphasis was placed on increasing output. It was very likely that only occasionally were bags double checked on their weight. This is where the statistical control has come into place. The problem that Bayfield Mud faces includes the possibility of losing a customer in Wet Land, Inc. Another problem is putting out a product that is not acceptable. This problem could lead to more than just the loss of one customers, but perhaps an even greater amount. Based on the information given in the following charts and numbers, especially the control chat, it is obvious that the bag problem is out of control. Out of the 72 times that samples were taken, 14 were out of control. That is unacceptable for a company who intends on satisfying the customer and maintaining business. Something must be done in this company to correct the problem that has arisen. I think if the company still getting the more products but sacrifice the quality, the problem cannot not be solved actually. The company needs to ensure that the bag really does weigh 50 pounds. If they are going to offer a 50 pound product, then make it 50 pounds. It seems that the times that most of the bags are less than 50 pounds are around the nighttime shifts. Also, the times that it seems more bags are over 50 pounds are during the daytime shifts. They need to develop a y to ensure the accuracy of weighing the bags. Whatever they would  implement would have to increase quality, while not impacting the output numbers. There is a large demand for their product, so they must be able to meet the demand. And Bayfield needs to change their strategy or even do an entire makeover of their management team in order to get a better way for developing. Feng Bing (Yvonne) Student ID: 11-613222