Q&A Hero

Q: In the context of the 5S principles, _____ refers to ensuring that each item in a workplace is in its proper place or identified as unnecessary and removed. a. sort b. sustain c. standardize d. set in order

Q: The number of weeds that remain living after a specific chemical has been applied averages 1.3 per square yard and follows a Poisson distribution. Based on this, what is the probability that a 3-square yard section will contain less than 4 weeds? A) 0.4532 B) 0.2001 C) 0.6482 D) 0.1951

Q: _____ is one in which employees at a given operation go to the source of required parts, such as machining or subassembly, and withdraw the units as they need them. a. A classic base-stock system b. A push system c. A materials requirement planning system d. A pull system

Q: Which of the following is an example of waste in organizations? a. Short order-cycle time b. Routing a job c. Planned product obsolescence d. High product variety

Q: If cars arrive to a service center randomly and independently at a rate of 5 per hour on average, what is the probability that exactly 5 cars will arrive during a given hour? A) 0.1755 B) 0.6160 C) 0.1277 D) Essentially zero

Q: In the context of the Toyota Motor Companys seven categories of waste, the result of not performing work correctly the first time is an example of _____. a. production defects b. processing c. inventory d. overproduction

Q: A _____ is a flag or a piece of paper that contains all relevant information for an order, such as part number, description, process area used, time of delivery, quantity available, quantity delivered, production quantity, and so on. a. Kaikaku b. Jidoka c. Kaizen d. Kanban

Q: The number of customers who enter a bank is thought to be Poisson distributed with a mean equal to 10 per hour. What are the chances that 2 or 3 customers will arrive in a 15-minute period?A) 0.0099B) 0.4703C) 0.0427D) 0.0053

Q: In the context of lean tools and approaches, _____, one of the components of the 5S principles, refers to a clean work area. a. shine b. standardize c. sort d. sustain

Q: Which of the following is true of a push manufacturing system? a. It leads to high work-in-process inventories and high levels of indirect labor and overhead. b. In this system, just enough new parts are procured to replace those withdrawn. c. In this system, finished goods are made to coincide with the actual rate of demand. d. It leads to minimal inventories and maximum responsiveness.

Q: The number of visible defects on a product container is thought to be Poisson distributed with a mean equal to 3.5. Based on this, how many defects should be expected if 3 containers are inspectedA) 10.5B) Approximately 3.24C) Between 4 and 7D) 3.5

Q: In the Timken companys bootcamp, employees and managers try to solve problems, such as removing non-value-added steps from processes to try to eliminate waste.a. Trueb. False

Q: Assuming that potholes occur randomly along roads, the number of potholes per mile of road could best be described by the: A) binomial distribution. B) Poisson distribution. C) hypergeometric distribution. D) continuous distribution

Q: Lean operating systems value idle stock and extra storage because it eliminates wait times to replenish stock. a. True b. False

Q: Total productive maintenance (TPM) seeks to reduce worker ownership of production equipment by excluding employees from maintenance activities. a. True b. False

Q: If a study is set up in such a way that a sample of people is surveyed to determine whether they have ever used a particular product, the likely probability distribution that would describe the random variable, the number who say yes, is a: A) binomial distribution. B) Poisson distribution. C) uniform distribution. D) continuous distribution.

Q: Kanban is a Japanese word that means elimination of waste. a. True b. False

Q: The probability that a product is found to be defective is 0.10. If we examine 50 products, which of the following has the highest probability? A) 3 defective products are found. B) 4 defective products are found. C) 5 defective products are found. D) 6 defective products are found.

Q: Any activity, material, or operation that does not add value in an organization is considered waste. a. True b. False

Q: If the number of defective items selected at random from a parts inventory is considered to follow a binomial distribution with n = 50 and p = 0.10, the standard deviation of the number of defective parts is: A) 5 B) 4.5 C) 45 D) about 2.12

Q: Long setup times enable a manufacturer to have frequent changeovers and move toward single-piece flow, thus achieving high flexibility and product variety. a. True b. False

Q: Which of the following statements is true? A) A binomial distribution with n = 20 and p = 0.05 will be right-skewed. B) A binomial distribution with n = 6 and p = 0.50 will be symmetric. C) A binomial distribution with n = 20 and p = 0.05 has an expected value equal to 1. D) A, B, and C are all true.

Q: In the context of Kanban systems, a withdrawal Kanban authorizes the gateway workstation to produce parts. a. True b. False

Q: Which of the following is true with respect to the binomial distribution? A) As the sample size increases, the expected value of the random variable decreases. B) The binomial distribution becomes more skewed as the sample size is increased for a given probability of success. C) The binomial distribution tends to be more symmetric as p approaches 0.5. D) In order for the binomial distribution to be skewed, the sample size must be quite large.

Q: Madam Helga claims to be psychic. A national TV talk personality plans to test her in a live TV broadcast. The process will entail asking Madam Helga a series of 20 independent questions with yes/no answers. The questions would be of the nature that she could not have any way of knowing the answer from prior knowledge. Suppose that Madam Helga correctly answered 15 of the 20 questions, which of the following would be a viable conclusion to reach? A) Because the probability of guessing 15 or more correctly is 0.0207, it is unlikely that she is guessing at the questions and may, in fact, have some special ability. B) Because the probability of getting 15 or more correct is 0.0207, it is likely that she is just guessing at the questions. C) If she were guessing, 15 is within one standard deviation of the mean and therefore she must not have any special psychic abilities. D) Because the probability of guessing exactly 15 correct is 0.0148, she must just be guessing.

Q: Indicate whether the statement is true or false.Lean Six Sigma focuses on real dollar savings and has the ability to make significant financial impacts on an organization.a. Trueb. False

Q: Quality at the _____ means that the people responsible for the work control of their processes by identifying and correcting any defects or errors when the first are recognized or occur. a. conclusion b. workstation c. source d. delivery

Q: Which of the following is true of special cause variation? a. It cannot be explained or understood. b. It occurs sporadically and can be prevented. c. It cannot be detected using statistical methods. d. It accounts for about 80 to 95 percent of the observed variation in a process.

Q: Many people believe that they can tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi. Other people say that the two brands can't be distinguished. To test this, a random sample of 20 adults was selected to participate in a test. After being blindfolded, each person was given a small taste of either Coke or Pepsi and asked to indicate which brand soft drink it was. Suppose 14 people correctly identified the soft drink brand. Which of the following conclusions would be warranted under the circumstance? A) Since the chance of getting 14 correct is 0.0370, which is quite small, the study shows that people are not able to identify brands effectively. B) Since the probability of getting 14 or more correct is 0.0577, which is quite low, this means that people are not effective in identifying the soft drink brand. C) Since the probability of getting 14 or more correct is 0.0577, which is quite low, the conclusion could be that people are effective at identifying soft drink brands. D) The expected value for this binomial distribution is very close to 14 so this supports that people cannot tell the difference.

Q: Which of the following is true of common cause variation? a. It can be controlled and described using nonstatistical methods. b. It appears at random, and individual sources cannot be identified or explained. c. It accounts for about 10 to 15 percent of the observed variation in a process. d. It arises from external sources that are not inherent in a process.

Q: Vincent, a quality control manager at an apparel manufacturing company, studies and monitors quality using R-charts. He discovers a quality problem with the construction of zippers. Vincent proposes that 25 samples of eight observations each be collected on a daily basis. He plans to prepare an R-chart to monitor the variation in the size of the zippers. The data collected shows that the mean length of the zippers is 15 inches and the average range is 0.5 inches. If D3 for the R-chart is 0.136, the lower control limit (LCLR) for the R-chart will be: a. less than or equal to 1. b. more than 1 but less than or equal to 2. c. more than 2 but less than or equal to 3. d. more than 4.

Q: A process capability study is designed to yield specific information about _____. a. the effect of changing one aspect of a system at a time b. the rate of decay of a system as the equipment ages and begins to fail c. the performance of a process under specified operating systems d. how introducing multiple variances in the system at once affect the outcome of a process

Q: Previous research shows that 60 percent of adults who drink non-diet cola prefer Coca-Cola to Pepsi. Recently, an independent research firm questioned a random sample of 25 adult non-diet cola drinkers. That chance that 20 or more of these people will prefer Coca-Cola is: A) essentially zero. B) 0.0199. C) 0.0294. D) None of the above

Q: The relationship between the natural variation and specifications is quantified by a measure known as the _____. a. net promoter score b. process capability index c. net detractor score d. process design index

Q: The Vardon Exploration Company is getting ready to leave for South America to explore for oil. One piece of equipment requires 10 batteries that must operate for more than 2 hours. The batteries being used have a 15 percent chance of failing within 2 hours. The exploration leader plans to take 15 batteries. Assuming that the conditions of the binomial apply, the probability that the supply of batteries will not contain enough good ones to operate the equipment is: A) 0.0449 B) 0.0132 C) 0.9832 D) 0.0168

Q: In the context of the net promoter score (NPS), scores of 7 or 8 are associated with _____, customers who are satisfied but may switch to competitors. a. detractors b. passives c. promoters d. proponents

Q: Customer waiting time and order lead time are examples of _____ metrics. a. discrete b. countable c. isolated d. continuous

Q: A package delivery service claims that no more than 5 percent of all packages arrive at the address late. Assuming that the conditions for the binomial hold, if a sample of size 10 packages is randomly selected and the 5 percent rate holds, what is the probability that more than 2 packages will be delivered late? A) 0.0115 B) 0.0105 C) 0.0862 D) 0.0746

Q: The time taken for guests to check out at a hotel front desk was measured over the course of several weeks. The management believes that the target time for checking out guests should be between 2 and 3 minutes with a target of 2.5 minutes. The data gathered for the actual process had a mean time of 2.75 minutes with a standard deviation of 0.45 minutes. The process capability index will be: a. less than or equal to 1. b. more than 3 but less than or equal to 5. c. more than 4 but less than or equal to 5. d. more than 5.

Q: Which of the following is the upper control limit for a c-chart (UCLc) with the average number of nonconformances per unit equal to 7? a. More than 11 but less than or equal to 12 b. More than 12 but less than or equal to 13 c. More than 13 but less than or equal to 14 d. More than 14 but less than or equal to 15

Q: Which of the following is not a condition of the binomial distribution? A) Two possible outcomes for each trial B) The trials are independent. C) The standard deviation is equal to the square root of the mean. D) The probability of a success remains constant from trial to trial.

Q: The probability function for random variable X is specified as:The expected value of X isA) 0.333B) 0.500C) 2.000D) 2.333

Q: Which of the following is true of control charts? a. Control charts can only be used for processes that have a very high sigma level. b. The use of small sample sizes in control charts increases the chances that a process may have changed during the sampling interval. c. Conventional statistical process control charts have the lowest frequency of false alarms. d. Standard control charts are not effective when the rate of defects is extremely low.

Q: Which of the following statements is incorrect? A) The expected value of a discrete probability distribution is the long-run average value assuming the experiment will be repeated many times. B) The standard deviation of a discrete probability distribution measures the average deviation of the random variable from the mean. C) The distribution is considered uniform if all the probabilities are equal. D) The mean of the probability distribution is equal to the square root of the variance.

Q: An operator wants to determine the standard deviation for a machine she operates. To do this, she wants to create a p-chart. Over a month's time, she collects 30 samples of 75 observations each and records the number of errors. The average proportion defective is found to be 0.024. Which of the following is the standard deviation (s) of the machine? a. Less than or equal to 0.1 b. More than 0.1 but less than or equal to 0.5 c. More than 0.5 but less than or equal to 1.0 d. More than 1.0

Q: In the context of designing control charts, which of the following is true of a sample size? a. A large sample allows small changes in process characteristics to be detected with higher probability than a small sample size. b. A small sample is used to detect process shifts of two standard deviations or smaller. c. A large sample size is desirable to keep the cost associated with sampling low. d. A small sample size provides greater degrees of statistical accuracy in estimating the true state of control than a large sample size.

Q: Consider the following two probability distributions:Which of the following is an accurate statement regarding these two distributions?A) Distribution A has a higher variance.B) Distribution B has a higher variance.C) Both distributions are positively skewed.D) Both distributions are uniform.

Q: A sales rep for a national clothing company makes 4 calls per day. Based on historical records, the following probability distribution describes the number of successful calls each day: Successful Calls Probability 0 0.10 1 0.30 2 0.30 3 0.20 4 0.10 Based on the information provided, what is the probability of having at least 2 successful calls in one day? A) 0.60 B) 0.20 C) 0.30 D) 0.10

Q: In the context of statistical process control and variation, if no special causes affect the output of a process, we say that the process is _____. a. inconsistent b. out of control c. in control d. overadjusted

Q: Ratterman and Son, is a custom landscaping company. Data in the table below show results for the question "Would you recommend us to a friend?" from 50 customers who were sampled over the duration of one week.Customer NumberNPS Rating Customer NumberNPS Rating Customer NumberNPS Rating Customer NumberNPS Rating Customer NumberNPS Rating16 118 214 311 41829 129 229 329 429310 137 239 333 43949 144 2410 349 44955 151 259 359 452610 163 2610 367 46576 177 275 374 47989 186 2810 3810 481094 195 2910 399 499107 2010 306 405 508Calculate the net promoter score.a. 14%b. 17%c. 24%d. 27%

Q: The following probability distribution has been assessed for the number of accidents that occur in a Midwestern city each day: Accidents Probability 0 0.25 1 0.20 2 0.30 3 0.15 4 0.10 Based on this probability distribution, the standard deviation in the number of accidents per day is: A) 2.0 B) 1.63 C) 2.65 D) 1.28

Q: The lower and upper specification limits for a toothpaste filling machine are 10.50 and 12.00 ounces, respectively. The standard deviation is 0.05. The process capability index of the machine will be: a. less than or equal to 3. b. more than 3 but less than or equal to 5. c. more than 4 but less than or equal to 5. d. more than 5.

Q: A hotel chain periodically analyzes its service times to check for variation in service processes. To do this, it uses R-charts. Seven samples, each containing observed checkout time with three different customers, were collected. The average mean and the average range of the service times are found to be 9.924 and 0.957, respectively. If D4 for the R-chart is 1.924, the upper control limit (UCLR) for the R-chart will be: a. less than or equal to 1.0. b. greater than 1.0 but less than or equal to 1.5. c. greater than 1.5 but less than or equal to 2.0. d. greater than 2.0 but less than or equal to 2.5.

Q: When the _____ is extremely low, standard control charts are not effective. a. efficiency rate b. demand flow c. rate of defects d. perceived value

Q: When dealing with the number of occurrences of an event over a specified interval of time or space, the appropriate probability distribution is hypergeometric.

Q: In the context of the net promoter score (NPS), which of the following is a difference between promoters and detractors? a. Unlike promoters, detractors are customers who are associated with scores of 7 or 8. b. Unlike promoters, detractors are satisfied customers who may switch to competitors. c. Unlike promoters, detractors defect at higher rates. d. Unlike promoters, detractors are less price sensitive.

Q: A bottling machine fills soda bottles with an average of 12.000 ounces of soda. The standard deviation is 0.002 ounces. If the design specification for the fill weight of the bottles is 12.000 ounces plus or minus 0.015 ounces, calculate the process capability index of the machine. a. Less than or equal to 1 b. More than 1 but less than or equal to 2 c. More than 2 but less than or equal to 3 d. More than 4

Q: A company has 20 cars that are available for use by company executives for official business purposes. Six of these cars are SUVs, 8 are luxury type cars, and the rest are basic sedans. Suppose the cars are randomly assigned each week. If 5 cars are put into use, the chance that none of the SUVs or luxury cars will be in the group is approximately .0004.

Q: If a process has a process capability index value (Cp) of less than 1, it means that: a. a significant percentage of output will not conform to the design specifications. b. both the lower and upper specification limits are met. c. the observed variation is the same as the design specification width. d. the process is very capable of meeting the upper specification limit.

Q: The city council consists of 3 Democrats, 5 Republicans and 3 independents. Subcommittees are supposed to be randomly assigned from the council. Suppose the 5-member planning and zoning subcommittee is composed of 3 Democrats and 2 Republicans. The probability of this happening by chance alone is approximately .4545.

Q: In determining whether a process is in statistical control, the _____ is always analyzed first. a. R-chart b. p-chart c. x̄-chart d. c-chart

Q: A warehouse contains 5 parts made by the Stafford Company and 8 parts made by the Wilson Company. If an employee selects 3 of the parts from the warehouse at random, the probability that all 3 parts are from the Wilson Company is approximately .1958.

Q: The task of _____ is to ensure that a good or service conforms to specifications and meets customer requirements by monitoring and measuring processes and making any necessary adjustments to maintain a specified level of performance. a. job design b. visual control c. quality control d. forecasting

Q: The primary application for the hypergeometric probability distribution is in situations where the sampling is done without replacement from a finite population.

Q: The makers of Crustfree Bread in Boston have a quality standard that allows for no more than 3 burned loaves per batch on average. Assuming that the average of 3 per batch is being met, the standard deviation for the number of burned loaves in 4 batches is approximately 1.73 loaves.

Q: Designing control charts involves two key issues: sample size and sampling frequency.a. Trueb. False

Q: The value of the process capability index, (Cp), depends on the mean of the process. a. True b. False

Q: The Brockingham Carpet Company prides itself on high quality carpets. At the end of each day, the company quality managers select 3 square yards for inspection. The quality standard requires an average of no more than 2.3 defects per square yard. Last night, the inspector found 8 defects in the sample of 3 square yards. The chance of finding 8 or more defects in the sample is 0.9975.

Q: A discrete metric is one that is calculated from data that are counted. a. True b. False

Q: The control limits represent the range between which all points are expected to fall if the process is in statistical control. a. True b. False

Q: Overadjusting a process that is in control will decrease the variation in the output. a. True b. False

Q: In-process control is typically performed by people who run the back-end processes. a. True b. False

Q: In the context of quality control practices in manufacturing, if supplier documentation is done properly, incoming inspection can be completely eliminated. a. True b. False

Q: The number of calls to an Internet service provider during the hour between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. is described by a Poisson distribution with mean equal to 15. Given this information, the standard deviation for the call distribution is about 3.87 calls.

Q: The 1:10:100 Rule states that if a defect is first detected during the production process, it might cost $1 to fix. a. True b. False

Q: Indicate whether the statement is true or false.Keeping special cause variation from occurring is the essence of statistical quality control.a. Trueb. False

Q: The primary difference between the binomial distribution and the Poisson distribution is that the Poisson is used to describe a continuous random variable and the binomial is used for discrete random variables.

Q: At Bueller Tractors, a few machines in the assembly section were faulty and had to be shut down till they were repaired. This reduced the output of tractors for the quarter. In this case, the costs incurred by Bueller Tractors for repairing the machines are an example of _____ costs. a. prevention b. appraisal c. internal failure d. external failure

Q: The probability of the outcome changes from trial to trial in a binomial experiment.

Q: Huran Co., a food manufacturer, encountered a blown fuse during manufacturing. Although they were able to fix it and resume operations, they used the 5-Why Technique to determine the _____ of the problem. a. poka-yoke b. root cause c. long-term effect d. symptom