BMO Operations & Process Improvement 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A manufacturing plant measures 92% Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). Which three components combine to calculate OEE?
- Availability, Performance, and Quality (Correct answer)
- Capacity, Utilization, and Throughput
- Uptime, Speed, and Defect Rate
- Lead Time, Cycle Time, and Takt Time
Correct answer: Availability, Performance, and Quality
OEE is calculated by multiplying Availability (planned vs. actual uptime), Performance (actual vs. ideal speed), and Quality (good units vs. total units).
Question 2: During a kaizen event, the team discovers a workstation where operators frequently wait for materials. This waste is classified as which type in the Toyota Production System?
- Waiting (Muda of waiting) (Correct answer)
- Overproduction
- Defects
- Transportation
Correct answer: Waiting (Muda of waiting)
Waiting is one of the eight wastes (muda) in Lean/TPS, referring to idle time when workers or machines are not in productive use.
Question 3: A process capability index (Cpk) of 0.85 indicates what about the process?
- The process does not meet the minimum capability threshold of 1.0 (Correct answer)
- The process is highly capable and centered
- The process has zero defects
- The process meets Six Sigma standards
Correct answer: The process does not meet the minimum capability threshold of 1.0
A Cpk below 1.0 means the process is not capable of consistently producing output within specification limits, indicating high defect risk.
Question 4: Which scheduling method minimizes average job lateness by always processing the job with the earliest due date first?
- Earliest Due Date (EDD) (Correct answer)
- First Come First Served (FCFS)
- Shortest Processing Time (SPT)
- Critical Ratio (CR)
Correct answer: Earliest Due Date (EDD)
EDD sequencing minimizes the maximum lateness and average lateness by prioritizing jobs whose due dates are soonest.
Question 5: In supply chain operations, a 'pull system' is best described as:
- Production triggered by actual customer demand signals (Correct answer)
- Producing to a forecast to push goods to distribution centers
- Manufacturing maximum quantities to reduce per-unit cost
- Scheduling production based on supplier lead times
Correct answer: Production triggered by actual customer demand signals
A pull system produces only what is needed in response to real demand, reducing overproduction and excess inventory — a core Lean principle.
Question 6: A business manager wants to reduce the time between customer order placement and delivery. Which metric directly measures this?
- Order-to-delivery lead time (Correct answer)
- Cycle time
- Takt time
- Throughput rate
Correct answer: Order-to-delivery lead time
Order-to-delivery lead time measures the total elapsed time from when a customer places an order to when they receive it.
Question 7: A company uses the PDCA cycle to implement process changes. After checking results, the manager finds the change did not achieve target improvements. What is the correct next step?
- Return to the Plan phase and revise the approach (Correct answer)
- Proceed to the Act phase and standardize the partial result
- Abandon the improvement initiative
- Immediately escalate to senior leadership
Correct answer: Return to the Plan phase and revise the approach
When the Check phase reveals the change missed targets, the PDCA cycle loops back to Plan to analyze root causes and redesign the intervention.
BMO Operations & Process Improvement 2
A manufacturing plant measures 92% Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).
Which three components combine to calculate OEE?