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A process is a chain of activities that turns inputs into outputs. Examples would include a manufacturing
process in which an item is produced, an administrative process in which a decision is reached, etc.
A process is like a population containing all the outputs that would be produced by the process if it ran
forever in its present state.
The outputs produced today or this week are a sample from this population.
The idea of statistical process control
Goal: make a process stable over time and keep it stable unless planned changes are made.
All processes have variation.
Statistical stability means the pattern of variation remains stable, not that there is no variation in
the variable measured. (In control)
Common cause variation
A process that is in control only has common cause variation.
Common cause variation is the inherent variability of the system, due to many small causes that
are always present.
Special cause variation
When the normal functioning of the process is disturbed by some unpredictable event, special
cause variation is added to the common cause variation.
We hope to be able to discover what lies behind special cause variation and eliminate that cause
to restore the stable functioning of the process.
Control charts are statistical tools that monitor a process and alert us when the process has been disturbed
so that it is now out of control. This is a signal to find and correct the cause of the disturbance.
Control charts distinguish between the common cause variation and the special cause variation.
UCL 3
LCL 3
limits
n
A run of 9 consecutive points above the center line () or 9 consecutive points below the center
line.
Plot the means against order. Draw lines at , the upper control limit (UCL)
Notice that Figure 17.4 shows that the means of the 20 samples do vary, but all lie within the range of
variation marked out by the control limits. We are seeing the common cause variation of a stable process.
Figure 17.5 and 17.6, illustrate two ways in which the process can go out of control. In Figure 17.5, the
process was disturbed by a special cause sometime between sample 12 and sample 13. As a result, the
mean tension for sample 13 falls above the upper control limit. A search for the cause begins as soon as
we see a point out of control. Investigation finds that the mounting of the tension-measuring device has
slipped, resulting in readings that are too high. When the problem is corrected, Samples 14 to 20 are again
in control.
Figure 17.6 shows the effect of a steady upward drift in the process center, starting at sample 9. You see
that some time elapses before the x for Sample 17 is out of control. Process drift results from gradual
changes such as the wearing of a cutting tool or overheating. The one-point-out signal works better for
detecting sudden large disturbances than for detecting slow drifts in a process.