| Course | BUSI 3010 Operations Management |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 6 |
| Paper type | Quality memo |
| Length | About 810 words, 4 pages |
| Format | Memo, APA 7 citations |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for BUSI 3010 Week 6
Memorandum
To: Production Manager, Red River Stone & Surface
From: Production Scheduler
Date: August 7, 2028
Re: Chipped edges on dark quartz: rate, cause and two changes to the CNC process
The Defect and Its Rate
From January through June 2028, the CNC edging machine produced 1,186 countertop pieces. Of these, 71 left the CNC with chips along the profiled edge large enough to fail inspection, a rate of 6.0 percent. Fifty-seven were repaired by re-polishing, at about 1.5 hours each, or 85.5 polishing hours. Fourteen could not be repaired and were remade from a new slab, at an average cost of $1,450 each in material and labor, or $20,300. Together the defect cost about $24,000 in six months and added two to four days to every affected job.
Where the Defect Occurs
The overall rate hides a sharp split by material. I sorted every chipped piece by the stone and by the CNC settings recorded in the machine log.
Table 1
Chipped Pieces by Material and Feed Rate, January to June 2028
| Material | Feed rate | Pieces cut | Pieces chipped | Chip rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Granite | Default | 492 | 9 | 1.8 percent | |
| Light quartz | Default | 418 | 13 | 3.1 percent | |
| Dark quartz | Default | 223 | 33 | 14.8 percent | |
| Dark quartz | Reduced by operator | 53 | 16 | Not comparable; see below | |
Composite shop and data. Dark quartz means the four darkest colors in the current line.
Dark quartz cut at the default feed rate accounts for 33 of 71 chipped pieces, nearly half, although it is less than a fifth of the pieces cut. The default rate in the CNC program was set when the shop worked mostly in granite. Dark quartz uses a resin that heats and chips more easily at that speed.
The last row needs care. Operators sometimes slow the feed rate by hand on dark quartz, and 53 pieces were cut that way. Their chip rate looks high because operators slowed the feed mostly on pieces with worn bits, after seeing chips on an earlier piece. That points to the second condition.
The Second Condition: Bit Wear
Bits are currently changed every Monday, regardless of how much stone they have cut. In weeks with heavy volume, a bit may cut more than three times as much stone by Friday as in a light week. When I matched chipped pieces to the number of linear feet cut since the last bit change, 49 of the 71 chips happened after the bit had cut more than 1,400 linear feet, which the bit supplier's guidance gives as the point at which edges start to degrade.
The defect, then, comes from two conditions in the process: a feed rate that does not distinguish dark quartz from granite, and a bit change schedule tied to the calendar instead of to use. Neither is an operator error. Operators who slowed the feed by hand were compensating for the program, and they were doing it without a standard.
Recommended Changes
Two changes would address the conditions directly.
First, set material-specific feed rates in the CNC program, so that dark quartz is cut at a lower speed every time without the operator having to remember. The programmer estimates this takes one day to set up and adds about 20 minutes to the CNC time for a dark quartz job.
Second, change bits by linear feet cut rather than by day of the week. The CNC already counts feet cut; a change at 1,200 feet would leave a margin below the supplier's point. The extra bits would cost about $1,800 over six months.
If the dark quartz chip rate fell to the light quartz level of 3.1 percent, about 26 fewer pieces would chip every six months, saving roughly $9,000 in polishing and remakes and protecting the delivery dates on those jobs. The 20 extra CNC minutes on dark quartz jobs matter, because the CNC is the shop's constraint, but they are far less than the time now lost to re-polishing and remakes that pass through the CNC a second time.
How We Will Know
I will report the chip rate by material each month, starting in September, using the same inspection records. If the dark quartz rate is still above 5 percent after two months, we should look at clamping and the slab's resin batch next.
Why the Memo Looks at the Process
Deming (1986) argued that most defects come from the system people work in rather than from the people themselves, and that blaming workers for system faults makes improvement harder. Juran and Godfrey (1999) describe quality improvement as diagnosing a chronic problem by data before choosing remedies, which is the approach taken here. Ishikawa (1986) recommended stratifying defect data by material, machine and time to find where the cause lies; sorting by material and bit wear is what revealed both conditions.
References
Deming, W. E. (1986). Out of the crisis. MIT Center for Advanced Engineering Study.
Ishikawa, K. (1986). Guide to quality control (2nd rev. ed.). Asian Productivity Organization.
Juran, J. M., & Godfrey, A. B. (1999). Juran's quality handbook (5th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
BUSI 3010 Week 6 instructions, in plain terms
In Week 6 the task is a short memo reporting one quality problem to a specific person who can act on it. Open with the defect and its rate, expressed against a stated base, because a count alone tells the reader little. Then analyze where the defect occurs, usually by sorting the data by material, machine, shift or time, until a process condition explains it. The analysis should move past individual blame to the condition in the process that produces the defect. Recommendations should address that condition directly, with their cost and expected effect, and the memo should say how the result will be measured. Use a memo header addressed to a named role; most submissions run two or three pages.
How this BUSI 3010 Week 6 example is built
The memo is addressed from the production scheduler to the production manager. It opens with 71 chipped pieces out of 1,186, a 6.0 percent rate, 85.5 hours of re-polishing and fourteen remakes at $1,450 each. A table stratifies chips by material and feed rate, showing 1.8 percent on granite, 3.1 percent on light quartz and 14.8 percent on dark quartz at the default rate, and explains why the operator-slowed group is not comparable. A section on bit wear finds 49 of 71 chips after more than 1,400 feet of cutting. Two changes are recommended with costs and savings, including the extra CNC minutes they require. A measurement plan and a closing section citing Deming, Juran and Godfrey and Ishikawa explain the process focus.
Where the marks sit in the BUSI 3010 Week 6 rubric
Graders first look for a defect rate with a clear base. Counts without a denominator, or rates without a time period, lose marks immediately. The core of the grade is the trace from defect to process condition, supported by data sorted in a way that reveals the cause; memos that stop at "operator error" or "training needed" without evidence score low. Recommendations must address the identified condition and include cost and expected effect, so the reader can decide. A named reader who can actually act on the memo, and a measure that will show whether the change worked, complete a strong submission. Readings should support the method, such as stratification or system-level thinking, rather than appear only as a closing citation.
BUSI 3010 Week 6 help from the desk
Collect inspection records for a defined period and count both defects and total units. Then sort the defects every way your data allows: by product, machine, shift, operator, supplier and time. Look for a category where the rate is far above the rest, and ask what process condition is present there. Confirm it with a second piece of evidence if you can. Recommend changes to that condition and estimate their effect. Weak memos report only counts, blame a person or recommend training without showing why. Others propose several unrelated fixes at once. Address the memo to the person who controls the condition. If you need a model quality memo for a defect at your workplace, share the defect records and how they can be sorted.
Get a BUSI 3010 Week 6 example written to your instructions
Send the Week 6 prompt, the rubric, whatever memo format the classroom requires, and the defect data being reported, and a BUSI 3010 memo written to that reader returns inside 24-48 hours, first sample free. Register follows the reader here. Name the recipient and the memo arrives pitched at what that person already knows, with nothing spent on background they hold.
More BUSI 3010 papers and BS in Business Administration samples
- BUSI 3010 Week 1: Real Operation Discussion Post
- BUSI 3010 Week 2: Swimlane Process Map
- BUSI 3010 Week 3: CNC Capacity Calculation
- BUSI 3010 Week 4: Bottleneck Analysis
- BUSI 3010 Week 5: Calculation Check Peer Replies
- BUSI 3010 Week 7: EOQ and Reorder Point Analysis
- BUSI 3010 Week 8: Forecast Method Comparison
- BUSI 3010 Week 9: Shop Floor Layout Proposal
- BUSI 3010 Week 10: Process Improvement Proposal
- BUSI 3010 Week 11: Integrated Operations Report
BUSI 3010 Week 6 questions, answered
Where can I find a free BUSI 3010 Week 6 sample paper?
The complete quality memo on chipped countertop edges, data table and recommendations included, is free to read on this page.
What defect does the BUSI 3010 Week 6 memo report?
Chipped edges on countertop pieces after the CNC machine, 71 of 1,186 pieces in six months, a rate of 6.0 percent.
Where is the defect concentrated?
On dark quartz cut at the default feed rate, where 14.8 percent of pieces chipped compared with 1.8 percent of granite.
What process conditions cause it?
A feed rate set for granite that is too fast for dark quartz, and bit changes on a weekly calendar rather than by cutting distance.
What changes does the memo recommend?
Material-specific feed rates in the CNC program and bit changes after 1,200 feet of cutting, with the chip rate reported monthly.