Arenillo, Armn Joseph R.

Module for Operation Management

BSBA – MM 2 TASKS SHEETS 12.1-1

Title: Statistical Process Control

1. What do you mean by variation in process quality?

Variation is a normal feature of process characteristics. For production process,

some variations are statistically random, while others are appropriate, to the actions of
production workers. When the workers do not work constantly, they bringing in nonrandom
variation that diminish product quality. The input for using variation as a tool in TQM is to
discover the random variations, which are normal to the process, and those due to worker
inconsistency. TQM reduces the nonrandom variations by acting to reduce worker
inconsistency. Variation that is typical or customary for the process is defined as being produced
by common causes, while variation that is strange of unanticipated is defined as being produced by
special causes.

2. What is Statistical Process control?

Statistical Process controls are a method for monitoring, controlling and, ideally,
improving a process through statistical analysis. The philosophy states that all processes
exhibit intrinsic variation. However, sometimes processes exhibit excessive variation that
produces undesirable or unpredictable results. Statistical Process Control in a
manufacturing process optimization context is used to reduce variation to achieve the best
target value.

3. What is the difference between controlled and uncontrolled Variation?

Controlled Variation is a variation that is characterized by a stable and consistent

pattern of variation over time. This type of variation will be random in nature and will be
exhibited by a uniform fluctuation about a constant level. While Uncontrolled Variation is
Variation that is characterized by a pattern of variation that changes over time and hence is
unpredictable. This type of variation will typically contain some structure.

4. What is the use of control chart?

The use of control charts is to routinely monitor quality. They have two common uses
in an improvement project. The most universal application is as a tool to check process
stability and control. A less common, although some might dispute more powerful, use of
control charts is as an analysis tool. The chart contains a center line that stands for the mean
value for the in-control process. Two other horizontal lines, called the upper control limit (UCL) and
the lower control limit (LCL) are also made known on the chart. These control limits are selected
so that almost all of the data points will fall within these limits as long as the process remains
in-control.
5. What are the example of control chart?

The example of Control Charts are:

1. Under the CONTROL CHARTS FOR ATTRIBUTES are:

 C-Charts – the control charts dealing with the number of defects or
nonconformities.
 P-Charts - the control charts dealing with the proportion or fraction of defective
product.
 U-Chart - handles defects per unit, it determines the stability of “counted” data
such as errors per bill and dents in a car door when there can be more than one
defect per unit and the sample size varies.

2. Under the Variables Control Charts for Subgroup Data

 Xbar chart- Plots the process mean over time. Use to track the process level and
detect the presence of special causes affecting the mean.
 R chart- Plots the process range over time. Use to track process variation and
detect unexpected variation.
 S chart- Plots the process standard deviation over time. Use to track the process
variation and detect unexpected variation.
 Zone chart- Plots the cumulative scores based on “zones” at 1, 2, and 3 standard
deviations from the center line. Use to detect unexpected variation.

3. Under the Variables Control Charts for Individual Data

 I chart- Plots individual observations over time. Use to track the process level
and detect the presence of special causes.
 Moving range chart- Plots the moving range over time. Use to track the process
variation and detect the presence of special causes.