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Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Section 1 Sample Questions by BoK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Part I Management and Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Part II The Quality System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Part III Product, Process, and Service Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Part IV Product and Process Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Part V Continuous Improvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Part VI Quantitative Methods and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Part VII Risk Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Section 2 Additional Practice Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Introduction
This book is primarily meant to aid those taking the ASQ Certified Quality Engineer
(CQE) exam and is best used in conjunction with The Certified Quality Engineer Handbook
(ASQ Quality Press). Section 1 provides 380 practice questions organized by the seven
parts of the 2015 Body of Knowledge (BoK). Section 2 gives the reader 205 additional
practice questions from each of the seven parts, in a randomized order.
For every question in both sections, detailed solutions are provided that explain why
each answer is the correct one and also which section of the BoK the question corresponds to so that any further study needed can be focused on specific sections.
A secondary audience is those taking exams for ASQ certifications whose BoKs
have some crossover with the CQE. Namely, the Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB),
Certified Six Sigma Green Belt (CSSGB), Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE), and Certified Quality Inspector (CQI). Using this guide in studying for any of these exams
would be extremely useful, particularly for the statistics portions of the BoKs.
Unlike other resources on the market, all these questions and solutions were developed specifically to address the 2015 CQE Body of Knowledge and help those studying
for it, including taking into account the proper depth of knowledge and required levels
of cognition. None of this material has appeared in any previous resource or been shoehorned into fitting under the BoKs topics.
As a reminder, practice/sample test questions such as those in this study guide
can not be taken into ASQ certification exam rooms. The exams are open book, though,
so it is highly recommended that you do take The Certified Quality Engineer Handbook in
with you to look up or verify any answers as you work the exam questions.
We welcome your feedback and suggestions for improvement. Please contact us
at authors@asq.org and we will do our best to clarify any questions you may have and
incorporate any suggestions for improvement into future printings or editions of this
study guide.
Connie M. Borror
Sarah E. Burke
vii
Section 1
Sample Questions by BoK
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Part VII
Section 1 is divided into seven parts, one for each section in the Certified
Quality Engineer Body of Knowledge. In each part, there is a set of questions
followed by detailed solutions.
Questions
1. A system improvement program based on the philosophy that one or more
factors prevents a system from reaching a more desirable state is:
b. Six Sigma.
c. lean.
d. theory of constraints.
2. Which of the following is not part of the original Juran trilogy for quality?
a. Quality audit
b. Quality control
c. Quality planning
d. Quality improvement
c. a method that drives out fear so that everyone may work effectively.
b. Institute barriers that stand between the hourly worker and his right to pride
of workmanship.
Part I
Questions
Part I
Part I
Questions
a. Deming
b. Crosby
c. Feigenbaum
d. Juran
b. Have only those people who have experience in a particular job position
been hired?
10. Action plans as part of the goals and objectives of a deployment technique are:
a. to continually build and retain a loyal customer base.
c. detailed plans stating how, when, and by whom the objective will be
achieved.
11. The process organizations use to evaluate their performance against their
competition or best practices found internally is referred to as:
a. benchmarking.
b. CPM.
c. deployment.
d. stakeholder analysis.
a. stockholders.
b. executive group.
c. suppliers.
d. customers.
a. should be achievable.
Part I
Questions
Part I
Questions
15. The four perspectives of a balanced scorecard proposed by Kaplan and Norton
do not include:
a. business processes.
b. customers.
c. stockholders.
d. financial fundamentals.
16. Which of the following tools can be used for justifying and prioritizing projects?
b. Payback period
17. Suppose we estimate the net present value (NPV) for a particular project. When
we want to determine how the NPV will change if the interest rate decreases or
increases, for example, by 5%, we are doing a type of:
d. sensitivity analysis.
a. financial tool.
b. planning tool.
19. What method allows for the analysis of normal time to complete a task and
analysis of the longest timeline to complete a project?
c. A Gantt chart
b. Monitor a process
d. a and b only
e. a, b, and c
21. Which of the following is not one of the sections of the ASQ Code of Ethics?
a. Fundamental Principles
22. Common development stages teams often progress through are known as
forming, storming, norming, and performing. In the storming stage:
a. individuals begin to shift from personal concerns to the needs of the team.
d. the team has matured and is working in the best interest of the team and
team goals.
a. team leader.
b. facilitator.
Part I
Questions
Part I
Questions
25. A useful brainstorming tool for reducing a large list of items to a smaller,
manageable one is:
26. In the communication process, there are five methods of feedback: evaluation,
interpretation, support, probing, and understanding. Of these methods, the one
that most often creates defensiveness and can quickly break the communication
process is:
a. evaluation.
b. support.
c. probing.
d. understanding.
a. benchmarking.
b. SWOT.
b. flowcharts.
c. PERT.
d. CPM.
Solutions
1. d; Theory of constraints focuses on the system processes that keep the entire
system from working at an improved state. Lean focuses on eliminating waste,
while Six Sigma emphasizes minimizing variability. [I.A.2]
2. a; Juran understood that improving quality required different approaches and
effort than simply maintaining quality. The Juran trilogy focused on three
philosophies: quality planning, quality control, and quality improvement.
Although auditing is one tool emphasized, it is not considered an overarching
philosophy. [I.A.1]
3. d; In his 1964 text, Managerial Breakthrough, Juran defined quality improvement as
a breakthrough sequence to solve chronic problems that is analogous to common
causes. [I.A.1]
4. a; Deming argued that work standards that include numerical quotas do nothing
to motivate the common worker and should be eliminated. [I.A.1]
5. d; Juran. [I.A.2]
6. b; SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) is
conducted to assess strengths and weaknesses of an organization, to predict
opportunities, and to identify threats from competitors. [I.B.1]
7. c; a and b are two of Demings 14 points; goals and objectives aligned throughout
the organization are necessary to carry out the strategies to be put in place. [I.B.1]
8. c; Goals and objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and
time-based to be effective throughout the enterprise. [I.B.1]
Part I
Solutions
Part I
Solutions
12. b; Typically, benchmarking projects must have a plan, data must be collected for
analysis, and finally, implementation of results of the analysis. [I.B.2.a]
13. a; The stockholders of a company are considered the owners of the company.
Their role is of a financial nature, but generally passive. [I.B.2.b]
14. a; All performance measures should be achievable and aligned with strategic
goals. In addition, the focus should be on the vital few. One should avoid using
too many measures or metrics. [I.B.2.c]
15. c; Stockholders are not a direct perspective of a balanced scorecard and its uses.
[I.B.2.b]
16. d; All three methods are sometimes used for justifying and prioritizing projects.
[I.B.2.d]
17. d; When metrics are examined by varying the inputs (such as percentage, rate,
and so on) in NPV, we are conducting a sensitivity analysis. [I.B.2.d]
18. b; A Gantt chart is also a milestone charta planning tool. [I.B.2.d]
19. a; Critical path method (CPM) chart. [I.B.2.d]
20. e; a, b, and c are all uses of a quality information system. [I.B.3]
21. c; Relations with Employers and Clients is one of the four sections. [I.C]
22. c; In the storming phase, teams become familiar with one another, have worked
on missions and strategies, but often are still working in the individuals best
interests and not necessarily the teams as a whole. [I.D]
23. b; The facilitators role is to provide support for the team, and the main task for
that individual is to keep the team on task. [I.E.1]
24. b; The facilitators role should be marginal and grow less important as the team
matures. Overall, the facilitator is responsible for process issuesmeeting
agendas, communication among teams, and keeping the team on task. [I.E.1]
25. c; The nominal group technique allows for brainstorming a large number of
ideas/suggestions while providing everyone an equal voice in the process. [I.E.2]
29. d; Surveying and auditing the supplier are not the same activity. The purpose
of the survey of a supplier or potential supplier is to make sure their financial
resources as well as their manufacturing capabilities and quality systems are
acceptable. These three arenas are surveyed by appropriate groups involved with
each particular activity (manufacturing capability surveyed by manufacturing
engineer, for example). [I.H]
30. d; The CQE Handbook (3rd edition) provides an overview of 12 common barriers
or obstacles to a successful implementation of quality improvement in an
organization: lack of time to devote to quality initiatives, poor intraorganizational
communication, lack of real employee empowerment, lack of employee trust in
senior management, politics and turf issues, lack of a formalized strategic plan
for change, lack of strong motivation, view of quality as a quick fix, drive for
short-term financial results, lack of leadership, lack of customer focus, lack of a
company-wide definition of quality. [I.I]
Part I
Solutions
28. a; The house of quality is a diagram that incorporates the key relationships in the
process. [I.G]