CAE Risk Management & Mitigation 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A 'residual risk' in automotive engineering is best described as:
- Risk identified but not yet analyzed
- Risk remaining after risk controls and mitigations have been implemented (Correct answer)
- Risk transferred to a supplier via contract
- Risk outside the program's scope
Correct answer: Risk remaining after risk controls and mitigations have been implemented
Residual risk is the risk level that persists after all planned controls, safeguards, and mitigations have been applied, and must be formally accepted by authorized stakeholders.
Question 2: Which risk response strategy involves shifting the financial consequence of a risk to a third party, such as through insurance or supplier contracts?
- Risk avoidance
- Risk reduction
- Risk transfer (Correct answer)
- Risk acceptance
Correct answer: Risk transfer
Risk transfer moves the financial burden of a risk to another party—commonly via insurance policies, warranty indemnification clauses, or supplier liability agreements.
Question 3: In automotive DFMEA, the Detection (D) rating specifically measures:
- The severity of the effect on the end customer
- The frequency with which the failure mode occurs in production
- The ability of current controls to detect the failure before it reaches the customer (Correct answer)
- The likelihood that the root cause will be corrected
Correct answer: The ability of current controls to detect the failure before it reaches the customer
Detection rates the effectiveness of existing design controls at finding a failure mode or its cause before the product is shipped to the customer, with lower scores indicating better detection.
Question 4: A 'lessons learned' database in automotive risk management primarily serves to:
- Assign blame for past project failures
- Capture historical risk data to prevent recurrence on future programs (Correct answer)
- Track supplier non-conformances for warranty claims
- Satisfy audit requirements without operational benefit
Correct answer: Capture historical risk data to prevent recurrence on future programs
Lessons learned repositories enable organizations to apply knowledge from past risk events—both successes and failures—to improve risk identification and response on future vehicle programs.
Question 5: Which technique uses a structured 'what-if' questioning approach to systematically identify hazards in automotive system design?
- Control Plan
- HAZOP (Hazard and Operability Study) (Correct answer)
- APQP Phase Gate Review
- 8D Problem Solving
Correct answer: HAZOP (Hazard and Operability Study)
HAZOP systematically applies guide words (e.g., No, More, Less, Reverse) to process parameters to identify deviations that could lead to hazardous conditions.
Question 6: When a vehicle OEM discovers a potential safety defect after market launch, the regulatory requirement in the United States mandates reporting to:
- SAE International
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) (Correct answer)
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Correct answer: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Under the TREAD Act and Safety Act, U.S. vehicle manufacturers must report safety defects and non-compliances to NHTSA, which oversees recalls and safety investigations.
Question 7: In automotive program risk management, a 'risk register' is best characterized as:
- A financial reserve fund set aside for unexpected program costs
- A living document that records identified risks, their ratings, owners, and mitigation plans (Correct answer)
- A supplier qualification database
- A record of regulatory approvals received
Correct answer: A living document that records identified risks, their ratings, owners, and mitigation plans
A risk register is the central repository for tracking all identified program risks, including probability, impact, RPN or priority score, assigned owner, mitigation actions, and review status.
CAE Risk Management & Mitigation 3
A 'residual risk' in automotive engineering is best described as: