Name:--------------------------------------ID:------------------------------------------Department:--------------------------------

Concordia University
Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering
INSE6210: Total Quality Methodologies in Engineering

Midterm Exam II (20%)

Winter 2007

Date: Monday 2 April

Instructor: Dr. Nizar Bouguila

Time: 14:45-16:45

Instructions:
1. This test consists of 4 parts on 24 pages (including this one). Please make
sure that your copy of the test is complete.
2. You are allowed to use one sheet of 8.5 by 11 containing whatever you
want; with notes on ONE side only.
3. Answer each question directly on the test paper. There has been enough
space left on this test paper to answer each question, so if you find
yourself using much more room than what is available, you're probably
missing something.
4. Be aware that unreadable answers will be given a mark of zero, so please
write legibly. Good Luck!
Part 1: ________ / 5
Part 2: ________ / 5
Part 3: ________ / 6
Part 4: ________ / 24
Final Mark: ________ / 40

(5 points) Part 1: TRUE/FALSE QUESTIONS

1. Traditional SPC techniques become ineffective for quality levels approaching six
sigma.
Answer:
2. A histogram is an effective tool for differentiating between common and special
causes of variation.
Answer:
3. A histogram of data that resembles the normal distribution indicates that the
process is in control.
Answer:
4. If a process is neither capable nor in control, initial activities should strive to get
the process in control.
Answer:
5. The Taguchi Loss Function measures monetary loss as a linear function of the
deviation between a product measurement and nominal.
Answer:
6. One minus the failure rate is equal to the mean time to failure.
Answer:
7. In a factorial experiment, all combinations of levels of each factor are considered.
Answer:
8. When constructing control limits, if special causes are found, they are eliminated
and the control limits recomputed since the special cause points do not represent
at state of statistical control.
Answer:
9. In the application of c- and u-charts, defective items can have only one defect.
Answer:
10. An s-chart utilizes the range instead of the standard deviation utilized in R-charts.
Answer:
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(5 points) Part 2: MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

11. A manager at a canning company wants to monitor the number of orange juice
cans it produces each day that are beyond the companys upper specification limit
in diameter. The manager will have an employee randomly select 150 cans per
day and determine if each of these cans are beyond the companys upper
specification limit in diameter. The number of these sampled cans that are
beyond the companys upper specification limit in diameter will be plotted on a
control chart.
a. x -chart
b. R-chart
c. p-chart
d. np-chart
Answer:
12. The reliability function for a component is R(T) = e-T. This function represents
a. the probability that the component will fail within T time units.
b. the probability that the component will not fail within T time units.
c. a discrete model of reliability.
d. None of the above
Answer:
13. A system governed only by common cause variation is a system that
a. insures high productivity.
b. is stable.
c. meets a customers quality specifications.
d. has zero natural variation.
Answer:
14. Which of the following elements helps define a products reliability?
a. probability
b. performance
c. operating conditions
d. All of the above
Answer:

15. Five samples of size 3 were collected for a variable measurement. All sample data
were greater than or equal to 4.0. The sample means and sample ranges are
provided in the following table.
Sample number
Sample mean
Sample range

1
5.0
0.2

2
4.9
0.4

3
5.0
0.1

4
6.0
0.0

5
5.2
0.3

The values of which sample are identical?

a. sample 1
b. sample 2
c. sample 3
d. sample 4
e. sample 5
Answer:

(6 points) Part 3: ESSAY QUESTIONS

16. The manufacturing specification for a part is: 4.20 0.40 inches. Identify the
following values:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

Target
Nominal dimension
Upper specification limit
Lower specification limit
Tolerance

17. A customer service manager wishes to evaluate the loss of goodwill that results
from customers waiting in line at the checkout counter. Identify and discuss the
Taguchi Loss Function for this situation.

18. Explain the following statement:

The only way to reduce common cause variation is to change the technology of
the process.

(24 points) Part 4: Problems

(2 points) Problem1:
Samples of n=6 items each are taken from a manufacturing process at regular intervals. A
quality characteristic is measured, and x and R values are calculated for each sample.
After 50 samples, we have:
50

50

R =200

x =2000
i

i =1

i =1

Assume that the quality characteristics is normally distributed. Compute the control limits
for the x and R control charts.

(2 points) Problem2:
Samples of n=4 items are taken from a manufacturing process at regular intervals. A
normally distributed quality characteristic is measured and x and s values are calculated
for each sample. After 50 subgroups have been analyzed, we have

50

x =1000
i

i =1

50

s =72
i

i =1

Compute the control limit for the x and s control charts.

(2 points) Problem3:
The loss function for a part is: L(x) = 950(x-1.5)2. If the loss at the lower specification
limit is $38, determine the lower specification limit.

(4 points) Problem4:
Consider the diagram presented below. Determine the system reliability if the reliabilities
of the individual components are: A = 0.92, B = 0.95, C = 0.93, D = 0.99, E = 0.92, F =
0.90, G = 0.97, H = 0.96.

A
B

(2 points) Problem5:
Determine the probability that a three-component series system will survive 200 hours if
the individual components have failure rates of 0.003, 0.004, and 0.001 respectively.
Assume that failures are exponentially distributed.

(4 points) Problem6:
A quality engineer takes 40 samples of 100 transistors each from the output of an
assembly line. Each transistor is tested and the number of defectives in each sample is
recorded in the table below.
Number
Number
Defective
Defective
Sample
Sample
1
3
21
1
2
2
22
2
3
1
23
2
4
4
24
3
5
0
25
4
6
2
26
1
7
0
27
2
8
5
28
4
9
1
29
0
10
2
30
4
11
2
31
3
12
1
32
2
13
3
33
4
14
3
34
2
15
4
35
1
16
5
36
1
17
3
37
3
18
3
38
4
19
1
39
4
20
8
40
2
Determine the control chart limits for a p-chart.

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(8 points) Problem7:
A computer chip is designed so that the distance between two adjacent pins has a
specification of 2.000 0.002 millimeters (mm). The loss due to a defective chip is $4.
A sample of 25 chips was drawn from the production process and the results, in mm, is
displayed in the following table.
2.001
2.000
1.998
2.000
2.000

2.000
2.000
1.999
1.999
2.002

2.001
2.002
2.001
2.001
2.000

1.998
1.999
2.000
2.001
2.000

1.999
2.000
2.000
2.000
2.001

Mean = 2.00008
Standard deviation = 0.00104

Assuming the sample standard deviation is the same as the population standard deviation,
what is the 95% confidence interval of the pin distance?

Compute the Taguchi loss function.

What is the expected loss from this process based on the sample data?

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