Deck 19: Answers to Selected Problems

Question 1

Match the failure with its closest category: a band playing a sub-standard set at a concert.

A) Supplier failure
B) Customer failure
C) Design failure
D) Staff failure
E) Facilities failure

Answer 1

Supplier failure

Question 2

There are a number of forms of failure analysis. An approach that enables all faulty products to be traceable is:

A) Fault tree analysis
B) Complaint analysis
C) Product liability
D) Failure mode and effect analysis
E) Accident investigation
F) Critical incident analysis

Answer 2

Product liability

Question 3

The three tasks of failure prevention and recovery are: failure detection and analysis, failure
prevention and improving system reliability.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Match the failure with its closest category: A person causing failure by overloading a washing machine.

A) Supplier failure
B) Design failure
C) Staff failure
D) Customer failure
E) Facilities failure

Question 5

Failure is caused by the deterioration of parts during the:

A) Normal life stage
B) Early-life stage
C) Wear out stage

Question 6

Acts that are clearly contrary to defined operating procedures are called:

A) Violations
B) Mistakes
C) Errors
D) Human deficiencies

Question 7

The more interdependent components a system has the lower its reliability will be.

Question 8

The case of a theatre having very long queues for the toilets during intervals relates to:

A) People failures
B) Facilities failures
C) Design failures
D) Supplier failures

Question 9

There are a number of forms of failure analysis. Large scale disasters tend to lead to:

A) Complaint analysis
B) Product liability
C) Fault tree analysis
D) Accident investigation
E) Failure mode and effect analysis
F) Critical incident analysis

Question 10

Match the failure with its closest category: A machine operative failing to clean and oil the machine in the prescribed manner.

A) Design failure
B) Staff failure
C) Supplier failure
D) Customer failure
E) Facilities failure

Question 11

Match the failure with its closest category: A failure to anticipate future uses of a product.

A) Customer failure
B) Staff failure
C) Design failure
D) Supplier failure
E) Facilities failure

Question 12

Match the failure with its closest category: A computer breakdown in a bank.

A) Supplier failure
B) Facilities failure
C) Customer failure
D) Staff failure
E) Design failure

Question 13

A machine that partially breaks down and is only able to work at half its normal rate is an example of a:

A) Supplier failure
B) People failure
C) Design failure
D) Facilities failure

Question 14

The reliability of an operation is normally NOT improved by which one of the following procedures?

A) Ensuring some activities in the operation are 'fail-safe'.
B) Laying off employees who cause faults in the operation.
C) Designing out fail points in the operation.
D) Building redundancy into the operation.

Question 15

There are a number of forms of failure analysis. An approach that makes use of a cheap and easily available source of information is:

A) Product liability
B) Critical incident analysis
C) Accident investigation
D) Complaint analysis
E) Failure mode and effect analysis
F) Fault tree analysis

Question 16

Building redundancy into an operation means having backup systems or components in case of
failure.

Question 17

Why are aircraft crashes so rare?

A) Because pilots are so well trained.
B) Because a whole chain of minor failures usually have to occur.
C) Because the planes have such high quality standards.
D) All of the above.

Question 18

The failure rate is usually low and constant during the:

A) Wear out stage
B) Early-life stage
C) Normal life stage

Question 19

The risk priority number (RPN) determines the potential cause of failure.

Question 20

Failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) provide a checklist procedure. Which of the following questions is NOT likely to feature on the checklist?

A) What is the likelihood that failure will occur?
B) What would be the cost of avoiding failure?
C) What would the consequences of the failure be?
D) How likely is such a failure to be detected before it affects the customer?

Question 21

The effect of increasing the number of interdependent components in a system is to:

A) Exponentially decrease its reliability.
B) Steadily decrease its reliability.
C) Exponentially increase its reliability.
D) Steadily increase its reliability.

Question 22

The origin of all types of failure is usually some kind of human failure.

Question 23

Which of the following is NOT a way of measuring failure?

A) How often a failure occurs.
B) The amount of available operating time.
C) The satisfaction of customers with a product.
D) The chances of a failure occurring.

Question 24

For a system composed of 50 interdependent components which each have individual reliability of .99, the overall system reliability is:

A) Below .70
B) Below .40
C) Below .65
D) Below .80

Question 25

Which of the following does NOT measure the propensity of an operation or part of an operation to fail?

A) Availability
B) Reliability
C) Failure rate

Question 26

If a customer overloads their washing machine and it fails, what type of failure has occurred?

A) Design failure
B) A violation
C) Customer failure
D) People failure

Question 27

The curve that describes the failure probability of most physical parts of an operation is called:

A) The 'bathtub' curve
B) The 'quality function' curve
C) The 'S' curve
D) The 'J' curve

Question 28

The chances of a failure occurring relates to what when measuring failure?

A) Reliability
B) Quality
C) Failure rate
D) Availability

Question 29

If components in a system are independent, a failure in any individual component will cause the
whole system to fail.

Question 30

Maintenance work performed only after failure has taken place is known as:

A) Run to breakdown (RTB)
B) Condition-based maintenance (CBM)
C) Preventive maintenance (PM)

Question 31

For a system composed of 10 interdependent components that each have individual reliability of .99, the overall system reliability is:

A) .40
B) .60
C) .90
D) .99

Question 32

The sequence of questions at an automatic cash machine is designed to prevent:

A) Customer failure
B) Design failure
C) Facilities failure
D) People failure

Question 33

The ability of a system, product or service to perform as expected over time is a measure of:

A) Assurance
B) Availability
C) Validity
D) Reliability

Question 34

Failure rate can be measured as a percentage of the total number of products tested or as the:

A) Number of failures per batch.
B) Number of failures over operating time.
C) Defective parts per million.
D) Average failure point.

Question 35

The amount of available operating time relates to what when measuring failure?

A) Availability
B) Failure rate
C) Quality
D) Reliability

Question 36

The stage where early failures occur caused by defective parts or improper use is called:

A) The 'infant mortality' stage
B) The 'initial failure' stage
C) The 'wear out' stage
D) The 'crash and burn' stage

Question 37

Reliability is one measure of the consequences of failure of the operation.

Question 38

The misuse of the products and services that the operation has created is an example of:

A) People failure
B) Design failure
C) Supplier failure
D) Customer failure

Question 39

Failure of a band to turn up to a couple's wedding is an example of a ________ error.

A) Supplier
B) People
C) Design
D) Facilities

Question 40

The more interdependent components in a system:

A) The lower its reliability
B) The more robust to failure
C) The higher its reliability
D) The greater the level of customer satisfaction

Question 41

Having backup systems or components in case of failure is a called:

A) Designing out fail points
B) Building in redundancy
C) Fail-safing
D) Poka-yoke

Question 42

Identifying product or service features that are critical to various types of failure involves the use of what technique?

A) Complaints
B) FMEA
C) Critical incident
D) Critical path

Question 43

At the end of a service, staff may formally or informally check that the service has been satisfactory and try to solicit problems as well as compliments. This is an example of:

A) Feedback sheets
B) Focus groups
C) Questionnaires
D) Point of departure interviews

Question 44

Analysing the content of customer complaints to understand better the nature of the problem as it is perceived by the customer is called:

A) Critical incident technique
B) Path analysis
C) Complaint analysis
D) Customer-focused analysis

Question 45

The dominant maintenance mode when the consequences of equipment failure are high is:

A) Product-focused maintenance
B) Condition-based maintenance
C) Needs maintenance
D) Preventive maintenance

Question 46

Which of the following is a criticism levelled against Total Productive Maintenance?

A) It reduces machine effectiveness.
B) It tends to recommend preventive maintenance when it would be inappropriate.
C) It is hard to manage.
D) It leads to unplanned maintenance.

Question 47

Availability is calculated as the mean time between failures (MTBF) divided by:

A) MTTR
B) Average fail point
C) (MTBF + MTTR)
D) (MTTR - MTBF)

Question 48

Which of the following is NOT one of the 'three tasks of failure prevention and recovery'?

A) Coping when things go wrong
B) Dealing with staff dissatisfaction
C) Finding out what is going wrong and why
D) Preventing things from going wrong

Question 49

The mean time between failures (MTBF) is calculated as operating hours divided by:

A) Mean time to repair (MTTR)
B) Average failure rate
C) Availability of machines
D) Number of failures

Question 50

In some service organisations it is believed that for every one customer who has complained there are:

A) 2 who have not
B) 20 who have not
C) 200 who have not
D) 2000 who have not

Question 51

One of the critical activities for an organisation when a failure has occurred is to understand why it has occurred. This activity is called:

A) Critical path analysis
B) Feedback looping
C) Accident investigation
D) Failure analysis

Question 52

Attempts to eliminate or reduce the chances of failure by servicing facilities at pre-planned intervals is termed:

A) Condition-based maintenance
B) Preventive maintenance
C) Run to breakdown maintenance
D) Product-focused maintenance