Deck 11: Quality Improvement Methods

Question 1

Once a quality improvement plan is implemented,the process is complete.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The purpose of FMEA is to take action to eliminate or reduce failures,starting with the highest-priority ones.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Fail-safing refers to investigating how a process might fail.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The following figure shows a histogram.

Question 5

A less-than-appropriate sample size can lead to a lower probability of the two types of errors commonly associated with any statistical analysis.

Question 6

A Pareto analysis suggests that 20 percent of the problems are produced by 80 percent of the causes.

Question 7

A process capability analysis is focused on statistical variations present within a system.

Question 8

A Type I error is a false negative.

Question 9

When a percentage of measurements fall outside specification limits,the process is capable.

Question 10

Deming's Plan Do Check Act cycle is a series of steps that are systematically implemented in a quality improvement plan.

Question 11

Clearly defining the population of interest is a key step in developing a sampling plan.

Question 12

Unless the companies are in the same industry,benchmarking should be avoided.

Question 13

When implementing a quality improvement plan,it is important to understand the constraints that might prevent the organization from achieving its goals.

Question 14

Critical evaluation of ideas is an important first step when brainstorming.

Question 15

Customers are a source of quality improvement ideas.

Question 16

A check sheet is a structured,prepared form for collecting and analyzing sampled observations.

Question 17

A specific reason exists for special-cause variations.

Question 18

When the cost of failure is high,a PDPC should be considered.

Question 19

A cause-and-effect diagram is also known as a fishbone diagram.

Question 20

An interrelationship diagram is used to break down broad categories into finer details.

Question 21

Control limits are generally 3 standard deviations from the center line.

Question 22

Which of the following is not a common source of customer feedback?

A)Customer satisfaction measurement efforts
B)Customer choice analysis
C)Customer panels
D)Blogs
E)Advertising agencies

Question 23

A quality circle is a way of getting feedback from what group?

A)Customers
B)Employees
C)Suppliers
D)Competitors
E)Supply chain members

Question 24

Making the size of a gas pump nozzle different from that of a diesel pump nozzle is an example of what technique?

A)Mistake-proofing
B)Benchmarking
C)Sampling
D)Brainstorming
E)FMEA

Question 25

Which of the following actions is not part of the Deming improvement cycle?

A)Plan
B)Study
C)Do
D)Check
E)Act

Question 26

Which of the following is a qualitative technique that provides a systematic method for generating a large number of creative problem solving ideas from many different individuals?

A)Quality circles
B)Brainstorming
C)Benchmarking
D)Customer satisfaction
E)Affinity diagrams

Question 27

An R chart is used to track changes in the percentages of a specified attribute over time.

Question 28

Using students from one class would provide a simple random sample for all university students.

Question 29

The central limit theorem states that the shape of the distribution of averages for samples follows a Pareto distribution even if the original distribution was very different.

Question 30

A single point outside of control limits is sufficient to determine a process is out of control.

Question 31

Attribute data is collected by measuring something on a continuous scale.

Question 32

If a quality improvement plan is implemented and then periodically evaluated and it is discovered that the plan did not show improvement,what should be done?

A)Earlier assumptions need to be reevaluated
B)Standardize for the future
C)Celebrate
D)Recap and summarize what was learned
E)Identify the gaps between actual and preferred situations

Question 33

A tool that provides a systematic approach for identifying all possible failures in a design is described by what acronym?

A)PDPC
B)QFD
C)FMEA
D)DMAIC
E)CPK

Question 34

Customer feedback is essential for developing any quality improvement plan.

Question 35

A customer choice analysis has been an integral part of quality improvement efforts since the beginning of the quality movement.

Question 36

Which of the following is not generally considered a driver for best practices?

A)Organizational culture
B)Employee skills
C)Recognition systems
D)Customer satisfaction
E)Training programs

Question 37

Customer complaints are a key indicator of customer feedback.

Question 38

When one idea branches into two or more subideas,each of which branches into further subideas,the appropriate problem-solving technique is what?

A)Interrelationship diagram
B)Affinity diagram
C)Pareto diagram
D)Tree diagram
E)Fishbone diagram

Question 39

When only natural variations are present,an SPC chart will seldom show a point outside of control limits.

Question 40

A structured process for comparing business practices is known as what?

A)Customer panels
B)Benchmarking
C)Quality circles
D)Brainstorming
E)Blogging

Question 41

Which of the following is a quantitative quality improvement tool?

A)Affinity diagrams
B)Tree diagrams
C)Process decision procharts
D)FMEA
E)SPC chart

Question 42

Identify three sources of quality improvement ideas.

Question 43

On a SPC chart,if a data point falls outside the control limits,the process is said to be what?

A)Random
B)Special
C)Capable
D)Out of control
E)Scattered

Question 44

What term describes a process for which a prespecified percentage of measurements fall inside the specification limits?

A)Random
B)Special
C)Capable
D)Out of control
E)Scattered

Question 45

If a process is capable of meeting defined tolerances 99.7 percent of the time,the C_pk will be what value?

A)-1.000
B)0
C)0.997
D)1.000
E)1.300

Question 46

Attribute data can be tracked on what type of control chart?

A)X bar chart
B)R chart
C)P chart
D)SPC chart
E)Counting chart

Question 47

The first step in any sampling plan is to

A)Clearly define the population of interest
B)Pick a sample size
C)Bias the sample
D)Stratify the sample
E)Pick a quota sample

Question 48

Describe three sampling techniques.

Question 49

Describe an SPC chart.

Question 50

Which of the following tools illustrates that a few causes are responsible for the majority of the problems?

A)Check sheet
B)Ishikawa diagram
C)Pareto analysis
D)Control chart
E)Capability analysis

Question 51

Which of the following is not a rule for determining if a process is out of control?

A)A single point is outside the control limits
B)Nine data points in a row are on the same side of the center line
C)Six points in a row are increasing
D)An obvious pattern persists
E)Three points are on the center line

Question 52

Identify five qualitative quality improvement tools.

Question 53

Typical control limits are how many standard deviations from the mean?

A)0
B)1
C)2
D)3
E)6

Question 54

If the upper tolerance limit for the capability index is 1.029 and the lower tolerance limit for the capability index is 1.496,the C_pk for the process is what value?

A)0.067
B)1.000
C)1.029
D)1.496
E)2.525

Question 55

A scatter diagram is used to graph what?

A)Continuous data
B)Pareto data
C)Nonlinear data
D)Pairs of numerical data
E)Qualitative data

Question 56

If you conclude that a soda-filling machine is not filling bottles completely,based on the results of a sample,when the bottles actually contain the necessary amount of liquid,is an example of what type of error?

A)Type II error
B)Beta error
C)A false positive
D)Sampling error
E)Standard error

Question 57

Which of the following summarizes a large number of observations in to a few data categories?

A)Bar chart
B)Histogram
C)Check sheet
D)Tree diagram
E)Scattergram

Question 58

The central limit theorem states that the shape of the distribution of averages for samples follows what kind of distribution?

A)Attribute
B)Poisson
C)Binomial
D)Continuous
E)Normal

Question 59

Briefly describe a Pareto analysis.

Question 60

Control charts are effective at determining whether the variations that are present in a process are random variations or what?

A)Natural variation
B)Limited variation
C)Assignable variation
D)Controllable variation
E)Present variation

Question 61

Describe a Type I error and a Type II error.

Question 62

A continuous process cuts pipe into lengths of 79 inches.Five samples of six observations each have been taken,and the results are listed below.Assuming that the standard deviation of the individual data points is 0.62 and the mean of the sample averages is 78.8,compute the control limits for the

Question 63

Briefly describe the central limit theorem.

Question 64

Provide three rules for identifying if a process is out of control,in addition to a single point being outside of the control limits.

Question 65

Prepare a scatter diagram for the following data.

Question 66

Air pressure must be in a tight range for the proper performance of aerosol air fresheners.Engineering specifications call for 50 psi of pressure with an upper tolerance of 55 psi and a lower tolerance of 45 psi.A sample from the previous week's production had an average 51 psi and a standard deviation of 1.5 psi.What is the capability of the process?

Question 67

A machine shop needs the diameter of the castings it purchases between 1.000 inch and 1.060 inches to insure that the surface finish will be acceptable.A large sample of castings found the mean diameter was 1.025 inches with a standard deviation of 0.008 inches.Calculate the process capability index.

Question 68

Describe the nine steps in benchmarking.

Question 69

A continuous process cuts pipe into lengths of 79 inches.Five samples of six observations each have been taken,and the results are listed below.Calculate the standard deviation of the individual data points.

Question 70

A continuous process cuts pipe into lengths of 79 inches.Five samples of six observations each have been taken,and the results are listed below.Calculate the control limits for the R chart.

Question 71

A collection of defective metal castings were studied and classified as follows:

Question 72

Describe the implications of having a Cpk equal to 1,less than 1,or greater than 1.

Question 73

A continuous process cuts pipe into lengths of 79 inches.Five samples of six observations each have been taken,and the results are listed below.Calculate the

Question 74

Repeated samples of 150 ball point pen housings are inspected to determine if the housing is out of round or the printing is readable.If either condition exists,it is nonconforming.The following sample information was collected.

Question 75

In a control chart application,a study showed the overall mean of 15 samples consisting of 9 observations per sample as 30.0.The standard deviation of the individual data points was 1.87.The average range was 5.5.Calculate the appropriate control limits.