🏭 CSSGB Quest › Section I

Section I: Overview: Six Sigma and the Organization 11 questions

Section I is the smallest section of the 2022 CSSGB exam: 11 of the 100 scored questions. It asks why organizations use Six Sigma, how projects connect to business goals and metrics, the core lean concepts, and the design-for-Six-Sigma (DFSS) road maps and FMEA basics.

Most questions are conceptual: recognize a lean concept, pick the right road map, or interpret an FMEA.

Key topics

Topic	What to know
Value of Six Sigma	Six Sigma is a data-driven method for reducing variation and defects, usually through DMAIC projects. Know its basic history and how it complements lean.
Organizational goals and projects	Projects should trace back to an organizational goal (cost, quality, delivery, customer). Selection criteria include strategic fit, expected benefit, and feasibility.
Organizational drivers and metrics	Key business drivers: profit, market share, customer satisfaction, efficiency, product differentiation. Scorecards such as the balanced scorecard (Financial, Customer, Internal Process, Learning & Growth) track them. Lagging indicators measure outcomes; leading indicators predict them.
Lean concepts	Theory of constraints, value chain, flow, takt time, just-in-time, gemba, spaghetti diagrams, and perfection (continuous pursuit of zero waste).
Value stream mapping	Map material and information flow end to end to separate value-added time from waiting and other waste.
DFSS road maps	DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify) and variants such as DMADOV (adds Optimize) are used to design a new product or process; DMAIC improves an existing one.
FMEA basics	Failure mode and effects analysis rates each failure mode for Severity, Occurrence and Detection. Design FMEA (DFMEA) looks at the product design; process FMEA (PFMEA) at the manufacturing or service process.

FMEA and RPN

RPN = Severity × Occurrence × Detection   (each usually rated 1–10)

Example: S = 7, O = 4, D = 3  →  RPN = 7 × 4 × 3 = 84

Detection is inverted: 1 = almost certain to be detected (best),
                       10 = almost certain NOT to be detected (worst)

Severity first: RPN alone can hide serious risks. A failure mode with S = 10, O = 1, D = 1 has RPN = 10 but still deserves attention because of its severity. Many organizations review high-severity items regardless of RPN (the AIAG-VDA FMEA handbook replaces RPN with an "action priority" table for this reason).

Theory of constraints: five focusing steps

Identify the constraint (the bottleneck that limits throughput).
Exploit it: get the most from it without major investment.
Subordinate everything else to the constraint’s pace.
Elevate it: add capacity if still needed.
Repeat: when the constraint moves, start again; avoid inertia.

Common exam traps

DMAIC vs. DMADV. Improving an existing process that underperforms → DMAIC. Designing a new product or process, or one so broken it must be redesigned → DMADV.
Detection scale direction. A low Detection score is good. Many candidates treat all three FMEA scales as "10 = worst event" and misread Detection.
DFMEA vs. PFMEA. A wall thickness that is too thin on the drawing is a design failure mode; a wall that comes out thin because a machine setting drifted is a process failure mode.
Leading vs. lagging. Defect rate and complaints are lagging; training completion and preventive-maintenance compliance are leading. Both are needed.
Takt time is set by demand, not by machine speed: available time ÷ customer demand.

Learn pages for this section

DMAIC overviewPhases, tollgates, roles Value stream mappingLead time, VA ratio Takt timePace set by demand 8 wastes (DOWNTIME)Lean waste types

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Section names and question counts follow the 2022 CSSGB Body of Knowledge (110 questions, 100 scored). Topic summaries are our paraphrase; check the current BoK on asq.org for the official wording.

I II III IV V VI

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