OSCM Ch 6 Managing Quality (Heizer)
A Six Sigma program has how many defects per million? A) 3.4 B) 34 C) 1000 D) 6 times the standard deviation E) none of the above
A) 3.4
If 1 million passengers pass through the St. Louis Airport with checked baggage each month, a successful Six Sigma program for baggage handling would result in how many passengers with misplaced luggage? A) 3.4 B) 6.0 C) 34 D) 2700 E) 6 times the monthly standard deviation of passengers
A) 3.4
A quality circle holds a brainstorming session and attempts to identify the factors responsible for flaws in a product. Which tool do you suggest they use to organize their findings? A) Ishikawa diagram B) Pareto chart C) process chart D) control charts E) activity chart
A) Ishikawa diagram
PDCA, developed by Shewhart, stands for which of the following? A) Plan-Do-Check-Act B) Plan-Develop-Check-Accept C) Problem-Develop Solution- Check- Act D) Problem-Do-Continue-Act E) none of the above
A) Plan-Do-Check-Act
Costs of dissatisfaction, repair costs, and warranty costs are elements of cost in the A) Taguchi Loss Function B) Pareto chart C) ISO 9000 Quality Cost Calculator D) process chart E) none of the above
A) Taguchi Loss Function
Which of the following statements regarding "Six Sigma" is true? A) The term has two distinct meanings-one is statistical; the other is a comprehensive quality system. B) Six Sigma means that about 94 percent of a firm's output is free of defects. C) The Six Sigma program was developed by Toyota in the 1970's. D) The Six Sigma program is for manufacturing firms, and is not applicable to services. E) Six Sigma certification is granted by the International Standards Organization (ISO).
A) The term has two distinct meanings-one is statistical; the other is a comprehensive quality system.
Which of the following is false regarding control charts? A) Values above the upper control limits always imply that the product's quality is exceeding expectations. B) Control charts are built so that new data can be quickly compared to past performance data. C) Control charts graphically present data. D) Control charts plot data over time. E) None of the above is false.
A) Values above the upper control limits always imply that the product's quality is exceeding expectations.
A production manager at a pottery factory has noticed that about 70 percent of defects result from impurities in raw materials, 15 percent result from human error, 10 percent from machine malfunctions, and 5 percent from a variety of other causes. This manager is most likely using A) a Pareto chart B) a scatter diagram C) a Taguchi loss function D) a cause-and-effect diagram E) a flowchart
A) a Pareto chart
A fishbone diagram is also known as a A) cause-and-effect diagram B) poka-yoke diagram C) Kaizen diagram D) Kanban diagram E) Taguchi diagram
A) cause-and-effect diagram
A recent consumer survey conducted for a car dealership indicates that, when buying a car, customers are primarily concerned with the salesperson's ability to explain the car's features, the salesperson's friendliness, and the dealer's honesty. The dealership should be especially concerned with which determinants of service quality? A) communication, courtesy, and credibility B) competence, courtesy, and security C) competence, responsiveness, and reliability D) communication, responsiveness, and reliability E) understanding/knowing customer, responsiveness, and reliability
A) communication, courtesy, and credibility
The goal of inspection is to A) detect a bad process immediately B) add value to a product or service C) correct deficiencies in products D) correct system deficiencies E) all of the above
A) detect a bad process immediately
Regarding the quality of design, production, and distribution of products, an ethical requirement for management is to A) determine whether any of the organization's stakeholders are violated by poor quality products B) gain ISO 14000 certification for the organization C) obtain a product safety certificate from the Consumer Product Safety Commission D) have the organization's legal staff write disclaimers in the product instruction booklets E) compare the cost of product liability to the external failure cost
A) determine whether any of the organization's stakeholders are violated by poor quality products
Quality can improve profitability by reducing costs. Which of the following is not an aspect of reduced costs by quality improvements? A) flexible pricing B) increased productivity C) lower rework and scrap costs D) lower warranty costs E) All of the above are aspects of reduced costs by quality improvements.
A) flexible pricing
A hospital benchmarked against Ferrari Racing in an effort to A) improve patient handoff quality B) increase surgery prep time C) lengthen surgery duration D) reduce the number of doctors E) all of the above
A) improve patient handoff quality
The "four Ms" of cause-and-effect diagrams are A) material, machinery/equipment, manpower, and methods B) material, methods, men, and mental attitude C) named after four quality experts D) material, management, manpower, and motivation E) none of the above
A) material, machinery/equipment, manpower, and methods
Stakeholders who are affected by the production and marketing of poor quality products include A) stockholders, employees, and customers B) suppliers and creditors, but not distributors C) only stockholders, creditors, and owners D) suppliers and distributors, but not customers E) only stockholders and organizational executives and managers
A) stockholders, employees, and customers
Subaru's green plant is an example of the application of A) ISO 9000 B) ISO 14000 C) TQM D) ISO 24700 E) SPC
B) ISO 14000
The process improvement technique that sorts the "vital few" from the "trivial many" is A) Taguchi analysis B) Pareto analysis C) benchmarking D) Deming analysis E) Yamaguchi analysis
B) Pareto analysis
Total quality management emphasizes A) the responsibility of the quality control staff to identify and solve all quality-related problems B) a commitment to quality that goes beyond internal company issues to suppliers and customers C) a system where strong managers are the only decision makers D) a process where mostly statisticians get involved E) ISO 14000 certification
B) a commitment to quality that goes beyond internal company issues to suppliers and customers
Quality "lies in the eyes of the beholder" is A) an unrealistic definition of quality B) a user-based definition of quality C) a manufacturing-based definition of quality D) a product-based definition of quality E) the definition proposed by the American Society for Quality
B) a user-based definition of quality
A customer service manager at a retail clothing store has collected numerous customer complaints from the forms they fill out on merchandise returns. To analyze trends or patterns in these returns, she has organized these complaints into a small number of sources or factors. This is most closely related to the __________ tool of TQM. A) Taguchi loss function B) cause-and-effect diagram C) scatter diagram D) histogram E) process control chart
B) cause-and-effect diagram
One of Britain's largest children's hospitals working with Ferrari Racing is an example of A) internal benchmarking B) external benchmarking C) Taguchi concepts D) employee empowerment E) corporate responsibility
B) external benchmarking
Among the tools of TQM, the tool ordinarily used to aid in understanding the sequence of events through which a product travels is a A) Pareto chart B) flowchart C) check sheet D) Taguchi map E) poka-yoke
B) flowchart
"Poka-yoke" is the Japanese term for A) card B) foolproof C) continuous improvement D) fishbone diagram E) just-in-time production
B) foolproof
If a sample of parts is measured and the mean of the measurements is outside the control limits, the process is A) in control, but not capable of producing within the established control limits B) out of control and the process should be investigated for assignable variation C) within the established control limits with only natural causes of variation D) monitored closely to see if the next sample mean will also fall outside the control limits E) none of the above
B) out of control and the process should be investigated for assignable variation
Marketing issues such as advertising, image, and promotion are important to quality because A) they define for consumers the tangible elements of a service B) the intangible attributes of a product (including any accompanying service) may not be defined by the consumer C) they educate consumers on how to use the product D) they make the product seem more valuable than it really is E) they raise expenses and therefore decrease profitability
B) the intangible attributes of a product (including any accompanying service) may not be defined by the consumer
Three broad categories of definitions of quality are A) product quality, service quality, and organizational quality B) user-based, manufacturing-based, and product-based C) internal, external, and prevention D) low-cost, response, and differentiation E) Pareto, Shewhart, and Deming
B) user-based, manufacturing-based, and product-based
"Quality Is Free," meaning that the costs of poor quality have been understated, is the work of A) W. Edwards Deming B) Joseph M. Juran C) Philip B. Crosby D) Crosby, Stills, and Nash E) Armand Feigenbaum
C) Philip B. Crosby
Which of the following statements is not true? A) Self-promotion is not a substitute for quality products. B) Inferior products harm a firm's profitability and a nation's balance of payments. C) Product liability transfers from the manufacturer to the retailer once the retailer accepts delivery of the product. D) Quality-be it good or bad-will show up in perceptions about a firm's new products, employment practices, and supplier relations. E) Legislation such as the Consumer Product Safety Act sets and enforces product standards by banning products that do not reach those standards.
C) Product liability transfers from the manufacturer to the retailer once the retailer accepts delivery of the product.
The process of identifying other organizations that are best at some facet of your operations and then modeling your organization after them is known as A) continuous improvement B) employee empowerment C) benchmarking D) copycatting E) patent infringement
C) benchmarking
Which of the determinants of service quality involves having the customer's best interests at heart? A) access B) courtesy C) credibility D) responsiveness E) tangibles
C) credibility
Building high-morale organizations and building communication networks that include employees are both elements of A) ISO 9000 certification B) Six Sigma certification C) employee empowerment D) Taguchi methods E) the tools of TQM
C) employee empowerment
Pareto charts are used to A) identify inspection points in a process B) outline production schedules C) organize errors, problems, or defects D) show material flow E) all of the above
C) organize errors, problems, or defects
A Three Sigma program has how many defects per million? A) 34 B) 3 C) 3 times the standard deviation D) 2700 E) 1500
D) 2700
Companies with the highest levels of quality are almost how many times more productive than their competitors with the lowest quality levels? A) 2 B) 3 C) 4 D) 5 E) None of the above, quality has no impact on productivity (units/labor hr.).
D) 5
Which of the following statements best describes the relationship between quality management and product strategy? A) Product strategy is set by top management; quality management is an independent activity. B) Quality management is important to the low-cost product strategy, but not to the response or differentiation strategies. C) High quality is important to all three strategies, but it is not a critical success factor. D) Managing quality helps build successful product strategies. E) Companies with the highest measures of quality are no more productive than other firms.
D) Managing quality helps build successful product strategies.
A manager tells her production employees, "It's no longer good enough that your work fall anywhere within the specification limits. I need your work to be as close to the target value as possible." Her thinking is reflective of A) internal benchmarking B) Six Sigma C) ISO 9000 D) Taguchi concepts E) process control charts
D) Taguchi concepts
Suppose that a firm has historically been achieving "three-sigma" quality. If the firm later changes its quality management practices such that it begins to achieve "six-sigma" quality, which of the following phenomena will result? A) The average number of defects will be cut in half. B) The specification limits will be moved twice as far from the mean. C) The average number of defects will be cut by 99.9997%. D) The average number of defects will be cut by 99.87%. E) The average number of defects will be cut by 99.73%.
D) The average number of defects will be cut by 99.87%.
"Employees cannot produce goods that on average exceed the quality of what the process is capable of producing" expresses a basic element in the writings of A) Vilfredo Pareto B) Armand Feigenbaum C) Joseph M. Juran D) W. Edwards Deming E) Philip B. Crosby
D) W. Edwards Deming
To become ISO 9000 certified, organizations must A) document quality procedures B) have an onsite assessment C) have an ongoing series of audits of their products or service D) all of the above E) none of the above
D) all of the above
A successful TQM program incorporates all of the following except A) continuous improvement B) employee involvement C) benchmarking D) centralized decision-making authority E) None of the above; a successful TQM program incorporates all of the above.
D) centralized decision-making authority
Which of the four major categories of quality costs is particularly hard to quantify? A) prevention costs B) appraisal costs C) internal failure costs D) external failure costs E) None is hard to quantify.
D) external failure costs
When a sample measurement falls inside the control limits, it means that A) each unit manufactured is good enough to sell B) the process limits cannot be determined statistically C) the process output exceeds the requirements D) if there is no other pattern in the samples, the process is in control E) the process output does not fulfill the requirements
D) if there is no other pattern in the samples, the process is in control
ISO 9000 seeks standardization in terms of A) products B) production procedures C) suppliers' specifications D) procedures to manage quality E) all of the above
D) procedures to manage quality
According to the manufacturing-based definition of quality, A) quality is the degree of excellence at an acceptable price and the control of variability at an acceptable cost B) quality depends on how well the product fits patterns of consumer preferences C) even though quality cannot be defined, you know what it is D) quality is the degree to which a specific product conforms to standards E) quality lies in the eyes of the beholder
D) quality is the degree to which a specific product conforms to standards
Which of the determinants of service quality involves performing the service right the first time? A) access B) courtesy C) credibility D) reliability E) responsiveness
D) reliability
A quality loss function includes all of the following costs except A) the cost of scrap and repair B) the cost of customer dissatisfaction C) inspection, warranty, and service costs D) sales costs E) costs to society
D) sales costs
Based on his 14 Points, Deming is a strong proponent of A) inspection at the end of the production process B) an increase in numerical quotas to boost productivity C) looking for the cheapest supplier D) training and knowledge E) all of the above
D) training and knowledge
A successful quality strategy features which of the following steps? A) organization environment that fosters quality B) understanding the principles of quality C) engaging employees in the necessary activities for quality implementation D) A and C E) A, B, and C
E) A, B, and C
Techniques for building employee empowerment include A) building communication networks that include employees B) developing open, supportive supervisors C) moving responsibility from both managers and staff to production employees D) building high-morale organizations E) All of the above are techniques for employee empowerment.
E) All of the above are techniques for employee empowerment.
Which of the following is true about ISO 14000 certification? A) It is not a prerequisite for ISO 9000 certification. B) It deals with environmental management. C) It offers a good systematic approach to pollution prevention. D) One of its core elements is life-cycle assessment. E) All of the above are true.
E) All of the above are true.
The role of quality in limiting a firm's product liability is illustrated by A) ensuring that contaminated products such as impure foods do not reach customers B) ensuring that products meet standards such as those of the Consumer Product Safety Act C) designing safe products to limit possible harm to consumers D) using processes that make products as safe or as durable as their design specifications call for E) All of the above are valid.
E) All of the above are valid.
Members of quality circles are A) paid according to their contribution to quality B) external consultants designed to provide training in the use of quality tools C) always machine operators D) all trained to be facilitators E) None of the above; all of the statements are false.
E) None of the above; all of the statements are false.
Which of the following is not one of the major categories of costs associated with quality? A) prevention costs B) appraisal costs C) internal failures D) external failures E) None of the above; they are all major categories of costs associated with quality.
E) None of the above; they are all major categories of costs associated with quality.
Which of the following is not a typical inspection point? A) upon receipt of goods from your supplier B) when production or service is complete C) before the product is shipped to the customer D) at the supplier's plant while the supplier is producing E) after a costly process
E) after a costly process
The philosophy of zero defects is A) the result of Deming's research B) unrealistic C) prohibitively costly D) an ultimate goal; in practice, 1 to 2% defects is acceptable E) consistent with the commitment to continuous improvement
E) consistent with the commitment to continuous improvement
"Kaizen" is a Japanese term meaning A) a foolproof mechanism B) just-in-time (JIT) C) a fishbone diagram D) setting standards E) continuous improvement
E) continuous improvement
All of the following costs are likely to decrease as a result of better quality except A) customer dissatisfaction costs B) inspection costs C) scrap costs D) warranty and service costs E) maintenance costs
E) maintenance costs
A good description of "source inspection" is inspecting A) materials upon delivery by the supplier B) the goods at the production facility before they reach the customer C) the design specifications D) goods at the supplier's plant E) one's own work
E) one's own work
What refers to training and empowering frontline workers to solve a problem immediately? A) just-in-time B) poka-yoke C) benchmarking D) kaizen E) service recovery
E) service recovery