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Quality and Continuous Improvement Flashcards

7 cards from real CPIM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 7 Quality and Continuous Improvement flashcards as text

  1. In Total Quality Management (TQM), what role do customers play in defining quality?

    Answer: Customers define quality through their satisfaction and requirements

    TQM holds that quality is defined by the customer — a product is only as good as it meets or exceeds customer needs and expectations.

  2. Which technique involves a cross-functional team tracing the flow of a product and information to identify waste and non-value-added steps?

    Answer: Value stream mapping

    Value stream mapping (VSM) visually depicts current and future state flows to expose waste and target improvement opportunities.

  3. A company reduces its supplier base from 120 to 15 strategic partners. What quality benefit does this typically produce?

    Answer: Closer relationships enabling better quality collaboration and improvement

    Reducing suppliers to a strategic few allows deeper partnerships, shared quality systems, joint improvement initiatives, and clearer accountability.

  4. What is the primary objective of a corrective action system in quality management?

    Answer: To identify, analyze, and eliminate the root cause of nonconformances so they do not recur

    A corrective action system drives permanent elimination of nonconformance root causes to prevent recurrence.

  5. Which of the following best describes 'benchmarking' as a quality improvement tool?

    Answer: Comparing processes and performance metrics against best-in-class organizations to identify improvement gaps

    Benchmarking compares an organization's processes and results with best practices from internal, competitive, or world-class external sources.

  6. In SPC, what does an 'out-of-control' signal on a control chart indicate?

    Answer: A special cause of variation has been detected and should be investigated

    An out-of-control signal means a special (assignable) cause of variation is present, which requires investigation and correction.

  7. Which approach to quality improvement focuses on incremental, continuous small improvements made by all employees rather than large breakthrough changes?

    Answer: Kaizen

    Kaizen is the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement through small, ongoing, incremental changes involving everyone.