File: ch16, Chapter 16: Lean Systems

Multiple Choice

43. All of the following factors pressure companies for quicker response and shorter
cycle times except
a. demanding customers.
b. longer product life cycles.
c. globalization.
d. All of the answer choices are correct.
Ans: B
Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 1

44. ___________ is generally credited with the development of lean production.

a. Frederick Taylor
b. W. Edwards Deming
c. Taiichi Ohno
d. None of the answer choices is correct.
Ans: C
Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 1

45. Which of the following is not a basic element of lean production?

a. flexible resources
b. pull system
c. repetitive production
d. small lot production
Ans: C
Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 1

46. In lean production, waste is defined as

a. overproduction.
b. high levels of inventory.
c. unnecessary movement.
d. All of the answer choices are correct.
Ans: D
Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 1

47. The pace at which production should take place to match the rate of customer demand
is known as
a. product flow time.
b. jidoka time.
c. kanban time.
d. takt time.
Ans: D
Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 1

48. In a pull production system, a card that corresponds to a standard quantity of

production is known as a(n)
a. jidoka.
b. andon.
c. kanban.
d. kaizen.
Ans: C
Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 1

49. In a pull system reducing the number of kanbans

a. increases inventory making problems more visible.
b. reduces inventory making problems less visible.
c. reduces inventory making problems more visible.
d. increases inventory making problems less visible.
Ans: C
Difficulty: Hard

Learning Objective: LO 1

50. A workstation’s output is 200 bottles of wine per hour. It takes 45 minutes to receive
a withdrawal kanban of corks from the previous workstation. The withdrawal kanban is
attached to a container holding 30 corks. The process uses a safety factor of 20 percent.
What is the number of withdrawal kanbans needed to support the bottling process?
a. 4
b. 5
 c. 6
d. 3
Ans: C
Difficulty: Moderate

Solution: N=(200*0.75+0.20*200*0.75)/30=6
Learning Objective: LO 1

51. A workstation’s output is 200 bottles of wine per hour. It takes 30 minutes to receive
a withdrawal kanban of corks from the previous workstation. The withdrawal kanban
is attached to a container holding 30 corks. The process uses a safety factor of 20
percent. What is the number of withdrawal kanbans needed to support the bottling
process?
a. 10
b. 2
c. 8
d. 4
Ans: D
Difficulty: Hard

Solution: N=(200*0.50+0.20*200*0.5)/30=4
Learning Objective: LO 1

52. A workstation must produce 400 units an hour. It takes 24 minutes to receive the
necessary material for production from the previous workstation. Output is moved
between workstations in containers holding 44 units. If the process uses a safety
factor of 10%, then the amount of safety stock on average would be
a. 16
b. 32
c. 8
d. 60
Ans: A
Difficulty: Moderate

Solution: S=0.10*400*0.40=16
Learning Objective: LO 1

53. A workstation must produce 400 units an hour. It takes 24 minutes to receive the
necessary material for production from the previous workstation. Output is moved
between workstations in containers holding 44 units. If the process uses a safety
factor of 10%, then the number of kanbans that should be circulating between this
workstation and the previous workstation is
a. 2.
 b. 4.
c. 6.
d. 8.
Ans: B
Difficulty: Moderate

Solution: N=(400*0.40+0.10*400*0.40)/44=4
Learning Objective: LO 1

54. How many kanbans should circulate between two workstations if demand is 500 units
per hour, lead time is 20 minutes, container sizes are 35, and the company uses a
safety factor of 5%?
a. 4
b. 5
c. 12
d. 8
Ans: B
Difficulty: Moderate

Solution: N=(500*0.33+0.05*500*.33)/35=5
Learning Objective: LO 1

55. Which of the following statements concerning small-lot production is not true?
a. small-lot production requires less space
b. small-lot production requires more capital investment
c. small-lot production simplifies transportation between workstations
d. small-lot production allows processes to be moved closer together
Ans: B
Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 1

56. Lower inventory levels make processes

a. less dependent on each other while keeping bottlenecks hidden.
b. less dependent on each other while revealing bottlenecks more quickly.
c. more dependent on each other while revealing bottlenecks more quickly.
d. more dependent on each other while keeping bottlenecks hidden.

Ans: C
Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 1
57. Which of the following is not a typical component of lead time?
a. processing time
b. maintenance time
c. waiting time
d. setup time
Ans: B
Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 1

58. Improved scheduling of materials, workers, and machines will most generally affect
a. processing time.
b. move time.
c. waiting time.
d. setup time.
Ans: C
Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 1

59. Which of the following is not a principle for reducing setup times?
a. converting external setup to internal setup
b. converting internal setup to external setup
c. separating internal setup from external setup
d. performing setup activities in parallel
Ans: A
Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 1

60. ______________ setups can be performed in advance while the machine is running.
a. Internal
b. External
c. Parallel
d. Unnecessary
Ans: B
Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 1

61. A ___________ is a foolproof device that prevents defects from occurring.

 a. kaizen
b. jidoka
c. muda
d. poka-yoke
Ans: D
Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 1

62. The authority given to the worker to stop the production line if quality problems are
encountered is known as
a. kaizen.
b. jidoka.
c. poka-yoke
d. muda.
Ans: B
Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 1

63. The concept of allocating extra time to a schedule for planning, problem solving, and
maintenance is known as
a. preventative scheduling.
b. preventive maintenance.
c. over capacity maintenance.
d. under capacity scheduling.
Ans: D
Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 1

64. The benefits of lean production include all of the following except reduced
a. inventory.
b. product variety.
c. costs.
d. lead times.
Ans: B
Difficulty: Easy

65. All of the following are benefits expected from implementing lean production except
 a. better quality.
b. shorter lead times.
c. reduced capacity.
d. improved sales.
Ans: C
Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 1

66. Lean production is difficult to implement when

a. demand is highly variable.
b. product variety is high.
c. there are many unique products.
d. All of these answer choices are correct.
Ans: D
Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 1

67. Combining the practice of preventive maintenance with the concepts of total quality
is known as
a. total preventive quality.
b. total productive maintenance.
c. quality breakdown maintenance.
d. reliability assurance.
Ans: B
Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 1

68. Mixed-model sequencing

a. facilitates total productive maintenance.
b. supports uniform production levels.
c. increases product lead times.
d. reduces worker productivity.
Ans: B
Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 1

69. Which of the following is not typically a component of lead time?

a. move time.
b. breakdown time.
 c. wait time.
d. setup time.
Ans: B
Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 1

70. A ____________ kanban is used to order material in advance of production.

a. material
b. supplier
c. production
d. withdrawal
Ans: A
Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 1

71. Which of the following is not a benefit of lean production?

a. greater flexibility
b. increased capacity
c. more customers
d. more product variety
Ans: C
Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 1

72. Successful companies use lean to

a. finely tune an operating system.
b. overhaul an operating system.
c. replace an operating system.
d. None of these answer choices is correct.
Ans: A
Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 2

73. Which of the following are characteristic of lean applications U.S. soil?
a. plants are larger
b. deliveries from suppliers are less frequent
c. Kanbans are kept very simple.
d. All of these answer choices are correct.
Ans: D
Difficulty; Easy

Learning Objective: LO 2

74. American workers implementing lean prefer

a. the slow pace of continuous improvement.
b. the fast pace of kaizen blitzes.
c. to never participate.
d. to disrupt the process.
Ans: B
Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 2

75. Lean can have serious deficiencies when applied to companies that have
a. high variability in demand.
b. large variety of low-volume products.
c. custom engineered products.
d. All of these answer choices are correct.
Ans: D
Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 2

76. Lean and Six Sigma are

a. natural partners for process improvement.
b. natural partners for supply chain management.
c. poor partners for process improvement.
d. poor partners for supply chain improvement.
Ans: A
Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 3

77. Value stream mapping (VSM) is a tool for

a. reducing setup times.
b. improving quality at the source.
c. analyzing process flow.
d. designing manufacturing cells.
Ans: C
Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 4
78. Analyzing process flow and eliminating waste is referred to as
a. just-in-time.
b. the Toyota Production System.
c. value stream mapping
d. total productive maintenance.
Ans: C
Difficulty: Easy

Learning Objective: LO 4

79. Which of the following is not a recommendation by the EPA concerning integrating
lean and environmental initiatives?
a. Use lean process tools to identify areas of environmental waste.
b. Incorporate environmental, safety, and health data into value mapping.
c. Add environmental waste to the seven wastes of lean.
d. Use lean concepts to eliminate all environment waste.
Ans: D
Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 5

80. The most prevalent applications of lean include all the following except
a. retailing.
b. health care.
c. food services.
d. banking.
Ans: C
Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 6

81. Leaning a supply chain ____________ flow through a series of suppliers.

a. pushes a smooth
b. pulls a smooth
c. pushes an intermittent
d. pulls an intermittent
Ans: B
Difficulty: Moderate

Learning Objective: LO 6