ASQ Lean Quality Management 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary goal of lean manufacturing?
- Maximizing production speed regardless of quality
- Eliminating waste to deliver maximum value to the customer with minimum resources (Correct answer)
- Reducing the workforce to cut costs
- Increasing inventory to prevent stockouts
Correct answer: Eliminating waste to deliver maximum value to the customer with minimum resources
Lean manufacturing focuses on identifying and eliminating all forms of waste (non-value-added activities) to deliver more value with fewer resources.
Question 2: In the lean '5S' methodology, what does the first 'S' (Seiri) represent?
- Standardize — create uniform procedures
- Sort — separate necessary items from unnecessary ones and remove the latter (Correct answer)
- Shine — clean the workplace thoroughly
- Sustain — maintain the improved condition
Correct answer: Sort — separate necessary items from unnecessary ones and remove the latter
The first S (Sort/Seiri) involves going through all items in the workplace and removing anything that is not needed for current operations.
Question 3: 'Value stream mapping' is used to:
- Calculate the financial value of a product line
- Visualize all steps in a process — value-added and non-value-added — to identify improvement opportunities (Correct answer)
- Map customer satisfaction scores over time
- Document the organizational hierarchy
Correct answer: Visualize all steps in a process — value-added and non-value-added — to identify improvement opportunities
Value stream mapping creates a visual representation of the flow of materials and information through a process, highlighting waste and improvement opportunities.
Question 4: 'Kaizen' in lean manufacturing means:
- A major breakthrough improvement project
- Continuous, incremental improvement involving all employees at all levels (Correct answer)
- The elimination of the quality department
- A type of defect prevention device
Correct answer: Continuous, incremental improvement involving all employees at all levels
Kaizen (Japanese for 'change for better') is a philosophy of continuous incremental improvement involving everyone in the organization, from management to front-line workers.
Question 5: 'Takt time' is calculated as:
- Total production time divided by total units produced
- Available production time divided by customer demand rate (Correct answer)
- Customer demand rate divided by cycle time
- Total inventory divided by daily usage rate
Correct answer: Available production time divided by customer demand rate
Takt time = available production time divided by customer demand, setting the pace at which production must occur to meet customer needs.
Question 6: 'Poka-yoke' is a lean/quality concept that means:
- Flexible manufacturing capable of producing multiple product types
- Error-proofing or mistake-proofing mechanisms that prevent defects from occurring or passing undetected (Correct answer)
- A type of visual management board
- A daily team briefing meeting
Correct answer: Error-proofing or mistake-proofing mechanisms that prevent defects from occurring or passing undetected
Poka-yoke devices or methods make it impossible or immediately obvious when an error occurs, preventing defects from being produced or passing to the next step.
ASQ Lean Quality Management 1
What is the primary goal of lean manufacturing?