LSS Book Reviewer

What is the primary formula that every Six Sigma Green Belt must learn to connect quality to financials?

A) Return on investment (ROI)

B) Process capability index (Cpk)

C) Defective rate percentage

D) S-double bar (tied to cost of quality or financial calculations)

D) S-double bar (tied to cost of quality or financial calculations)

What is the most common reason for failure when organizations attempt to implement Six Sigma?

A) Lack of software tools

B) Management's lack of commitment to real process improvement

C) Employee resistance to training

D) Insufficient capital funding

B) Management's lack of commitment to real process improvement

What is advanced quality planning (AQP) used for by management?

A) To design new marketing campaigns

B) To audit supplier financial records

C) To prepare for a Six Sigma deployment and increase the likelihood of success

D) To reduce employee turnover

C) To prepare for a Six Sigma deployment and increase the likelihood of success

Who devised the technique of using quality control charts in the mid-1920s?

A) Joseph Juran

B) W. Edwards Deming

C) Walter Shewhart

D) Philip Crosby

C) Walter Shewhart

What does the acronym DMAIC stand for in Six Sigma?

A) Define, model, analyze, innovate, and control

B) Design, manage, assess, implement, and check

C) Discover, measure, audit, improve, and coordinate

D) Define, measure, analyze, improve, and control

D) Define, measure, analyze, improve, and control

What is the primary focus of Six Sigma versus Lean manufacturing?

A) Six Sigma focuses on speed, while Lean focuses on accuracy

B) Six Sigma focuses on reducing process variation, while Lean focuses on driving out waste

C) Six Sigma focuses on customer service, while Lean focuses on production

D) Six Sigma focuses on product design, while Lean focuses on supply chain

B) Six Sigma focuses on reducing process variation, while Lean focuses on driving out waste

Who originated the zero defects concept?

A) Kaoru Ishikawa

B) Philip Crosby

C) Armand Feigenbaum

D) Subir Chowdhury

B) Philip Crosby

What are the four parts of W. Edwards Deming's system of profound knowledge?

A) Appreciation of a system, knowledge of variation, theory of knowledge, and psychology

B) Planning, doing, checking, and acting

C) Cost, quality, speed, and safety

D) Define, measure, analyze, and control

A) Appreciation of a system, knowledge of variation, theory of knowledge, and psychology

What term did Armand Feigenbaum coin to describe the extra work performed correcting mistakes?

A) The rework margin

B) The waste zone

C) The hidden plant (or hidden factory)

D) The error cost

C) The hidden plant (or hidden factory)

Who is credited with developing the cause-and-effect (fishbone) diagram?

A) Walter Shewhart

B) Dorian Shainin

C) Kaoru Ishikawa

D) Joseph Juran

C) Kaoru Ishikawa

What does the Juran trilogy consist of?

A) Quality planning, quality control, and quality improvement

B) Quality design, quality execution, and quality audit

C) Prevention, appraisal, and failure

D) Inputs, process, and outputs

A) Quality planning, quality control, and quality improvement

What is Dorian Shainin best known for in quality improvement?

A) The seven basic quality tools

B) The Red X system for solving the hardest industrial problems

C) Statistical process control charts

D) The zero defects movement

B) The Red X system for solving the hardest industrial problems

What does the Taguchi loss function measure?

A) Direct manufacturing labor cost

B) Equipment downtime hours

C) Material waste weight in production

D) Financial loss to society resulting from poor quality departing from the target

D) Financial loss to society resulting from poor quality departing from the target

What do the letters in SIPOC stand for?

A) Systems, inputs, procedures, outputs, and controls

B) Suppliers, inputs, process, outputs, and customers

C) Standardized indicators, people, operations, costs

D) Structure, inventory, plan, orders, channels

B) Suppliers, inputs, process, outputs, and customers

What is suboptimization?

A) Operating a system at less than its best by optimizing individual processes at the expense of the whole system

B) Maximizing total profits at the expense of employee satisfaction

C) Reducing output to increase product price

D) Failing to reach baseline process capability goals

A) Operating a system at less than its best by optimizing individual processes at the expense of the whole system

What is hoshin planning?

A) A short-term daily task management system

B) A planning process where a company develops up to four 5-year vision statements to guide goals and work plans

C) A method for scheduling factory maintenance

D) A technique for budgeting annual expenditures

B) A planning process where a company develops up to four 5-year vision statements to guide goals and work plans

What does VOC stand for in organizational drivers?

A) Volume of Capital

B) Verification of Compliance

C) Voice of the Customer

D) Variance of Control

C) Voice of the Customer

What are the four perspectives included in a balanced scorecard?

A) Inputs, throughput, outputs, and feedback

B) Quality, speed, cost, and safety

C) Shareholders, management, workers, and suppliers

D) Financial, customer, internal processes, and employee learning and growth

D) Financial, customer, internal processes, and employee learning and growth

What is a scoreboard or dashboard used for in business?

A) A financial ledger for annual taxes

B) A visual representation giving personnel a quick, real-time view of company performance

C) A tool for tracking employee attendance records

D) An inventory count spreadsheet

B) A visual representation giving personnel a quick, real-time view of company performance

What is a KPI in the context of Six Sigma?

A) A key process inspection

B) A quantifiable measurement agreed to beforehand that reflects critical success factors

C) A known production indicator

D) A knowledge process integration

B) A quantifiable measurement agreed to beforehand that reflects critical success factors

What does DFSS stand for in quality management?

A) Design for Six Sigma

B) Data Flow Systems Standard

C) Direct Factory Standardisation

D) Defined Failure Prevention Strategy

A) Design for Six Sigma

What are the four categories of quality costs in a cost-benefit analysis?

A) Direct, indirect, fixed, and variable costs

B) Prevention costs, appraisal costs, internal failure costs, and external failure costs

C) Material, labor, overhead, and capital costs

D) Planning, testing, correction, and warranty costs

B) Prevention costs, appraisal costs, internal failure costs, and external failure costs

What is the primary goal of calculating the total cost of quality over time?

A) To calculate employee payroll bonuses

B) To set market retail prices for goods

C) To find trends and reduce the overall cost of providing quality products and services
D) To determine equipment depreciation rates

B) To find trends and reduce the overall cost of providing quality products and services

In the DMAIC model, what is the main objective of the 'Define' phase?

A) Identify the issue causing decreased customer satisfaction

B) Collect numerical process data

C) Implement process changes

D) Monitor long-term system stability

A) Identify the issue causing decreased customer satisfaction

In the DMAIC model, what is the main objective of the 'Measure' phase?

A) Brainstorm root causes

B) Collect data from the process

C) Control the output variables

D) Define the business case

B) Collect data from the process

In the DMAIC model, what is the main objective of the 'Analyze' phase?

A) Act on data to change the process

B) Study the process and data for clues to what is going on

C) Establish control charts for ongoing monitoring

D) Establish project boundaries

B) Study the process and data for clues to what is going on

In the DMAIC model, what is the main objective of the 'Improve' phase?

A) Verify measurement system accuracy

B) Outline the project charter

C) Act on the data to change the process for improvement

D) Document the standard operating procedures

C) Act on the data to change the process for improvement

In the DMAIC model, what is the main objective of the 'Control' phase?

A) Monitor the system to sustain the gains

B) Identify the core problem statement

C) Map out the current process flow

D) Generate potential solutions

A) Monitor the system to sustain the gains

What does the concept y = f(x) express in the philosophical perspective of Six Sigma?

A) Financial metrics drive production limits
B) Outputs dictate what inputs are needed
C) Quality equals cost divided by volume
D) If you control the inputs, you will control the outputs

A) If you control the inputs, you will control the outputS

What does LEO stand for in Dr. Subir Chowdhury's revolutionary process?

A) Launch, evaluate, and operate

B) Listen, enrich, and optimize

C) Lead, execute, and organize

D) Locate, examine, and oversee

B) Listen, enrich, and optimize

What standard deviation did Motorola initially describe Six Sigma as when trying to sell to Ford?
A) ±1 standard deviation
B) ±3 standard deviations
C) ±6 standard deviations
D) ±9 standard deviations

B) ±3 standard deviations

What is the Six Sigma quality performance metric representing defects per million opportunities, accounting for a 1.5-sigma shift?
A) 1.2
B) 3.4
C) 6.0
D) 13.5

B) 3.4

What formula is used to calculate expected profit in project risk analysis?
A) EP = Σ Profit × Probability
B) EP = Profit / Probability
C) EP = (Profit + Probability) / 2
D) EP = Profit - Probability

A) EP = Σ Profit × Probability

What is the difference between lagging and leading measures in a balanced scorecard?
A) Lagging are financial; leading are operational
B) Lagging are internal; leading are external
C) Lagging measure inputs; leading measure outputs
D) Lagging are measured at the end of an event, while leading are measured upstream to help achieve objectives

D) Lagging are measured at the end of an event, while leading are measured upstream to help achieve objectives

What is the definition of an internal customer?
A) The ultimate end user of the product
B) The department head reviewing financial reports
C) The next person who uses the work we do
D) The supplier providing raw parts

C) The next person who uses the work we do

What control chart was the first one used by Walter Shewhart in the mid-1920s?
A) p-chart
B) x-bar chart
C) R-chart
D) c-chart

A) p-chart

According to Genichi Taguchi, what does any departure from the nominal or target value for a characteristic represent?
A) A direct labor cost increase
B) A loss to society
C) A scheduling delay
D) A material shortage

B) A loss to society

What did Kaoru Ishikawa famously state regarding internal operations to break down sectionalism?
A) Talk to the parts, they are smarter than engineers
B) Quality begins and ends with management
C) The next process is your customer
D) Zero defects is the ultimate goal

C) The next process is your customer

What did W. Edwards Deming update Walter Shewhart's PDCA cycle to?
A) Plan-do-study-act (PDSA)
B) Plan-verify-check-act (PVCA)
C) Design-measure-analyze-control (DMAC)
D) Plan-develop-test-release (PDTR)

A) Plan-do-study-act (PDSA)

What are the input categories to a process step as shown in Figure 1.4 of the text?
A) Cost, Quality, Time, Safety
B) Man, Machine, Methods, Mother Nature, Management, Materials, Measurement system
C) Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers

B) Man, Machine, Methods, Mother Nature, Management, Materials, Measurement system

What is the primary purpose of a Pareto chart in quality management?

B) To prioritize problems or defects based on the 80/20 rule

What does FMEA stand for in Six Sigma quality tools?

D) Failure Mode and Effects Analysis

What is the primary purpose of a statistical process control chart?

C) To determine if a process is in statistical control and stable over time

What is the main characteristic of a Lean manufacturing pull system?

D) Products are manufactured based on actual customer demand rather than forecasted schedules

In hypothesis testing, what does a Type I error (Alpha error) represent?

A) Rejecting a null hypothesis when it is actually true

What is a box plot used for in data analysis?

B) To display the distribution of data based on a five-number summary (minimum, first quartile, median, third quartile, and maximum).

What is the purpose of a scatter diagram?

C) To study and identify the relationship between two continuous variables.

What does the term Kaizen mean in quality management?

D) Continuous improvement involving everyone from workers to management.

What is Kanban?

A) A scheduling system for lean and just-in-time manufacturing that indicates what to produce, when to produce it, and how much to produce.

What is Poka-Yoke?

B) A technique for mistake-proofing or error-proofing processes to prevent defects.

What is a histogram used for?

C) To graphically summarize and display the frequency distribution of a continuous dataset.

What does the term Cycle Time mean?

D) The total time from the beginning to the end of a process, including time taken in working on it and waiting time.

What is Takt Time?

B) The rate at which products must be made to meet customer demand.

What is OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness)?

A) A metric that identifies the percentage of manufacturing time that is truly productive.

What is Root Cause Analysis (RCA)?

B) A method of problem solving used for identifying the root causes of faults or problems.