Managing Quality: Integrating the Supply Chain, 6e (Foster)
Chapter 13 Six Sigma Management and Lean Tools
1) The aspect of Six Sigma that has made it popular with CEOs is ________.
A) its similarity to continuous improvement programs
B) its repackaging of quality tools and philosophies
C) its organization into different levels
D) the contingency perspective
E) its cost-reduction orientation
2) Some quality practitioners are uncomfortable with Six Sigma’s results orientation because
________.
A) it violates several of Deming’s points
B) quality is inherently unfocused
C) results are impossible to measure
D) the practice was developed in a different culture
E) the program is relatively new and does not have proven results
3) The Six in Six Sigma refers to the ________.
A) number of standard deviations from a specification limit to the mean of a highly capable
process
B) number of means from a specification limit to the standard deviation of a highly capable
process
C) number of variances from a specification limit to the mean of a highly capable process
D) number of means from a specification limit to the variances of a highly capable process
E) number of means from zero of a highly capable process
4) The Sigma in Six Sigma refers to the ________.
A) mean
B) standard deviation
C) skewness
D) kurtosis
E) hypothesis
5) At which company did Six Sigma originate?
A) General Electric
B) Motorola
C) AT&T
D) 3M
E) CIGNA
6) Six Sigma translates to a defect rate of ________.
A) 233 parts per million
B) 23 parts per million
C) 3.4 parts per million
D) 0.2 parts per million
E) 6,210 parts per million
7) At the core of Six Sigma is the equation Y = f(X) where Y represents ________.
A) key business objectives and measures
B) processes
C) interrelationships to be controlled and managed
D) uncontrollable variables
E) controllable variables
8) At the core of Six Sigma is the equation Y = f(X) where f represents ________.
A) key business objectives
B) processes
C) interrelationships to be controlled and managed
D) people
E) controllable variables
9) In the context of Six Sigma, the acronym ppm stands for ________.
A) pages per minute
B) parts per million
C) project portfolio management
D) process performance manager
E) pay per minute
10) Which key player in Six Sigma works with black belts to identify possible projects and is at
the CEO or VP level depending on company size?
A) master black belt
B) champion
C) green belt
D) orange belt
E) premier
11) ________ get information from a variety of sources such as the voice of the business, the
voice of the customer, and the voice of the employee for potential project ideas.
A) Orange belts
B) Premiers
C) Champions
D) Master black belts
E) Green belts
12) Which key player in Six Sigma is trained in basic quality tools and works in teams to
improve quality on less critical projects?
A) champion
B) master black belt
C) black belt
D) green belt
E) premier
13) Which key player in Six Sigma is a specially trained individual who is a specialist?
A) champion
B) master black belt
C) black belt
D) green belt
E) process owner
14) In lean-Six Sigma, the Japanese term “muda” is often used to describe ________.
A) process waste
B) machine processing
C) product testing
D) decision making
E) simulation
15) ________ is focused on final engineering design optimization.
A) DFSS
B) DMAIC
C) IDOV
D) DFMS
E) DDSS
16) The define, measure, analyze, design, and verify methodology pertains to ________.
A) developing new processes and products
B) improving existing products and processes
C) final engineering design optimization
D) preliminary engineering design
E) customer quality metrics
17) Six Sigma is popular with CEOs because it is more cost-reduction-oriented than traditional
continuous improvement.
18) The sigma in Six Sigma refers to the Greek symbol that designates a mean in statistics.
19) Six Sigma is a program begun at General Electric in 1982 by Jack Welch.
20) A process that meets the statistical notion of Six Sigma produces 3.4 defects per million
pieces produced.
21) Black belts are trained in basic quality tools and work in teams to improve quality.
22) The basic seven (B7) tools of quality can be used to handle 90% of the quality problems that
a firm typically encounters.
23) In the Six Sigma equation, Y = f(X), the variable Y represents interrelationships to be
managed.
24) In the Six Sigma equation, Y = f(X), the variable X represents output or key business
objectives.
25) The training cost of a single black belt is between $10,000 and $20,000 with expected returns
in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
26) The job of the champion is to work with black belts to identify possible projects.
27) Part of the responsibility of the master black belt is to perform a cost of poor quality analysis.
28) What distinguishes Six Sigma from traditional continuous improvement?
29) DMAIC is an acronym for ________.
A) Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control
B) Design, Measure, Apply, Invest, Correlate
C) Design, Model, Analyze, Invest, Control
D) Design, Model, Analyze, Improve, Correlate
E) Define, Measure, Apply, Invest, Correlate
30) In the ________ phase, projects are identified and selected.
A) define
B) measure
C) analyze
D) improve
E) control
31) Business cases, process mapping, voice of the customer, change management, and
problem/objective statements are the tools used in the ________ stage of the DMAIC process.
A) define
B) measure
C) analyze
D) improve
E) control
32) The efficacy of a business case is checked using the mnemonic RUMBA. The “M” in
RUMBA stands for ________.
A) methods
B) materials
C) motivation
D) measurable
E) manpower
33) Two important measures that are monitored in the process map are ________.
A) payback period and ROI
B) risk and return
C) defects per unit (DPU) and defects per million opportunities (DPMO)
D) breakeven point and payback period
E) contribution margin and breakeven point
34) Process FMEA, process capability assessments, basic statistics, and decision making are the
tools used in the ________ phase of the DMAIC process.
A) define
B) measure
C) analyze
D) improve
E) control
35) What are the two major steps in the measure phase?
A) selecting process outcomes and mapping non value added activities
B) selecting process outcomes and verifying measurements
C) understanding the process and mapping non value added activities
D) understanding the process and verifying measurements
E) mapping non value added activities and verifying measurements
36) ________ is used to determine if measurements are consistent.
A) Matrix synchronization analysis
B) Multiple systems analogues
C) Maximal system adjustment
D) Minimal system adjustment
E) Measurement system analysis
37) FMEA is used to ________.
A) check the efficacy of a business case
B) identify ways a process or product can fail to meet critical customer requirements
C) determine the accuracy and precision of your measurements
D) identify inputs (Xs) and outputs (Ys) from a project you have mapped and are desiring to
pursue
E) identify non value added activities
38) Graphical data analysis, hypothesis tests, and process modeling and simulation are the tools
used in the ________ phase of the DMAIC process.
A) define
B) measure
C) analyze
D) improve
E) control
39) Which step in the analyze phase of DMAIC involves determining what characteristics of the
process need to be changed to achieve improvement?
A) analyze sources of variability
B) improvement projection
C) independent variable identification
D) performance objectives definition
E) return to control
40) The goal of the ________ step is to use visual and statistical tools to better understand the
relationships between dependent and independent variables.
A) defining objectives
B) identifying Xs
C) analyzing sources of variation
D) gauge R&R
E) Pareto analysis
41) Hypothesis tests, design of experiments, simulation, and piloting and testing are the tools
used in the ________ stage of the DMAIC process.
A) define
B) measure
C) analyze
D) improve
E) control
42) Offline experimentation is performed during the ________ phase.
A) control
B) improve
C) analysis
D) identification
E) variation
43) Solution selection, solution implementation, control charts, and best practices are the tools
used in the ________ stage of the DMAIC process.
A) define
B) measure
C) analyze
D) improve
E) control
44) DMAIC is very similar to Deming’s PDCA cycle.
45) Evaluating the efficacy of a business case can be accomplished by asking if the case is
reliable, understandable, meaningful, buyable, and accomplishable.
46) Pareto analysis of internal and external costs is a tool utilized during the analyze phase of
DMAIC.
47) The measure phase involves two major steps, selecting process outcomes and verifying
measurements.
48) The goal with a process map is to identify value-added activities.
49) A measurement systems analysis (MSA) is used to determine if measurements are consistent.
50) The analyze phase of a Six Sigma project is used to select an appropriate project for
improvement.
51) When defining objectives in the analyze phase, you are attempting to determine what
characteristics of the process need to be changed to achieve improvement.
52) Briefly define each of the steps in the DMAIC process.
53) Describe the design phase of the DMAIC process. What are the four parts of the design
phase?
54) A project risk assessment is a method for evaluating a potential project.
55) A project with a 65% risk factor and a 40% return factor is considered to be low-hanging
fruit on the project risk and return matrix.
56) The ________ is used to identify inputs (Xs) and outputs (Ys) from a project that has been
mapped and is desired to be pursued.
A) X,Y scatter plots
B) XY differentiation method
C) X,Y covariance analysis
D) XY matrix
E) XY nonlinearity analysis
57) The XY matrix identifies ________ from a project you have mapped.
A) inputs and outputs
B) customers and suppliers
C) high and low quality processes
D) waste and gain
E) expenditures and savings