CLL Performance Metrics & Continuous Improvement 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which metric best measures the effectiveness of a pull system in lean manufacturing?
- Work-in-process (WIP) inventory levels (Correct answer)
- Total revenue per quarter
- Number of employees on the floor
- Machine purchase cost
Correct answer: Work-in-process (WIP) inventory levels
WIP inventory levels directly indicate how well a pull system controls flow by limiting work to actual downstream demand.
Question 2: A lean team notices their Takt time is 45 seconds but cycle time is 60 seconds. What is the most appropriate corrective action?
- Reduce waste or add resources to bring cycle time to 45 seconds (Correct answer)
- Increase customer demand to match the cycle time
- Accept the gap and increase inventory buffers
- Hire more managers to oversee the process
Correct answer: Reduce waste or add resources to bring cycle time to 45 seconds
When cycle time exceeds Takt time, the process cannot meet customer demand, so waste must be eliminated or capacity increased.
Question 3: What does a 'red-yellow-green' (traffic light) visual metric dashboard primarily support?
- At-a-glance performance management and quick problem identification (Correct answer)
- Detailed financial forecasting
- Individual employee performance reviews
- Equipment depreciation tracking
Correct answer: At-a-glance performance management and quick problem identification
Traffic light dashboards use color coding so teams can immediately spot performance deviations without reading detailed reports.
Question 4: In a continuous improvement culture, what is the primary purpose of a gemba walk?
- To observe actual work conditions and identify improvement opportunities firsthand (Correct answer)
- To conduct annual performance appraisals
- To audit financial records on the shop floor
- To reassign staff to different departments
Correct answer: To observe actual work conditions and identify improvement opportunities firsthand
A gemba walk brings leaders to where value is created to observe real conditions, ask questions, and find waste directly.
Question 5: Which continuous improvement tool is best suited for prioritizing which defect types to address first?
- Pareto chart (Correct answer)
- Control chart
- Spaghetti diagram
- Kanban board
Correct answer: Pareto chart
A Pareto chart ranks defects by frequency so teams can focus on the vital few causes that account for most problems.
Question 6: What does 'Mean Time Between Failures' (MTBF) measure in a lean context?
- Average operating time between equipment breakdowns (Correct answer)
- Time to train a new operator
- Average customer wait time
- Lead time from order to delivery
Correct answer: Average operating time between equipment breakdowns
MTBF measures equipment reliability by calculating average uptime between failures, supporting Total Productive Maintenance (TPM).
Question 7: A lean leader sees that defect rates are falling but customer complaints are rising. What is the most likely explanation?
- The defect metric is measuring the wrong quality attribute customers care about (Correct answer)
- The process is operating at perfect efficiency
- Customer standards have become too lenient
- Defect tracking software has a bug
Correct answer: The defect metric is measuring the wrong quality attribute customers care about
A disconnect between internal defect metrics and customer complaints signals that the metric is not capturing what matters to customers (Voice of the Customer).
CLL Performance Metrics & Continuous Improvement 2
Which metric best measures the effectiveness of a pull system in lean manufacturing?