Deck 6: Inventory Management

Question 1

A milling operation has historically produced an average thickness of 0.005 inch with an average range of 0.0015 inch. Currently, the first three items from each batch of 20 are inspected. Use Table 1.. What is the value of the

A) less than or equal to 0.00200
B) greater than 0.00200 but less than or equal to 0.00399
C) greater than 0.00399 but less than or equal to 0.00599
D) greater than 0.00599

Answer 1

greater than 0.00599

Question 2

Which one of the following statements about quality control is TRUE?

A) Complete inspection is used when inspection cost is high.
B) Sampling inspection is used when the cost of passing a defective unit is high relative to the cost of inspection.
C) Measurement by variables is often used when the quality specifications are complex.
D) Measurement by attributes is a simple yes or no decision.

Answer 2

Measurement by attributes is a simple yes or no decision.

Question 3

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A) A process can be out of statistical control but still exhibit process capability.
B) Process capability refers to the ability to meet a product's design specifications.
C) Process capability can be determined for manufactured products only, not services.
D) A process in statistical control necessarily exhibits process capability.

Answer 3

Process capability refers to the ability to meet a product's design specifications.

Question 4

A milling operation has historically produced an average thickness of 0.005 inch with an average range of 0.015 inch. Currently, the first three items from each batch of 20 are inspected. Use Table 7.1 What is the value of the

A) less than or equal to 0.00100
B) greater than 0.00100 but less than or equal to 0.00299
C) greater than 0.00299 but less than or equal to 0.00499
D) greater than 0.00499

Question 5

Which one of the following statements is TRUE?

A) With due diligence, variation in a process can be completely eliminated.
B) No two products are exactly alike because the processes that produce them contain many sources of variation, even if the process is a machine.
C) Common causes of variation are those factors that can be identified as commonly occurring at a particular process.
D) SPC and TQM are two competing techniques for quality control.

Question 6

Which one of the following is a consequence of external failures?

A) more rework
B) longer lead times
C) more litigation costs
D) lower product costs

Question 7

Improving quality seems to be a strategic weapon in gaining market share. However, improving quality entails allocation of resources and effort. Which one of the following costs increases to improve quality?

A) prevention costs
B) internal failure costs
C) external failure costs
D) appraisal costs

Question 8

Which one of the following statements regarding customers' definition of quality is FALSE?

A) Conformance to specifications is not a concern for a service provider because no tangible product is produced.
B) Consumers may change their perception of quality.
C) Consumers consider various aspects of quality such as value, service support, and psychological impressions.
D) Customers consider how well a product serves its intended purpose at a price they are willing to buy.

Question 9

When should complete inspection be used?

A) when inspection tasks are monotonous
B) when quality is a competitive priority
C) when the cost of product failure is high relative to the inspection costs
D) when inspection tests are destructive

Question 10

A measure of the dispersion of observations in a process distribution is called a(n)

A) range.
B) specification.
C) average.
D) shape.

Question 11

Use the information from Table 7.3. What is the upper control limit (UCL) if the bank were to use z = 2 and a sample size of 100?

A) less than or equal to 0.02
B) greater than 0.02 but less than or equal to 0.04
C) greater than 0.04 but less than or equal to 0.06
D) greater than 0.06

Question 12

A manufacturer of silk inspects each bolt of material at the end of the manufacturing process. When the process is in control, it averages 11 defects per bolt. If a 2- sigma control limit is used, what should be done if a bolt is found with 3 defects?

A) Management should investigate and exploit the common causes of variation present.
B) Do nothing; the process is in control.
C) Do nothing, even though the process is out of control.
D) Management should investigate and exploit the assignable causes of variation present.

Question 13

The UCL and LCL for an chart are 25 and 15 respectively. The central line is 20, and the process variability is considered to be in statistical control. The results of the next six sample means are 18, 23, 17, 21, 24, and 16. What should you do?

A) Explore the assignable causes because there is a trend.
B) Nothing; the process is in control.
C) Explore the assignable causes because there is a run.
D) Explore the assignable causes because the second and fifth samples are above the mean.

Question 14

A company is interested in monitoring the variability in the weight of the fertilizer bags it produces. An appropriate control chart would be

A)
B) p- chart.
C) c- chart.
D) R- chart.

Question 15

A manufacturer of silk inspects each bolt of material at the end of the manufacturing process. When the process is in control, it averages 11 defects per bolt. If a 3- sigma control limit is desired, what is the lower control limit?

A) less than or equal to 0
B) greater than 0 but less than or equal to 1
C) greater than 1 but less than or equal to 2
D) greater than 2

Question 16

Historically, the average time to service a customer complaint has been 3 days and the standard deviation has been 0.50 day. Management would like to specify the control limits for an X- chart with a sample size of 10 and 3 sigma limits. The UCL for the chart would be ---

A) less than or equal to 3.30.
B) greater than 3.30 but less than or equal to 3.40.
C) greater than 3.40 but less than or equal to 3.50.
D) greater than 3.50.

Question 17

Historically, the average proportion of defective bars has been 0.015. Samples will be of 100 bars each. Construct a p- chart using z = 3. Suppose a sample had 0.07 defective. What would you do?

A) Look for assignable causes.
B) Nothing; it is just random variation.
C) Change z to 2 and take another sample.
D) Change z to 4 and continue sampling.

Question 18

Which one of the following techniques will help management trace customer complaints directly to the operations involved?

A) specification management
B) cause- and- effect diagram
C) quality circles
D) quality engineering

Question 19

Which one of the following is a consequence of internal failures?

A) increased inventory costs
B) increased customer service
C) increased productivity
D) decreased lead time

Question 20

A hotel tracks the number of complaints per month. When the process is in control, there is an average of 35 complaints per month. Assume that a 2- sigma control limit is used. The next four months have 33, 27, 29, and 43 complaints. What should management do?

A) Look for assignable causes because the process is out of control.
B) Look for assignable causes because the process is in control.
C) Look for common causes because the process is out of control.
D) Do nothing; the process is in control.

Question 21

Which one of the following statements about TQM is FALSE?

A) In TQM, everyone in the organization must share the view that quality is an end in itself.
B) Quality is a responsibility to be shared by the entire organization, especially the workers who actually make the product or service.
C) In TQM, quality consistency has a higher priority than the level of output.
D) TQM programs generally result in an increase in quality inspectors so that no defects are passed along to the customer.

Question 22

Which of the quality "gurus" advocated the idea of setting an objective of zero defects to focus on the cost of poor quality (cost of nonconformance)?

A) Philip Crosby
B) Walter Shewart
C) W. Edwards Deming
D) Joseph M. Juran

Question 23

Which one of the following statements about quality is generally FALSE?

A) Consumer perceptions of quality may be influenced by different factors at different stages in the buying process.
B) An example of a "support" quality of service is the number of errors in a bank statement.
C) Internal to a manufacturing organization, quality usually means conformance to specifications.
D) Production workers, rather than management, must shoulder all of the responsibility for good quality.

Question 24

A company is interested in monitoring the number of scratches on Plexiglas panels. The appropriate control chart to use would be

A)
B) p- chart.
C) c- chart.
D) R- chart.

Question 25

A process is said to be in statistical control only when the

A) process produces output within the specifications.
B) variance of the output does not change over time.
C) mean of the output does not change over time.
D) dimensions of its distribution don't change over time.

Question 26

A manufacturer of silk inspects each bolt of material at the end of the manufacturing process. When the process is in control, it averages 11 defects per bolt. If a 2- sigma control limit is used, what is the upper control limit?

A) less than or equal to 15
B) more than 15 but less than or equal to 17
C) more than 17 but less than or equal to 19
D) more than 19

Question 27

Which one of the following statements is TRUE?

A) Appraisal costs increase as quality consistency decreases.
B) Appraisal costs increase as quality level increases.
C) Appraisal costs decrease as quality level decreases.
D) Appraisal costs increase as quality consistency increases.

Question 28

Which one of the following is considered to be an appraisal cost?

A) cost of quality audits
B) cost of rework
C) cost of process design
D) cost of supplier programs

Question 29

Historically, the average proportion of defective bars has been 0.015. Samples will be of 100 bars each. Construct a p- chart using z = 3. Suppose a sample had 0.04 defective. What would you do?

A) Look for assignable causes.
B) Change z to 4 and continue sampling.
C) Nothing; it appears to be random variation.
D) Change z to 2 and take another sample.

Question 30

Historically, the average diameter of the holes drilled has been 0.25 cm and the average range has been 0.1 cm. Determine the central line and upper and lower control limits for an and an R- chart, assuming samples of size 8 will be taken. Use Table 7.1. For the R- chart, what is the value of the UCL_R ?

A) less than or equal to 0.1000
B) greater than 0.1000 but less than or equal to 0.1510
C) greater than 0.1510 but less than or equal to 0.2020
D) greater than 0.2020

Question 31

The upper and lower specification limits for a component are 0.150 cm. and 0.120 cm., respectively. The process standard deviation is 0.003 cm. and the process average is 0.138 cm. What conclusion can be drawn?

A) The specifications should be changed to 0.141 and 0.135, respectively.
B) The process average is out of statistical control.
C) The process is not capable.
D) The process is capable.

Question 32

The cause- and- effect diagram is a method that

A) was developed by W. Edwards Deming.
B) reduces the frequency of product design.
C) relates a product defect to its potential contributing factors.
D) helps management develop quality circles.

Question 33

A milling operation has historically produced an average thickness of 0.005 inch with an average range of 0.0015 inch. Currently, the first three items from each batch of 20 are inspected. Use Table 1.. What is the value of LCLX if the sample size is increased to 6?

A) less than or equal to 0.0030
B) greater than 0.0030 but less than or equal to 0.0049
C) greater than 0.0049 but less than or equal to 0.0069
D) greater than 0.0069

Question 34

Which one of the following statements about TQM is FALSE?

A) One of the main challenges in developing the proper culture for TQM is to define the term customer for each employee.
B) In TQM, quality consistency has a higher priority than the level of output.
C) In TQM, everyone in the organization must share the view that quality is an end in itself.
D) Quality is the responsibility of the quality control department.

Question 35

Consumers consider various aspects when defining quality in terms of high- performance design. Consideration of the lifespan of a product before it begins to deteriorate or no longer functions at an acceptable level refers to which one of these aspects?

A) durability
B) basic performance
C) reliability
D) support

Question 36

Which alternative will increase the probability of detecting a shift in the process average?

A) taking larger samples more frequently
B) taking smaller samples more frequently
C) taking smaller samples
D) increasing the control limit spread

Question 37

Table 7.1

Historically, the average diameter of the holes drilled has been 0.25 cm and the average range has been 0.1 cm. Determine the central line and upper and lower control limits for an X- and an R- chart, assuming samples of size 8 will be taken. Use Table 7.1.For the - chart, what is the value of

A) less than or equal to 0.100
B) greater than 0.100 but less than or equal to 0.200
C) greater than 0.200 but less than or equal to 0.300
D) greater than 0.300

Question 38

Which one of the following statements is TRUE?

A) Common cause of variation are those factors that can be identified as commonly occurring at a particular process.
B) Assignable causes of variation are purely random factors that can be assigned to a particular process.
C) SPC and TQM are one and the same thing.
D) Nothing can be done to completely eliminate variation in process output.

Question 39

A milling operation has historically produced an average thickness of 0.005 inch with an average range of 0.0015 inch. Currently, the first three items from each batch of 20 are inspected. Use Table 1.. The quality control manager has recommended inspecting the first 3 and the last 3 items. (a sample of 6) from each batch of 20. What is the value of the

A) less than or equal to 0.0030
B) greater than 0.0030 but less than or equal to 0.0049
C) greater than 0.0049 but less than or equal to 0.0069
D) greater than 0.0069

Question 40

What are the key factors for controlling supplier quality?

A) specification management and the buyer's approach
B) choice of statistical quality control techniques
C) location and number of supplies
D) amount of annual purchases and order sizes

Question 41

Psychological impressions are considered one aspect of quality because customers can get upset with

A) discourteous employees.
B) misleading advertising.
C) poor craftsmanship.
D) slow responses to warranty claims.

Question 42

Assume that the newly implemented control chart has a central line of p = 0.10, with the standard deviation computed from this original value. Assume also that z = 2 is used for defining the control limits and sample sizes of 100 dolls. What can be said about the doll- making process based on the first five weeks of experience from Table 7.4?

A) The process is out of control.
B) More information should be collected.
C) The process is capable.
D) The process is in control.

Question 43

Which one of the following statements concerning TQM is FALSE?

A) Quality is a responsibility to be shared by the entire organization, especially the workers who actually make the product or service.
B) One of the main challenges in developing the proper culture for TQM is to define the term customer for each employee.
C) In TQM, the level of output has the highest priority.
D) In TQM, everyone in the organization must share the view that quality is an end in itself.

Question 44

Which one of the following statements is a key feature of total quality management (TQM)?

A) Quality is primarily the responsibility of top management.
B) Quality is primarily the responsibility of all employees in the organization.
C) Quality is primarily the responsibility of the production department.
D) Quality is primarily the responsibility of the quality control department.

Question 45

Continuous improvement is a philosophy that

A) ensures there are plenty of quality inspectors to find areas for improvement.
B) utilizes problem- solving techniques within work teams.
C) waits until a big problem occurs, then systematically solves it.
D) encourages the use of statistical process control specialists to reduce the need for employees to learn complicated statistical methods.

Question 46

The upper and lower specifications for a service are 10 min. and 8 min., respectively. The process standard deviation is 0.25 min. and the process average is 9 min. What conclusion can be drawn?

A) The process is capable.
B) The process is not capable because the process average is out of control.
C) The process is not capable because the process variability is too great.
D) The specifications should be changed to 9.75 and 8.25, respectively.

Question 47

Historically, the average diameter of the holes drilled has been 0.25 cm and the average range has been 0.1 cm. Determine the central line and upper and lower control limits for an and an R- chart, assuming samples of size 8 will be taken. Use Table 7.1. For the R- chart, what is the value of the LCL_R?

A) less than or equal to 0.010
B) greater than 0.010 but less than or equal to 0.020
C) greater than 0.020 but less than or equal to 0.030
D) greater than 0.030

Question 48

The upper limit and lower specifications for a service are 5.0 min. and 3.0 min., respectively. The process standard deviation is 0.4 min. and the process average is 4.0 min. What conclusion can be drawn?

A) The process is capable.
B) The process is not capable.
C) The specifications should be changed to 4.2 and 3.8 respectively.
D) No out- of- spec. services will be performed.

Question 49

Historically, the average proportion of defective bars has been 0.015. Samples will be of 100 bars each. Construct a p- chart using z = 3. What is the value of UCL?

A) less than or equal to 0.050
B) greater than 0.050 but less than or equal to 0.060
C) greater than 0.060 but less than or equal to 0.070
D) greater than 0.070

Question 50

One of the quality "gurus" defined quality using the term fitness for use to reflect the importance of understanding quality from the perspective of the customer. Who was this?

A) Philip Crosby
B) Walter Shewart
C) W. Edwards Deming
D) Joseph M. Juran

Question 51

Judging service quality on the basis of how a service provider is dressed and how courteous and friendly they are is considered

A) psychological impressions.
B) reliability.
C) durability.
D) supplemental features.

Question 52

The concept of quality at the source means that

A) employees should not pass defective units to the next operation.
B) quality is the sole responsibility of the supplier.
C) if a defective item is discovered downstream in the process, it is returned for corrections to the worker who made it.
D) inspectors are responsible for finding out who made the defect.

Question 53

Whose teachings regarding quality management emphasized the role of project teams to achieve periodic "breakthrough" improvements that provide dramatic gains to address chronic quality problems?

A) Joseph M. Juran
B) W. Edwards Deming
C) F.W. Taylor
D) Philip Crosby

Question 54

ISO 9001:2008 standards

A) require participating companies to keep track of their raw materials use and their generation, treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes.
B) are a systematic procedure for measuring the performance of a firm's products, services and processes relative to industry leaders.
C) are statistical process control methods used to identify assignable causes of variation.
D) are latest update of ISO 9000 standards governing documentation of a quality program and do not require a specific quality specification for a service or final product .

Question 55

The implementation of a total quality management program will most likely result in a(n)

A) increase in communication between workers.
B) decrease in employee involvement.
C) increase in work- in- process inventory.
D) increase in product lead times.

Question 56

Quality function development (QFD) is a key to improving quality through TQM because

A) the core of the approach is a conceptual map for interfunctional planning and communications that links customer requirements and product/service designs.
B) it advocates functional silos for greater efficiency.
C) it strategically positions the quality function in an organization chart.
D) it is a method to optimally locate inspections stations in a manufacturing plant.

Question 57

Which one of the following statements about total quality management (TQM) is TRUE?

A) Total quality management means inspectors are responsible for finding out who makes the defects.
B) In total quality management, workers have the authority to stop a production line if they see quality problems.
C) Total quality management reduces the external failure costs but not the internal failure costs.
D) Total quality management reduces the internal failure costs but not the external failure costs.

Question 58

Which one of the following statements about total quality management is TRUE?

A) Finding the best "percent defective" level is a trade- off between process costs and the losses caused by poor quality.
B) Although poor quality increases overall costs, studies have failed to find any correlation between quality and market share.
C) Quality prevention is concerned with detection of quality errors, whereas quality control is concerned with both the detection and prevention of quality problems.
D) The consumer's perception of quality does not depend on psychological impressions.

Question 59

Continuous improvement is a philosophy that

A) ensures there are plenty of quality inspectors to find areas for improvement.
B) is based on the belief that the people most closely associated with an operation are in the best position to identify changes that should be made.
C) waits until a big problem occurs, then systemically solves it.
D) encourages the use of statistical process control specialists to reduce the need for employees to learn complicated statistical methods.

Question 60

Which of the following statements relating to total quality management is TRUE?

A) High product quality in manufacturing can have significant market implications for a firm.
B) To produce 100 good units in a process with a 20 percent defective rate, the company must produce a total of 120 units.
C) The only effect of internal failure is loss of material.
D) Poor quality generally does not increase the inventory level or lead times.

Question 61

A hotel tracks the number of complaints per month. When the process is in control, there is an average of 35 complaints per month. Assume that a 2- sigma control limit is used. What is the lower control limit?

A) less than or equal to 15
B) more than 15 but less than or equal to 20
C) more than 20 but less than or equal to 25
D) more than 25

Question 62

Which one of the following statements relating to quality is TRUE?

A) A distribution of sample means has more variance than the process distribution itself.
B) Sampling is a better approach (than 100 percent inspection) when the cost of accepting a defective item is very high.
C) Sampling procedures based on measurement by variables should be used when quality specifications are complex.
D) The distribution of sample means can be approximated by the normal distribution.

Question 63

A product has five major components with individual reliabilities of 0.95, 0.98, 0.97, 0.98, and 0.99. What is the reliability of the product?

A) less than or equal to 0.80
B) greater than 0.80 but less than or equal to 0.85
C) greater than 0.85 but less than or equal to 0.90
D) greater then 0.95

Question 64

The manufacturing of compact disks requires four steps. The reliabilities of the steps are 0.80, 0.85, 0.95, and 0.90 respectively. What is the reliability of the process to produce a good compact disk?

A) less than or equal to 0.45
B) greater than 0.45 but less than or equal to 0.50
C) greater than 0.50 but less than or equal to 0.55
D) greater than 0.55

Question 65

Which of the following statements is NOT one of Deming's 14 points for improving quality?

A) Focus the job tasks of workers by instituting barriers between departments.
B) Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality - build quality into the product.
C) Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service.
D) Institute a vigorous program of education and self- improvement.

Question 66

Which one of the following statements about benchmarking is TRUE?

A) Benchmarking is the same as the plan- do- check- act cycle in continuous improvement.
B) Because of the power of benchmarking, specific plans of action are not necessary.
C) Benchmarking is only useful when a company compares itself against other companies.
D) Benchmarking focuses on setting quantitative goals for continuous improvement.

Question 67

Historically, the average diameter of the holes drilled has been 0.25 cm and the average range has been 0.1 cm. Determine the central line and upper and lower control limits for an and an R- chart, assuming samples of size 8 will be taken. Use Table 7.1.For the 11eca36b_5b1c_44f6_8c30_65ecb5762ed6_TB5515_11 chart, what is the value of the

A) less than or equal to 0.10
B) greater than 0.10 but less than or equal to 0.19
C) greater than 0.19 but less than or equal to 0.29
D) greater than 0.29

Question 68

Which one of the following is part of prevention costs?

A) the costs of improving process design and product design
B) the costs of lawsuits from injury from use of the product
C) the costs of quality audits
D) the costs resulting from yield losses

Question 69

Which one of the following is NOT a characteristic of a process distribution?

A) size
B) spread
C) shape
D) mean

Question 70

A manager of a fiberglass molding operation suspects that the number of defects is related to the number of total units produced of a particular product. A tool most useful in this analysis would be a

A) cause- and- effect diagram.
B) Pareto chart.
C) scatter diagram.
D) checklist.

Question 71

Samples of 100 checks each were taken at a bank from an encoding machine (which records the amount of a check) over a five- day period. Details are summarized in the Table 7.3. If the bank were to use the average proportion defective from these five samples as the central line for a process control chart, what would be the central line?

A) less than or equal to 0.01
B) greater than 0.01 but less than or equal to 0.02
C) greater than 0.02 but less than or equal to 0.03
D) greater than 0.03

Question 72

A service requires three steps. At each step there is the chance that something will go wrong. The reliabilities of each step are 0.70, 0.90, and 0.98. What is the reliability of the total service?

A) less than or equal to 0.55
B) greater than 0.55 but less than or equal to 0.60
C) greater than 0.60 but less than or equal to 0.65
D) greater than 0.65

Question 73

Historically, the average time to service a customer complaint has been 3 days and the standard deviation has been 0.50 day. Management would like to specify the control limits for an chart with a sample size of 10 and 3 sigma limits. The LCL for the chart would be

A) less than 2.40.
B) greater than 2.40 but less than or equal to 2.45.
C) greater than 2.45 but less than or equal to 2.50.
D) greater than 2.50.

Question 74

"Conformance to specifications" implies that

A) quality performance is measured by the product's value.
B) there is no need to scrap or rework any product because it always meets specifications.
C) quality standards are specified for products or services.
D) quality level will be high.

Question 75

Historically, the average proportion of defective bars has been 0.015. Samples will be of 100 bars each. Construct a p- chart using z = 3. What is the value of LCL?

A) less than or equal to 0.01
B) greater than 0.01 but less than or equal to 0.02
C) greater than 0.02 but less than or equal to 0.03
D) greater than 0.03

Question 76

A hotel tracks the number of complaints per month. When the process is in control, there is an average of 35 complaints per month. Assume that a 2- sigma control limit is used. What is the upper control limit?

A) less than or equal to 35
B) more than 35 but less than or equal to 45
C) more than 45 but less than or equal to 55
D) more than 55

Question 77

Use the information in Table 7.4. The manager of Kewpie has decided to redesign the process control method (both central line and control limits) based on just the data from weeks 1- 5. What is the new UCL? (Assume z = 2)

A) less than or equal to 0.15
B) greater than 0.15 but less than or equal to 0.19
C) greater than 0.19 but less than or equal to 0.23
D) greater than 0.23

Question 78

Which of the following is NOT a variable measure of quality?

A) diameter of a bolt
B) length of a steel bar
C) proportion of late airline flights
D) weight of a cereal box

Question 79

A machine that produces more lighter than heavier boxes has a process distribution that is

A) symmetric.
B) above average.
C) capable.
D) skewed.

Question 80

Four samples of 100 each were taken from an assembly line, with the following results: Using the historical average as the central line of the chart, which one of the following is the limits for an attributes control chart with z = 2?

A) UCL < 0.1 and LCL < 0.03
B) UCL < 0.1 and LCL > 0.03
C) UCL > 0.1 and LCL < 0.03
D) UCL > 0.1 and LCL > 0.03