22 Lean & Continuous Improvement Practice Questions & Answers
Every Lean & Continuous Improvement practice question from the Production Technician Practice Test, with the correct answer and a short explanation.
Start practice test →1. In lean thinking, value is defined from the customer's point of view. Which activity is value-added work?
- A.A step that appears on the routing sheet for the job
- B.A step performed by a certified and skilled operator
- C.A step that changes the product toward the customer's order✓ Answer
- D.A step that keeps the machine running at capacity
Value-added work physically transforms material or information toward what the customer ordered, and the customer would be willing to pay for it. Being listed on paperwork, being done by a skilled worker, or keeping equipment busy does not create value for the customer; a busy machine that makes parts nobody ordered is overproduction, not value.
Source: MSSC Certified Production Technician Production standards, lean manufacturing (definition of customer value)Report a problem with this question
2. A cell makes welded brackets. Which of these activities adds value from the customer's viewpoint?
- A.Inspecting a bracket against the print
- B.Moving welded brackets to the staging rack
- C.Welding two parts together per the print✓ Answer
- D.Counting brackets into a tote for next shift
Only the welding changes the product into what the customer ordered. Moving, counting and inspecting all consume labor and time without transforming the product, so they are non-value-added; inspection is often necessary under today's process, but the customer does not pay extra for it and lean treats it as work to be designed out through error-proofing.
Source: MSSC CPT Production standards, lean manufacturing (value-added versus non-value-added activity)Report a problem with this question
3. Which activity is best described as non-value-added but currently necessary?
- A.Running extra parts to fill an empty tote
- B.Deburring an edge the drawing calls out
- C.Checking the guard interlock before a run✓ Answer
- D.Redrilling a hole that was drilled off-center
Verifying that a machine guard interlock works does not change the product, so the customer does not pay for it, yet federal safety rules and the employer's program require it, which makes it non-value-added but necessary. Deburring called out on the drawing is value-added, redrilling an off-center hole is the defect waste, and extra parts are overproduction; an improvement effort removes pure waste and never removes a required safety check.
Source: MSSC CPT Production standards, lean manufacturing; OSHA general industry machine-guarding dutyReport a problem with this question
4. For every part he builds, an operator turns and walks six steps to a shared tool cart and back. Which of the eight wastes is this?
- A.Extra-processing
- B.Motion✓ Answer
- C.Transportation
- D.Waiting time
Motion waste is unnecessary movement of the person; transportation waste is unnecessary movement of material or product. Here the part stays put and the operator walks, so it is motion, and the countermeasure is to place the tools at the point of use so the reach is short and repeatable.
Source: MSSC CPT Production standards, lean manufacturing (the eight wastes)Report a problem with this question
5. Totes of work-in-process are hauled by forklift across the plant to the next operation three times a shift. Which waste is this?
- A.Transportation✓ Answer
- B.Operator motion
- C.Waiting time
- D.Excess inventory
Transportation waste is the unnecessary movement of material or product between operations; it adds handling cost, floor space and damage risk without changing the product in any way the customer pays for. Motion applies to people, so the correct countermeasure here is to move the operations closer together rather than to buy a faster forklift.
Source: MSSC CPT Production standards, lean manufacturing (the eight wastes)Report a problem with this question
6. Overproduction is traditionally called the worst of the eight wastes. Why?
- A.It is the only waste that raises direct labor cost
- B.It is the hardest waste for a supervisor to notice on the floor
- C.It creates the other wastes, such as inventory and handling✓ Answer
- D.It is caused mainly by unplanned machine breakdowns
Making more, sooner or faster than the next process needs forces extra inventory, extra handling and storage, extra waiting and extra paperwork, and it hides defects because a problem is discovered long after a whole batch was made. Because overproduction generates the other wastes, lean attacks it first by producing only to a pull signal.
Source: MSSC CPT Production standards, lean manufacturing (waste elimination)Report a problem with this question
7. Operators have suggested a simple fixture change three times, but no one collects or answers their ideas. Which waste is this?
- A.Waiting time
- B.Non-utilized talent✓ Answer
- C.Defects and rework
- D.Extra-processing
Non-utilized talent is the waste of failing to use the knowledge, skill and ideas of the people who run the process. The operators see the problem first, so an organization with no way to collect, answer and try their suggestions loses both the improvement and the engagement that keeps improvement going.
Source: MSSC CPT Production standards, lean manufacturing and high-performance work organizationsReport a problem with this question
8. An operator polishes a surface to a finer finish than the drawing requires because it looks better. Which waste is this?
- A.Defects and rework
- B.Overproduction
- C.Unnecessary motion
- D.Extra-processing✓ Answer
Extra-processing is doing more work, or work to a tighter standard, than the specification calls for; the customer did not ask for the finer finish and will not pay for the extra time, abrasives and cycle time it consumes. The part is not defective because it still meets the print, which is why this is not the defect waste.
Source: MSSC CPT Production standards, lean manufacturing (the eight wastes)Report a problem with this question
9. A team is starting 5S in its work area. Which step comes first, and what does it do?
- A.Shine — clean and inspect the area
- B.Set in order — arrange what remains
- C.Standardize — write the rules down
- D.Sort — remove what is not needed✓ Answer
5S runs in the order Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain. Sorting comes first because removing unneeded tools, stock, fixtures and paperwork means the team does not waste effort arranging, cleaning or writing standards for items that should not be in the area at all.
Source: MSSC CPT Production standards, lean manufacturing (5S workplace organization)Report a problem with this question
10. Beyond appearance, what does the Shine step of 5S accomplish?
- A.It doubles as inspection and exposes leaks or wear✓ Answer
- B.It records the cleaning schedule in the standard work
- C.It removes items that are not needed in the area
- D.It puts each tool in a marked place near its use
In 5S, cleaning is inspection. An operator wiping down a machine finds oil and coolant leaks, loose fasteners, worn belts, chip build-up and damaged guards while they are still small, so Shine feeds the maintenance and safety systems instead of being housekeeping for its own sake.
Source: MSSC CPT Production standards, lean manufacturing (5S: Shine as inspection)Report a problem with this question
11. Most 5S efforts break down at the Sustain step. What keeps Sustain in place?
- A.Regular audits and visible leadership follow-up✓ Answer
- B.A deep cleaning of the area before each audit
- C.Buying more racks and tool boxes for storage
- D.Handing the cleaning duty to the maintenance crew
Sustain is a management system, not a burst of effort: scheduled 5S audits with a score, standards posted where the work is done, time built into the shift, and leaders who walk the area and act on what they find. Cleaning hard only before an audit produces a display, not a sustained condition, and the first four S's decay back within weeks.
Source: MSSC CPT Production standards, lean manufacturing (5S: Sustain)Report a problem with this question
12. A cell installs a shadow board for its hand tools. What does this visual control accomplish?
- A.A log shows who used each tool
- B.Tools are locked up between shifts
- C.The cell needs fewer tools in total
- D.A missing tool shows at a glance✓ Answer
Visual management makes the normal condition and any deviation from it visible without asking anyone or reading a report. The painted outline shows immediately that a tool is gone, so it is found or replaced before it stops the job, and it also gives every tool a fixed home, which is the Set in Order step of 5S.
Source: MSSC CPT Production standards, lean manufacturing (visual management and 5S)Report a problem with this question
13. An operator on a moving line finds a defect he cannot correct at his station. What should he do?
- A.Pass the part on and flag it for the next shift
- B.Set the part aside and keep the line running
- C.Repair the part himself after the shift ends
- D.Pull the andon signal and stop the line for help✓ Answer
The andon exists so a problem becomes visible and is solved where and when it happens; stopping the line prevents a run of defective parts and brings help to the station instead of pushing the problem downstream. In a lean plant a stopped line is treated as a call for support, not as a failure by the operator, and quietly working around the defect is the one response the system cannot tolerate.
Source: MSSC CPT Production standards, lean manufacturing (andon signalling and jidoka)Report a problem with this question
14. Why must standard work exist before a process can be improved?
- A.It locks the method so the process cannot be changed
- B.It gives a baseline the change can be measured against✓ Answer
- C.It transfers responsibility for the method to engineering
- D.It certifies that each operator is qualified to run the job
Standard work records the current best-known sequence, method and time for the job. Without it every operator runs the job a little differently, so a measured gain could come from that variation rather than from the improvement; with it, any change can be compared against a known baseline. The standard is not permanent — a proven improvement becomes the new standard.
Source: MSSC CPT Production standards, lean manufacturing (standard work as the basis for improvement)Report a problem with this question
15. Which description best fits kaizen as it is practiced on a production floor?
- A.A freeze on changes until the next scheduled review
- B.A large equipment project planned by the engineering group
- C.A yearly audit of the plant's quality system by outsiders
- D.Small, frequent improvements made by the people doing the work✓ Answer
Kaizen means change for the better achieved through many small improvements proposed and tried by the operators themselves, often in short focused team events. The power comes from the frequency of the small changes and from the people closest to the work owning them, not from occasional large capital projects.
Source: MSSC CPT Production standards, lean manufacturing (kaizen and continuous improvement)Report a problem with this question
16. A team ran a trial countermeasure on one shift. In plan-do-check-act, what does the Check step require?
- A.Compare results with the data taken before✓ Answer
- B.Ask the team for the next improvement idea
- C.Write the new method into the standard work
- D.Roll the change out to every shift at once
Check verifies with data whether the trial actually produced the intended result, measured against the baseline taken before the change. Standardizing or spreading a countermeasure that was never verified is how a plant locks in changes that do not work; writing it into standard work and expanding it belong to the Act step, after Check confirms the gain.
Source: MSSC CPT Production standards, continuous improvement (plan-do-check-act problem solving)Report a problem with this question
17. In a pull system, a kanban card comes back to the machining cell. What does the card authorize?
- A.Releasing the next customer order to the floor
- B.Counting the stock left in the storage area
- C.Making a full shift's worth of that part
- D.Making only the quantity that was just used✓ Answer
A kanban is a signal that a specific quantity has been consumed downstream, and it authorizes replacing exactly that quantity and no more. That is what makes the system a pull system; producing to a forecast, or to keep a machine and its operator busy, is push and generates overproduction along with the wastes that follow it.
Source: MSSC CPT Production standards, lean manufacturing (kanban and pull systems)Report a problem with this question
18. In a pull system, what is a supermarket?
- A.A large buffer held against supplier problems
- B.A finished-goods area staged before shipping out
- C.A tool crib shared by several production cells
- D.A small controlled stock the next process pulls from✓ Answer
A supermarket holds a defined, limited quantity of parts at a marked location; the downstream process takes what it needs when it needs it, and that withdrawal is the signal for the upstream process to replace it. It is used where two processes cannot flow directly into each other, and the controlled maximum is what keeps it from becoming ordinary excess inventory.
Source: MSSC CPT Production standards, lean manufacturing (just-in-time and the supermarket pull concept)Report a problem with this question
19. What does a value stream map show?
- A.Material and information flow for a product family✓ Answer
- B.The reporting structure of the production team
- C.The floor layout with every machine drawn to scale
- D.The wiring and control schematic for a machine
A value stream map follows one product family door to door and draws two flows: the material moving through each process and the information that tells each process what to make and when, together with cycle times, changeover times and the inventory sitting between steps. Seeing both flows on one page is what reveals where waiting and inventory pile up.
Source: MSSC CPT Production standards, lean manufacturing (value stream mapping)Report a problem with this question
20. A cell cuts its changeover from 40 minutes to 8 minutes. What does that make possible?
- A.Dropping preventive maintenance tasks
- B.Skipping the first-piece check each run
- C.Running the machine at a higher speed
- D.Running smaller batches more often✓ Answer
Long setups force big batches, because the setup cost has to be spread over many parts. When the changeover takes minutes, the cell can switch products often, so inventory, lead time and the risk of producing a large batch of bad parts all fall. Quick changeover is achieved mainly by moving setup steps that can be done while the machine is still running out of the stopped time, not by skipping checks.
Source: MSSC CPT Production standards, lean manufacturing (quick changeover / single-minute exchange of dies)Report a problem with this question
21. Which of these is a poka-yoke (error-proofing device)?
- A.A fixture that will not close on a backwards part✓ Answer
- B.A rework bench beside the assembly station
- C.An inspector who checks each finished part
- D.A chart of the shift's defect counts by cause
Error-proofing changes the equipment or the method so the mistake either cannot be made or cannot pass on undetected; a fixture that physically refuses a part loaded backwards prevents the error at the moment it would occur. Inspection, defect charts and rework benches all act after the error has already been made and depend on a person catching it, which is why preventing is cheaper and far more reliable than detecting.
Source: MSSC CPT Production standards, lean manufacturing (poka-yoke error-proofing)Report a problem with this question
22. Near the end of the shift an operator makes a temporary adjustment to hold a drifting dimension. What should he do at handover?
- A.Leave a note on the machine for the maintenance crew
- B.Return the setting to normal and say nothing
- C.Tell the incoming operator and record it in the log✓ Answer
- D.Report it at the team meeting later in the week
A temporary adjustment and the drift behind it are information the next shift needs immediately, and an undocumented change breaks traceability if those parts are later questioned. Telling the incoming operator directly and writing it in the shift log escalates the problem through the proper channel so the team can find and fix the cause, instead of each shift quietly re-adjusting around a condition that is still getting worse.
Source: MSSC CPT Production standards, coordinate workflow with team members (shift handover communication and documentation)Report a problem with this question
Practice questions based on the MSSC Production Standards and the published content of the Certified Production Technician modules, together with federal OSHA general-industry requirements and standard manufacturing practice. MSSC and CPT are marks of the Manufacturing Skills Standards Council; this site is not affiliated with or endorsed by MSSC. Questions here never depend on recalling a regulatory limit, a citation number or a machine specification — always follow your own facility's written programs and the manufacturer's documentation for the equipment you run, and confirm current requirements before testing. About the CPT certification →