CPIM Operations Execution & Continuous Improvement 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A plant implements total productive maintenance (TPM). Which of the following is a core pillar of TPM?
- Outsourcing all preventive maintenance to specialized contractors
- Autonomous maintenance performed by production operators (Correct answer)
- Eliminating all planned downtime through predictive scheduling
- Centralizing all maintenance decisions in a corporate ERP system
Correct answer: Autonomous maintenance performed by production operators
Autonomous maintenance (jishu hozen) trains and empowers operators to perform routine maintenance tasks on their own equipment.
Question 2: In a manufacturing cell designed for one-piece flow, which layout configuration is MOST common?
- Straight-line functional layout grouping similar machines together
- U-shaped cell allowing flexible staffing and easy operator communication (Correct answer)
- Grid layout separating machines by department and product family
- Circular layout with a centralized material handling conveyor
Correct answer: U-shaped cell allowing flexible staffing and easy operator communication
U-shaped cells support one-piece flow, allow operators to cover multiple machines, and facilitate visual communication.
Question 3: A Six Sigma Black Belt calculates a sigma level of 4.0 for a process. Approximately how many defects per million opportunities (DPMO) does this represent?
- 3.4 DPMO
- 6,210 DPMO (Correct answer)
- 66,807 DPMO
- 308,537 DPMO
Correct answer: 6,210 DPMO
A 4-sigma process yields approximately 6,210 DPMO, compared to 3.4 DPMO at Six Sigma (6σ) quality.
Question 4: A supply chain team uses a Pareto analysis to focus quality improvement efforts. Which principle does this analysis operationalize?
- The 5S principle that workplace organization reduces defects
- The 80/20 rule that roughly 80% of problems stem from 20% of causes (Correct answer)
- The Central Limit Theorem that sample means follow a normal distribution
- The law of diminishing returns applied to inspection resources
Correct answer: The 80/20 rule that roughly 80% of problems stem from 20% of causes
Pareto analysis applies the 80/20 rule to identify the vital few causes responsible for the majority of defects.
Question 5: Which continuous improvement concept refers to small, incremental improvements made continuously by all employees rather than large breakthrough changes?
- Kaikaku
- Kaizen (Correct answer)
- Hoshin kanri
- Genchi genbutsu
Correct answer: Kaizen
Kaizen means 'change for good' and refers to continuous, incremental improvements involving everyone in the organization.
Question 6: An operations manager measures 'dock-to-dock time' on the shop floor. This metric BEST represents:
- The time from receiving raw materials to shipping finished goods, representing total manufacturing lead time (Correct answer)
- The transit time between a supplier's dock and the customer's receiving dock
- The average time a truck waits at the shipping dock for loading
- The time from order receipt to invoicing, including administrative processing
Correct answer: The time from receiving raw materials to shipping finished goods, representing total manufacturing lead time
Dock-to-dock time measures total manufacturing lead time from raw material receipt to finished goods shipment.
Question 7: A lean team identifies 'overproduction' as the most serious of the seven wastes. Why is overproduction considered particularly harmful?
- It requires additional inspection resources to verify excess units
- It creates all other forms of waste including excess inventory, transportation, and motion (Correct answer)
- It violates ISO 9001 requirements for production planning accuracy
- It reduces machine availability by consuming capacity for unneeded output
Correct answer: It creates all other forms of waste including excess inventory, transportation, and motion
Overproduction is called the 'mother of all waste' because it generates downstream wastes including inventory, transportation, and defect concealment.
CPIM Operations Execution & Continuous Improvement 5
A plant implements total productive maintenance (TPM).
Which of the following is a core pillar of TPM?