TOPIC: Free PMP® Exam Sample Question

A project to reduce the defect rate of the manufacturing process is underway. To analyze and improve the process, the project team is now carrying out the quality assurance activities.

Which of the following would be the most beneficial for this project?

A. Introducing the use of a kanban board into the manufacturing process
B. Consulting with a certified Six Sigma Black Belt expert
C. Utilizing rolling wave planning for the project
D. Adopting a just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing process

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HINT: Which of the answer choices represents an action that promotes the use of a common quality improvement tool used to analyze and evaluate opportunities for improvement?

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Answer and Explanation
The correct answer is B

The question implies that the project manager is carrying the Manage Quality process. Quality improvements can occur based on findings and recommendations from the quality control processes, the findings of the quality audit, or problem-solving in the Manage Quality process. Plan-do-check-act and Six Sigma are two of the most common quality improvement tools used to analyze and evaluate opportunities for improvement. A person with the Six Sigma Black Belt certification is an individual that has been trained to apply Six Sigma tools and techniques for process improvement. Six Sigma improves quality by identifying and eliminating the causes of defects and minimizing the variability in a manufacturing process. A Six Sigma process is one in which 99.99966% of the products of the process are free of defects. Of the available choices, only consulting with a certified Six Sigma Black Belt expert would be beneficial in reducing the defect rate of a manufacturing process.

Details for each option:

A. Introducing the use of a kanban board into the manufacturing process
Incorrect. A kanban system is based on the theory-of-constraints and pull-based scheduling concepts from lean manufacturing to limit a team's work in progress in order to balance the demand against the teams' delivery throughput. The use of a kanban board can improve efficiency and productivity but does not directly address defect rates.

B. Consulting with a certified Six Sigma Black Belt expert
Correct. Six Sigma improves quality by identifying and eliminating the causes of defects and minimizing the variability in a manufacturing process. A six sigma process is one in which 99.99966% of the products produced by the process are free of defects. Therefore, consulting with a certified Six Sigma Black Belt expert would be the most beneficial for the project to achieve its primary objective of reducing the defect rate in the production process.

C. Utilizing rolling wave planning for the project
Incorrect. Rolling wave planning is an iterative planning technique in which the work to be accomplished in the near term is planned in detail, while they work in the future is planned at a higher level. Rolling wave planning does not influence quality improvement for a manufacturing process. Additionally, the question states that the project manager is performing quality assurance which indicates that the project is already in the execution stage and planning has been completed.

D. Adopting a just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing process
Incorrect. Just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing is a resource management strategy that reduces inventory costs and waste by receiving goods only when they are required, or just in time. Adopting a just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing process does not address the defect rate of a manufacturing process as asked by the question.

Reference: A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK^® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute Inc., 2017, Page(s) 296, 310, 275, 177