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Quiz Session - Attempts With Random Questions

ASQ CSSBB Exam Questions

Page 8 of 33

141.

The Six Sigma philosophy is best described as:

  • a problem-solving methodology based on facts and data

  • a total quality control program

  • a methodology that ensures perfection in industry processes

  • a tactical approach to managing and acting on statistical analyses 

Correct answer: a problem-solving methodology based on facts and data.  

It is a philosophy of emphasizing defect prevention over defect detection, and to holistically reduce variation and waste, thereby providing a competitive advantage. It helps supplement a total quality control program. It does not ensure perfection, however, it does strive for perfection. Finally, there are many tactical and strategic approaches that may be used to provide a competitive advantage, and Six Sigma is not restricted to the use of statistical analysis as its only tool to accomplish this purpose.

142.

Emily is collecting data on a new brand of snack chips. One issue with producing the snack chip is its fragile structure, which tends to have it break in half as it is conveyed from the dryer to the consumer package. Emily has developed a quality assurance program that samples 5 bags per sampling event on a random basis over a week to count the number of broken chips in a bag and plot them against an expected distribution. 

What type of chart has Emily developed? 

  • Short-run chart

  • c-chart

  • p-chart

  • np-chart

Correct answer: Short-run chart

This type of chart should be used where samples are taken infrequently or periodically, such as Emily's random sampling scheme.

A c-chart is for expected occurrences (defects) against a Poisson distribution where the sample size is constant and predictable. A p-chart plots attribute data into a population percentage readout. A np-chart plots attribute data and displays the number of defects. 

143.

A customer has specified that copper tubing must have an outside diameter of exactly 15 millimeters. What is this an example of?

  • Critical-to-quality (CTQ) requirement

  • Critical-to-cost (CTC) requirement

  • Critical-to-safety (CTS) requirement

  • Critical-to-delivery (CTD) requirement

Correct answer: Critical-to-quality (CTQ) requirement

These requirements encompass physical parameters of the product.

Critical-to-cost (CTC) requirements deal exclusively with financial measures. Critical-to-safety (CTS) requirements consider only safety needs and requirements. Critical-to-delivery (CTD) requirements deal with customer service issues such as on-time, in-full, delivery of orders.

144.

Which statement is not correct about control charts?

  • Attribute charts are preferred over variable charts.

  • Control charts can be categorized into two types: variables and attributes.

  • When data plots the result from measurements on a variable or continuous scale, it falls under the "variables" category.

  • Attribute charts are used to count data in which each data element is classified into one or two categories.

Correct answer: Attribute charts are preferred over variable charts.

Control charts can be categorized into two types: variables and attributes. Variable charts plot the result from measurements on a variable or continuous scale. Attribute charts are used to count data in which each data element is classified into one or two categories, such as good or bad. Variable charts are preferred over attribute charts because the data contains more information and are typically more sensitive to detecting process shifts than attribute charts.

145.

Aldrich, a senior sourcing manager, is talking to his contract administration manager in the home building products division and learns that the business is stockpiling waste cuttings of finished product in a warehouse yard. What DFX methodology should be employed in this situation?

  • Design for Cost (DFC)

  • Design for Maintainability (DFM)

  • Design for Producibility (DFP)

  • Design for Test (DFT)

Correct answer: Design for Cost (DFC)

The challenge of product life cycle cost has not been fully thought through by the business, and the waste pile should be preferably reclaimed in some manner or responsibly disposed of. 

Design for Maintainability (DFM), for Producibility (DFP), and for Test (DFT) are subordinate considerations in this circumstance. 

146.

Jason is trying to figure out how to cleanse his initial data set. Which choice below would be the best initial step for Jason?

  • Run descriptive statistics to understand the population

  • Look for copying errors

  • Look for calculation errors

  • Look for rounding errors

Correct answer: Run descriptive statistics to understand the population

This is the standard first step in analyzing a data set to not only begin gaining insights into how various factors are influencing an outcome, but also to check for cleansing needs. At this stage, outliers may be detected that require a deeper dive of investigation to understand their cause.

Looking for copying, calculation, and rounding errors are all subsequent steps in assessing outliers and other forms of inaccurate data. 

147.

John, a Black Belt, has spent the last week at his company's factory in Toledo, quantifying the various types of waste in the production process at this site. What is John likely to summarize for the Toledo site?

  • The hidden factory

  • The hidden process

  • Setup times

  • Takt times 

Correct answer: The hidden factory

This is the collection of activities in a process that generates waste, lost time, money, and labor for the company. 

There is no official terminology for 'hidden process.'  John might be measuring setup times to some extent in order to understand wasted time, but this is not in itself a type of waste.  Takt times might be a useful measurement to understand hidden wasteful practices, but this is not by itself a type of waste.

148.

Which of Tuckman's stages of group development is characterized by team members needing to become familiar with each other's likes and dislikes?

  • Forming

  • Storming

  • Norming

  • Performing

Correct answer: Forming

Teams in the beginning often struggle to understand each other and need time to adjust to each other's styles.

Tuckman's stages of group development include forming, storming, norming, and performing. This model of group development states that these phases are all necessary and inevitable for a team to grow, face challenges, tackle problems, find solutions, plan work, and deliver results.

149.

What is a likely derailer to conducting a successful benchmarking exercise?

  • Trade secrets

  • Incompatible metrics

  • Staff doesn't have time to do the work

  • Company has unique processes that can't be benchmarked

Correct answer: Trade secrets

Trade secrets are fiercely protected and even the slightest risk of a breach of confidentiality will derail a benchmarking effort.

Incompatible metrics can be standardized. Benchmarking is often outsourced work due to the lack of time and/or expertise within the company. Unique processes are benchmark-able based on their standardized performance.

150.

Joanna has discovered a tranche of data that does not have sufficient accuracy to be useful. Seeking the cause of the problem, she discovers the data is derived from a calculation that was entered incorrectly into a spreadsheet. 

Which choice best describes this type of data accuracy issue? 

  • Order of calculation

  • Rounding

  • Inadequate measurement system

  • Copying error

Correct answer: Order of calculation

This type of common error occurs when a calculation is simply computed in the wrong order, leading to an erroneous result.

Rounding errors occur when rounding numbers either with too few or too many significant digits, resulting in a cumulative effect that leads to inaccurate results. An inadequate measurement system involves either reproducibility and/or repeatability inadequacies. Copying errors can occur either through transcription to digital media or truncation of data within digital media.

151.

The need for a specialized power plug to charge a cellphone's battery is an example of what type of requirement in the Kano Model?

  • Reverse requirement

  • One-dimensional requirement

  • Indifferent requirement

  • Must-be requirement

Correct answer: Reverse requirement

These are requirements that refer to features that a customer doesn't want or need.

One-dimensional requirements fulfill a customer need to a defined minimum level, with anything more than this increasing customer satisfaction. Indifferent requirements are features that cause neither satisfaction nor dissatisfaction. Must-be requirements are features that the customer assumes will be in the design of the product and will be extremely dissatisfied if they are not included.

152.

Logan has just received a new project from the Director of Supply Chain. He runs into his Master Black Belt in the hallway and informs her of the new project. Instead of smiling as Logan expects, she frowns, saying, "That pet project again? Hold off on starting this, Logan. We need to get alignment from the Steering Team." What is a pet project?

  • An initiative pursued out of self-interest

  • A project with an ill-defined problem statement

  • A project with constantly changing scope

  • A Master Black Belt's favorite project

Correct answer: An initiative pursued out of self-interest

Pet projects are often the initiative of a single manager who pursues the work through a belief that it is highly important or simply the right thing to do. These projects are commonly not in alignment with the greater corporate Project Management Office (PMO) and should not consume Six Sigma resources.

While they often do have ill-defined problem statements, this is not their defining trait, nor is the possibility that they may constantly change in scope. It may or may not be an MBB's favorite project, but MBB's do not initiate projects.

153.

As part of Mark's report to his manufacturing director on the process capability of an underperforming product, he has included TPY. Given that the R chart has counted 245 units out of specification out of 45,000 manufactured, what is the TPY?

  • 0.990

  • 0.01

  • 0.009

  • 1.09

Correct answer: The DPU in this circumstance is 0.01 (245/45,000).

From the equation, TPY  = e-DPU, we calculate the existing TPY as e-0.01 = 0.990.  Therefore, about 1 in 1000 units will be defective in this process.

154.

Carmine, during the improve phase of her project, ensures that the measurement of a response variable occurs more than once under similar conditions. Why is Carmine doing this?

  • Carmine is performing a repetition exercise to determine the variability of the measurement system.

  • Carmine is performing a replication exercise to determine the variability of the measurement system.

  • Carmine is performing a randomization exercise to determine the variability of the measurement system.

  • Carmine is performing a repetition exercise to determine the precision of the estimates of the observed effects.

Correct answer: Carmine is performing a repetition exercise to determine the variability of the measurement system. 

It is not replication, which occurs when the entire experiment is performed more than once for a given set of independent variables, in order to develop precision in the estimates of the observed effects. Randomization is used to assign treatments to experimental units so that each unit has an equal chance of being assigned a particular treatment, thus minimizing the effect of variation from uncontrolled noise factors. 

155.

When beginning a Lean Six Sigma project, which methodology is best used first, and for what main reason?

  • Lean – because the workplace needs to be made as efficient and effective as possible

  • Six Sigma – because variation needs to be removed before one can reduce waste

  • Six Sigma – because one must first map out a process in order to understand how to improve it

  • Lean – because it can be accomplished quickly without a lot of top management support

Correct answer: Lean – because the workplace needs to be made as efficient and effective as possible

This process generates value stream maps to increase understanding of the process, and identify the inefficiencies and waste.

After these steps have been made and process variation is the remaining problem to be solved, Six Sigma work can be performed. To reverse this approach raises the risk that process variation improvement cannot be effectively implemented, should various wasteful actions be present in the process. Therefore, mapping out the process under a Six Sigma approach might well turn out to be a wasteful activity. Both Lean and Six Sigma work must be strongly supported by top management.  

156.

Neil, a contract manufacturing manager, has been asked to take part in building manufacturing scenarios for a new product line. He was asked specifically to lead the development of scenarios that include using a contract manufacturer to produce the new product grades, on either supplier-owned or company-owned equipment at the supplier's location, and to assess the expenses of each scenario. What DFX methodology is being employed here?

  • Design to Cost (DTC)

  • Design for Maintainability (DFM)

  • Design for Producibility (DFP)

  • Design for Test (DFT)

Correct answer: Design to Cost (DTC)

Neil is helping to assess the life cycle costs of the new product line, looking at capital and support costs. 

Design for Maintainability (DFM), for Producibility (DFP), and for Test (DFT) are subordinate considerations in this circumstance.  

157.

What is the name of the probability distribution which is described, in part, by the mean np?

  • Binomial distribution

  • Normal distribution

  • Poisson distribution

  • Chi-square distribution

Correct answer: Binomial distribution

The binomial distribution is described in part by the mean, np, of the number of trials (n) multiplied by the probability of success (p). 

Means for the normal, poisson, and chi-square distributions are described by other statistical parameters.

158.

A meteorology professor wishes to show her students how global warming has been increasing over the last century, using a tenth of a degree Celsius as her interval. What statistic is ideal for this purpose?

  • Frequency distribution

  • Normal distribution

  • Exponential distribution

  • Logarithmic distribution

Correct answer:  Frequency distribution

Frequency distribution is a display (tabular and graphical) of information in mutually exclusive intervals that summarize the occurrence of each data point falling into an interval. 

Normal, exponential, and logarithmic distributions show data in a continuous manner and do not inform on the frequency of occurence.

159.

Smita has built a Pareto chart of observed values from treatment combinations of factors. In what element of DOE is Smita working?

  • Design space

  • Experimental design

  • Experimental error

  • Experimental run

Correct answer: Design space

Design space is the multidimenational region of possible treatment combinations.

Experimental design is a critical part of DOE and is the formal plan that details the specifics for conducting an experiment. Experimental error is the variation that occurs in the response variable that is accounted for by the factors. An experimental run is a single performance of the experiment for a specific set of treatment combinations.

160.

What is not one of the top three qualities looked for in the selection of a team member?

  • Being a subject matter expert

  • Ability to influence

  • Openness to change

  • Possessing the right skill set

Correct answer: Being a subject matter expert 

The three most important criteria to make a team successful are the ability to influence, openness to change, and possessing the right skill set. Being a subject matter expert, while important, does not necessarily make for a good team member.

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