Free Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Lean Principles and Waste Questions and Answers — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A hospital pharmacy prepares standard medication packs in large batches at the beginning of the week based on a forecast, even though daily demand varies. Many packs are not used by their expiration date and must be discarded. This practice is a primary example of which type of waste?
- Waiting
- Overproduction (Correct answer)
- Defects
- Motion
Correct answer: Overproduction
Overproduction is the waste of producing more than, sooner than, or faster than is required by the next process or the customer. Making packs based on a forecast instead of actual, immediate demand leads to excess inventory that expires and becomes waste.
Question 2: From a Lean perspective, which of the following BEST defines a 'value-added' activity?
- Any activity that is required by a regulatory body.
- Any activity that an internal manager deems important.
- Any activity that transforms the product or service and the customer is willing to pay for. (Correct answer)
- Any activity that takes a long time to complete and requires a high skill level.
Correct answer: Any activity that transforms the product or service and the customer is willing to pay for.
The core principle of Lean is to define value from the customer's perspective. A value-added activity must meet three criteria: it transforms the product or service, the customer is willing to pay for it, and it's done right the first time.
Question 3: A company transitions from a system where inventory is produced based on sales forecasts to a system where production is triggered only by an actual customer order. This change represents a shift towards which fundamental Lean principle?
- Poka-Yoke (Mistake-proofing)
- Jidoka (Autonomation)
- Kaizen (Continuous Improvement)
- Pull System (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Pull System
A Pull system is one where work is only initiated when there is demand from a downstream process, ultimately driven by the customer. This contrasts with a 'Push' system, which produces goods based on forecasts and pushes them to the market.
Question 4: A manufacturing company implements a new process but fails to train machine operators on its full capabilities or solicit their ideas for improvement. As a result, the process is inefficient and prone to errors. This situation highlights which of the eight wastes?
- Non-Utilized Talent (Correct answer)
- Extra-Processing
- Transportation
- Waiting
Correct answer: Non-Utilized Talent
The waste of Non-Utilized Talent refers to the failure to leverage the skills, knowledge, and creativity of the workforce. By not properly training or involving the operators, the company is wasting their potential contributions to process efficiency and quality.
Question 5: The rate at which products need to be completed to meet customer demand is one every 20 minutes. The total time from when an order is placed to when it is delivered is 4 days. The actual time spent working on one unit is 3 hours. Which of these represents the Takt Time?
- 4 days
- 3 hours
- 20 minutes (Correct answer)
- Cannot be determined
Correct answer: 20 minutes
Takt time is the rate at which a finished product needs to be completed to meet customer demand. It's the 'heartbeat' of the production system. In this scenario, that rate is explicitly stated as one every 20 minutes. The 4 days is Lead Time, and the 3 hours is Cycle Time.
Question 6: Which of the following Lean tools is primarily used to visualize the flow of materials and information, distinguish between value-added and non-value-added activities, and identify opportunities for improvement across an entire process?
- Fishbone Diagram
- Value Stream Map (VSM) (Correct answer)
- Pareto Chart
- Control Chart
Correct answer: Value Stream Map (VSM)
A Value Stream Map (VSM) is a flowcharting tool used to illustrate, analyze, and improve all the steps in a product or service's value stream. A key function of VSM is to identify and eliminate non-value-added activities (waste), thereby reducing lead time.
Free Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Lean Principles and Waste Questions and Answers
A hospital pharmacy prepares standard medication packs in large batches at the beginning of the week based on a forecast, even though daily demand varies.
Many packs are not used by their expiration date and must be discarded.
This practice is a primary example of which type of waste?