Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani

Distance Learning Programmes Division

First Semester 2008-2009
Comprehensive Examination (EC-2 Regular)
Course No.
Course Title
Nature of Exam
Weightage
Duration
Date of Exam
Note:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

: ET ZC432
: QUALITY CONTROL ASSURANCE & RELIABILITY
: Open Book
: 60%
No. of Pages
=2
: 3 Hours
No. of Questions = 7
: 27/09/2008 (FN)

Please follow all the Instructions to Candidates given on the cover page of the answer book.
All parts of a question should be answered consecutively. Each answer should start from a fresh page.
Leave about one inch margin space on all four sides of the answersheet.
Mobile phones and computers of any kind should not be used inside the examination hall.
No need for any graph sheets. All graphs can be drawn roughly in the answer book itself.

Q.1

Sample
Xbar

Automatic machines that fill packages of all-purpose flour to the desired standard weight need to be
closely monitored. A random sample of 4 packages is selected and weighed. The average weight
is then computed. Observations from 15 such samples are shown in the following table.
1
80.2

2
80.0

3
79.6

4
80.3

5
80.1

6
80.4

7
79.5

8
79.4

9
79.7

10
79.5

11
80.3

12
80.5

13
79.8

14
80.4

15
80.2

The desired weight of packages is 80 oz. Historical information on the machine reveals that the
standard deviation of the weights of the individual packages is 0.2 oz. Assume an acceptable Type
I error rate of 0.05. Also assume that it is desired to detect shifts in the process mean of 0.15 oz.
a.
b.
c.

Q.2

Observations are taken from the output of a company making semiconductors. The following table
shows the sample size and the number of non-conforming semiconductors for each sample.

Sample
Inspected items
Non conforming
items
Sample
Inspected items
Non conforming
items
a.
b.
c.

Q.3

Construct and draw a cumulative sum chart and determine whether the machine needs to be
adjusted to meet the target weight.
Determine the parameters of an appropriate V-mask.
Specify the scale factor you use in your cusum plot.
[10]

1
80

2
120

3
60

4
150

5
140

6
150

7
160

8
90

9
100

10
160

11
110

12
100

13
200

14
90

15
160

10

12

14

16
230

17
200

18
150

19
210

20
190

21
160

22
100

23
100

24
90

25
160

12

12

10

Construct and draw a p-chart by setting up the exact control limits for each sample
Are any samples out of control? If so, assuming special causes, revise the centre line and
control limits
Based on the data above, construct a standardized p-chart and discuss your conclusions. [10]

A company named HMIL is investigating two potential vendors on the timeliness of their
deliveries. A random sample of size 10 from the first vendor produced an average delay time of 4.5
days with a standard deviation of 2.3 days. A random sample of size 12 from the second vendor
yielded an average delay time of 3.4 days with a standard deviation of 6.2 days.
a. Find a 90% confidence interval for the ratio of the variances of the delay times for the two
vendors.
b. Find a 95% confidence interval for the differences in the average delay times for the two
vendors.
c. Can we conclude that the first vendor has a smaller variability regarding delay times than the
second? Use a significance level of .05.
[10]

ET ZC432 (EC-2 REGULAR)

Q.4

FIRST SEMESTER 2008-2009

PAGE 2

Consider the assembly of 3 components shown in figure. Tolerances for the three components are
given below:
Gap

Components

Mean Length (in cm)

Tolerances ( in cm)

10

10 +/- 0.5

4 +/- 0.2

5 +/- 0.1

C
A

Assume that the tolerances on the component are independent of each other and that the lengths of
the components are normally distributed.
a. What is the tolerance of the gap?
b. Assuming normality, if specifications of the gap are 0.9 +/- 0.201 cm, what proportion of
assembly will not meet specifications?
c. Suppose the desirable specifications on the gap are 2 +/- 0.02 cm. Assume the mean lengths
of A, B and C to be 11.1, 4.2 and 5.3 cm, respectively. Also assume the natural tolerances to
be +/-0.5, +/-0.2 and +/-0.1 cm for A, B and C, respectively. Find the proportion of
assemblies that will not be acceptable.
[10]

Q.5

A double sampling plan is given as follows: N = 1200, n1 = 50, c1 = 1, r1 = 4, n2 = 110, c2 = 5, r2 =

7. Find the probability of accepting a lot that are 4 % nonconforming? What is the probability of
rejecting a lot on first sample? Use Poissons distribution.
[8]

Q.6

Consider the seven component system shown in the figure. Reliability of components are RA =
0.96, RB = 0.92, RC = 0.94, RD = 0.89, RE = 0.95, RF = 0.88, RG = 0.90.

E
C

D
G

B
a.
b.

Q.7

Find the reliability of the system.

Assuming time to failure for each component has exponential distribution, the failure rate
for each components are A = 0.0005 / hr, B = 0.0005 / hr, C = 0.0003 / hr, D = 0.0008 /
hr, E = 0.0004 / hr, F = 0.006 / hr, G = 0.0064 / hr. Find the reliability of the system
after 1000 hours? What is the mean time to failure of the system?
[8]

Compare and contrast the quality philosophies proposed by Deming, Crosby and Juran. Present
your answer in a tabular format.
[4]

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