LMC Lean Principles and Foundations 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following is an example of 'Mura' (unevenness) in production?
- A machine that frequently breaks down
- Alternating weeks of overtime followed by idle time (Correct answer)
- A worker performing unnecessary motion
- Excess raw material inventory
Correct answer: Alternating weeks of overtime followed by idle time
Mura refers to unevenness or variability in workload, exemplified by inconsistent production schedules that cause peaks and valleys in demand.
Question 2: What does the lean principle of 'Respect for People' primarily require of managers?
- Automating all repetitive tasks immediately
- Empowering workers to identify and solve problems (Correct answer)
- Minimizing workforce headcount
- Centralizing all decision-making at the top
Correct answer: Empowering workers to identify and solve problems
Respect for People means engaging and empowering employees to contribute their knowledge and solve problems, recognizing them as the primary source of improvement.
Question 3: A value stream map shows a process step with a large 'push' arrow. What does this indicate?
- The step is customer-facing
- Inventory is being pushed downstream regardless of demand (Correct answer)
- The step is automated
- Value is being added efficiently
Correct answer: Inventory is being pushed downstream regardless of demand
A push arrow in a VSM indicates that material or information is being forced downstream without a pull signal, which can create excess inventory and waste.
Question 4: Which of the 5 lean principles, as described by Womack and Jones, comes immediately after 'Identify Value'?
- Establish Pull
- Map the Value Stream (Correct answer)
- Seek Perfection
- Create Flow
Correct answer: Map the Value Stream
The five lean principles in order are: Identify Value, Map the Value Stream, Create Flow, Establish Pull, and Seek Perfection.
Question 5: Overproduction is considered the 'worst' of the 8 wastes in lean because it:
- Is the hardest to measure
- Creates and hides other types of waste (Correct answer)
- Directly harms customer satisfaction
- Requires the most worker effort
Correct answer: Creates and hides other types of waste
Overproduction generates other wastes including excess inventory, additional transportation, unnecessary motion, and can mask process defects.
Question 6: In the context of lean, what is 'Standard Work'?
- The minimum acceptable quality level for a product
- The documented best current method for performing a task (Correct answer)
- The average time it takes to complete a process
- The baseline measurement before a kaizen event
Correct answer: The documented best current method for performing a task
Standard Work is the documented, repeatable best-known method for performing a task, serving as a baseline for improvement and training.
Question 7: A hospital reduces patient wait times by having nurses restock supplies at the end of each shift only when bins are empty. This is an example of:
- Push system
- Just-in-time pull system (Correct answer)
- Batch processing
- Overproduction prevention
Correct answer: Just-in-time pull system
Restocking only when bins are empty is a classic pull/kanban system — supplies are replenished based on actual consumption, not a fixed schedule.
LMC Lean Principles and Foundations 3
Which of the following is an example of 'Mura' (unevenness) in production?