Introduction

1.1. Definition
1.2. History of Statistical Quality Control

1.3. Dimensions of Quality

1.4. Quality improvement
1.5. Modeling Process Quality
 1.Introduction
1.1. Definition

Statistical quality control refers to the area of statistics

concerned with applying statistical methods to
improve the quality of products.

It refers to the use of statistical methods in the

monitoring and maintaining of the quality of products
and services.
SQC is one of the most important applications of the
statistical techniques in industry.

This technique is based on the theory of probability

and sampling and is being extensively used in almost
all industries.

In fact it is impossible to think any of industry field

were statistical techniques are not used.
Quality control emphasizes testing of products to
uncover defects, and reporting to management who
make the decision to allow or deny the release.
Quality Assurance (QA) refers to a program for
the systematic monitoring and evaluation of the
various aspects of a project, service, or facility to
ensure that standards of quality are being met.

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It is important to realize also that quality is
determined by the intended users, clients or
customers, not by society in general: it is not the
same as 'expensive' or 'high .

Even goods with low prices can be considered

quality items if they meet a market need.
Quality can be defined in many ways, ranging
from requirements to
fitness for to to
requirements.
It is obvious that any definition of quality should
include customers, satisfying whom must be the
primary goal of any business.

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Quality is conformance to requirements or
specification's
It means that if an article or materials meets the
specification required for its rightful use, it is good
quality, and if not then the quality of article is
considered to be poor.

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Example 1: A soft drink company produces bottles of
various soft drinks. Bottles of soft drinks are supposed to
have 300ml of drink. Bottles are filled by a machine. So
some will have more than 300ml, some less. If the machine
is set incorrectly, then the bottle will be filled too much
(the company loose money) or the bottle will be filled too
little (customer complain). A company will take a sample of
bottles. If the mean volume is significantly different from
300ml, it indicates something is wrong in the process.
Example 2. An electrical company makes light
bulbs that are supposed to have an average life time
of 1000 hours. A buyer intends to buy a batch of
10,000 bulbs. The buyer first test a sample of 100
light bulbs. If they have a mean life time of 1000
hours he accepts the batch, otherwise the batch is
rejected.
Example 3. A company makes cups and plates. Some
of cups might be chipped or cracked. A sample will be
taken to cheek the proportion of cracked cups. If this is
above a certain value the process must be adjusted.
In all above three examples
There is a cost involving in sampling.
There is a decision to be made that can result in an
error.
Wrongly rejects a good product - supplier or
producer risk.
Wrongly accept a bad product - or
risk.
The aim is to develop statistical procedures that have
Low cost i.e. the ability to minimize cost.
Low producer risk.
Low buyers risk.
Statistical quality control can be divided into two main
areas.
1. Statistical process control
This involves investigating the procedures used
during the manufacturing process.
Monitor the quality of manufacturing process.
 2. Acceptance sampling

This includes investigating a final product and deciding

whether or not the final product is of acceptable
quality.
The objective is only to pass a judgment on lots
(batch) of products.
 Source of variation
I) Chance (random) variation:
Random causes that we cannot identify
Unavoidable
E.g.: slight differences in process variables like
diameter, weight, service time, temperature
II) Assignable variation:
Causes can be identified and eliminated
E.g. negligence of operation, wrong or improper
handling of the machines , faulty equipment, unskilled
or in experienced technical staff, and so on.
1.2. History of Statistical Quality Control

Classical techniques of hypothesis testing, power

function, type I error and type II error etc. form the
bases of acceptance sampling.

This theory developed in the early 1900s by

Neyman, Pearson, and others.
In 1920s Shewhart introduces the control charts, this controls
the quality of a product as it is being made rather than after it
is made.
This case is a key component of statistical process control
(SPC). The growth of SPC coincided with the growth of
factories as a way of manufacturing goods.
In 1940s there were a lot of researches in to statistical process
control.
 1.3. Dimensions of Quality

The quality of a product can be described and

evaluated in several ways.
It is often very important to differentiate these
different dimensions of quality.

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Garvin (1987) provides eight components or
dimensions of quality.
1. performance 5. Aesthetics
2. Reliability 6. Features
3. Durability 7.Perceived quality
4. Serviceability 8. Conformance to standards
 1. Performance
Will the product do the intended job?
Potential customers usually evaluate a product to
determine if it will perform certain specific
functions and determine how well it performs them.
Performance refers to a product's primary operating
characteristics.

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 2. Reliability
How often does the product fail?
This dimension reflects the probability of a product
malfunctioning or failing within a specified time period.
For example, you should expect that an automobile will
require occasional repair, but if the car requires frequent repair,
we say that it is unreliable.
The view of quality is greatly impacted by the
reliability dimension of quality.
 3. Durability
How long does the product last?
This is the effective service life of the product.
Customers obviously want products that perform
satisfactorily over a long period of time
Durability has both economic and technical
dimensions.

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 4. Serviceability
How easy is it to repair the product?
There are many industries in which the
view of quality is directly influenced by how
quickly and economically a repair or routine
maintenance activity can be accomplished.
Serviceability is the speed, courtesy, competence, and
ease of repair
 5. Aesthetics
What does the product look like/ beauty and
taste?
Aesthetics is a subjective dimension of quality.
This is the visual appeal of the product. How a
product looks, feels, sounds, tastes, or smells is a
matter of personal judgment and a reflection of
individual preference.

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 6. Features
What does the product do?
Usually, customers associate high quality with products
that have added features; that is, those that have
features beyond the basic performance of the
competition.
Features are usually the secondary aspects of
performance, the "bells and whistles" of products and
services, those characteristics that supplement their
basic functioning.
 7. Perceived Quality
What is the reputation of the company or its
product?
Consumers do not always have complete information
about a product's or service's attributes; indirect
measures may be their only basis for comparing
brands
In many cases, customers rely on the past reputation
of the company concerning quality of its products. 27
This reputation is directly influenced by failures
of the product that are highly visible to the
public or that require product recalls, and by
how the customer is treated when a quality-
related problem with the product is reported.
Perceived quality, customer loyalty, and
repeated business are closely interconnected.
 8. Conformance to Standards
Is the product made exactly as the designer
intended?
Conformance is the degree to which a product's
design and operating characteristics meet established
standards.
A high-quality product as one that exactly meets the
requirements placed on it.
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Remark
Quality is indeed a multifaceted entity.
A simple answer to questions such as is
or is quality is not easy.
Products and services must meet the requirements of
those who use them.
Quality is inversely proportional to
variability- modern definition of quality
If variability in the important characteristics of a
product decreases, the quality of the product
increases.

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 1.4. Quality improvement

Quality improvement is the reduction of variability

in processes and products.
Excessive variability in process performance often
results in waste.
Quality improvement is the reduction of waste.
 Management Aspects of Quality Improvement

Statistical techniques, including SPC and designed

experiments, along with other problem solving tools
are the technical basis for quality control and
improvement.
To be used most effective, these techniques must be
implemented within and be part of a management
system that is focused on quality improvement
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 The effective management of quality involves
successful execution of three activities:
a) quality planning,
b) quality assurance, and
c) quality control and improvement.

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 a) Quality planning
It is a strategic plan for an long term
business success, as the product development plan,
the financial plan, the marketing plan, and plans
for the utilization of human resources.

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Without a strategic quality plan, an enormous
amount of time, money, and effort will be wasted by
the organization dealing with faulty designs,
manufacturing defects, field failures, and customer
complaints.
 b) Quality assurance
It is the set of activities that ensures the quality
levels of products and services are properly
maintained, and that supplier and customer quality
issues are properly resolved.
Documentation of the quality system is an important
component.

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Quality system documentation involves four
components: policy, procedures, work instructions
and specifications, and records.
Policy generally deals with what is to be done and
why, while procedures focus on the methods and
personnel that will implement policy.
 c) Quality control and improvement
It involves the set of activities used to ensure that the products
and services meet requirements and are improved on a
continuous basis.
Since variability is often a major source of poor quality,
statistical techniques, including SPC and designed
experiments, are the major tools of quality control and
improvement.

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 1.5. Modeling Process Quality

The use of statistical methodology in quality

control and improvement can be done by first how
simple tools of descriptive statistics can be used to
be express variation quantitatively in quality
characteristics when a sample of data on these
characteristics is available.

E.g. graphs, diagrams, average, dispersion

The second is based on probability distributions and
show how they provide a tool for modeling or
describing the quality characteristics of process.
Discrete distributions:
e.g. binomial, hypergeometric, Poisson, Geometric
Continuous distributions:
e.g Normal, exponential, Weibull, gamma
The Process Capability is a measurable property of
a process to the specification, expressed as a process
capability index or as a process performance index
Process capability is also defined as the capability of
a process to meet its purpose as managed by an
organization's management and process definition
structures.
Two parts of process capability are:
1) Measure the variability of the output of a process, and
2) Compare that variability with a proposed specification
or product tolerance.
Measure the Process
The input of a process usually has at least one or more
measurable characteristics that are used to specify outputs.
These can be analyzed statistically; where the
output data shows a normal distribution the process
can be described by the process mean (average) and
the standard deviation.
A process needs to be established with appropriate
process controls in place.
A control chart analysis is used to determine
whether the process is "in statistical control".
If the process is not in statistical control then
capability has no meaning. Therefore the process
capability involves only common cause variation
and not special cause variation.
Capability study
The input of a process is expected to meet customer
requirements, specifications, or product tolerances.
Engineering can conduct a process capability study to
determine the extent to which the process can meet
these expectations.
The ability of a process to meet specifications can
be expressed as a single number using a process
capability index or it can be assessed using control
charts
Process capability indices are only meaningful for
processes that are stable (in a state of statistical
control).