BSIE Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering MCQ 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The critical path in a project network is defined as the path that:
- Has the most activities
- Has the highest total cost
- Has zero total float and determines project duration (Correct answer)
- Is chosen by the project manager
Correct answer: Has zero total float and determines project duration
The critical path has zero float (slack), meaning any delay on it directly delays the project completion date.
Question 2: In the Transportation Problem of linear programming, a basic feasible solution has exactly m + n - 1 basic variables, where m and n are the number of:
- Constraints and variables
- Sources and destinations (Correct answer)
- Iterations and pivots
- Rows and columns in the cost matrix
Correct answer: Sources and destinations
A non-degenerate transportation BFS has exactly m + n - 1 allocations, where m = number of sources and n = number of destinations.
Question 3: In human factors engineering, the 'signal detection theory' concept of d-prime (d') measures:
- The operator's reaction time
- The discriminability between signal and noise (Correct answer)
- The probability of a false alarm
- The threshold luminance for visual detection
Correct answer: The discriminability between signal and noise
d' quantifies how well an observer can distinguish a signal from background noise, independent of their response bias.
Question 4: Which forecasting method assigns exponentially decreasing weights to older observations and requires only one parameter (α)?
- Simple moving average
- Weighted moving average
- Simple exponential smoothing (Correct answer)
- Holt-Winters method
Correct answer: Simple exponential smoothing
Simple exponential smoothing uses a single smoothing parameter α to weight recent data more heavily, with weights declining geometrically for older periods.
Question 5: In failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), the Risk Priority Number (RPN) is calculated as:
- Severity + Occurrence + Detection
- Severity × Occurrence × Detection (Correct answer)
- Severity × Occurrence / Detection
- Max(Severity, Occurrence, Detection)
Correct answer: Severity × Occurrence × Detection
RPN = Severity × Occurrence × Detection, producing a number from 1 to 1000 used to prioritize failure modes for corrective action.
Question 6: Which industrial engineering technique uses predetermined time standards (like MTM or MOST) to set labor standards without direct observation of the task?
- Time study
- Work sampling
- Predetermined motion time systems (PMTS) (Correct answer)
- Standard data method
Correct answer: Predetermined motion time systems (PMTS)
PMTS assigns standard times to basic human motions, allowing analysts to build a time standard from a task description before the job is performed.
Question 7: In aggregate production planning, a 'chase strategy' means:
- Maintaining a constant workforce and using inventory to absorb demand changes
- Varying production rate and/or workforce to match demand each period (Correct answer)
- Subcontracting excess demand to outside vendors
- Keeping production level and accepting backlogs
Correct answer: Varying production rate and/or workforce to match demand each period
A chase (demand-matching) strategy adjusts output by hiring/laying off workers or changing hours to closely follow demand fluctuations.
BSIE Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering MCQ 4
The critical path in a project network is defined as the path that: