Sta s cal Process Control (SPC).

 Introduc on of SPC: Process monitoring and control are fundamental concepts in quality
management and opera ons. They involve the systema c oversight and management of
processes to ensure that they meet specific standards, operate efficiently, and produce
consistent results. Here are the basic concepts of process monitoring and control:
 Seven tools of SPC:
 Histogram: A histogram is a more compact summary of data than a stem-and-leaf plot. To
construct a histogram for con nuous data, we must divide the range of the data into intervals,
which are usually called class intervals, cells, or bins. If possible, the bins should be of equal
width to enhance the visual informa on in the histogram. Some judgment must be used in
selec ng the number of bins so that a reasonable display can be developed. The number of bins
depends on the number of observa ons and the amount of sca er or dispersion in the data. A
histogram that uses either too few or too many bins will not be informa ve. We usually find that
between 5 and 20 bins is sa sfactory in most cases and that the number of bins should increase
with n. Choosing the number of bins approximately equal to the square root of the number of
observa ons o en works well in prac ce.
Once the number of bins and the lower and upper boundary of each bin has been
determined, the data are sorted into the bins and a count is made of the number of observa ons
in each bin. To construct the histogram, use the horizontal axis to represent the measurement
scale for the data and the ver cal scale to represent the counts, or frequencies. Some mes the
frequencies in each bin are divided by the total number of observa ons (n), and then the ver cal
scale of the histogram represents rela ve frequencies. Rectangles are drawn over each bin and
the height of each rectangle is propor onal to frequency (or rela ve frequency).
 Check sheet: In the early stages of process improvement, it will o en become necessary to
collect either historical or current opera ng data about the process under inves ga on. A check
sheet can be very useful in this data collec on ac vity.
When designing a check sheet, it is important to clearly specify the type of data to be
collected, the part or opera on number, the date, the analyst, and any other informa on useful
in diagnosing the cause of poor performance. If the check sheet is the basis for performing
further calcula ons or is used as a worksheet for data entry into a computer, then it is important
to be sure that the check sheet will be adequate for this purpose. In some cases, a trial run to
validate the check sheet layout and design may be helpful.
 Pareto Chart: The Pareto chart is simply a frequency distribu on (or histogram) of a ribute data
arranged by category.
 Cause- and- Effect Diagram: Once a defect, error, or problem has been iden fied and isolated for
further study, we must begin to analyze poten al causes of this undesirable effect. In situa ons
where causes are not obvious (some mes they are), the cause-and-effect diagram is a formal
tool frequently useful in unlayering poten al causes.
How to construct a cause-and effect diagram:
a) Define the problem or effect to be analyzed.
b) Form the team to perform the analysis. O en the team will uncover poten al
causes through brainstorming.
c) Draw the effect box and the center line.
 d) Specify the major poten al cause categories and join them as boxes connected to
the center line.
e) Iden fy the possible causes and classify them into the categories in step d. Create new
categories, if necessary.
f) Rank order the causes to iden fy those that seem most likely to impact the problem.
g) Take correc ve ac on.
 Defect Concentra on diagram: A defect concentra on diagram is a picture of the unit, showing
all relevant views. Then the various types of defects are drawn on the picture, and the diagram is
analyzed to determine whether the loca on of the defects on the unit conveys any useful
informa on about the poten al causes of the defects.
 Sca er Diagram: The sca er diagram is a useful plot for iden fying a poten al rela onship
between two variables. Data are collected in pairs on the two variables—say, (yi, xi)—for i = 1, 2,
. . . , n. Then yi is plo ed against the corresponding xi. The shape of the sca er diagram o en
indicates what type of rela onship may exist between the two variables. Sca er diagrams are
very useful in regression modeling.
 Control Chart:

 General theory of Control charts: A typical control chart is shown in Fig. 5.2. The control chart is
a graphical display of a quality characteris c that has been measured or computed from a
sample versus the sample number or me. The chart contains a center line that represents the
average value of the quality characteris c corresponding to the in-control state. (That is, only
chance causes are present.) Two other horizontal lines, called the upper control limit (UCL) and
the lower control limit (LCL), are also shown on the chart. These control limits are chosen so that
if the process is in control, nearly all the sample points will fall between them. If the points plot
within the control limits, the process is assumed to be in control, and no ac on is necessary.
However, a point that plots outside of the control limits is interpreted as evidence that the
process is out of control, and inves ga on and correc ve ac on are required to find and
eliminate the assignable cause or causes responsible for this behavior. It is customary to connect
the sample points on the control chart with straight-line segments, so that it is easier to visualize
how the sequence of points has evolved over me.
Even if all the points plot inside the control limits, if they behave in a systema c or non-
random manner, then this could be an indica on that the process is out of control. For example,
if 18 of the last 20 points plo ed above the center line but below the upper control limit and
only two of these points plo ed below the center line but above the lower control limit, we
would be very suspicious that something was wrong. If the process is in control, all the plo ed
points should have an essen ally random pa ern. Methods for looking for sequences or
nonrandom pa erns can be applied to control charts as an aid in detec ng out-of-control
condi ons. Usually, there is a reason why a par cular nonrandom pa ern appears on a control
chart, and if it can be found and eliminated, process performance can be improved.
 Different types of limits
Specifica on limits: The largest allowable value for a quality characteris c is called the upper
specifica on limit (USL), and the smallest allowable value for a quality characteris c is called the
lower specifica on limit (LSL).
 The specifica on limits, on the other hand, are determined externally. They may be set
by management, the manufacturing engineers, the customer, or by product developers/
designers. One should have knowledge of inherent process variability when se ng
specifica ons, but remember that there is no mathema cal or sta s cal rela onship between
the control limits and specifica on limits.
Natural tolerance limits: The control limits are driven by the natural variability of the process
(measured by the process standard devia on s), that is, by the natural tolerance limits of the
process. It is customary to define the upper and lower natural tolerance limits, say UNTL and
LNTL, as 3s above and below the process mean.
Control limits: Control limits also known as natural process limits are horizontal lines drawn on a
sta s cal process control chart, usually at a distance +-3 standard devia on.
Warning limits: The inner limits, usually at two-sigma, are called warning limits
 OC Curve and ARL of control charts: page no 246,247
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