Lean production and quality management practice questions.

Define lean production as understood in Business Management.

• Producing the maximum possible output regardless of waste generated
• An approach that reduces all forms of waste while maintaining quality
• Holding large stocks of inventory to guarantee no production stoppages
• Outsourcing all production to the lowest-cost overseas supplier

Answer: An approach that reduces all forms of waste while maintaining quality

Lean production focuses on minimising waste (of materials, time, space, defects, etc.) throughout operations while sustaining quality, using less of everything to add the same value.

Distinguish between the aims of quality control and quality assurance by selecting the statement that best describes quality assurance.

• Inspecting finished products at the end of the line to reject defects
• Building quality into every stage so defects are prevented
• Employing a separate team whose only job is end-of-line inspection
• Accepting a fixed percentage of defective output as unavoidable

Answer: Building quality into every stage so defects are prevented

Quality assurance is a prevention-based, process-wide approach that involves all employees in building quality in, whereas quality control relies on detecting defects through inspection, often at the end.

Explain the main difference in stock philosophy between just-in-time (JIT) and just-in-case (JIC) approaches.

• JIT holds large buffer stocks while JIC holds almost none
• JIT keeps minimal stock arriving as needed; JIC holds buffer stock
• Both approaches deliberately hold identical, high levels of stock
• JIT and JIC both ignore lead time completely

Answer: JIT keeps minimal stock arriving as needed; JIC holds buffer stock

JIT keeps stock to a minimum, ordering so inputs arrive exactly when required, whereas just-in-case deliberately holds buffer stock to guard against demand or supply fluctuations.

Identify which of the following is a feature of cell production, a lean method.

• Each worker performs a single repetitive task along a long assembly line
• Work is organised into teams (cells), each completing a whole stage of output
• All inventory is held in one central warehouse for the whole plant
• Quality is checked only once, by inspectors at the very end

Answer: Work is organised into teams (cells), each completing a whole stage of output

Cell production splits the line into self-contained teams (cells), each completing a whole part of the process, which can improve motivation, flexibility and quality.

Suggest how lean production supports environmental sustainability.

• By deliberately over-ordering materials to avoid ever running out
• By cutting waste of materials and energy, lowering environmental impact
• By increasing the number of defective products scrapped
• By expanding storage warehouses to hold more inventory

Answer: By cutting waste of materials and energy, lowering environmental impact

Because lean production targets all forms of waste, it reduces materials, energy and scrap used per unit, which lowers the firm's environmental footprint and supports sustainability.

Determine the most likely drawback for a firm introducing lean production and TQM for the first time.

• It requires no change to how employees work
• It requires training, cultural change and early disruption
• It automatically guarantees higher profit from the first day
• It removes the need to ever monitor quality again

Answer: It requires training, cultural change and early disruption

Introducing lean/TQM demands a shift in culture, staff training and process redesign, so there are upfront costs and disruption before waste falls and quality gains appear.