Control charts can be used for monitoring many quality characteristics: Monitoring individual observations or subgroups for continuous

s data. Control charts for continuous data in subgroups are used in pairs to monitor for changes or trends in location and dispersion. Control charts for discrete data can be used to detect increases in the number of nonconforming units, nonconformities per unit, or proportions. Control charts are the most common tool for monitoring a quality characteristic of interest. Dr. Walter A. Shewhart introduced the concept of control charts in the 1920s. Because of his work, several control charts monitoring a single quality characteristic of interest are referred to as Shewhart control charts. In this section, control charts for variables data and attributes data will be presented. The control charts to be discussed are: x and R control charts x and s control charts Individuals control charts Fraction nonconforming control charts Control charts for nonconformities For each of these control charts, an assumption that must be satisfied is that the data being monitored follow a normal distribution. The Shewhart control charts are sensitive to this assumption. If the normality assumption is violated, the overall performance of these charts can be very poor and result in incorrect signals. Control Limits Control limits are calculated based on data from the process. Formulas for control limits and examples of each are given in this section. The formulas are repeated in Appendix B. Several constants are needed in the formulas. These appear as subscripted letters such as A2. The values of these constants are given in Appendix C. When calculating control limits it is prudent to collect as much data as practical. Variables Control Charts The most commonly used control charts for variables (continuous) subgroup data are the x and R charts and the x and s charts. The x chart monitors the mean of the process while the R chart and s chart monitor the process variability. The x chart is used for monitoring of the process mean in conjunction with either the R chart or s chart and process variability. Suppose there are m subgroups each of size n chosen at random from a particular process (see Table 37.1). The sample mean and range for each subgroup are also given in Table 37.1. The statistic x is the grand average and is the best estimate of the true process mean m. R is the average range and will be used to estimate the process variability and construct control charts. The upper control limit (UCL), centerline (CL), and lower control limit (LCL) for the x control chart are

The upper control limit (UCL), centerline (CL), and lower control limit (LCL) for the R control chart are

A2 , D3, and D4 are constants that depend on the sample size n. They can be found in Appendix C. Derivations of these constants can be found in Montgomery (2009b).