A PILOT-STUDY OF QUALITY COSTS AT SUN-MICROSYSTEMS

Quality costs tend to be elusive and studies have indicated that they may form a very large part of the manufacturing costs associated with a product. This paper sets our to illustrate that problems still exist with these costs, even when well educated, determined staff are invol ved in ensuring quality assurance throughout the system in an enlighte ned organization. The study took place in Sun Microsystems when the in dustry had recently faced changes affecting sales. The objectives incl uded: investigating hey areas in order to identify problems associated with quality costs, suggesting improvements and offering guidelines f or the establishment of a robust system, which would, in rime, help th e organization to overcome these areas of concern.