Product assurance integration in the microwave tube business

The microwave tube business is an example of a declining market with large competitors and occasional new entries. For a company to remain a major supplier it must produce competitively priced products which satisfy quality and reliability requirements. The author maintains that business may achieve low price through internal quality management while simultaneously satisfying quality and reliability goals. He summarizes an integrated system of product assurance that provides the mix of functions to achieve quality, reliability, and cost goals. The product assurance functions of quality planning, product acceptance, audit management, reliability, and configuration management form the integrated program