The Bayfield Mud Company supplies railroad boxcars of 50 pound bags of mud treating agents to the WetLand Drilling

Company. Mud treating agents are used to control the pH and other chemical properties of the cone during oil drilling operations. Wet-Land has complained to Bayfield that its most recent shipment of bags was underweight by 5%. This is a problem which Wet-Land needs corrected because the use of under weight bags may result in poor chemical control during drilling which may hurt drilling efficiency resulting in serious economic consequences.

Afraid of losing a long time customer, Bayfield immediately began investigating their production process. Management suspected that the causes of the problem were their recently added third shift and the fact that all three of the shifts were under pressure to increase output to meet increasing demand for the product.

Their quality control staff began taking random samples of the output of 3 bags per hour. They observed the process for 36 hours beginning at 6am.

5
www. statisticsassignmentexperts.com email us at info@ statisticsassignmentexperts.com or call us at +1 520 8371215

Sample 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Answer the following questions. a. What is the sample size? 3 b.

Time 6am 7am 8am 9am 10am 11am 12noon 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 8pm 9pm 10pm 11pm 12pm 1am 2am 3am 4am 5am 6am 7am 8am 9am 10am 11am 12noon 1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm

Bag 1 49.60 50.20 50.60 50.80 49.90 50.30 48.60 49.00 49.00 49.80 50.30 51.40 51.60 51.80 51.00 50.50 49.20 49.00 48.40 47.60 47.40 48.20 48.00 48.40 48.60 50.00 49.80 50.30 50.20 50.00 50.00 50.10 49.70 48.40 47.20 46.80

Bag 2 48.70 49.10 49.60 50.20 49.20 48.60 46.20 46.40 46.00 48.20 49.20 50.00 49.20 50.00 48.60 49.40 46.10 46.30 45.40 44.30 44.10 45.20 45.50 47.10 47.40 49.20 49.00 49.40 49.60 49.00 48.80 49.40 48.60 47.20 45.30 44.10

Bag 3 50.70 51.20 51.40 51.80 52.30 51.70 50.40 50.00 50.60 50.80 52.70 55.30 54.70 55.60 53.20 52.40 50.70 50.80 50.20 49.70 49.60 49.00 49.10 49.60 52.00 52.20 52.40 51.70 51.80 52.30 52.40 53.60 51.00 51.70 50.90 49.00

Is the variability of the checkout time known or unknown? Unknown

c.

Which chart is used to analyze the variability in the bag filling process?

6
www. statisticsassignmentexperts.com email us at info@ statisticsassignmentexperts.com or call us at +1 520 8371215

Range chart d. Which chart is used to analyze the amount of fill in each bag? Mean chart e. Should the range or mean chart be analyzed first? Explain your answer. Range chart should be analyzed before the mean chart because the variability of the process must be in control before the mean chart can be analyzed. Analyze the range chart by answering the following questions. f. What is the grand range? 3.7472 g. Calculate the centerline, upper and lower control limits for the range chart?
3 Control Chart Settings UCL 9.6454 Centerline 3.7472 LCL 0.0000

h.

Plot the range chart showing the centerline, upper and lower control limits.
Control Chart

12

10

UCL, 9.6454

Centerline, 3.7472

0 0 10 20 30 Range 40 50 60

LCL, 0.0000
70

i.

Are the sample ranges within the control limits? Yes

7
www. statisticsassignmentexperts.com email us at info@ statisticsassignmentexperts.com or call us at +1 520 8371215

j.

Based on 3-sigma control limits for the runs test, does the pattern analysis indicate the A/B runs are random? Yes

k.

Based on 3-sigma control limits for the runs test, does the pattern analysis indicate the U/D runs are random? Yes

l.

Is the variability of the checkout times in control (i.e is the range chart in control)? Why? Yes. The sample ranges are within the limits, the A/B runs are random, and the U/D runs are random.

Analyze the mean chart by answering the following questions. m. What is the grand mean? 49.5907 n. Calculate the centerline, upper and lower control limits for the mean chart?
3 Control Chart Settings UCL 53.4241 Centerline 49.5907 LCL 45.7573

o.

Plot the mean chart showing the centerline, upper and lower control limits.
Control Chart

54

UCL, 53.4241
53

52

51

50

Centerline, 49.5907
49

48

47

46

LCL, 45.7573
45 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Mean Unknow n Variation

p.

Are the sample means within the control limits?

8
www. statisticsassignmentexperts.com email us at info@ statisticsassignmentexperts.com or call us at +1 520 8371215

Yes q. Based on 3-sigma control limits for the runs test, does the pattern analysis indicate the A/B runs are random? No r. Based on 3-sigma control limits for the runs test, does the pattern analysis indicate the U/D runs are random? No s. Are the average checkout times in control (i.e. is the mean chart in control)? Why? No. While the sample means are within the limits, the A/B runs are not random, and the U/D runs are not random. Based on your analysis is the bag filling process in control? Why? What should management do? No, while the range chart indicates the variability of the bag process is in control, the mean chart indicates the mean chart is not in control. Management should take immediate corrective action and discuss with the people who work in the bag filling process to identify potential causes for the problem. A TQM analysis such as the fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram could be used to identify areas for improvement to get the process under control. Based on the mean control chart, provide an explanation of what may be occurring. It appears the pressure to increase production (fill more bags per hour) is creating the under filled bags.

9
www. statisticsassignmentexperts.com email us at info@ statisticsassignmentexperts.com or call us at +1 520 8371215