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Statistical Quality Control, Strategies and Tools for Continual Improvement

Article  in  Technometrics · November 2000

DOI: 10.2307/1270963

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Statistical Quality Control, Strategies and Tools for Continual Improvement by Johannes
Ledolter; Claude W. Burrill
Lorrie L. Hoffman

Technometrics, Vol. 42, No. 4. (Nov., 2000), pp. 433-434.

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 BOOK REVIEWS
REFERENCES
-
Bishop, C. (1995), Neural Nefworks for Pattern Recognition, Oxford, U.K.:
Clarendon Press.
Fisher, R. A. (1938), "The Statistical Utilization of Multiple Measure-
ments," Annals of Eugenics, 8, 376-386.
Hand, D. J. (1981), Discrimination and Classification, New York: Wiley.
Rissanen, J. (1989), Stocltastic Complexity in Statistical Inquip, Singapore:
World Scientific.
Statistical Quality Control, Strategies and Tools for
Continual Improvement, by Johannes LEDOLTERand
Claude W. BURRILL, New York: Wiley, 1999, ISBN 0-
+
471-18378-4, X 526 pp., $86.95.
This book serves as an excellent exposure to basic quality assessment
techniques. It is extremely broad-based in its efforts to offer a plethora of
useful methods for identifying, analyzing, monitoring, and fixing prob-
lems. It contains sensible business tips outlining steps needed to con-
duct brainstorming sessions, and it renders statistical equations for control
charts. Consider it a toolbox for beginning quality practitioners. A con-
siderably distracting element in the discourse is the lack of integration of
these two types of tools. This book suffers from the Janus syndrome-
conjure up the image of two authors standing back-to-back looking in
opposite directions. On amazon.com (accessed 1/12/00, 1:22 p.m.), the
editorial review from the publisher, John Wiley and Sons, describes this
book as one that "addresses the managerial aspects . . .." At the wiley.com
Web site (accessed 3/16/00, 10:10 a.m.), the book description purports it
to be "written for technique oriented courses." These need not be dichoto-
mous statements. In the preface, the authors lament that quality courses
are often taught from only one of two viewpoints, either with statistical
tools or managerial tools. It appears that they had hoped to bridge that
chasm. Yet, the beginning half is a book for a first course in business
management with applications in quality control (QC) and the second half
is a first course in statistics with applications in QC. The two separate
treatises are glued together at Chapter 7.
Who is the intended audience'? This is an important question because
quality is defined by the consumer. According to the authors, the reader
should be a "college . . . undergraduate . . . (or) graduate . . . in Industrial
Engineering, . . . Statistics . . . Business . . . (or a person in an) in-house
company training course . . .." Does that student find the relevant topics
and an appropriate difficulty level in this book? What are the unique con-
tributions dramatic enough to warrant use'? Are the shortcomings incon-
sequential enough to be tolerated?
Although some of the book's examples are exceptional, the topics are
pretty conventional. Chapter 2 contains the usual discussions of problem
categorization and mechanisms for developing criteria for rank ordering
problem severity via flowcharting and Pareto diagrams. There are am-
ple examples covering a cash sale, a dental appointment, steps to achieve
promotion and tenure at a university, product assembly, and problem res-
olution. In Chapter 3, we see tools like the cause-and-effect diagrams and
Deming wheels. Brainstorming techniques are addressed in Chapter 4 and
reward structures in Chapter 5. There is a nice discussion in Chapter 6
on measurement. The examples are real-life relevant with the making-the-
morning-coffee quite noteworthy for exemplifying noise and variability.
All of these managerial topics are confined to the first six chapters. Begin-
ning in Chapter 7, the reader sees the traditional statistical quality tools.
Chapter 7 deals with graphs. The incorporation of the digidots graphical
technique of J. S. Hunter (1988) is novel and useful. The bead and funnel
exercises developed by W. E. Deming (1986) in Chapters 8 and 12 aid
the understanding of variability and probability distributions. But there
is too much coin tossing. The inclusion of bivariate distributions is laud-
able, even though the section is quite brief, as are all topics. One of the
nonpedestrian topics is found in Chapter 9 on constructing surveys, an im-
portant area when considering quality of service. Testing and estimation
occur in Chapter 10 with acceptance sampling in 11 and control charts
in 12, followed by capability of processes. The last section of the book
addresses design of experiments and regression techniques and concludes
with a Taguchi chapter seemingly more obligatory than informative in
which authors repeatedly include several cautionary notes on the various
procedures.
433
The authors claim that "only minimal mathematics background" is re-
quired to understand the tools outlined in the book. The reader who is suc-
cessfully mastering brainstorming and Pareto diagrams might balk when
arriving at Chapter 7 and attempting exercise 7.15. It asks for a proof.
Albeit only an algebraic manipulation of the correlation coefficient is re-
quired, but this could exceed the skill set of the student who is enjoying the
first six chapters. You can tell that the authors are sympathetic to those who
have a distaste for lengthy sterile equations with overwhelming amounts
of complicated notation. They must have encountered audiences who have
required an explanation of mathematical material from an alternate ap-
proach. Chapters 14 and 15 on design of experiments avoid traditional
computational formulas and take an exploratory approach to elucidate dif-
ferences. There is a very clear treatment of multicollinearity and a clean
ex~lanationof indicator variables. They are careful to intercede on confu-
sion. For example, on page 504 when discussing Cp for regression, they
quickly point out that this is not the Cp of capability indexes. Some of
the more challenging details are omitted. For example, only in passing is
it mentioned that s is a biased estimator of o.That adjustment factor is
not made available in tables. They certainly skimped on model checking
in regression and virtually avoid double and multiple sampling plans. In
defense of this position, omissions are needed to cover so many topics.
The authors are not afraid to use the phrase "Beyond the scope of this
book." None of the "many new techniques and procedures (such as) multi-
variate quality control, autocorrelated data, . . . (and) economic design . . ."
as discussed by Montgomery and Woodall (1997) are even alluded to in
this book. Some care is taken to ease a student into the tougher concepts
like operating characteristic curves. These are introduced early during the
discussion of the Poisson distribution in Chapter 8 in preparation for Chap-
ter 11's acceptance sampling. Still, the mathematically uninitiated will-not
survive beyond Chapter 7.
The authors aspired to the following innovations (in their own words):
"we believe that this book stands out . . . (because of) team-based prob-
lems, . . . (and) projects involv(ing) the analysis of large case-oriented data
sets." For example, in Chapter 2 about detecting and prioritizing problems,
one of the exercises has students query their cohorts about the trouble they
are having getting good grades in college. These kinds of questions cer-
tainly will enhance learning (and not just about quality per se but about the
difficulty in formulating survey questions and in collecting valid informa-
tion and will give the student exposure to a myriad of experiences related
to personal interfacing). A total of 19 projects ranging from the quality
of an anodizing process [Project 4 from Kane (1989)l to the evaluation of
wine [Project 16 from Ashenfelter, Ashmore, and Lalonde (199511 are also
included at the end of each of the five sections. A projects-and-exercises
data disk accompanies the text or, theoretically, the data can be accessed at
the Web site www.~ile~.com/college/stat/ledolterl83784 Upon download
(accessed 3/16/00, 10:15 a.m.) and unzipping, this appeared to be a false
conjecture. The authors supply an adequate number of project-oriented
resources. A reference to a very informative Web site pertaining to de-
sign of experiments is offered at www.macomb.kl?.mi.us/math/webl.htm
(accessed 3/16/00, 10:40 a.m.). Not surprisingly, upon access the counter
changed from 2,937 to a meager 2,938 hits (since August 1995).
Does a quality advocate find it an exceptional effrontery when errors and
nuisances are detected in a book'? Perhaps we can "blame" the worker, or
the material, or the machinery, or maybe that fact that this is a first edition
of the book. There is an instructor's manual, which was not reviewed along
with the text. It surely must contain answers to selected problems. But not
a single answer appears in the text itself. This is horribly frustrating for
students and does require remedy to consider this a book for text adop-
tion. The computing issue needs to be resolved prior to teaching from this
book. The use (or really nonuse) of automated quality tools is troublesome.
Section 7.5.5 has a note on statistical computing. The authors should slip
in their apology here for summarily dismissing any attention to software.
Only one package, EXCEL, is referred to in the entire text and disparag-
ingly at that. Although, the phrase "the computer output for our example
shows . . ." (p. 486) is seen often, there are no printouts included in the
text. Supplementary instructional materials dealing with quality software
capabilities would need to be distributed to a student. An idiosyncrasy of
this book is the fact that the numerous tables required by quality asses-
sors are embedded within the section where they are discussed; that is,
the binomial tables are found in Chapter 8 instead of in an appendix. This
TECHNOMETRICS, NOVEMBER 2000, VOL. 42, NO. 4
434 BOOK REVIEWS
leaves students with the impression that they will never need to refer to
them again. Although the authors seem to meticulously quote sources, they
did fail to divulge the reference for the actuarial data on deaths found in
the example numbered 7.4.2. Curiously, there is but one token newspaper
clipping (Fig. 6.3) pertaining to quality. Possibly, it is displayed as an at-
tempt to illustrate the media's acceptance of quality issues as newsworthy.
There are several minor oversights in this first edition. In the section on
the Poisson distribution, an illustration requires a probability that is not
on the supplied table [ P ( X <= 6, lambda = lo)], and although tolerance
intervals are discussed in the text (p. 266), they are not listed in the index;
moreover, when looking up interaction in the index the reader is pointed
to page 41 1 when actually the reference is on page 414.
To reach closure we need final judgment criteria. The authors supply
some. In Chapter 5, there is an outline of activities deserving accolades
in regards to the ideal reward mechanism. To paraphrase the authors, to
be top-quality activities they must ( I ) attain improvement, not be "quick
fixes;" (2) undertake reasonable risk; (3) spark creativity; (4) exhibit ac-
tion, not overplanning; and (5) exemplify learning, not reinvention. So, on
which fronts have our authors succeeded? The move toward addressing
business and statistical topics in the same setting is an improvement, and
they have stepped in the right direction. In seeking to merge two seemingly
incongruous fields, they have taken a risk. Creativity is exhibited by their
exercises and project offerings. The use of these types of text problems
is an indication that the authors are not just reinventing or recycling old
ways of presenting quality topics to the student. The call for the second
edition, though, illustrates that current action may have been hasty. Over-
all, the book could be touted as groundbreaking and inspirational as soon
as the true integration of business and statistical methods occurs and the
removal of minor nuisances is accomplished.
Lorrie L. HOFFMAN
University of Central Florida
REFERENCES
Ashenfelter, O., Ashmore, D., and Lalonde, R. (19951, "Bordeaux Wine
Vintage Quality and the Weather," Chance, 8, 7-14.
Deming. W. E. (19861, Out of Crisis, Cambridge, MA: MIT Center for
Advanced Engineering Study.
Hunter, J. S. (19881, "The Digidot Plot," The America11 Statistician, 42,
54.
Kane, V. E. (19891, Defect Prevention: Use of Simple Statistical Tools, New
York: Marcel Dekker.
Montgomery, D. C., and Woodall, W. H. (1997), "A Discussion on
Statistically-Based Process Monitoring and Control," Journal of Qualih
Technology, 29, 121-162.
Reliability Modelling, by Linda C. WOLSTENHOLME,
Boca Raton, FL: Chapman & Hall/CRC, 1999, ISBN
+
1-58488-014-7, xvi 256 pp., $39.95 (softcover).
This is a book for the person with no prior knowledge of probability who
is looking for an introduction to reliability modeling in a concise form. In
the preface, the author recommends the book as a textbook for a course in
reliability aimed at students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels
but primarily from engineering disciplines. Anyone adopting the textbook
for a course should be aware that the book does not contain any exercises
for the students, so the instructor would be required to supplement the text
with problems. Moreover, there are no tables of probabilities or percentiles
supplied, so the reader will need to obtain tables to implement many of
the techniques and procedures discussed in the book. The book is easy to
read and most sections contain examples and figures to help the reader
visualize and understand the concepts. I liked the book, but I feel that it is
better suited to the reader wanting to obtain a quick overview of reliability
concepts than as a textbook in a reliability course. The book is divided into
10 chapters and includes a nine-page appendix that contains some basic
mathematical results that the reader might find useful. A brief synopsis of
each of the chapters follows.
The first four sections of Chapter 1 cover some basic probability con-
cepts for events. Section 5 introduces the concepts of random variables
and probability distributions. The remaining sections of the chapter cover
TECHNOMETRICS, NOVEMBER 2000, VOL, 42, NO. 4
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some reliability terminology related to probability distributions including
the reliability function, the mean time to failure, the hazard function, and
the mean residual life. Many figures appear in these sections and aid the
reader in understanding the relationship between the reliability function,
the cumulative distribution function, the hazard function, and the density
function. Chapter 2 discusses some common lifetime distributions includ-
ing the Weibull, Gumbel, normal, lognormal, gamma, logistic, log-logistic,
and Pareto distributions. The reliability functions and hazard functions are
given for each distribution. The author uses one of the examples in this
chapter to introduce the idea of standby redundancy as a method of system
protection. This chapter also contains sections on Poisson processes and
order statistics.
Chapter 3 is entitled "Model Selection" and begins with a discussion
on nonparametric estimation of the reliability and hazard functions. The
next section introduces the concept of censoring and is followed by a
section discussing the Kaplan-Meier estimator. This section contains two
examples. The remainder of the chapter focuses on the graphical technique
of probability plotting with particular emphasis on the Weibull and normal
distributions. Two examples of probability plotting are given, and the plots
shown in the book were obtained by MINITAB routines.
Fitting a model is the main topic of Chapter 4. It starts with parameter
estimation. There are sections devoted to maximum likelihood estimation
and method-of-moments estimation. The section on maximum likelihood
estimation introduces the readers to the observed information matrix and
covariance matrix without supplying details. There is also a discussion on
estimating quantiles and another look at probability plotting. The remain-
ing sections of Chapter 4 concentrate on goodness-of-fit tests including
Pearson's and Kolmogorov-Smirnov. Note that critical values at the 5%
level of significance are given for the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic for
samples of sizes 5, 10, 20, and 50.
Repairable systems are discussed in Chapter 5 with concentration on the
mean cumulative repair function (MCRF), which is the expected number
of failures in a time interval; the mean cumulative cost function (MCCF);
and the rate of occurrence of failures (ROCOF). Section 3 mentions non-
homogeneous Poisson processes and the Laplace test for trend. There are
five examples in this section, one of which addresses software reliability.
A very brief discussion of repair time, maintainability. and availability oc-
curs in the next sections. The remainder of Chapter 5 is devoted to renewal
theory and introduces the reader to ordinary renewal processes, modified
renewal processes, moment-generating functions, convolution, the renewal
function, the Erlangian distribution, and alternating renewal processes.
Chapter 6 deals with the reliability of a system. It starts with the topic
of systems connected in series and parallel and informs the reader of how
to illustrate a system with a reliability block diagram. The author defines a
coherent system and gives an account of tie and cut sets that illustrates the
concept of a minimal cut. There are some examples given of finding the
probability that a system will work. Section 4 gives a brief discourse on
the topic of fault trees, and there is a table of fault-tree symbols and their
meanings. Section 5 deals with failure over time and finds the mean time
to failure for a series and parallel systems of components with exponential
failure times. Some other topics in Chapter 6 include m-out-of-n systems,
and active and passive redundancy. Section 8 focuses on state-space anal-
ysis of systems, and then Wolstenholme discusses Markov systems and
transition matrices, and gives several illustrations of Markov diagrams.
She then considers a slightly more complicated system with switching
mechanisms.
Chapter 7 is devoted to functions of random variables and begins with
some basic results on expected values and variances and then gives some
useful approximations and inequalities. There is a short section on finding
the distribution of a function of random variables. Sections on engineer-
ing design from a probabilistic standpoint, stress and strength distribu-
tions, and safety factors follow. The last section of this chapter discusses
a method for computing reliability when empirical data is plentiful but
there is no reason to assume a specific distribution for stress or strength.
Strategies for maintaining systems are included in Chapter 8. The ex-
pected total downtime and the availability function for repairable sys-
tems are discussed. The availability function is the same as the reliabil-
ity function if the system is nonrepairable. Wolstenholme discusses both
short-term and long-term availability. The next section covers Markovian
systems and gives diagrams and examples of systems with continuous