Question

A quality analyst at a manufacturing plant measures the fill volume (in mL) of bottles from two filling machines. Both machines produce a mean fill of 500 mL. Machine A has a standard deviation of 2 mL, while Machine B has a standard deviation of 8 mL. Both machines must keep fills within a tight tolerance band around the target. Based only on these statistics, which conclusion should the analyst report?

Accepted Answer

Machine A is more consistent because its lower standard deviation indicates fill volumes cluster more tightly around the mean.

Answer

Machine B is more consistent because a higher standard deviation means it produces more bottles near the target.

Answer

Both machines are equally reliable because they share the same mean fill volume of 500 mL.

Answer

Machine A is less accurate because a lower standard deviation shifts its average away from the 500 mL target.