Explain the structure and purpose of the A3 Report that Toyota created. How does it support the DMAIC process?
> What is the role of national culture in adapting the Baldrige framework to a particular country?
> Construct a list of at least 10 different names for a “customer,” for example, buyer, client, and so on.
> Explain the differences between the Baldrige framework and the EFQM framework.
> How does Baldrige support Deming’s 14 Points?
> What are some of the impacts that the Baldrige program has provided, both in the United States and around the world?
> Summarize the purposes of the Baldrige Award.
> Explain the difference between strategies, strategic objectives, and action plans.
> What are strategic challenges? Why is it important to understand them in strategic planning?
> What is the purpose of the Baldrige Organizational Profile? Summarize the information contained in the Organizational Profile. Why is knowing this information important?
> What factors are examined in an environmental assessment?
> Define mission, vision, and guiding principles. What is the purpose of each?
> Explain the elements of a typical strategic planning process.
> A service representative of a major U.S. airline told a customer about an internal memo that had been circulated called “No Waivers, No Favors,” which promises significant and negative consequences to any employee giving a customer special treatment outs
> Summarize the key practices for a strategic focus on performance excellence.
> Why is strategic planning important for all organizations?
> Explain the strategic role of work systems design. How should outsourcing and vertical integration decisions be made from a strategic context?
> What are core competencies? Why is it important to understand them?
> What types of organizational structures are common in TQ-based organizations today?
> Describe the types of organizational structure commonly used. What are the advantages or disadvantages of each?
> Describe the key contextual factors that affect organizational structure. What implications do they have for quality?
> List and explain the seven management and planning tools.
> Why is it important to address human resource plans in strategic planning?
> How does catchall play an important role in policy deployment?
> Many organizations, such as banks, offer significant incentives to attract new customers, such as $150 to open a new checking account. However, existing customers rarely receive incentives to stay. What do you think of such practices? What are the implic
> Explain the concept of hushing kanji and provide a simplified description of this process.
> What is strategy deployment? How does it differ from strategy development?
> What is a strategy? What does a good strategy provide for an organization?
> Explain the knowledge and management expertise that Green Belts, Black Belts, and Master Black Belts should have?
> Explain the role of projects in Six Sigma. How Six Sigma teams are typically organized?
> List and explain the five categories into which all quality problem solving can be classified. Provide some quality-related examples in each category.
> What is Kempner and Trego’s definition of a problem?
> Explain the theoretical basis for the six-sigma 3.4 dpmo measure. How does it relate to process capability concepts?
> List the key principles of the Six Sigma philosophy. How does it differ from TQM?
> What is Six Sigma? Briefly outline its history at Motorola and General Electric.
> A person who runs an auto repair shop related that he routinely washes cars or changes the oil for his best customers at no charge. What are the benefits of such a policy?
> Nashville Custom Guitars (NCG) is a small-scale manufacturing operation, producing fewer than 800 instruments a year. The company does not have a formal quality department nor has it consciously tried to apply the principles of TQM. Nevertheless, a tour
> Why is Lean Six Sigma especially useful in services? Cite some examples.
> How did Lean Six Sigma evolve? How does it differ from the original concept of Six Sigma?
> Describe the key tools used in lean production.
> Explain the steps of the Deming cycle.
> Why is brainstorming an important tool in the Improvement phase of DMAIC?
> What is root cause analysis? Describe some tools that are useful in identifying a root cause.
> What is a value stream map and how does it differ from an ordinary flowchart?
> Explain different types of check sheets and how they are used.
> What is an operational definition? Why is it important?
> State the typical elements that make up a project charter.
> Are you loyal to any particular businesses? Why or why not?
> What is a SIPOC diagram? How is it used in DMAIC?
> Explain the concept of Pareto analysis. How is a Pareto distribution created?
> Discuss factors that should be considered when selecting Six Sigma projects.
> Explain the four themes that different improvement methodologies share. How are they reflected in the Deming cycle, creative problem-solving process, and DMAIC?
> Provide some examples of low-tech and high-tech measuring instruments used in quality control.
> List and explain the four major categories of quality costs. Give examples of each.
> Why are cost of quality programs valuable to managers?
> Explain the difference in measuring nonconformance’s per unit and defects per million opportunities (dpmo)? What advantages does dpmo have as a quality measure?
> What is the difference between an attribute measurement and a variable measurement?
> One national home improvement store trained employees to “make a customer, not a sale.” For instance, if a customer tried to buy a small item such as a bolt that didn’t have a barcode or one that was unreadable, employees would let the customer have it f
> Explain the difference between a nonconformance and a nonconforming unit of work.
> What trade-offs are involved in selecting the sample size for a control chart?
> Explain the concept of rational subgroups.
> What is a dashboard and why is it valuable in quality control?
> What guidance does ISO standard 11462-1 provide for organizations wishing to use SPC?
> Explain the difference between a c-chart and a u-chart.
> Does an np-chart provide any different information than a p-chart? Why would an np-chart be used?
> Describe some situations in which a chart for individual measurements would be used.
> Why is the s-chart sometimes used in place of the R-chart?
> What does one look for in interpreting control charts? Explain what a control chart for a process in statistical control should look like, and the characteristics of out-of-control indicators.
> A criticism of the Net Promoter Score is that different percentages of promoters, passives, and detractors can result in the same scores. For example, suppose that one firm has 20 percent detractors, 0 percent passives, and 80 percent promoters, while an
> Briefly describe the methodology of constructing and using control charts.
> Explain how pre-control is applied. How does it differ from statistical process control?
> How does a process performance index differ from a process capability index?
> What does the term in statistical control mean?
> What does the acronym SMART signify for measurement? Why are these characteristics important?
> Explain how to interpret the ratio Cpk /Cp .
> Define the process capability indexes, Cp , Cpl, and Cpu, and explain how they may be used to establish or improve quality policies in operating areas or with suppliers.
> What are the three major types of process capability studies? Describe the methodology of conducting a process capability study.
> Explain the term process capability. How can process capability generally be improved?
> How is an R&R study performed? What is its purpose?
> Develop some survey questions that an Urgent Care facility might ask patients about their experience. Group your questions into categories of Physician/ Nurse, Personal Issues, and Overall Experience.
> Explain the difference between repeatability and reproducibility.
> What is calibration and why is it important to a good quality control system?
> What is the difference between accuracy and precision?
> Describe the science of metrology.
> Explain the importance of formula (8.5):
> Define measurement, and explain the difference between measures and indicators.
> Explain and give an example of nominal specifications and tolerances in both manufacturing and service.
> Outline the process of building the House of Quality. What departments and functions within the company should be involved in each step of the process?
> Explain the concept and the principal benefits of QFD.
> What is the purpose of detailed design?
> A customer survey for a pharmacy asks customers to rate the pharmacy according to the following: Friendly pharmacist Knowledgeable pharmacist Friendly pharmacy technician knowledgeable pharmacy technician Quick checkout They use a 1–5 Likert scale ra
> Explain concept development and innovation. Describe the importance of innovation and creativity in concept development.
> What is Design for Six Sigma (DFSS)? Explain the four basic elements of DFSS and the various tools and methodologies that comprise this body of knowledge.
> What is concurrent engineering? What benefits does it have?
> Describe different forms of product testing.
> Explain the purpose of design reviews and how they facilitate product development.
> Describe the basic approach to design for excellence (DFX).
> Discuss environmental responsibility issues relating to product design facing businesses today.
> Summarize the key design practices for high quality in manufacturing and assembly.
> How can product design affect manufacturability? Explain the concept and importance of design for manufacturability.
> What is fault tree analysis? How does it differ from DFMEA?
