Quality Tools and Process

Mapping
 Seven Basic Tools for Quality
Improvement

• Check Sheets
• Pareto Diagrams
• Flow Charts
• Cause – and – Effect Diagrams
• Histograms
• Scatter Plots
• Control Charts
 Check Sheets
Check sheets facilitate systematic record keeping or data collection. Observations are recorded as they happen, which reveals
patterns or trends.

Objectives:
• Clearly identify of what is being observed.
• Keep the data collection process as easy as possible.
• Group the data. Collected data should be grouped in a way that makes the
data valuable and reliable. Similar problems must be in similar groups.
• Create a format that will give the most information with the least amount of effort
Classification Check Sheet for Manufacturing Problems –
plastic parts
Distribution check sheet for marks
Course Evaluation by students
 Advantages
• Detect problems
• Areas to focus given limited resources
• Analyze products and processes
 Pareto Diagram

Pareto diagrams help prioritize problems by arranging them in

decreasing order of importance. In an environment of limited
resources, these diagrams help companies decide on the order
in which they should address problems.

For many events, roughly 80% of the effect comes from

20% of the causes
• Horizontal axis represents categories of
interest, for example, categories of defects.
• Vertical axis represents count (# in each
category) data or percentage.
• A cumulative percentage line is also depicted.
• Categories are ordered from those which
contain the largest count to those that contain
the fewest.
 Pareto Chart

• Identifies the vital few from the trivial

many.

• Pareto charts may be constructed for

different groups within a data set to
determine the impact of the grouping
variable.
 Pareto Diagram for Defects in
40
Transmission Gears
40
35
Percent of defects

30 25
25 20
20 15
15 Code Defect type
A Chipping
10 B Surface finish
C Mounting
5 D Load bearing

0
A B C D

Type of defects
Table 1-8 : Defects in Transmission gears

Defect Type Count

Load Bearing 15
Surface Finish 25
Chipping 40
Mounting 20
 Interpreting the Analyses

• Chipping and surface finish defects comprise

over half of all the defects ( in this case 65 %).

• With limited resources, the priority order to

address problems would be chipping followed
by surface finish, mounting, and load bearing,
respectively.
 Pareto Analysis
• When defects in various categories have
relative impacts that are significantly
different cost data may be used.

• For example, if a load bearing defect costs

$100 to fix, whereas a chipping defect costs
$20 to fix, the Pareto chart, in terms of cost
data will be quite different.
Pareto analysis based on cost
 Flow Charts
Flow charts show the sequence of events in a
process. They are used for manufacturing and
service operations. They can identify bottlenecks,
redundant steps, and nonvalue-added activities.
 Flow Chart for Incoming Order Processing

Order Has purchase order No Wait until

received for payment been purchase order is
received received
Yes

Produce
Can order quantity be
according to
met from stock? No
specified demand
Yes

Check due date

against lead time
and set
shipment date

Package
product

Product
Ship received by
product customer
● Process Flow Charts
● Operation process charts
● Flow diagram
 Cause-and-effect Diagrams

Cause-and-effect diagrams ( also known as the

fishbone diagrams) explore possible causes of
problems, with the intention being to discover the
root cause(s). The main categories such as
people, material, machines, methods,
measurements, and environment are listed first.
To move closer to the root of the problem, each
cause would be broken down into sub-causes.
• Developed using a team or a group of people.

• Identify the problem (or effect) that is being

investigated.

• Determine the various causes ( and sub causes)

that have an impact on the stated effect.
 Benefits of a Fishbone Diagram

• Better understanding of the process and the

relationships among various components.

• May lead to identification of root cause(s).

• Identification of remedial actions.

 Example
In the production of magnetic tapes, the
uniformity of coating is an important
product characteristic. A process
improvement group is attempting to identify
various causes that lead to flaws in the
uniformity of coating.
 6 Ms in Manufacturing
• Machine (technology)
• Method (process)
• Material (includes raw material, consumables, and
information)
• Manpower (physical work)
• Measurement (inspection)
• Milieu/mother nature (environment)
 7 Ps for Marketing
• ● Product/service
● Price
● Place
● Promotion
● People/personnel
● Positioning
● Packaging
 4 Ps in Service Industry
• ● Policies
● Procedures
● Process technology
● People
 Histograms

Histograms display large amounts of data that are

difficult to interpret in their raw form. By providing a
visual summary of the data, histograms reveal whether
the process is centered around a target value, the
degree of variation in the data, and whether the data
meet specifications. A histogram also helps in
identifying process capability relative to customer
requirements.
• Horizontal axis – data grouped in classes.

• Vertical axis –
– Frequency Types of distribution:
– Percent 1. Symmetrical – normal
distrib.
– Cumulative frequency 2. Skewed right
– Cumulative percent 3. Skewed left
4. Flat – multi peaks like
plateau
5. Peaked –less tail
 Histogram of pH values of a mixture

15
Frequency

10

0
2 4 6 8 10 12 14
pH
 Scatter Plots

Scatter plots show the relationship between two

variables. They are often used as follow-ups to a
cause-and-effect analysis to determine whether a
stated cause truly does impact the quality
characteristic.

Help us decide to set a controllable variable to

achieve a desired level of the output characteristic.
Example

We are interested in determining the

relationship between the depth of cut in a
milling operation and the amount of tool
wear.
 Analysis of Results
• Some idea of the relationship between depth of cut and
the amount of tool wear.
• Here, relationship is generally nonlinear.
• For depth of cut < 3.0 mm, tool wear rate is about
constant.
• As the depth of cut increases, tool wear starts increasing
at an increasing rate.
• For depth of cut > 4.5 mm, tool wear appears to increase
drastically.
• This information will help us determine the depth of cut
to use to minimize downtime due to tool changes.
 Control Charts

Control charts distinguish special (assignable)

causes of variation from common causes of variation.
They are used to monitor and control a process on an
ongoing basis.
A typical control chart plots a selected quality
characteristic, found from subgroups of observations,
as a function of a sample number (which represents
the time sequence of events). Characteristics such as
sample average, sample range, and sample proportion
of nonconforming units are plotted.
 Control Chart
• Center line
• UCL ( Upper Control Limit )
• LCL ( Lower Control Limit )
• Quality characteristic versus sample number
plotted
 Variables
Quality characteristics which are measurable on a
numerical scale.

Ex. When a numerical measurement is obtained

of characteristics such as length, weight, tensile
strength, spring force, density, thickness of
coating, and tube diameter.
 Control Charts for Variables
• X and R charts ( Charts for the mean and range)

• X and s charts ( Charts for the mean and standard

deviation)

• X and MR charts ( Charts for individuals and moving

range)

• Moving-Average control chart ( MA chart)

• Exponentially weighted moving average chart (EWMA

chart)
 Attributes
Quality characteristics which are classified as either
conforming or nonconforming to specifications.

Ex. Using a go/no go gauge, the length of a part may be

specified as either conforming or nonconforming. A
microchip may be classified as acceptable or unacceptable.

Control charts for variables usually provide more information

about process performance than those for attributes.
 Control Charts for Attributes

• Chart for proportion nonconforming (p-chart).

• Chart for number of nonconforming items (np-

chart).

• Chart for number of nonconformities (c-chart).

• Chart for number of nonconformities per unit (u-

chart).
 Special Causes

• Not inherent in the process

– Wrong tool
– Operator error

• Major objective of SPC – detect the occurrences

of special causes quickly
 Common Causes
• Something inherent to a process
• Exists as long as the process is not changed
• Natural variation in a process
• Process under a stable system of common causes
is said to be in statistical control
• Inherent variation in raw material from qualified
vendor, vibrations of machines
• Management is responsible
 Control Chart

• Graphical tool for monitoring the activity of an

ongoing process

• Quality characteristic plotted along the vertical

axis

• Samples or subgroups (in order of time) plotted

along horizontal axis
 Control Chart

• Center line – Typically represents average value of the

characteristic being plotted

• UCL – Upper control limit

LCL – Lower control limit

• If points plot within control limits and do not exhibit

any identifiable pattern – process is in statistical control
 Typical Control Chart
30

Upper control limit

Quality characteristic value

25

Center line
20

Lower control limit

15

10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Sample (or subgroup)
 Process in Control

• When only a system of common causes

prevail.

• Special causes have been eliminated through

remedial actions.
 Difference Between Control Limits
and Specifications Limits

Control limits are used to evaluate the variations in

the quality characteristic (e.g. average diameter,
average spring force, average thickness) from
subgroup to subgroup. Each subgroup consists of a
collection (e.g. five) of individual measurements.
Difference Between Control Limits
and Specifications Limits

Specification limits are the permissible limits of a

quality characteristic (e.g. diameter, thickness) of
each individual unit. The specification limits
determine whether an individual unit is
acceptable or not with respect to a certain quality
characteristic.
 Benefits of Control Charts

1. When to take corrective action. A control chart

indicates when something may be wrong so that
corrective action can be taken.

2. Type of remedial action necessary. The pattern of

the plot on a control chart diagnoses possible
causes and hence indicates possible remedial
actions.
 Benefits of Control Charts

3. When to leave a process alone. Variation is part of

any process. A control chart shows when an
exhibited variability is normal and inherent such that
no corrective action is necessary.

4. Process capability. If the control chart shows a

process to be in statistical control, we can estimate
the capability of the process and hence its ability to
meet customer requirements. This helps product and
process design.
 Benefits of Control Charts

5. Possible means of quality improvement. The

control chart provides a baseline for
instituting and measuring quality
improvement. Control charts also provide
useful information regarding actions to take
for quality improvement.
Control chart for proportion of
nonconforming items
0.125

Upper control limit

Proportion nonconforming
0.1

0.075
Center line
0.05

0.025

Lower control limit

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Sample number