COM Process Management & Improvement 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A manufacturing plant notices its defect rate varies widely across shifts. Which Six Sigma tool best identifies the root causes of this variation?
- Pareto chart
- Fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram (Correct answer)
- Control chart
- Scatter diagram
Correct answer: Fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram
A fishbone diagram systematically maps potential causes (people, machines, methods, materials, environment, measurement) to identify root causes of variation.
Question 2: In a SIPOC diagram, what does the 'O' represent?
- Operations
- Outcomes
- Outputs (Correct answer)
- Objectives
Correct answer: Outputs
SIPOC stands for Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, and Customers — 'O' represents the Outputs delivered by the process.
Question 3: A company reduces its order-to-ship cycle time from 10 days to 4 days. This improvement primarily targets which type of waste in lean thinking?
- Overproduction
- Waiting (Correct answer)
- Defects
- Overprocessing
Correct answer: Waiting
Reducing cycle time directly attacks 'waiting' waste, one of the 8 lean wastes, by eliminating delays between process steps.
Question 4: Which statistical measure describes how consistently a process stays within its specification limits over time?
- Process capability index (Cpk) (Correct answer)
- Mean absolute deviation
- Standard error
- Coefficient of variation
Correct answer: Process capability index (Cpk)
Cpk measures both the spread and centering of a process relative to its specification limits, indicating long-term capability.
Question 5: An operations manager implements daily 15-minute team standup meetings to surface process blockers quickly. This practice is most aligned with which methodology?
- Total Quality Management (TQM)
- Agile/Scrum (Correct answer)
- Theory of Constraints
- Six Sigma DMAIC
Correct answer: Agile/Scrum
Daily standups are a core Agile/Scrum ceremony designed to synchronize work, surface impediments, and drive rapid iteration.
Question 6: A process improvement team uses a value stream map and finds that 80% of total lead time is non-value-added. What is the typical next step?
- Increase production speed
- Identify and eliminate or reduce the non-value-added steps (Correct answer)
- Add more inspection checkpoints
- Hire additional staff for each step
Correct answer: Identify and eliminate or reduce the non-value-added steps
The goal of value stream mapping is to expose waste; the next step is to plan and execute improvements that eliminate or reduce non-value-added activities.
Question 7: Which DMAIC phase involves establishing baseline metrics and quantifying the current problem?
- Define
- Measure (Correct answer)
- Analyze
- Improve
Correct answer: Measure
The Measure phase collects baseline data on current process performance to quantify the problem and validate the measurement system.
COM Process Management & Improvement 2
A manufacturing plant notices its defect rate varies widely across shifts.
Which Six Sigma tool best identifies the root causes of this variation?