Quality Planning & Control Charts Flashcards

Which of the following is an example of an 'internal failure cost' in the Cost of Quality framework?

Answer: Scrap and rework discovered before delivery

Internal failure costs are costs of defects found before delivery to the customer, including scrap, rework, and re-inspection — as opposed to external failures caught by customers.

A project manager reviews a control chart and finds that 2 out of 35 plotted points fall outside the control limits. What is the MOST appropriate action?

Answer: Investigate the two out-of-control points for special causes

Any point outside the control limits is a signal of a special cause and must be investigated, regardless of the proportion of such points.

What is the primary purpose of a 'check sheet' in quality data collection?

Answer: To provide a structured form for collecting and tallying defect occurrence data in real time

A check sheet is a simple, structured data collection form allowing workers to record defect types and frequencies efficiently at the point of occurrence.

When should control charts be recalibrated with new baseline control limits?

Answer: After a confirmed special cause has been eliminated and the process has fundamentally changed

Control limits should only be recalculated when a special cause has been identified and permanently removed, representing a genuine change in the process baseline.

Which quality tool would BEST help a project team prioritize which defect types to address first based on their relative frequency?

Answer: Pareto chart

A Pareto chart ranks defect categories by frequency (or impact), applying the 80/20 rule to help teams focus improvement efforts on the vital few causes.

In statistical process control, what does it mean when a process is described as 'in control but not capable'?

Answer: The process is stable and predictable but its natural variation exceeds the specification limits

A process can be statistically stable (in control, only common cause variation) yet still produce defects if its inherent spread is wider than the customer's specification limits.

Which PMI-recognized quality planning tool involves systematically identifying potential failures in a product or process before they occur and rating them by severity, occurrence, and detectability?

Answer: Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA)

FMEA proactively identifies potential failure modes, assesses their Risk Priority Number (RPN = Severity × Occurrence × Detection), and targets the highest risks for preventive action.