WGU C215 Study Guide 2025

Competency 1 - Quality Management Methods – Chapters 5&6 1. Describe total quality management philosophy. TQM philosophy focuses on identifying the root causes of quality problems. It is an ongoing and never-ending improvement with the goal of meeting customer satisfaction. Customer focus, continuous improvement, employee empowerment, use of quality tools, product design, process management, and managing supplier quality Customer focus – Goal is to identify and meet customer needs Continuous improvement – A philosophy of never-ending improvement Employee empowerment – Employees are expected to seek out, identify, and correct quality problems Use of quality tools – ongoing employee training in the use of quality tools Product design – products need to be designed to meet customer expectations Process mgmt – quality should be built into the process; sources of quality problems should be identified and corrected Managing supplier quality – quality concepts must extend to a company’s suppliers 2. List and describe the various standards of quality. ISO 9000: o Certification developed by International Organization for Standardization. o Set of internationally recognized quality standards. o Companies are periodically audited and certified. o ISO 9000:2008, QMS — Fundamentals and Standards. o ISO 9001:2008, QMS — Requirements. o ISO 9004:2008, QMS — Guidelines for Performance. o More than 40,000 companies have been certified. • ISO 14000: o Focuses on a company’s environmental responsibility. • ISO 26000: o Help organizations evaluate and address their social responsibility. 3. List the quality gurus and their contributions to the TQM concept. 4. Identify and discuss the seven quality control tools management use to analyze quality problems. Cause & Effect Diagram - Often called fishbone diagram. Used to identify potential causes of quality problems. Used by quality control teams, explored through brainstorming. Flowcharts – schematic diagram used to document the detailed steps in a process. Sequence of steps involved in an operations/process. Ops mgr can identify bottlenecks Checklist – simple data check-off sheets, alist of common defects and the # of observed occurrences of these defects. Designed to identify type of quality problems at each workstations/per shift/machine/operator. (ie type-broken zipper, ripped material, missing button, faded color) Control charts – used to evaluate whether a process is operating within set expectations. The UCL and LCL are calculated limits used to show when a process is in or out of control – ie weight, width, or volume. UCL – Upper control limit | LCL – Lower control limit Scatter diagram – graphs that show how 2 variables are related to one another. Useful in detecting the amount of correlation, or the degree of linear relationship. Pareto Analysis – used to identify quality problems based on their degree of importance. 80-20 rule. Principle is that quality problems are the result of only a few causes – 80% of problems are caused by 20% of causes. Histograms – a chart that shows the frequency distribution of observed values of a variable – ie service time at a bank drive-up window. Displays whether the distribution is symmetrical(normal) or skewed. 5. List and describe the costs of quality. Quality control costs (to achieve high quality)– Prevention costs and Appraisal costs Quality failure costs (high costs associated with poor quality) – Internal and External failure costs 6. Explain the concept of the Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycle. PDSA is part of Continuous improvement - A philosophy of never-ending improvement, e.g., Kaizen. Plan o Evaluate current process. o Document current procedures, collect data, and identify problems. o Develop an improvement plan, performance objectives. • Do o Implement the plan — trial basis. • Study o Collect data and evaluate against objectives. • Act o Communicate the results from the trial. o If successful, implement new process. 7. Define statistical quality control (SQC). the term used to describe the set of statistical tools used by quality professionals to evaluate organizational quality. Three categories for SQC 1. Descriptive statistics are used to describe quality characteristics and relationships. • Included are statistics such as the mean, the standard deviation, the range, and a measure of the distribution of data. 2. Statistical process control (SPC) involves inspecting a random sample of the output from a process and deciding if it falls within range and whether the process is functioning properly. 3. Acceptance sampling is used to randomly inspect a batch of goods to determine acceptance/rejection. 8. Explain the two causes of variation (common and assignable). Variation can be categorized as common or assignable. o Common, or random, causes of variation • Random causes that we cannot identify. • Unavoidable and due to slight differences in processing. o Assignable causes of variation • Causes that can be identified and corrected. • Examples: poor employee training, worn tool, machine needing repair. 9. Explain the concepts of process capability and process capability index. Process capability is the ability of the production process to meet or exceed preset specifications. It is measured by the process capability index Cp , which is computed as the ratio of the specification width to the width of the process variable 10. Describe the concept of Six sigma and its five-step plan. Six Sigma: A high level of quality associated with approximately 3.4 defective parts per million. o Before design, marketing ensures that product characteristics are what customers want. o Operations ensures that product design characteristics can be met by controlling materials and processes to 6σ levels. o Other functions like finance and accounting use 6σ concepts to control all of their processes. The Six Sigma approach is organized around a five-step plan known as DMAIC, which stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. Competency 2: Capacity Planning & Location Analysis - Chapters 3, 9 & 10 1. Describe the concept of capacity planning and provide an example on how it is utilized in any business environment such as a hospital setting. process of establishing the output rate that can be achieved at a facility. 2. Explain the concepts of design and effective capacity. • Design capacity o Maximum output rate under ideal conditions. o A bakery can make 30 pies per day when pushed at holiday time. • Effective capacity o Maximum output rate under normal (realistic) conditions; usually lower than design capacity. o On the average, this bakery can make 20 pies per day. 3. Explain the steps involved in capacity planning and location analysis. Capacity planning: 1. Identify capacity requirements. - Forecasting capacity, Capacity cushions, Strategic Implications 2. Develop capacity alternatives. 3. Evaluate capacity alternatives. Location Analysis: 1. Identify dominant location factors. 2. Develop location alternatives. 3. Evaluate location alternatives. 4. Explain the factors involved in selecting an ideal location. • Proximity to source of supply: o reduce transportation costs of perishable or bulky raw materials • Proximity to customers: o high population areas, close to JIT partners • Proximity to labor: o local wage rates, attitude toward unions, availability of special skills (e.g., Silicon Valley) • Community considerations: o local community’s attitude toward the facility (prisons, utility plants, etc.) • Site considerations: o local zoning and taxes, access to utilities, etc. • Quality-of-life issues: o climate, cultural attractions, commuting time, etc. • Other considerations: o options for future expansion, local competition, transportation access and congestion, etc. Globalization is the process of locating facilities around the world. • Potential advantages o Inside track to foreign markets, avoiding trade barriers, gaining access to cheaper labor; closer to suppliers and manufacturers. • Potential disadvantages o Political risks may increase, loss of control of proprietary technology, local infrastructure (roads and utilities) may be inadequate, high inflation. • Other issues to consider o Language barriers, different laws and regulations, different business cultures. 5. Describe the decision support tools used in capacity planning. (most popular – Decision tree) Diagramming trees contain the following: o Decision points – points in time when decisions are made, represented by squares called “nodes”. o Decision alternatives – branches or arrows leaving a decision point (node). o Chance events – events that could affect a decision, represented by branches or arrows leaving circular chance nodes. o Outcomes – each possible alternative listed. Example: 6. Explain various types of operational processes and their characteristics (Repetitive and Intermittent operations). • Intermittent operations: o Processes used to produce a variety of products with different processing requirements in lower volumes (such as a healthcare facility). • Repetitive operations: o Processes used to produce one or a few standardized products in high volume (such as a cafeteria or car wash). • Product design considerations must include the process. • Differences between intermittent and repetitive operations: 1) the amount of product volume produced, and 2) the degree of product standardization. 7. Explain how a process flowchart is used by an organization. Process design tools include: o Process flow analysis o Process flowchart • Design considerations include: o Make-to-stock strategy: Produces standard products and services for immediate sale or delivery o Assemble-to-order strategy: Produces standard components that can be combined to customer specifications o Make-to-order strategy: Produces products to customer specifications after an order has been received 8. Explain how to use process performance metrics. 9. Explain the different types of facility layouts. • Four basic layout types: o Process layouts—Group similar resources together based on similar processes/functions o Product layouts—Designed to produce a specific product efficiently o Hybrid layouts—Combine aspects of both process and product layouts o Fixed-position layouts—Product is too large to move, and all resources must be brought to production site; e.g., shipbuilding 10. Describe product and process layout and the steps involved in each. Competency 3: Work System Design & Scheduling - Chapters 11 & 15 1. What are the steps involved in methods analysis? Method analysis consists of: 1. Identifying the operation to be analyzed 2. Gathering all relevant information 3. Talking with employees who use the operation 4. Charting the operation 5. Evaluating each step 6. Revising the existing or new operation as needed 7. Putting the revised or new operation into effect, then following up on the changes or new operation