MGT 6421

Quality Management II

Control Charts for Variables

Our objectives for this section are to learn how to use control charts to monitor continuous data. We want to learn the assumptions behind the charts, their application, and their interpretation. Since statistical control for continuous data depends on both the mean and the variability, variables control charts are constructed to monitor each. The most commonly used chart to monitor the mean is called the X chart. There are two commonly used charts used to monitor the variability: the R chart and the s chart. Procedure for using variables control charts: 1. Determine the variable to monitor. 2. At predetermined, even intervals, take samples of size n (usually n=4 or 5). 3. Compute X and R (or s) for each sample, and plot them on their respective control charts. Use the following relationships:

X=

i =1

Xi
n

R = Xmax - Xmin,

s=

i =1

( Xi X ) 2 .
n 1

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Quality Management II

4. After collecting a sufficient number of samples, k (k>20), compute the control limits for the charts (see the table on page 4 for the appropriate control limit calculations). The following additional calculations will be necessary:

X=

Xj ,
j=1

R=

Rj ,
j=1

s=

sj .
j=1

5. If any points fall outside of the control limits, conclude that the process is out of control, and begin a search for an assignable or special cause. When the special cause is identified, remove that point and return to step 4 to re-evaluate the remaining points.

6. If all the points are within limits, conclude that the process is in control, and use the calculated limits for future monitoring of the process.

Because the limits of the X chart are based on the variability of the process, we will first discuss the variability charts. I suggest that you first determine if the R chart (or s chart) shows a lack of control. If so, you cannot draw conclusions from the X chart.

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Quality Management II

The R chart

The R chart is used to monitor process variability when sample sizes are small (n<10), or to simplify the calculations made by process operators. This chart is called the R chart because the statistic being plotted is the sample range. Using the R chart, the estimate of the process standard deviation, , is R . d2 The s chart

The s chart is used to monitor process variability when sample sizes are large (n 10), or when a computer is available to automate the calculations. This chart is called the s chart because the statistic being plotted is the sample standard deviation. Using the s chart, the estimate of the process standard deviation, , is s . c4 The X Chart:

This chart is called the X chart because the statistic being plotted is the sample mean. The reason for taking a sample is because we are not always sure of the process distribution. By using the sample mean we can "invoke" the central limit theorem to assume normality.

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Limits for Variables Control Charts

Variability Measure Range Range Standard Deviation Standard Deviation Standards ( and ) Known Not Known Known Chart X X X Limits A X A2 R A

Not Known

X A3 s

Range

Known

centerline=d2 LCL=D1 UCL=D2 centerline= R LCL=D3 R UCL=D4 R centerline=c4 LCL=B5 UCL=B6 centerline=s

Range

Not Known

Standard Deviation

Known

Standard

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Deviation

Not Known

LCL=B3 s UCL=B4 s

Example of Variables Control Chart

1

A large hotel in a resort area has a housekeeping staff that cleans and prepares all of the hotel's guestrooms daily. In an effort to improve service through reducing variation in the time required to clean and prepare a room, a series of measurements is taken of the times to service rooms in one section of the hotel. Cleaning times for five rooms selected each day for 25 consecutive days appear below:
Day 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 Room 1 15.6 15.0 16.4 14.2 16.4 14.9 17.9 14.0 17.6 14.6 14.6 15.3 17.4 15.3 14.8 16.1 14.2 14.6 15.9 16.2 16.3 15.0 16.4 16.6 17.0 Room 2 14.3 14.8 15.1 14.8 16.3 17.2 17.9 17.7 16.5 14.0 15.5 15.3 14.9 16.9 15.1 14.6 14.7 17.2 16.5 14.8 15.3 17.6 15.9 15.1 17.5 Room 3 17.7 16.8 15.7 17.3 17.6 17.2 14.7 16.9 15.3 14.7 15.9 15.9 17.7 17.9 16.6 17.5 15.3 16.0 16.1 14.8 14.0 14.5 16.7 14.1 17.4 Room 4 14.3 16.9 17.3 15.0 17.9 15.3 17.0 14.0 14.5 16.9 14.8 15.0 16.6 17.2 16.3 16.9 15.7 16.7 15.0 15.0 17.4 17.5 15.7 17.4 16.2 Room 5 15.0 17.4 16.6 16.4 14.9 14.1 14.5 14.9 15.1 14.2 14.2 17.8 14.7 17.5 14.5 17.7 14.3 16.3 17.8 15.3 14.5 17.8 16.9 17.8 17.9 Average 15.4 16.2 16.2 15.5 16.6 15.7 16.4 15.5 15.8 14.9 15.0 15.9 16.3 17.0 15.5 16.6 14.8 16.2 16.3 15.2 15.5 16.5 16.3 16.2 17.2 Range 3.4 2.6 2.2 3.1 3.0 3.1 3.4 3.7 3.1 2.9 1.7 2.8 3.0 2.6 2.1 3.1 1.5 2.6 2.8 1.4 3.4 3.3 1.2 3.7 1.7 St. Dev 1.41 1.19 0.85 1.27 1.19 1.40 1.69 1.71 1.24 1.16 0.69 1.13 1.39 1.00 0.93 1.26 0.65 0.98 1.02 0.58 1.37 1.59 0.51 1.56 0.64

This example is taken from Gitlow, H., Gitlow, S., Oppenheim, A., and Oppenheim, R. (1989). Tools and Methods for the Improvement of Quality, Homewood, IL: Richard D. Irwin, Inc.
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Quality Management II

15.94

2.70

1.14

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For the R chart:

For the X chart (with R)

_____________________________________________________________

For the s chart

For the X chart (with s)

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R chart
6 5 4 3 2 1 0 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

s chart
2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 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

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X Chart
18

17

16

15

14 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

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Quality Management II

Individuals and Moving Range Charts

Sometimes it is impossible or extremely costly to take samples. Individuals and moving range charts can be constructed under these circumstances. We cannot obtain a range or standard deviation with individual measurements. The solution is to take moving ranges. The moving range is the absolute difference between consecutive individual measurements. The procedure then becomes identical to traditional variables control charts, where n is assumed to be 2. The chart for central tendency is called an individuals chart, and the chart for variability is called a moving range chart.

Limits: MR chart: Individuals chart: centerline= MR , LCL=0, UCL=3.267 MR centerline= X LCL= X UCL= X
3 MR 1.128 MR 1.128

+3

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Because only individual measurements are being taken, the assumption of normality is more difficult to defend. For this reason, the control limits are often based on 2 standard deviations rather than 3.

We need to use some caution now because successive values on the moving range chart are not independent.

Example: I want to monitor my gas mileage to determine if there is reason to believe the car needs to be serviced. Over the last 6 weeks I have measured the following gas mileage values: 25.0, 24.6, 24.9, 23.1, 26.0, 24.0. (NOTE: We clearly need more points than these 6 to construct the appropriate control chart(s). I have included 6 points just to reduce the computational burden.) Find the control limits for the appropriate control chart(s).

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