STATISTICAL

PROCESS CONTROL
 STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL (SPC)

• Is the application of Statistical Methods to monitor and

control a process to ensure that it operates at its full potential
to produce conforming product.

OR

•Is an analytical decision making tool which allows you to see

when a process is working correctly and when it is not.

• Variation is present in any process, deciding when the

variation is natural and when it needs correction is the key to
quality control.
 HISTORY

•Was Pioneered By Walter .A. Shewhart In The Early 1920s.

•W. Edwards Deming Later Applied SPC Methods In

The US During World war II, Successfully Improved Quality In The
Manufacture Of Munitions And Other Strategically Important
Products.

•Deming introduced SPC Methods to Japanese Industry After The

War Had Ended.

•Resulted high quality of Japanese products.

•Shewhart Created The Basis For The Control Chart And The
Concept Of A State Of Statistical Control By Carefully Designed
Experiments.
•Concluded That While Every Process Displays Variation, Some
Processes Display Controlled Variation That Is Natural To The
Process (Common Causes Of Variation), While Others Display
Uncontrolled Variation That Is Not Present In The Process
Causal System At All Times (Special Causes Of Variation).
•In 1988, The Software Engineering Institute Introduced The
Notion That SPC Can Be Usefully Applied To Non-manufacturing
Processes
TRADITIONAL METHODS VS STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL

▪The quality of the finished article was traditionally achieved

through post-manufacturing inspection of the product;
accepting or rejecting each article (or samples from a
production lot) based on how well it met its
design specifications

▪SPC uses Statistical tools to observe the performance of the

production process in order to predict significant deviations
that may later result in rejected product.
 TYPES OF VARIATION

Two kinds of variation occur in all manufacturing processes

1. Natural or Common Cause Variation

consists of the variation inherent in the process as it
is designed.
may include variations in temperature, properties of
raw materials, strength of an electrical current
etc.

2. Special Cause Variation or Assignable-cause Variation

With sufficient investigation, a specific cause, such
as abnormal raw material or incorrect set-up parameters,
can be found for special cause variations.
 ‘In Control’ and ‘Out Of Control’

❖Process is said to be ‘in control’ and stable

If common cause is the only type of variation that exists

in the process
It is also predictable within set limits i.e. the probability of
any future outcome falling within the limits can be stated
approximately.

❖Process is said to be ‘out of control’ and unstable

Special cause variation exists within the process

Statistical process control -broadly broken
down into 3 sets of activities

1. Understanding the process

2. Understanding the causes of variation

3. Elimination of the sources of special cause

variation.
 Understanding the process

• Process is typically mapped out and the process is monitored

using control charts.

Understanding the causes of variation

• Control charts are used to identify variation that may be due to

special causes, and to free the user from concern over variation
due to common causes.

• It is a continuous, ongoing activity.

• When a process is stable and does not trigger any of the

detection rules for a control chart, a process capability analysis
may also be performed to predict the ability of the current
process to produce conforming product in the future.
•When excessive variation is identified by the control chart
detection rules, or the process capability is found lacking,
additional effort is exerted to determine causes of that variance.

• The tools used include

• Ishikawa diagrams
•Designed experiments
•Pareto charts

•Designed experiments are critical -only means of objectively

quantifying the relative importance of the many potential causes
of variation.
Elimination of the sources of special cause variation

•Once the causes of variation have been quantified, effort is

spent in eliminating those causes that are both statistically
and practically significant.

•includes development of standard work, error-proofing and

training.

•Additional process changes may be required to reduce

variation or align the process with the desired target,
especially if there is a problem with process capability.
 ADVANTAGES OF SPC

• Reduces waste

• Lead to a reduction in the time required to produce the product

or service from end to end
due to a diminished likelihood that the final product will
have to be reworked, identify bottlenecks, wait times, and other
sources of delays within the process.

•A distinct advantage over other quality methods, such as

inspection - its emphasis on early detection and prevention of
problems

•Cost reduction

•Customer satisfaction
 SPC CHARTS

•One method of identifying the type of variation present.

•Statistical Process Control (SPC) Charts are essentially:

❖Simple graphical tools that enable process performance
monitoring.
❖ Designed to identify which type of variation exists within the
process.
❖ Designed to highlight areas that may require further
investigation.
❖Easy to construct and interpret.

•2 most popular SPC tools

❖ Run Chart
❖Control Chart
•SPC charts can be applied to both dynamic processes and
static processes.

Dynamic Processes
oA process that is observed across time is known as a dynamic
process.
oAn SPC chart for a dynamic process - ‘time-series’ or a
‘longitudinal’ SPC chart.

Static Processes
oA process that is observed at a particular point in time is
known as a static process.
oAn SPC chart for a static process is often referred to as a
‘cross sectional’ SPC chart.
 Control charts

❑Show the variation in a measurement during the time period that

the process is observed.

❑Monitor processes to show how the process is performing and

how the process and capabilities are affected by changes to the
process. This information is then used to make quality
improvements.

❑A time ordered sequence of data, with a centre line calculated by

the mean.

❑Used to determine the capability of the process.

❑Help to identify special or assignable causes for factors that

impede peak performance.
Control charts have four key features:

1) Data Points:
Either averages of subgroup measurements or individual
measurements plotted on the x/y axis and joined by a line. Time
is always on the x-axis.

2) The Average or Center Line

The average or mean of the data points and is drawn across
the middle section of the graph, usually as a heavy or solid line.

3) The Upper Control Limit (UCL)

Drawn above the centerline and annotated as "UCL". This is
often called the “+ 3 sigma” line.

4) The Lower Control Limit (LCL)

Drawn below the centerline and annotated as "LCL". This is
called the “- 3 sigma” line.
➢Control limits define the zone where the observed data for a
stable and consistent process occurs virtually all of the time
(99.7%).

➢Any fluctuations within these limits come from common causes

inherent to the system, such as choice of equipment, scheduled
maintenance or the precision of the operation that results from
the design.

➢An outcome beyond the control limits results from a special

cause.

➢The automatic control limits have been set at 3-sigma limits.

•The area between each control limit and the centerline is
divided into thirds.

1) Zone A - "1-sigma zone“

2) Zone B - "2-sigma zone"
3) Zone C - " 3-sigma zone “
 PROCESS CAPABILITY
ANALYSIS
 Examines
◦ whether the process is capable of producing products which conforms
to specifications
◦ range of natural variability in a process what we measure with control
charts

 Process capability studies distinguish between conformance to control

limits and conformance to specification limits (also called tolerance
limits)
◦ if the process mean is in control, then virtually all points will remain
within control limits
◦ staying within control limits does not necessarily mean that
specification limits are satisfied
◦ specification limits are usually dictated by customers
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Process Capability analysis cont.

Design
Specificatio
ns

(a) Natural variation

exceeds design
specifications;
process is not
capable of meeting
specifications all the
time.
Process
Design
Specificatio
ns

(b) Design
specifications and
natural variation the
same; process is
capable of meeting
specifications most of
the time.
Process
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Process Capability (cont.)

Design
Specificatio
ns

(c) Design
specifications
greater than natural
variation; process is
capable of always
conforming to
specifications.
Process
Design
Specificatio
ns

(d) Specifications
greater than natural
variation, but
process off center;
capable but some
output will not meet
upper specification.
Process
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