LSS Black Belt · PeopleCert · Define · Bank updated 2026-07-03
LSS Black Belt practice questions: Define
5 free questions from 31 on this area · answer and explanation for each · no sign-up
These 5 questions come from the Define section of our LSS Black Belt bank (31 questions on this area, which carries 20% of the real exam). Every question is original, with the correct answer explained and linked to the source it is drawn from.
1/5 · Define · easy
A Black Belt collects defect data on a printed circuit board line and builds a Pareto chart. The chart shows: solder bridges 45% (cumulative 45%), missing components 30% (cumulative 75%), misalignment 15% (cumulative 90%), and other 10% (cumulative 100%). Applying the Pareto principle to prioritize improvement effort, which defect categories should the team address first?
AMisalignment and Other, because they are the smallest categories and are therefore the easiest and fastest to eliminate.
BSolder bridges and missing components, since together they account for 75% of all defects and represent the 'vital few' causes.
CAll four categories equally, since Pareto analysis assumes every defect type contributes the same improvement potential.
DOnly the 'Other' category, because it is undefined and therefore poses the greatest hidden risk to the customer.
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2/5 · Define
A manufacturer tracks the following annual costs: $120,000 for scrapping defective units before shipment, $80,000 for customer warranty claims and returns, $50,000 for incoming material inspection, and $30,000 for operator quality training. Which two cost categories together represent the 'failure cost' component of Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ)?
AScrap ($120,000, internal failure) and warranty claims ($80,000, external failure).
BScrap ($120,000) and incoming inspection ($50,000), because both occur before the product reaches the customer.
CIncoming inspection ($50,000) and operator training ($30,000), because both are direct costs of maintaining quality.
DWarranty claims ($80,000) and operator training ($30,000), because both involve contact with people outside manufacturing.
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A is correct. COPQ is typically split into prevention, appraisal, internal failure, and external failure costs. Failure costs specifically are internal failure (defects caught internally, e.g., scrap) plus external failure (defects reaching the customer, e.g., warranty claims), while appraisal (inspection) and prevention (training) represent the cost of conformance, not failure.
↗ the IASSC Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Body of Knowledge (ILSSBOK BB, PeopleCert syllabus v1.0) — Define
3/5 · Define · hard
A Black Belt charters a project titled 'Reduce order-to-cash cycle time' with an in-scope boundary from 'order received' to 'payment posted,' explicitly excluding upstream sales-quote generation and downstream collections-dispute handling. Two months into Analyze, the team finds that 40% of delays originate in the sales-quote step and wants to extend data collection into that step. What is the BEST course of action per Define-phase scoping discipline?
AIgnore the finding and continue analyzing only the originally in-scope steps, since the charter cannot be changed once Define is complete.
BImmediately expand data collection into the sales-quote step without sponsor involvement, since the team's job is to fix the root cause wherever it is found.
CClose the current project as a failure and start an entirely new DMAIC cycle for the sales-quote step, since a single charter cannot cover more than one process step.
DTake the finding back to the project sponsor to formally revise the charter's scope and business case before extending data collection upstream, since sales-quoting was explicitly excluded.
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4/5 · Define · easy
Early in the Define phase, before any detailed data collection has begun, a Black Belt needs a single-page, high-level view of a cross-functional process solely to establish its start/end boundaries and the key parties involved. Which tool is built for exactly this purpose?
AA detailed swim-lane process map showing every decision point and rework loop
BA value stream map with takt time and cycle time annotated at each step
CA cause-and-effect (fishbone) diagram
DA SIPOC diagram
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D is correct. SIPOC is the standard Define-phase tool for a high-level, single-page process view used to set project boundaries before any detailed data collection. Detailed process maps and value stream maps come later once scope is confirmed and more data is available; a fishbone diagram serves a completely different purpose (root-cause organization in Analyze).
↗ the IASSC Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Body of Knowledge — Define
5/5 · Define
Customers never asked for a particular feature, yet when it's present it disproportionately boosts satisfaction; when it's absent, satisfaction is unaffected — customers simply don't miss what they never expected. Under the Kano model, how is this requirement classified?
AIndifferent quality
BOne-dimensional (performance) quality
CMust-be (basic) quality
DAttractive (delighter) quality
Show answer & explanation
D is correct. The Kano model classifies requirements as Must-be, One-dimensional, Attractive, or Indifferent based on how their presence/absence affects satisfaction. A feature that delights when present but causes no dissatisfaction when absent is the textbook definition of an Attractive/delighter requirement.
↗ the IASSC Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Body of Knowledge — Define
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