BMO Operations & Process Improvement 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A value stream map shows a process with 8 hours of value-added time and 72 hours of non-value-added time. What is the process efficiency?
- 10% (Correct answer)
- 12.5%
- 90%
- 8%
Correct answer: 10%
Process efficiency = value-added time ÷ total lead time × 100 = 8 ÷ (8+72) × 100 = 10%.
Question 2: Which quality improvement tool is best used to display the frequency distribution of defect categories in descending order?
- Pareto chart (Correct answer)
- Control chart
- Scatter diagram
- Fishbone diagram
Correct answer: Pareto chart
A Pareto chart ranks defect categories by frequency, visually identifying the 'vital few' causes responsible for most problems (80/20 rule).
Question 3: In Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), which pillar focuses on eliminating equipment breakdowns through routine checks performed by operators?
- Autonomous maintenance (Correct answer)
- Planned maintenance
- Quality maintenance
- Focused improvement
Correct answer: Autonomous maintenance
Autonomous maintenance empowers operators to perform routine cleaning, inspection, and minor maintenance tasks to prevent breakdowns before they occur.
Question 4: A bottleneck operation in a production line has a capacity of 200 units/day while all other operations can handle 300 units/day. What is the system throughput?
- 200 units/day (Correct answer)
- 300 units/day
- 250 units/day
- 500 units/day
Correct answer: 200 units/day
System throughput is constrained by the bottleneck; since the slowest operation can only process 200 units/day, that is the maximum output rate.
Question 5: A service organization maps its end-to-end customer experience to identify pain points. This approach is best described as:
- Customer journey mapping (Correct answer)
- Service blueprinting
- Swim lane process mapping
- Affinity diagramming
Correct answer: Customer journey mapping
Customer journey mapping visualizes each touchpoint a customer experiences, enabling organizations to identify friction, delays, and opportunities for improvement.
Question 6: Which statistical process control (SPC) chart is most appropriate for monitoring the proportion of defective items in samples of varying size?
- p-chart (Correct answer)
- X-bar chart
- c-chart
- R-chart
Correct answer: p-chart
The p-chart tracks the proportion (percentage) of nonconforming items in samples and accommodates variable sample sizes.
Question 7: A manager applies the Theory of Constraints (TOC) five-step focusing process. After 'elevating the constraint,' what is the immediate next step?
- Return to Step 1 and identify the new constraint (Correct answer)
- Subordinate everything else to the constraint
- Exploit the constraint
- Implement a new ERP system
Correct answer: Return to Step 1 and identify the new constraint
Once a constraint is elevated and no longer limits throughput, the TOC cycle restarts at Step 1 to identify which resource has become the new bottleneck.
BMO Operations & Process Improvement 3
A value stream map shows a process with 8 hours of value-added time and 72 hours of non-value-added time.
What is the process efficiency?