Chapter Sixteen

PROBLEM SOLVING AND DECISION MAKING

TRUE OR FALSE: Place T or F in the space provided to the left of the statement.

_____1. When a problem solution returns a process to the state that existed before the problem occurred, a total quality organization would say that the problem was NOT resolved.

_____2. Dr. Juran's 85/15 rule holds that at least 85% of an organization's problems would be eliminated if employees did their jobs correctly.

_____3. The PDCA cycle is one model for continual improvement.

_____4. The Seven-Step Problem Solving process promoted by the authors was developed by Toyota.

_____5. The major problem with employee involvement in problem solving is time.

_____6. Repeatedly asking "why" related to the problem should eventually lead to a root cause.

MULTIPLE CHOICE: Circle the letter before the correct answer in each of the following questions.

1. There are two ways to evaluate decisions. One way is to:
A. Examine the results
B. Examine the input that is used in decision making
C. Evaluate the process used in making the decision
D. A or C

2. Objective information is:
A. Not always factual
B. Factual
C. Open to interpretation
D. Not reliable

3. Factors that inhibit problem solving creativity include:
A. Failing to be concerned about risk
B. Fear of looking foolish or being rejected
C. Having more than 4-5 people on the team
D. Allowing ambiguity

4. After defining a problem, the next step in the problem solving/decision making process should be:
A. Institute a temporary fix to keep things moving
B. Use Five-Why analysis
C. Clarify the issue or problem in order to "grasp the situation"
D. Define what the outcome should be

5. Which of the following is a strategy for helping people think creatively?
A. Idea vending (or stirring the pot)
B. Being risk averse
C. Unwillingness to hear "over the top" ideas or input
D. Looking for the one right answer

Chapter Seventeen

QUALITY FUNCTION DEPLOYMENT

TRUE OR FALSE: Place T or F in the space provided to the left of the statement.

_____1. Quality Function Deployment seeks to ensure that customer input is an important factor in the design of products.

_____2. Quality Function Deployment's HOQ matrix number 1 is for establishing the interrelationships between customer need and the technical requirements for the product.

_____3. The affinity diagram is used to bring logic and structure to the creative process.

_____4. The HOQ matrix diagram establishes responsibilities for the producing organization's various departments, minimizing the need for inter-departmental communication.

_____5. The purpose of the HOQ's Roof (Correlation Matrix) is to graphically show which product technical requirements support, and which impede, the others.

MULTIPLE CHOICE: Circle the letter before the correct answer in each of the following questions.

1. QFD was developed in 1966 by:
A. Yoji Akao
B. Motorola
C. W. Edwards Deming
D. Ford Motor Co.

2. In what matrix of the QFD HOQ are the improvement factor and sales point developed?
A. Matrix 1 (Customer Needs)
B. Matrix 2 (Planning)
C. Matrix 4 (Interrelationships)
D. Matrix 6 (Design Targets)

3. A plus symbol (+) in one of the squares under the HOQ roof indicates that the two technical requirements forming that intersection:
A. Are closely related.
B. Are supportive of each other.
C. Are high priority customer needs.
D. Verifies the math in the planning section.

4. Data in the Customer Importance column of the customer needs matrix
A. Should be non-limiting and non-specific
B. Is developed from unanimous customer input
C. Is an estimate (by the QFD team) of the relative importance of the customer needs
D. Is typically based on a scale of 1 - 5, with 1 being the highest importance

5. QFD can be:
A. Applicable to a wide range of products (or services), whether competed or not
B. Applicable to large or small companies/organizations
C. Applicable to both new and existing products
D. All of the above

Chapter Eighteen

OPTIMIZING AND CONTROLLING PROCESSES THROUGH STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL

TRUE OR FALSE: Place T or F in the space provided to the left of the statement.

_____1. Variation in any amount is considered a negative for quality.

_____2. At the heart of SPC is the realization that all processes have a natural, or built-in, variation. Processes may also be affected by special causes of variation. The objective of SPC is to separate special-cause variation from the natural variation.

_____3. For a process under SPC, it is important to frequently tweak its parameters in order to keep the process within the upper and lower control limits.

_____4. Before a process can qualify for SPC, it must be free of special-cause variation.

_____5. Upper and lower control limits may be derived from logged process data, or from tolerance specifications.

MULTIPLE CHOICE: Circle the letter before the correct answer in each of the following questions.

1. The rationale for western manufacturers to embrace SPC is:
A. Improve product quality and simultaneously reduce costs
B. To be able to compete better with Japan and the world's markets
C. Improve their product image
D. All of the above

2. The most common inhibitor of SPC is:
A. Inadequate training
B. Lack of resources resulting from the absence of management commitment
C. Failure to have processes under control
D. Low production rates

3. When a process is "in control" what percent of its output will be within the ±3σ limits?
A. 66.6%
B. 82.4%
C. 99.7%
D. 100%

4. The minimum management involvement relative to SPC training involves:
A. Providing sufficient funding
B. Teaching classes
C. Commitment
D. None of the above

5. The first step in the SPC execution phase is:
A. To develop control charts
B. Flowcharting or characterizing the process to which SPC will be applied
C. Eliminate the special causes of variation
D. Collect and plot SPC data