BAYFIELD MUD COMPANY

The first thing that must be done is to develop quality control limits for the
sample means. This can be done as follows. Because the process appears to
x

be unstable, we can use the desired mean as the nominal line. Desired
=
50.0,

=
1.2
(from
past
results
of
Wet-Land
Drilling),
x / n 1.2 6 1.2 / 2.45 0.489.

At a 99.73% confidence interval Z = 3:

UCL X X 3 x 50 3 0.489 50 1.47 51.47

LCL X X 3 x 50 1.47 48.53
Now that we have appropriate control limits, these must be applied to the
samples taken on the individual shifts:

Tim Av
e
e
6:0 49.
0
6
7:0 50.
0
2
8:0 50.
0
6
9:0 50.
0
8
10:0 49.
0
9
11:0 50.
0
3
12:0 48.
0
6
1:0 49.
0
0

Day Shift*
Lo Hig Av Lo Hig Av Lo Hig
w h e w h e w h
48. 50. 48. 47. 52. 48. 45. 49.
7 7 6 4 0 4 0 0
49. 51. 50. 49. 52. 48. 44. 49.
1 2 0 2 2 8 8 7
49. 51. 49. 49. 52. 49. 48. 51.
6 4 8 0 4 6 0 8
50. 51. 50. 49. 51. 50. 48. 52.
2 8 3 4 7 0 1 7
49. 52. 50. 49. 51. 51. 48. 55.
2 3 2 6 8 0 1 2
48. 51. 50. 49. 52. 50. 49. 54.
6 7 0 0 3 4 5 1
46. 50. 50. 48. 52. 50. 48. 50.
2 4 0 8 4 0 7 9
46. 50. 50. 49. 53. 48. 47. 51.
4 0 1 4 6 9 6 2
Evening Shift

Ti
me
2:0
0
3:0
0
4:0
0
5:0
0

Av
e
49.
0
49.
8
50.
3
51.
4

Lo Hig Ave Lo Hig Av

w h
w h e
46. 50. 49. 48. 51. 49.
0 6 7 6 0 8
48. 50. 48. 47. 51. 49.
2 8 4 2 7 8
49. 52. 47. 45. 50. 50.
2 7 2 3 9 0
50. 55. 46. 44. 49. 47.
0 3 8 1 0 8

Lo Hig
w h
48. 51.
4 0
48. 50.
8 8
49. 50.
1 6
45. 51.
2 2

6:0
0
7:0
0
8:0
0
9:0
0

51.
6
51.
8
51.
0
50.
5

49.
2
50.
0
48.
6
49.
4

54.
7
55.
6
53.
2
52.
4

46. 41.
8 0
50. 46.
0 2
47. 44.
4 0
47. 44.
0 2

51. 46.
2 4
51. 46.
7 5
48. 47.
7 2
48. 48.
9 4

44.
0
44.
4
46.
6
47.
2

49.
7
50.
0
48.
9
49.
5

Night Shift
Tim Av Lo Hig Av Lo Hig Av Lo Hig
e
e w h e w h e w h
10:0 49. 46. 50. 47. 46. 50. 49. 48. 50.
0
2 1 7 2 6 2 2 1 7
11:0 49. 46. 50. 48. 47. 50. 48. 47. 50.
0
0 3 8 6 0 0 4 0 8
12:0 48. 45. 50. 49. 48. 50. 47. 46. 49.
0
4 4 2 8 2 4 2 4 2
1:0 47. 44. 49. 49. 48. 51. 47. 46. 49.
0
6 3 7 6 4 7 4 8 0
2:0 47. 44. 49. 50. 49. 52. 48. 47. 51.
0
4 1 6 0 0 2 8 2 4
3:0 48. 45. 49. 50. 49. 50. 49. 49. 50.
0
2 2 0 0 2 0 6 0 6
4:0 48. 45. 49. 47. 46. 50. 51. 50. 51.
0
0 5 1 2 3 5 0 5 5
5:0 48. 47. 49. 47. 44. 49. 50. 50. 51.
0
4 1 6 0 1 7 5 0 9
* Boldfaced type indicates a sample outside the quality control limits.
(a) Day shift (6:00

AM2:00 PM):

Numberofmeanswithincontrollimits 23

96%
Totalnumberofmeans
24
(b) Evening shift (2:00

PM10:00 PM):

Numberofmeanswithincontrollimits 12

50%
Totalnumberofmeans
24

(c) Night shift (10:00

PM6:00 AM):

Numberofmeanswithincontrollimits 12

50%
Totalnumberofmeans
24

(1)

ANALYSIS of the Bag Weight Problem

As is now evident, none of the shifts meet the control specifi-cations. Bag
weight monitoring needs improvement on all shifts. The problem is much
more acute on the evening and night shifts staffed by the more recent hires.
Note also, that the number of samples indicating a short weight is much
greater than the number indicating excess weight.
With regard to the range, 99.73% of the individual bag weights should lie
within 3 of the mean. This would represent a range of 6, or 7.2. Only one
of the ranges defined by the differ-ence between the highest and lowest bag
weights in each sample exceeds this range. Alternatively: D4 Sample
Range UCLR and D2 Sample Range LCLR.
This is dangerous if the process is out of control, but the mean range for
the first shift is 3.14 (the lowest of any shift) and D4 3.14 6.28 and D3
3.14 0. A range of 0 to 6.28 compares favorably with 7.2, with only two
values exceeding the range limit. It would appear, then, that the problem is
not due to abnormal deviations between the highest and lowest bag weights,
but rather to poor adjustments of the bag weight-feeder causing assignable
variations in average bag weights.
The proper procedure is to establish mean and range charts to guide the
bag packers. The foreman would then be alerted when sample weights
deviate from mean and range control limits. The immediate problem,
however, must be corrected by additional training and bag weight monitoring
and weight-feeder adjustments. Short-run declines in bag output may be
necessary to achieve acceptable bag weights.
The result from the statistics shows that there was a statistical control on the
day shift for the first 2 days. That is, the weight of the bag fell within the
operational limits. The assumption is that because the problem exists across
all the shifts then there may be a problem with the machine, possibly a
malfunction or gradual deterioration of quality due to machine wear.
This is so because statistics has shown that the machine has been
performing to standards before the problem arise. Because the machine
operates acceptable within the control limit for shift 1 and shift 2.

For all shifts statistics show that production was indeed out of control.
In concluding, there was a small change in the average of the bag weights.
The average weight of the bag fell within the average limit except for one
shift, this shows that machine is operating at a consistent level but not within
the acceptable control limits.

(2)
RECOMMENDATION
CONTROL

FOR

PROPER

QUALITY

Employee empowerment is one of the key aspects of dealing with this

problem, this has to be done through continuous training and
development to educate them on how to follow guidelines and
procedures set by the company, and how to report them.
Setting up policies and procedures to monitor and report machine
problems has to be in place for machine operators to report machine
problems and other inefficiency. This will be the part of countrys Total
Quality Management Plan.

 Continuous improvement of the machines should be done on a regular

basis, such as bi-monthly or annually, as this machine is a key asset to
the companys revenue model.
The company can put in place automated testing devices to inspect
every single unit that is produced. In that case, machine operators will
be informed of any defects in the functional ability of the machines and
detecting even the small shifts in the production.
Periodic auditing by quality control personnel should be done and
documentation completed so as able to track repeat problems. The
documentation evidence should be submitted to management and the
manufacturers of the machine, this can help to reduce cost where the
product may still be under warranty or may be awarded a refund or
exchange. The audit reports must be periodically reviewed and
corrective actions be taken to resolve the problem.
An immediate action that the company can take to fix this problem is
in the form of Robust Quality, that is, they dont have to fix the
machine right away because it is needed for the companys revenue
making, what they need to do is just control the effect of the machine,
until the time is appropriate to fix or replace it.