Total Quality Management Flashcards
7 cards from real BSIE practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Total Quality Management flashcards as text
What is the primary goal of supplier qualification and development programs within a TQM framework?
Answer: To extend quality management practices upstream to ensure incoming materials meet requirements
TQM extends quality responsibility to the supply chain by qualifying suppliers, building long-term partnerships, and helping them improve their processes to consistently deliver conforming materials.
In a SIPOC diagram used in TQM and Six Sigma, what does the 'O' represent?
Answer: Outputs produced by the process and delivered to customers
In SIPOC (Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers), 'O' stands for Outputs — the products, services, or information that the process produces and delivers to customers.
Which of the following situations would cause a special cause of variation in a process?
Answer: A sudden equipment malfunction that causes a spike in defect rate
Special cause variation results from identifiable, non-random events such as equipment malfunctions, operator errors, or material changes — unlike common cause variation that is inherent in the process.
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award evaluates organizations in which core performance category?
Answer: Leadership, strategy, customers, measurement, workforce, operations, and results
The Baldrige Award criteria assess seven categories: Leadership; Strategy; Customers; Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management; Workforce; Operations; and Results.
What distinguishes a c-chart from a u-chart in statistical process control?
Answer: A c-chart tracks defects in samples of equal size while a u-chart tracks defects per unit for varying sample sizes
The c-chart monitors the count of defects in samples of constant size, while the u-chart monitors the average number of defects per unit when sample sizes vary.
In TQM, 'empowerment' of employees primarily means:
Answer: Giving workers authority to stop production when they detect a quality problem
Employee empowerment in TQM gives workers the authority and responsibility to take action — including stopping the line — when they identify quality problems, making quality everyone's responsibility.
Which of the following best describes the concept of 'design for quality' (DFQ) in TQM?
Answer: Incorporating quality requirements and customer needs into the product design phase to prevent defects
Design for quality integrates quality considerations into product design from the start, using tools like FMEA and QFD to prevent defects rather than detecting them after production.