Secondary Post Instructions

Secondary Post Instructions
In responding to your classmates, you may want to include the following perspectives:  Was there consensus/disagreement?  Did you gain any new learning?  How might you persuade a peer who disagrees with your position to advocate a new point of view?

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Post 1 150 words

Although John is showing only 4/100,000 throws to have a defective product he should not move forward with the manufacturing and sale of the train because although this number is relatively low for their company it is not up to the standards or expectations of what the customer wants and what they are willing to put out. When it comes to producing new products there is a very specific plan to follow. A quality function deployment is “determining what will satisfy the customer and translating those customer desires into the target design” (Heizer & Render, 2014, p. 160). This is what John needs to refer to when making the decision of whether or not to continue with the train project.

One very specific tool is the house of quality (Heizer & Render, 2014). The house of quality outlines in a “graphic technique to define the relationship between customer desires and product (Heizer & Render, 2014, p. 160). John can look at this tool and see what is of importance to the customer. In this case, although I cannot see the house of quality myself, I would think that safety is one of the top ranking necessities for children in the 1-3 age range (only because I have children in that range myself and want toys to be safe before they are fun). Making the decision to make the train with the knowledge that small pieces could break off is not only a negligence to the safety of the children who may own the toy but a neglect of what the customer wants out of the toy.

When I worked for Hyatt we checked guests into a hotel and the way in which we did (on an iPad) wasn’t fully developed and to say the least, it was a mess. They continued to develop the process on the iPad and it did get better over time but it wasn’t delivering what the customer wanted initially and I did a lot of surveys for them as well as other individuals who worked at the front desk, to help them understand what would work best and what wouldn’t.

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Post2

John should not proceed on with production without furthering his search of a way to safely manufacture the toy. Since the product is in the introductory stage of its life cycle there should be additional resources for this reason.(Heizer, pg.158)  The amount of damage that a lawsuit could cause may put a large drfain on the amount of revenue received. Especially if he is hit with a class action lawsuit. It could also create a stigma of irresponsibility that could potentially harm the company’s sales in the future. John should delay the production of the toy and think things over a little while longer. A sign on the toy that states the possibilty of the toy being a choking hazzard may absolve the company of a slew of lawsuits that result behind a rare incident. Since the numbers are pretty common it may just be better for John to focus his attentions on creating a manual that details the proper way to care for the item to lessen the chances of it breaking over time.

One product design issue that is widely publicized is the Hover Board and its propensity of catching on fire when overcharged. The manufacturer had to tell people that it could only be charged for 2hrs at a time so that it does not ignite. Stressing proper care instructions for proper use was very helpful in the amount of incidences of fires and so a similar idea for John’s product should be considered