MacBook Pro by Apple Inc Quality Management Essay

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Quality Management

Executive Summary

Quality management is pivotal in any product or service. One of the key aspects of ensuring this is through the product development process. The product taken into account is MacBook Pro by Apple Inc. Research indicates that the product goes through various steps in the production process, including designing, the formation of a new product team, Apple New product Process, product review, product redesign, assessment and feedback, and then finally product launching. Research also indicates that designing for manufacturing is a pivotal component of the product development cycle. It encompasses the optimization of the product's design for the different processes of manufacturing and assembly, assimilating the various product design needs and requirements with its production approach. In the case of television, the various DFM guidelines taken into consideration for improving manufacturability include a reduction in the number of parts, developing products designs that are modular, usage of standard parts, ensuring that the designing and manufacturing product parts are multi-functional and also can be used for multiple aspects, decreasing the various directions for product assembly and also guaranteeing compliance. Concerning product design decision making, the paper also examines key customer requirements and key technical requirements of a vehicle and presents them in a matrix using the QFD format. Specifically, QFD can be employed as a tool for prioritizing significant directions offering a perspective for improvement in line with the desires and requirements of the consumers.

Furthermore, the paper examines quality defect aspects for the production of vehicles in a company such as Toyota using a fishbone diagram. The fishbone diagram is a visual manner to examine cause and effect. It helps in determining potential causes of the causes of quality defects in the vehicles and in sorting ideas into useful classifications.

Question 1

Product Development Process

The product quality can be measured in various ways. The first way in which the quality of a product can be measured is by the conformity to the conditions set out. This means that a product is of great quality if, when finished, it is exactly the way it had been set out to be. Another way in which a product's quality can be measured is through the effectiveness of the product. Is the product effective in its use by the customer? Lastly, product quality can be measured with the price that has been paid for it and how well the product is satisfactory to the customer needs. In totality, the quality of a product is inherently and largely influenced by the product development process.

Apple Inc. is one of the most renowned and celebrated companies across the globe. The company manufactures and retails a wide range of products and services, including iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, iPod, Apple TV, iOS, Mac, and also HomePod. In delineation, the product development process takes into account all of the phases that are necessitated to take a product from the formulation or conception phase to market availability. This takes into account pinpointing a market necessity and requirement, conducting research and examination into the competitive environment, conceptualizing and formulating a solution, developing a map for the product offering, and also creating a minimally viable product. All of these phases take place from the time the idea is formed to the time the product is sold to end-user consumers (Hill, Jones, and Schilling, 2014). The product taken into consideration, in this case, is a MacBook Pro. Notably, MacBook refers to a product line of Macintosh laptop computers from Apple Inc.

The first step of the product development process in manufacturing a MacBook Pro is the design process. It is imperative to indicate that every product and service at the company begins with design. Apple gives its design department the autonomy to design and guarantee that the products created to satisfy the company's vision. The product, in its entirety, conforms to the vision of the designers. Furthermore, the design department is given unlimited accessibility to finances and manufacturing practicality regarding the resources employed. The second step of the product development process is the formation of a new product team. In this phase, a fresh team is well-organized and isolated from the rest of the organization by confidentiality agreements and, even at the time, physical barriers. This provides exclusive space for the teams working on a new product (Panzarino, 2012).

Once the design of the MacBook Pro has started, Apple's New product Process is implemented. Essentially, this is a document that entails and details every stage within the product development process. This encompasses mapping out the steps of the product creation, the different parties responsible for the undertaking till completion, the different individuals involved in the various stages, and their time-frame for completion. The third step of the process is a product review.

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In Apple Inc., this process is done on Monday of every week during a meeting of the executive team. After the onset of the production of the program, there are two parties responsible involved, including the engineering program manager and the global supply manager. In Apple Inc.'s business operation, these two corporate positions spend the majority of their time in the manufacturing facilities in China, supervising the production process (Interaction Design Foundation, 2019).

The subsequent phase in the product development process is once a product is completed, the process of designing, building, and testing is done once again. It is imperative to note that once Apple Inc. is finished with building a product, it undertakes the process of redesigning the product and takes it through manufacturing yet again, explicating the different versions that might have been leaked to the media. After that, the engineering program manager takes the beta MacBook Pro device with the intension of examination and feedback. Usually, numerous versions of the device are done and are not simply prototypes. After that, the phase that follows is the packaging. The company has completely committed an entire department that is tasked with solely device packaging. The final step of the product development process is product launch (Menear, 2020).

Question 2

Design Guidelines for Improving Manufacturability

Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA) is the amalgamation of both product design and process scheduling into one joint activity. The key goal is to design a product that is effortlessly and economically manufactured (Groover, 2010). Notably, the significance of designing for manufacturing is accentuated by the actuality that approximately 70 percent of manufacturing outlays of a product, for instance, the cost of raw materials, processing, and also assembling, is ascertained by a design decision. On the other hand, decisions about production, for example, choosing the machine equipment and process planning, are accountable for solely 20 percent of manufacturing outlays (Evans and Lindsay, 2013). In a nutshell, design for manufacturing alludes to the process of designing the product with the main objective of making it substantially simpler and easier to manufacture. It is a pivotal manufacturing tooling design as well as process development phase or measure before the making of a new product. Significantly, if the process of design for manufacturing is carried out properly and effectively, it will guarantee quality and also productivity. DFM makes certain that the product can be manufactured, and it influences the look, texture, and also accuracy and function of the product (Grover, 2010).

A product that I am familiar with is a television. The following are significant design guidelines for facilitating the improvement of manufacturability and therefore improving quality and reducing cost.

1. Reducing the total number of parts of the television

Reducing the number of parts in this product is conceivably an ideal prospect for decreasing manufacturing expenses. Notably, having fewer parts means fewer procurements, inventories, handling, assembling, development, and processing and also decreased time for engineering, servicing, and also testing.

2. Developing and advancing a modular product design

The utilization of modules in television designing, streamlines, and shortens the manufacturing activities of the product, including scrutiny, testing, assembly, procurement, remodeling, maintenance, service, and others. A fundamental reason is that modules facilitate increased adaptability and flexibility to product updates in the remodeling process. Also, the modules assist in running tests before the ultimate product assembly process is undertaken, and permit the utilization of standard constituents to curtail product disparities.

3. Use of standard constituents or parts

Using standard parts in manufacturing the television is cheaper compared to using parts that are custom made. The high accessibility of these constituents diminishes lead times for the product. Also, the dependability aspects of these product parts are well established. What is more, the employment of these parts alludes to the manufacturing strain to the supplier, partly discharging the manufacture's worry of meeting production timelines.

4. Designing and manufacturing product parts to be multi-functional

Significantly, multi-functional components diminish the total number of components in product design; therefore, attaining the benefits above. For instance, in the television as a product, components can function not only as electrical conductors but also as key structural parts.

5. Designing and manufacturing product parts for multi-use

Within a manufacturing company, various product items can use similar components that have been designed specifically for multiple uses. These components have similar or dissimilar functions when utilized in various product items. To accomplish this, it is essential to pinpoint the parts that are appropriate for multiple uses

6. Curtailing assembly directions

For the most part, in order to alleviate the expenses incurred in manufacturing, it is essential for the assembling process of all parts to.....

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