Solutions Manual for

Solutions Manual for Introduction to Statistical Quality Control, Enhanced eText, 8e Montgomery (All Chapters) 1 / 4

Chapter 1 Student Solutions 1-1 Chapter 1 – Quality Improvement in the Modern Business Environment

1.4S. Can an understanding of the multidimensional nature of quality lead to improved product design or better service?

Quality is often evaluated in terms of one or more desirable characteristics that a product or service should have; these are also referred to as the “dimensions of quality.” Understanding customer expectations across all dimensions enables organizations to design products and services that customers will perceive as “high quality” and desirable. Recognizing the relative importance of these dimensions also allows organizations to prioritize investments in quality improvements to maximize growth and competitiveness.

Your answer could differ based on your experience. You should recognize that customers can have multiple requirements and focusing on a single dimension decreases competitiveness.

1.6S. What is the Juran Trilogy?

Dr. Joseph Juran proposed a quality management philosophy focused on three components: planning, control, and improvement. Planning involves identifying external customers and their needs, and designing products or services that meet these needs. Control is employed to ensure that the product (or service) produced (delivered) meets requirements. Improvement aims to achieve performance and quality levels that are higher than current levels.

1.9S. Who was Walter A. Shewhart?

Walter A. Shewhart is often called the father of modern quality control. In 1924, he introduced the concept of the statistical control chart in a Bell Laboratories memorandum. In 1931 Dr. Shewhart published the seminal “Economic Control of Quality of Manufactured Product” outlining statistical methods for use in production and control chart methods.

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Chapter 1 Student Solutions 1-2 1.13S. What would motivate a business to compete for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award?

While the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recognizes national role model practices across multiple criteria, organizations use both internal and external assessments to understand current performance levels, to identify gaps in organizational excellence, and to guide opportunities for improvement. The Baldrige Excellence Framework encourages a systems perspective to reach goals, improve results, and become more competitive. An organization could be motivated by many factors – for example evolving customer requirements and expectations, a changing competitive environment, or current performance results – with a focus on achieving ongoing success. Many organizations say that the Baldrige evaluation process is one of the best, most cost-effective and comprehensive performance assessments they can find, whether or not they receive the Baldrige Award 1.

Your answer could differ based on your experience. You should recognize that the Baldrige Award encompasses more than just product or service quality.

• Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. 2017. 2017–2018 Baldrige Excellence Framework: A Systems Approach to Improving Your

Organization's Performance. Gaithersburg, MD: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology.

https://www.nist.gov/baldrige

1.18S. How can lean and Six Sigma work together to eliminate waste?

Organizations experience many types of waste, including unnecessary transportation of material, excessive inventory (both work in process and finished goods), waiting, overproduction (more than the customer or downstream operation needs), and defects (leading to both rework and scrap). Traditional Six Sigma DMAIC methods are aimed at eliminating defects and reducing variability at value-add operations and address the waste of defects. Lean methods are typically used to tackle the waste between value-add operations – reducing waste such as transportation, inventory, waiting, and overproduction.

Your answer could differ based on your experience. You should recognize that an organization does not have to adopt either lean OR Six Sigma; there is a role for each methodology and often they overlap. 3 / 4

Chapter 2 Student Solutions 2-1 Chapter 2 – The DMAIC Process

2.2S. What role does risk play in project selection and the Define step of DMAIC?

Common risks in project selection include a focus on projects driven by current problems (not based on strategic business objectives), project scope (too large) and business impact (too narrow). In the Define step of the DMAIC process, anticipating risks such as resource availability, schedule restrictions, technology limitations, organizational readiness (and culture), and other factors allows for pro-active planning and escalation (if needed).

Your answer could differ based on your experience. You should recognize that risks can arise from many sources and may have varying impacts on project success.

2.6S. Explain the importance of tollgates in the DMAIC process.

At a tollgate, a project team presents its work to managers and “owners” of the process. In a six-sigma organization, the tollgate participants also would include the project champion, master black belts, and other black belts not working directly on the project. At a tollgate, a project is reviewed to ensure that it is currently on track; tollgates also provide a continuing opportunity to evaluate whether the team can successfully complete the project on schedule. Many organizations define specific deliverables that must be completed in order to move to the next project step. For example, a Define tollgate may require a project charter, identification of critical customer requirements, and a high-level process map such as a SIPOC diagram.

Tollgates also present an opportunity to provide direction regarding the use of specific technical tools and other information about the problem. Organizational problems and other barriers to success—and strategies for dealing with them—also often are identified during tollgate reviews. Tollgates are critical to the overall problem-solving process; it is important that these reviews be conducted very soon after the team completes each step.

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