QDC1 Study Questions Week 1 1. Describe the type of graphical charts used in operations management?
Flow Charts, check sheets, histograms, cause and effect diagram, pareto diagram, scatter diagram, control charts, run charts. 2. Which two charts are important in statistical process control? Control chart and run chart
Control Charts – show the performance and the variation of a process or some quality or productivity indicator over time in a graphical fashion that is easy to understand and interpret. They also identify process changes and trends over time and show the effects of corrective action. Control charts monitor performance of one or more processes over time to detect trends, shifts or cycles. Distinguishes special from common causes of variation. Allows a team to compare performance before and after implementation of a solution to measure its impact. Focuses attention on truly vital changes in the process. 3. Describe the uses of functional flowcharts: A chart that describes the steps in a process. Summarize the process, from start to finish, great to use for training. A flowchart or process map identifies the sequence of activities or the flow of materials and information in a process. Flowcharts help the people involved in the process understand it much better and more objectively by providing a picture of the steps need to accomplish a task. 4. Describe the use of histograms: provides clues about the characteristics of the parent population from which a sample is taken. Patterns that would be difficult to see in an ordinary table of numbers become apparent. Summarize a large amount of data. (Bar chart)
A distribution showing the frequency of occurrences of a variable. 5. Describe the use of run charts:
Run charts are similar to a line graph, a tool for tracking results over time, used to identify patterns and easy to construct and easy to interpret. 6. Describe the uses of control charts: How can this be used to determine if a process is acceptable or unacceptable?
Control Charts – show the performance and the variation of a process or some quality or productivity indicator over time in a graphical fashion that is easy to understand and interpret. They also identify process changes and trends over time and show the effects of corrective action. Control charts monitor performance of one or more processes over time to detect trends, shifts or cycles. Distinguishes special from common causes of variation. Allows a team to compare performance before and after implementation of a solution to measure its impact. Focuses attention on truly vital changes in the process.
They identify process changes and trends, allowing the team to measure the before and after. 7. Discuss some obstacles management faces when implementing and incorporating improvements into daily operations?
Lack of company wide definition of quality
Lack of a strategic plan for change
Lack of a customer focus
Poor intra-organizational communication
Lack of employee empowerment view of quality as a quick fix
Emphasis on short term financial results
Lack of strong motivation
Lack of time to devote to quality initiatives
Lack of leadership
Changing tradition 8. Discuss two methodologies of process improvement. Deming Cycle and Six sigma?
Deming Cycle: Plan, Do, Study, Act – continuous improvement that follows a certain order. Plan out our process. What are we trying to accomplish, what changes can we make that will result in improvement and how will we know that a change is an improvement?
Six Sigma: (A process for continual improvement) a business improvement approach that seeks to find and eliminate causes of defects and errors in manufacturing and service processes by focusing on outputs that are critical to customers and a clear financial return for the organization. Six sigma is looking for defects. No more than 3.4 defects per million. 9. What are some costs associated with quality? Failure, appraisal & prevention.
Costs incurred by defective parts/products or faulty services. (returns, lost sales) Appraisal: cost of activities designed to ensure quality or uncover defects. Prevention: All TQ training, planning, customer assessment, process control and quality improvement costs to prevent defects from occurring. 10. What is the point at which costs associated with improvement are no longer warranted?
When the item is no longer profitable, that is when you shut down the quality. It is the point at which there is no further benefit from continuing to improve the process or customer satisfaction.

11. What are the costs of customer dissatisfaction? * Loss of profits * Loss of business
Liability
Productivity
Loss of goodwill

12. Outline some of the losses resulting from process variation.
Internal failure; absence of defects
Additional costs, delays, poor quality, reputations, loss of productivity
Variations result in additional costs, delays and shortages, poor quality, and inefficient work systems. poor quality and product shortages or service delays can lead to customer dissatisfaction and damage an organization's reputation and image.
Loss of business
Costs
Productivity
Liability

13. Describe the role of the International Organization for standards?(ISO)
Governing organization: quality system standards adopted by ISO in 1987, revised in 1994 & 2000. Technical specification and criteria to be used as rules, guidelines or definitions of characteristics to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their purpose. Defines quality system standards based on the premise that certain generic characteristics of management practices can be standardized and that a well-designed, well-implemented, and carefully managed quality system provides confidence that the out-puts will meet customer expectations and requirements.

14. Describe the practices employed by the ISO?
The standards provide guidance and tools for companies and organizations who want to ensure that their products and services consistently meet customer's requirements, and that quality is consistently improved. Quality document review, onsite audits, interviews, and re certification. 15. Explain the steps to receive quality certification through the ISO.
1. Get top management commitment
2. Train personnel
3. Prepare quality policy manual
4. Prepare operation procedures
5. Hold internal audit
6. Select registrar
7. Go through the registration process
8. Obtain ISO 9000 registration

16. Describe the key elements of TQM.
A philosophy that involves everyone in an organization in a continual effort to improve quality and achieve customer satisfaction.
Continuous improvement – Customer focus
Competitive bench-marking
Employee empowerment – Everyone involved
Teams approach
Decisions based on facts rather than opinions
Knowledge of tools
Supplier quality
Champion: Quality at the source 17. What are some of the appropriate goals of process improvement teams?
The team will have a mission, a purpose, goals, a plan of action, clearly defined roles, and use a scientific approach.

18. Describe the responsibilities that rest with team members?
Team Champion: person who pays attention to all departments/projects closely, monitors and supports the team. Teach coach: coach lacks authority but is much more an expert on daily operations and should not get involved. Team leader or captain: senior position, most involved and responsible for the daily work on the project/close to process issue.