STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL

Many processes in the industry need control, e.g. testing for compressive strength of concrete
cubes, tensile strength of steel, spraying rate of bitumen, etc. There are variations when these
measurements are taken.
Sources of variations in production and service processes
i. Common Causes of Variations
 Methods used in taking the measurements.
 The condition or environment under which the measurement is taken, e.g.
variations in temperature.
 Random cause that cannot easily be identified.
ii. Assignable causes of variations
These are causes that can be identified and eliminated. Examples include:
 Poor skills/employee training.
 Insufficient resting time for employees.
 Worn-out tools.
 Machines that need repair/service/maintenance.
 Using machines that are out of calibration.
Variations are measured in Standard Deviation

PROCESS CAPABILITY
It is the measure of the ability of a process to meet preset design specifications. Process capability
determines whether the process can do what it is being asked to do. A typical specification
normally has tolerance, i.e. the minimum and maximum limit. E.g. tensile strength of steel may
be 460-500kn/m2, the diameter of a shaft 50+2-1mm.
Three Sigma Capability

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The minimum acceptable process capability is the 3 sigma capability. All processes must be at
that minimum. This means the mean output ±3σ within the design specification. So only 0.26%
of output falls outside the design specification, and is acceptable.

For ordinary engineering and professional work, it is demanded that we operate at 3 sigma
capability.
6 Sigma Capability
For sensitive work such as the manufacture of Airforce One, mistakes are not tolerated. Here,
there are 3.4 defects in 1 million.
PROCESS CONTROL CHARTS
Control charts show sample data plotted on a graph with Center Line (CL), Upper Control Limit
(UCL) and Lower Control Limit (LCL).

309

307 UCL

305
Observation out
303
of control
301
CL
299

297

295
LCL
293
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
TIME

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Types of Control Charts
i. Control Charts for Variables
They are continuous variables, e.g. weight, diameter, length, tensile strength, of steel,
compressive strength of concrete, etc.
ii. Control Charts for Attributes
These are used to monitor characteristics that have discrete values and can be
counted. E.g. percentage defective or number of defects in a unit.
Control Charts for Variables
(i) Mean (X-bar) Charts
In this case, you track the central tendency (the average value observed) over time.
(ii) Range Control Charts
These charts monitor the spread of the distribution over time (it estimates observed
variation [the range]).

Constructing an X-bar chart

A quality control inspector at Coca-Cola plant has taken 3 samples with 4 observations
each, of the volume of bottles filled. If the standard deviation of the bottling operation
is 0.2 liters, use the data below to develop control charts with limits of 3 standard
deviations from the 16 liter bottling operation.

Observation Time 1 Time 2 Time 3

1 15.8 16.1 16.0
2 16.0 16.0 15.9
3 15.8 15.8 15.9
4 15.9 15.6 15.8

Sample Mean X 15.875 15.950 15.900

bar

Step 1.
Calculate the mean of each sample.
Step 2.
Calculate the standard error
S.E = σ/√n
= 0.2/√4
=0.1

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Step 3.
Calculate the CL, UCL, and LCL.
CL (x bar bar) = average of the means (x bar) = (15.875+15.95+15.9)/3
= 15.908
Control limit for ±3σ (Z=3).
Control limits = x bar bar ± Z.SE
UCL = 15.908+(3*0.1) = 16.208
LCL = 15.908-(3*0.1) = 15.608
Step 4.
Draw the chart.

16.208 UCL

15.908 CL

15.608 LCL
TIME

Take measurements at any time and plot on the chart.

Construction of range charts

Observation Time 1 Time 2 Time 3

1 15.8 16.1 16.0
2 16.0 16.0 15.9
3 15.8 15.8 15.9
4 15.9 15.6 15.8

Sample Range R 0.2 0.3 0.2

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R bar = (0.2+0.3+0.2)/3 = 0.233
CL = average of x bar = 15.908
Control limit =(x bar bar) ± (A2R bar), where A2 is determined from a table of factors for
R±charts. For n=4, A2 = 0.73
UCL = 15.908 + (0.73*0.233) = 16.078
LCL = 15.908 – (0.73*0.233) = 15.738
Range Chart

16.078 UCL

15.908 CL

15.738 LCL
TIME

Control Charts for Attributes

P-Charts
We use them for quality characteristics that are discrete and involve yes or no, good or
bad decisions, e.g. percentage of defective components out of the total number
inspected.
C-Charts
Used for discrete defects when there are more than one defects per unit.
INFERENTAIL STATISTICS
HYPOTHESIS TESTING
A hypothesis is a claim that must be tested. There are several methods of testing
hypothesis, they are scientific. The methods depend of the distribution of data
(continuous or categorical).

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You have to determine whether the data is independent or correlated.
Examples of common tests
i. For categorical outcomes (proportions), we use chi-square (x2) tests for
independent data.
ii. For continuous outcomes (means), we use t-tests, ANOVA tests, etc. for
independent data.
iii. For continuous outcomes (means), we use paired t-tests or repeated measures
ANOVA for correlated data.
Steps for hypothesis testing
i. Ho.
- State the hypothesis.
- No change.
- No status quo.
ii. HA
- State the alternative hypothesis.
- There’s change
iii. Type of test: two-tailed or one-tailed, directional or non-directional.
iv. Confidence level; 95% or 99%. If not given, use 95%. Characteristic level is 0.05%
or 0.01%.
v. Calculate the test characteristics.
vi. Compare.
vii. Decide/conclude.
THE X2 TEST
- For data which is categorical.
- It’s used to determine whether there’s a significant difference between the
expected frequencies and the observed frequencies.
Example 1
A manager of a car bond did not want to stock cars that were bought less frequently
because of their unpopular colours. The 5 colours that she ordered were red, yellow,
green, blue and white. According to her, the expected frequencies or the number of
customers choosing each colour should follow the percentages of the sales of last year.
20% last year chose yellow, 30% chose red, 10% chose green, 10% chose blue, and the
remaining 30% chose white. She took a random sample of 150 customers and asked them
their colour preferences. The results are in the table below.

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 Colour Observed
category frequency
(O)
Red 50
Yellow 35
Green 30
Blue 10
White 25

Solution
Step 1
HO. There’s no significant difference between the expected and observed frequencies.
Step 2
HA There’s a significant difference between the expected and observed frequency.
Step 3
Two or one-tailed test.
Step 4
Confidence level 95%, α = 0.05
Step 5

Colour Observed Expected O-E (O-E)2 (O-E)2/E

category frequency frequency (E)
(O)
Red 50 45 (30% of 150) 5 25 0.566
Yellow 35 30 (20% of 150) 5 25 0.833
Green 30 15 (10% of 150) 15 225 15
Blue 10 15 (10% of 150) -5 25 1.667
White 25 45 (30% of 150) -20 400 8.889
X2 = 26.95

Xstat = (O-E)2/E.
Degree of freedom df = (n-1) = 5-1 = 4
From tables, with 4df and 0.05α, level of significance Xtab = 9.488.
Compare 9.488 with 26.95 to draw the conclusion.

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If the calculated X2 value (from table) from the set of data being analysed (26.95) is greater
or equal to value from the table (9.488), reject the null hypothesis HO. There is a significant
change. Accept the alternative hypothesis.
Example 2

Tumor Dr.1 Dr.2 di=x1i-x2i di-d bar (di-d bar)2

1 15.8 17.2 -1.4 -1.18 1.392
2 22.3 20.3 2.0 2.22 4.928
3 14.5 14.2 0.3 0.52 0.270
4 15.7 18.5 -2.8 -2.58 6.656
5 26.8 28.0 -1.2 -0.98 0.960
6 24.0 24.8 -0.8 -0.58 0.336
7 21.8 20.3 1.5 1.72 2.958
8 23.0 25.4 -2.4 -2.18 4.752
9 29.3 27.5 1.8 2.02 4.080
10 20.5 19.7 0.8 1.02 1.040
d bar = -0.22 Sum = 27.37

2 doctors measured the sizes of tumors in cm2 on 10 patients. The data is correlated
because of repeated measurements.
In this case, do a paired t-test.
- Get the difference in measurements by the 2 doctors. d i=x1i-x2i
- Get the sample mean d = Σdi/n
Assuming the differences are normally distributed, we use a T-distribution with (n-1)
degree of freedom, where n is the number of differences (10).
t = (d bar – δ)/S.E =(d bar – δ)/(s.d/√n)
s.d = √[(Σ(di-d bar)2)/(n-1)]
Solution
HO: There’s no significant difference in the measurement between the 2 doctors.
μdr1- μdr2=0
HA: μdr1 ≠ μdr2 (2-tailed test)
Confidence level =95%. α = 0.05
s.d = √(27.37/9) = 1.74 ⇒ δ=0(HO)
tcal=(d bar – δ)/S.E = (d bar – 0)/(s.d/√n) = -0.22/(1.74/√10) = -0.4

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 From the table, using degree of freedom 9, tn-1=1.833
Comparing, tn-1 > tcal; accept the HO.
ANOVA for >2 repeated measurements
One-tailed t-test
Is the average of batteries less than 140Ah. A random sample of 20 batteries had a mean of
138.47Ah and s of 2.66Ah. Assume a normal distribution. Test at 0.05 level of significance.
1. HO: μ≥140Ah
2. HA: μ<140Ah
3. One tailed test (it is less than 140Ah), a left-tailed test.
4. α = 0.05, confidence level =95%.
5. Calculate the test statistics
tn-1=t19=1.729, but since it is a left-tailed test, t19=-1.729
tn-1=(difference between means)/(sampling variability SE)
t=(x bar- μ)/(s/√(n-1)) = (139.47-140)/(2.66/√19) =-1.53/0.61 = -2.51
6. Compare; tcal<ttable