Tammie Miskimins tmiskim@my.wgu.edu 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?
