Certified Quality Engineer (CQE) Exam Overview

As you already understand, the CQE test covers much vital knowledge on technologies to improve your organization's performance and increase the satisfaction of your customers. So, if your goal is to become ASQ certified, you must pass the appropriate CQE test that is either available online (Computer delivered) or physically (Paper and Pencil). Note that the exam fee is $498 while ASQ members pay only $398.

So, for computer tests delivered by Prometric, you need to access the main website and set a schedule of dates when you may be allowed to take the final test. In this case, you will have 5 hours and 18 minutes to answer 160 multiple-choice questions and 15 unscored ones.

For those who wish to pass the CQE Paper and Pencil exam, you need to book the test from the official website or visit the nearest certification center. This exam format consists of 160 multiple-choice items that you have to complete within five hours.

However, both the online and physical tests are open-book format. Therefore, candidates are free to carry with them their calculators as well as reference materials. Anyway, to pass the CQE test, candidates must receive a minimum of 550 out of the possible 750 scores.

So, the content of the exam is quite extensive, and the first thing that every test-taker should do is review the detailed list of questions, which includes 6 main sections:

• Leadership and Management

The first part consists of 18 questions regarding quality philosophies and principles as well as a quality management system that includes strategic planning, quality information system, deployment techniques such as benchmarking, stakeholder, performance measurement tools, and project management. After that, you will demonstrate your knowledge of the ASQ code of ethics, leadership techniques and principles, communication skill set alongside an understanding of customer relations.

• The Quality System

According to this category, you will meet with 16 questions that cover key elements of the quality system, documentation, quality guidelines and standards, quality audit process in parallel with concepts of quality cost and elements of training programs.

• Process, Product, and Service Design

In this part, you will be faced with 23 questions about the classification of quality characteristics, design inputs, technical drawings, validation and verification procedures along with maintainability and reliability indices such as MTTR, MTBF, MTTF, failure rate, and availability.

• Process and Product Control

This topic covers 25 questions related to control methods, material control, sampling, measurement test methods, metrology techniques, as well as measurement system analysis graphical and quantitative methods.

• Continuous Improvement

This knowledge area includes 27 questions that you have to complete and demonstrate your ability to use various quality control tools such as flowcharts, pareto charts, check sheets, control charts, histograms among many. Also, your knowledge of quality management and planning tools, continuous improvement methodologies, and lean tools will be tested. And finally, you should be able to take both corrective and preventive actions.

• Quantitative Tools and Methods

Your next step is a validation of your knowledge about summarizing and collecting data thanks to 36 appropriate questions that involve types of data, measurement scales, and data collection methods.

Reference: http://asq.org/cert/quality-engineer