CHAPTER

Quality Control
if you may recall in Chapter One, to deliver or produce quality products is one of the
objectives of operations management. So this is what we will do in this chapter, to look into
the role of quality control in operations and to learn how quality of products is managed or
controlled. You must be very much aware that the topic of quality has been an increasingly
important issue in almost all organizations, be it service or manufacturing. This is because
quality has become an important criterion to stay competitive in the market.

If a company produces inferior products, it will not be able to sustain in today’s competitive
business environment. Moreover, customers nowadays are becoming more sophisticated
and affluent, they demand better quality goods and services. The customers are also
continually being exposed to many choices in terms of selection of goods and services. They
usually know how to evaluate the quality of goods and of course they will only purchase
quality products. Thus if a company fail to produce quality goods or services, customers may
easily find other suppliers or service provider that could provide them with better or superior
quality products.

In this chapter you will be introduced to several dimensions of quality. Monitoring the quality
of output begins from the point the product idea is conceived, then material selection to the
finished goods stage. As the material is fed into production the quality of the partially
completed products is monitored to determine whether the production processes are
operating as intended.

As a matter of fact, monitoring quality involves one hundred percent commitment from all
levels that is from top management to production operators in manufacturing organizations to
frontline personnel in service organization. It involves the blending of human skills, materials
and equipment and processes to provide quality goods and services that should be customer
based in fact all employees must be well informed of the company’s quality policy and
understand their commitment in delivering service or producing goods.
 Chapter Overview

QUALITY CONTROL

Definition

Statistical
Importance of Quality Stage of Quality Control Quality
Control

Objective of
Product/Process Design
Quality Control
Manufacturing Stage

INSPECTION

Dimensions of Quality After Sales service/ Warranty

Cost of Quality Control

Table of Contens

Quality Control 239

Chapter Overview 240

9.1 Introduction 243

9.2 The Importance Of Quality Control 244

9.3 Objectives of Quality Control 244

9.4 The Dimensions of Quality 244

9.5 Stage Of Quality Control

Product Design/Process design 248
Manufacturing Stage 249
Afler Sales Service/Warranty Provide to Customer 249

9.6 Inspection 250

Purpose of Inspection 250
When to inspection? 251
Types of Inspection 251

9.7 Quality Cost 252

Prevention Costs 252
Appraisal Costs 253
Internal Failure Costs 253
External Failure Cost 253

9.8 Statistical Quality Control 254

Acceptance Sampling 254
Statistical Process Control 255
RM360 261

Summary 262

Supplement – Newspaper cutting – issues on quality

Learning Objectives

After studying this chapter, you should be able to :

 Define quality from a perspective of a production people

 Discuss the dimensions of quality

 Explain the different stages of quality control

 Explain the use of inspection as a procedure within a quality program

 Discuss the differences between one hundred percent inspection and sampling
inspection

 Discuss the types of quality cost

 Explain the statistical quality control

 Distinguish between acceptance sampling and statistical process sampling

 Explain the difference between attribute sampling and variable sampling

 Construct the control chart for attribute sampling

 Interpret the control chart for attribute

9.1 Introduction
Are you familiar with the team ‘Total Quality Management’ or better known as TQM or
Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)

Implementation of TQM needs total employee and management involvement. Once

quality standard has been determined, it doesn’t end there meaning that CQI is
required. This is because quality issue is not static, but dynamic thus quality of goods
and services need to be improved continuously that is the producer must take the
necessary steps to improve quality throughout the operation. Although this chapter
will not discuss TQM or CQI specifically, you will gain better understanding of the
concept of the quality at least from the perspective of operations management,
techniques for monitoring quality and the cost associated with quality control.

Before we proceed with this chapter, let us define quality.

How would you define the term quality or what is quality to you?
How do you know you have purchase a quality product?
People usually complain about poor service or poor quality products. What do you
understand by the term poor, good or excellent products?

Different people may define or perceive quality differntly. Since quality issue is very
subjective in nature, thus people may have different perception regarding quality. To
some people quality means the value that they get for the price that they pay. In other
words quality means value for money. Others may perceive quality as the degree of
satisfaction they get from using a particular product. According to Norman Gaither,
one of the operations management authors, quality is a customer’s perception of the
degree to which the product or service meets the customers’ expectations. However,
from the perspective of a production/operations people, quality can be defined as
follows :

Definition

Quality can be defined as a measure of how closely a good or service conform to

standards and specifications.

Quality can also be defined as the extent goods or services meet customers’
satisfaction

The producing companies or customers could either determine standards or

specification. Actually most of the time quality depends upon evaluations made by
person external to the company that produces the goods or services.

Recall, in chapter one, it was mentioned that the quality of service in subjectively
determined whereas the quality of goods is objectively determined. It is more difficult
to control or measure the quality of services rather that goods. (See chapter one-
differences between goods and services)
9.2 The Importance Of Quality Control

Do you know why quality is important to companies?

I’m sure after that brief introduction you could obtain insights into why companies
emphasize on producing quality products.

1. Quality is a powerful competitive weapon.

Companies can use quality products to appeal to customers and to distinguish
themselves from their competitors.

2. Quality products improve market share and profiability

Companies that provide superior quality goods and services can gain market share
from competitors that provide lower quality products.

3. Consumers usually prefer to purchase goods or services from companies that

provide
the maximum quality they can obtain per Ringgit in the price range they are willing
to spend.

Can you give other reasons why quality is important?

9.3 Objectives of Quality Control

The objectives of quality control are listed as follow :
 To ensure that the goods or specifications conform to standard or specifications
 To minimize the production cost associated with poor quality
 To ensure there is continue demand for the company product and services
 To protect against product liability lawsuits .
 To assure management and customers that particular products have been
engineered, manufactured and marketed to meet certain standards
 To strive for zero –defects that is to produce high quality products right from the
start rather than detecting defective product later through inspection. In other wors
‘to do things right the first time’

9.4 The Dimensions of Quality

What do you look for when you are purchasing a product?

How do you evaluate service or goods that you purchased?
What are your expectations when purchasing a particular product whether it is goods
or service?
As mentioded earlier, there are several dimensions of quality although quality was defined in
one sentence. Thus quality of product can also be defined in terms of dimension, strength,
shape, color, finish and workmanship.

Quality may relate to materail performance, reliability, appearance, time or any quantifiable
characteristics of the product. Quality is a characteristic the determines a product’s value in
the market and how well it will perform the function for which it was designed. As for services
the dimensions of quality would be different from physical product because services are
intangible and as mentioned before, unlike goods it is difficult to measure and control.
According to research done by Zeithaml, Berry and Paransuraman there are ten criteria or
dimensions used by consumers in evaluating service quality. (See table 9.1).

Table 9.1 Dimensions used in evaluating service quality

Dimensions Definition Customer expectations
Credibility Trustworthiness, believability, Does the hospital have a good
honesty of the service provider reputation?

Does the repair firm guarantee

its work?

Security Freedom from danger, risk or Is it safe for me to use the

doubt bank’s ATMs at night?

Is my credit card protected

against unauthorized use?

Access Approachability and ease of Is the total conveniently

contact
Communication Listening to customers and
keeping them informed in
language they can understand
located?
Does AMM have a 24-hour toll-
free phone number?
Does my doctor avoid using
technical jargon?

Understanding the Making he effort to know Does someone in the restaurant

customer customers and their needs recognize me as a regular
customer?

Tangible Appearance of physical Are the hotel’s facilities

facilities, equipment, personnel attractive?
and communication materials
Is my telephone bill easy to
understand?

Reliability Ability to perform the promised When mt agent says he will call
service dependably and me back in 15 minutes, does he
accurately do so?

Is my credit card bill free of

errors?

Responsiveness Willingness to help customers Is the telephone company

and provide prompt service willing to give me a specific time
when it will install the elephone
line?
Dimensions Definition Customer expectations
Competence Prossession of the skills and Can the bank teller process my
knowledge required to perform transaction without fumbling
the sevice around?

Does the doctor appear to know

what he is doing?

Courtesy Politeness, respect, Are the waiter consistently

consideration and friendiness when taking my order?
of conttact personnel
Does the air stewardess have a
pleasant demandor?

Source : Adapted from Valerie A. Zeithaml, A. Paransuraman and Leonard L. Berry,

Delivering Quality Service (New York : The Free Press, 1990)

 ACTIVITY
What would be the customers’ expectations or your expectations if the product/service
organizations were as follows? Bank, University, Hotel. Brokerage firms insurance
companies, Computer shop and automobile manufacturer. What would be the questions that
you as the customer might raise?

Now, let us take a look at the dimensions of quality that is commonly used by customers to
evaluate quality. The dimensions below can either be used to evaluate goods or services.
Therefore quality is not a single characteristic but it is multidimensional.

Functionality
Functionality refers to the performance of the product that is how well the product or
service perform the customer’s intended use or whether the product performs its
function a the end of the manufacturing process or when it is first put to use. For
example a raincoat is meant to keep you dry from rain, the umbrella suppose to
provide shelter from rain or shine. The light bulb suppose to emit light when you
swicth it on.

Can you give other examples of performance or functionality?

 Reliability
Reliability concern the length of time the product continue to function under normal
conditions before it breakdowns or needs repair. Low quality products may fail to
function before completing its normal life span. A product should provide the user
satisfaction from using a product.

I am sure you have experienced purchasing a product that functioned perfectly the first time
but failed immediately after that. Did you have such experience? If you had i’m sure you must
be very disappointed especially if you had paid high price for it.

Durability
How well and how long will the product function under adverse conditions? Can the
product withstand shock, vibration, head, cold, dust ect that might be expected to
encounter? It can also mean the lenght of time of use before it need to be repaired or
replaced.

Did you ever notice or read the instruction or label of the product that you bought?
Dairy products like butter for instance must be refrigerated. Certain products must be kept in
cool and dry place at an appropriate temperature.

can you think of example of products that would be damaged if it is not properly stored or
maintained?

Esthetic characteristic
Appearance of the products usually has an impact on human senses – the look, feel,
taste, smell or sound and it is not related to functionality aspect

What do you look for when you are buying a perfume? I’m sure the smell would be the
number one criteria, then may be the shape of the bottle or the entire package.

Safety
Will the product perform its fuction without unnecessarily endangering the user
before, during and after tine sale? Would you buy a contaiminated product that could
result in food poisoing? Electrical appliances should not produce electrical shocks
during normal use. Foodstuffs that you consumed should not be contaminated.
Recently Malaysian government had banned milk powder and other dairy products
from European nations such as Belgium, Netherlands and Germany that have been
contaminated by dioxin.

Can you think of other instnces of products that have been recalled from the market because
it is unsafe to be used or consumed?
 Customer service
Customers service concerns with the treatment that customers received before,
during and after sale. Would you go back to the same restaurant if you had waited for
more than an hour for you food to arrive, and when it finally did, it is not what you had
ordered? What would you do when you called a 24-hour toll free line, but no one
answered the phone? Customers expect to be recognized and treated with courtesy
when purchasing a product. (See table 9.1 above)

Features
Features as special characteristics that appeal to customers. Example powered
window, seat or reverse sensor, and sport rim in an automobile.

Serviceability
Serviceability refers to the convenience of repair, replacement and after sales service.
Would you buy a product that did provide a warranty on repairs and maintenance?
Would you buy a computer if the supplier could not provide you with after sales
service if there is something goes wrong with your computer?

The purpose of quality control is to provide assurance that goods and services conform to
specified standards. Although the standards are internally determined but these standards
should be consistent with customers’ perception.

Take a break and before you proceed, take a look at the chapter map.

QUALITY CONTROL

Definition

Stage of Quality Statistical

Importance of Quality
Control Quality
Control

Objective of Product/Process Design

Quality Control Manufacturing Stage

Dimensions of Quality INSPECTION

After Sales service/ Warranty

Cost of Quality
Control

9.5 Stages Of Quality Control

Basically there are three stages of quality control although quality should be
continuously managed i.e.
– The product/process design stage
– The manufacturing stage
– After sales/ warranty
Product Design/Process design

Design engineers must consider not only the functionality of the prototypes (see chapter 4 –
Product Design) but also the ease with which the elements of the product can be produced in
quantity and assembled into final units. Service design must be considered along this
perspective only that the service provider must determine the level of customer involvement
in the service process and how is the service would be delivered. Service provider may have
to come up with a service blueprint at this point.

What would be the element that should be included in the process design?

The choice of machines may affect the quality of output. The type of layout employed,
material handling equipment and storage methods. Proper sequencing and maintenance
program can influence the quality of product. Service provider can obtain or gain better
understanding of the process design by flowcharting the sequence or involved in creating or
delivering services from a customer’s perspective. (See chapter one – customer involvement
in creating service output).

Manufacturing Stage

Inspection is usually performed before, during and the after the production process as shown
below :

a. Inspection of raw material (receiving inspection)

This is to ensure only the materials that meet the standard will be used to produce the
product. Prior to that, the appropriate suppliers of raw material need to be selected.
The incoming raw materials, parts or components from vendors or other supplies
should be inspection to assure that they meet the standards or specifications. This is
done to minimize defects at the final stage.
b. During production process (work-in-process inspection)
The on going production process should be monitored in its day to day operation
using statistical control charts to ensure that it is operating against a predetermined
standards. Each process is monitored before it can proceed to the next process. This
is done to detect for non-conformance with the expected standard. If the process
deviates from standards, adjustment or correction is made before any detect occurs.

c. Finished product stage

Goods need to be inspected using visual or mechanical or electronic devices before
shipment to customers. This is to ensure only the goods that meet the standard will
be shipped out. Poor quality product will be reworked or repaired before it can be
shipped out to minimize cost. Fragile items must be properly packaged and delivered
to avoid or minimize breakage or damage during transportation to customers.

After Sales Service/Warranty Provide to Customer

The responsibility towards quality does not end once the goods have been shipped out to
customers. Most manufacturing companies provide after sales service or warranty on
product sold to customers.
For example goods received by customer may be damaged due poor handling, customers
can return the goods and get the replacement for a new product.

Failure to consider any of these three steps may affect or jeopardize the quality of end
product.

Inspection

Inspection is an integral part of quality control and is performed to detect whether the
products being produced conform to certain standards or specifications. It involves perioc
cheeking and measuring before, during and after the production process.

A producer must provide a product or service within certain legal boundaries and standards.
Service organization like hospital or restaurants, bakeries, dairies etc. does its own
inspection and is also inspection by local, state and of government bodies such as SIRIM,
MARDI etc. inspection may involve using the human senses such as using visual inspection,
touching or measuring the weight or dimension of the products. Other devices can also be
used such as using special sensor device to detect error or defect or other computer control
device. Laboratory testing and destruction testing may be carried out to check the strength of
the product.

How do we know what to inspect?

What characteristics or dimensions we have to look for during inspection?

To ensure that inspection is effectively performed on product, the characteristics or

specifications to measured must be determined in advance. The workers involves in the
inspection activities must be informed in terms of what characteristics of the process and
product must be inspected. The devices used for sensing characteristics of the process and
product must be selected. As mentioned earlier, human senses or other measuring devices
may be used such as micrometers or thermometers etc.

Purpose of Inspection
Inspection is performed to achieve the following objectives

 To maintain certain standards in producing products.

 To meet customer specifications
 To find defective products which can be reworked. If flaws in products are found early
enough in the production process, it is often possible to rework or correct them before the
process is completed.
 To find problems in the production process that can be adjusted and corrected before
defects can occur.
 To provide information concerning the effectiveness of individual workers and particular
department.
 Some industries use inspection to grade products.
When to inspect?

As stated above the purpose of inspection is to check whether the specific characteristic of
the goods or services conforming to standards. I have also mentioned inspection is done
before during and after production process. So why do we need this section? This section
“When to inspect” highlighted the specific time inspection is performed.

Thus inspection should occur at the following time

1. When raw materials are received
2. When raw material enter the production process
3. Before costly processess
4. Before irreversible process
5. Before processes which may cover defects
6. When finished products emerge from the production process

Item 1 – item 6 is not a procedural kind of thing that need to be followed. Depending on the
types of organization, inspectionmay not necessarily have to be done at all possible point.
However if the cost of inspection is less than the cost of not inspecting, it is worthwhile to
perform the inspection. This is because inspection is costly and workers do not like to work in
an environment where an inspector is constantly observing the workers at work.

Types of Inspection

There are two types of inspection activities that is 100% inspection and sampling inspection.

100% inspection

100% inspection involves inspection of all products or items that have been receive or
produced. It is usually praticed where the probability of quality yariation is quite high.
For example if the products are manually produced. E.g. Hand painted batik,
handmade furniture etc.

Can you think of other examples?

100% inspection is also performed in aerospace industry where the risks of

unacceptable quality are high. E.g. missile parts, aircraft, rocket. These parts are
inspected in detail and in total to ensure the product is safe to use. Moreover these
products are expensive and the consequences of failure are so great. Less than
100% inspection is intolerable.

100% inspection is also appropriate where are volume of production is low. As stated
earlier inspection is costly. Can you imagine if you were to perform 100% inspection
on items like rice, beans and sugar? It is impractical, costly and time consuming and
requires large number of workers.

What do you think would be the best method of inspection for large volume items?
 Sampling inspection

Sampling inspection involve the use of statistical sampling to infer the quality of a
batch of products or to infer whether a process is working properly. We will discuss
this later when we do statistical process control or statistical quality control. First let us
look the factors sampling inspection. Sampling inspection involves inspection of only
a few products, which represent a sample of the total number of products produced.

It is usually undertaken when mechanical production is used rather than manual

production.

Sampling inspection is common where destructive testing is involved. Destructive

testing involve destroying the product to determine the durability of the product. If
100% inspection is used there will be nothing left to sell.

It is common where large quantities of bulk items are inspected. E.g. Beans, corn,
rice etc.

Inspection of samples is a good indicator of the level of quality of the total production.

9.7 Quality Cost

Quality costs or the cost of quality is to prevent the costs of poor quality and this must
be done at the lowest cost of quality. There are four types of quality costs :
s prevention cost
s appraisal cost
s internal failure cost
s external failure cost

prevention cost and Appraisal cost are the costs involved trying to control quality,
whereas Internal failure costs and External failure costs are costs that result from
failure to control quality.

We will review each type of cost to gain better understanding of quality cost.

Prevention Costs
Prevention costs are the cost associated with preventing defects before they happen.
Its emphasizes on the pre-production activities that is before the product is made or
the service is delivered. These costs include process design, product design (See
stage on quality control above) employee training, vendor program such as working
with suppliers to ensure they deliver quality materials or components, process control
and process improvements.
Appraisal Costs

Appraisal costs include the costs incurred in assessing or auditing the level of quality
attained by the operating system. For example in manufacturing the appraisal costs includes
by the costs of inspection, testing, test equipment or devices used to determine the condition
of the products at the end of the production process but before the product is shipped out to
customers. It also includes cost of monitoring the production process, inspecting the
incoming materials as well as the finished product inspection. The cost of quality audits and
statistical quality control are included in this category.

Internal Failure Costs

Internal failure costs include cost incurred for correcting or reworking on products or services
due to defects incurred during the production process. It pertains do defects found before the
product left the factory. In service, the chef may have to prepare another meal because the
waiter had taken the order wrongly.

Are you with me? Can you give other examples of internal failure costs relating to
manufacturing or service?

External Failure Costs

External failure costs are cost incurred after postproduction activities. These include costs of
warranty repairs, loss of market share and lawsuits arising from injury or property damage
from use of the product or service.

 CHECKLIST
I am now able to :
 Define quality from a perspective of a production people

 Discuss the dimensions of quality

 Explain the different stages of quality control

 Explain the use of inspection as a proedure within a quality program

 Discuss the difference between one hundred percent inspection and sampling
inspection

 Discuss the types of quality cost

9.8 Statistical Quality Control

How do managers know that the production process is in accordance to the expected
standards or specification?
How do they tell that the finished product conform to the standards?
How do they know the actual perfomance is aligned with the expected performance?

There are 2 methods that can be used to control and improve quality.The first method
is the acceptance sampling,while the second method is the statisical process control.

Acceptance Sampling
Acceptance sampling is a statisical quality control based on sampling to determine
whether the product should be accepted or rejected. It is applied after production has
ended instead of ongoing process that is usually used in statistical process control
thus involves sampling the finished output that could either be the incoming
material,parts and finished goods to determine whether to accept or to reject the
output. Acceptance sampling is based on sampling plan that specifies the number of
units to be samples and the number of sample units that must meet the specification
if it to be accepted.

For example, let say, a production batch for product ‘A’ is 1000 units.The sample size
“n” is 15 units. The number of acceptable dwfect that is the acceptance number is 5.
Thus the number of units in the sample that must conform to specification is 10. If the
inspector inspected all the 15 units and it was found 6 units to be defective, the entire
production batch will be rejected. However if the number of defective units in te
sample were 5 units or less the sample were 5 units or less the sample is considered
a good sample and the production bath is accepted as good.

Types of sampling error

There is some risks involve when you rely on sampling to determine the
quality of the output. The risk is the likelihood of making mistakes and as a
result you make a wrong conclusion regarding the quality. This risk is known
as sampling errors. There are two types of errors.

1. Type 1 errors – The probability of rejecting a good production batch

because the sample contained too many few defective items. Types 1 error
are called a producer’s risk (a).

2. Types 2 erroes – The probability of eccepting a bad production lot or batch

because the sample contained too few defective items. Type 2 errors are
called a consumer’s risk (B).

How can manager reduce sampling errors? There are two possible ways
1. Sample must be random. It represents the entire production lot.
2. Increase the sample size.
Statistical Process Control
As stated above, statistical process control (SPC) involve monitoring the quality of the
product during the production process. The purpose is to detect any process, which is out of
control while the process in operating.

What do you understand by the term ‘process is out of control?

The process is out of control when the process deviates from the random pattern. The SPC
involves first determining the sample size of the total output that need to be measured.

Do you know the tool used in SPC to monitor the quality of the process?

This sample of units is then monitored using a control chart on a daily basis or on a
periodical basis to check whether the on going process in terms of specified characteristic
conforms to standards. If the process does not conform to standard, it will be stopped, the
cause investigated and corrective action will be taken to ensure the process will continue
according to specifications. The process is said to be in control when the process variations
are random. We can use control chart to control process by variables or attributes sampling.

Before we proceed to the control chart, let us see the difference between variable sampling
and attribute sampling. Do you have any idea what is the difference between the two?

Variable sampling

Variable samping involves sample of units that have specific characteristics that can
be measured. These include size, weight, color, lenght, volume or shape. When
monitoring the quality of the products or parts, the specific characteristics such as
size or weight is measured. If it conforms to the expected standard then it will be
accepted. Otherwise it will be rejected.

X-control chart is usually used to control sampling by variable. If the item is

manufactured repetitively instead of in batches, X-control chart using averages and R-
control chart using ranges are required to monitor both the mean and the variance of
the process. For your information X-control chart and R-control chart will not be
further discussed. Thus example or R-chart or x-chart will not be highlighted.

Let us focus our attention to Attribute sampling

 Attribute sampling

Attribute sampling involves sample of units that have no specific measurement.

Therefore this type of inspection involves measuring by attributes. Thus goods or
parts are judged to be either good or bad, defective or non-defective, acceptable or
unacceptable. If the samples are according to standards then the whole products are
considered good and accepted. If it doesn’t meet with the specifications then the
products are bad and are rejected. P-control chart is used to monitor the proportion of
parts or products that are defective. Applications of P-chart will be illustrated later.

Although variable sampling will not be further discussed from here on, you are expected to
know the difference between attributes and variable sampling.

I’m sure by now you must be curious how this control chart looks like since I have been
mentioning it quite a number of times. Well please be patient. Lets have some brief
introduction on control chart.

CONTROL CHART

What is a control chart?

How does control chart helps managers or workers in monitoring and improving quality?

If the items or products are manufactured repetitively or continuously rather, than in small
batches, the problem involves monitoring the process to assure that quality standards are
being met. Therefore control chart can be used to control the quality of the products during
the production process. Any nonconformance can be detected and then corrected before
defects occur.

Periodic random sample are taken and these samples are plotted on a chart to determine
whether the process is ‘in control’ or ‘output of control’ will continue to be inonitored while as
explained earlier, the ‘out of control’ processess is stopped until the cause for the non-
conformance are corrected. We will look into same of the cause that result in non-random
variations after this.

Control chart is a graphical device based on sampling results used to make inferences about
the control status of a process.
(See Figure 9.1 – Control chart for attributes or P chart)

It can be used to measure characteristics by attributes or variable sampling.

It is useful aid to managers and workers to monitor the quality performance of the operations
for which they are responsible.
By analyzing the control chart you can determine whether outputs are meeting quality
standards and if unusual trends in quality should be investigated. If the chart indicate that
product quality is better than expected, the managers need to find what contributes to high
quality so that it can be maintained. This is because the main objective of control chart is to
improve quality.

Figure 9.1 – An example of Control chart for attributes or P chart

Control chart can determine chance cause or assign cause.

Chance cause is due assign cause can be determined by looking at the trends. The sources
of chance cause are due to worn parts in an machine.

Assign cause is due to factor such as equipment that needs adjustment, defective materials
and human factors such as carelessness, fatigue, failure to follow procedures etc.

Control chart for attribute (P-chart) using fraction defective

As promised, I will illustrate to you how to construct the control chart for attribute sampling or
P chart.
What elements need to be included or considered so that you sample is correctly plotted on
the chart?
You are also expected to comment on the chart that you have constructed.

Why is a control chart for attributes also known as P-chart?

The reason is that the P-chart is used to monitor the proportion of defective items or
products generated by the process. Thus ‘P’ stands for proportion defective. There are three
important elements in constructing a control chart :

1. Center line (the acceptance region)

2. Upper control limit and
3. Lower control limit.
The construct a p-chart, first you have to compute the fraction of unit defectives. This can be
accomplished using the following formula.

FORMULA

p = x/n

Where :
n = sample size
x = the number of defective units
p = fraction defective

if the process is repeated you will get several estimates of fraction defectives. Then using
these estimates of p, you can calculate the historical average fraction defective ‘p’ for the
process using the equation :

p = summation of x divided by summation of n

Then you will need to find the standard deviation of average fraction defective using the
following equation :

Standard deviation of average fractiondefective

Next you have to determine the control limit.

The control limits depend or the confidence interval 90%, 95% or 99%

90% Z score = 1.64

95% Z score = 1.96
99% Z score = 3

The upper control limit (UCL) =

The lower control limit (LCL) =

When the data are randomly scattered batween upper and control limits, the process is in
control. On the other hand, if the data fall outside the control limit such above the upper
control limit, the process is out of control and management should investigate to determine
the cause of non-random behavior. The control chart is not static. Thus it must be continually
updated whenever there are quality improvement programs, changes in the people, material
and equipment and processes.
Consider the following example
Example 9.1
The quality control department has been inspecting product ‘triple AA battery’ at the rate of
20 units per day for the past 60 days. The total number of defective products found is 150
units.

a. Construct a control chart at 99% confidence level.

b. If defects found this week are as follows :
Monday 5, Tuesday 4, Wednesday 10, Thursday 3, Friday 3.
What conclusion can you make regarding the defects?

Solution :
As mentioned earlier, you have to find the average fraction defective. This can be done as
followa :

Then you have to find the standard deviation of average fraction defective

Since the confidence level is 99%, you have to use 3 standard deviation to determine both
the UCL and LCL.

If LCL is negative, the limit should be set to zero.

Do you know the reason? Well this is something for you to think about. May be some of you
already known why? However the values for lower control limit do not necessarily be
negative or zero, they can also be positive values.

Next, you have to compute the fraction defective ‘p’ for Monday through Friday.
 Monday p = 5/20 = 0.25

Tuesday p = 4/20 = 0.20

Wednesday p = 10/20 = 0.50

Thursday p = 3/20 = 0.15

Friday p = 6/20 = 0.30

When you have determined all the above, you can construct your control chart. The data on
fraction defective should be plotted on the control chart. Your control chart should look like
this.

Conclusion :
Sample on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday are accepted because they are within
the upper and lower control limit. However sample on Wednesday is rejected because it falls
outside the control limit. Wednesday sample should be investigated to find the causes for
poor quality. So corrective actions can be taken.

What would be your comment if the proportion defective in samples were below the lower
control limit? This means that nothing is wrong with the process, but the manager would want
to investigate why the quality has improved so that quality product can continue to be
produced.

 ACTIVITY
Find out how your organization controls the quality of the output (products or services) to
ensure it conforms to standard. What are the technique or tools used in controlling quality?
Do your organization use control chart to monitor the process? Do your organization use
acceptance sampling in checking quality of finished goods?
The above example indicated the sample size as 20. In real life, managers may find difficulty
to determine the sample that would represent the production bacth or lot.

How do we determine the right sample size?

What would be the frequency of samples taken?

As you are already aware of, quality control cost money. (See quality cost) Thus if the
frequency and sample size increase, the quality cost will increase as well. But of course the
benefits are great deal more than the costs incurred, if we look at in terms of improved
performance such as profits and market share and etc. (See the importance and reasons for
quality control above). The next example 9.2 shows you how to determine the best sample
size that would minimize the total cost of quality.

Example 9.2
The quality control department of Syarikat Mutu Bagus Berhad had performed a quality
control test for a product under 5 differnt test options. The production batch is 4000 units.
The reject rates were as follows :
Test Option Quality Control Test Reject Rates
1 1/1000 1/50
2 1/750 1/100
3 1/500 1/250
4 1/100 1/400
5 1/50 1/500
The cost of testing each output is RM3.00. rejected products will need to be re-worked and
the re-working cost is RM15. Determine the least expensive test option for this product.

Solution

Test Quality Number Cost of Reject Number Cost Total

option control of tests testing rates of rejects reworking quality
test (RM) (RM) cost
1 1/1000 4 4x3= 1/50 80 80 x 15 = RM212
RM12 RM1,200
2 1/500 8 8x3= 1/100 40 40 x 15 = RM624
RM24 RM600
3 1/100 40 40 x 3 = 1/250 16 16 x 15 = RM360
RM120 RM240
4 1/50 80 80 x 3 = 1/400 10 10 x 15 = RM390
RM240 RM150
5 1/25 160 160 x 3 = 1/500 8 8 x 15 = RM600
RM480 RM120

Therefore the best sample size is 40 that is test option 1/100 because the total cost is the
lowest.
Summary

 Quality is a powerful weapon for competitive advantage

 A quality control incurs cost but it pays in the long run because quality of goods and
services will increase and so does profits and market share.

 100% inspection and sampling are quality control technique used by most companies.

 Acceptance sampling and statisical process control applies the use of statistic in
monitoring and improving quality of output in a repetitive production process.

 There are 4 categories of quality cost.They are prevention costs,appraisal costs,internal

failure costs and external failure costs.

 Control chart is used to monitor the on going production process to ensure that the
process is operating according to expectation.Causes for defets or improved quality
should be investiged.

 There are three elements that need to be determined in constructing a control chart for
attribute.1.the center line.2.The upper control limit and 3 the lower control limit.

REFERENCES

1. Everett E. Adam,JR, & Ronald J. Ebert – Production & Operations Management Fifth
Edition (Prentice Hall)

2. Norman Gaither – Production and Operations – seventh edition (Duxbury)

3. James B. Dilworth – Production and Operations Management – Manufacturing and

Services Fifth Edition (McGraw- Hill Series in Management)

 CHECKLIST
I am now able to :
 Explain the statistical quality control.
 Distinguish between acceptance sampling and statistical process sampling
 Explain the difference between attribute sampling and variable sampling
 Construct the control chart for attributes sampling
 Interpret the control chart for attribute sampling
SELT TEST

ST1
The quality control department of Hitachi Corporation would like to establish a control chart to
monitor the quality of its 20-inch TV set. 10 samples of size 50 has been taken and the errors
are as follow :

Sample No Errors
1 2
2 7
3 8
4 6
5 4
6 12
7 14
8 15
9 7
10 6

Construct a control chart for 99% confidence level and interpret the chart.

ST2
Management has been having a quality problem in one of the product lines and you have
been asked to examine the facility. On the first day you collect 10 samples of 15 products
each and the number of defectives in each are shown below.

Sample No Number of defects in

sample
1 3
2 1
3 0
4 0
5 0
6 2
7 0
8 3
9 1
10 0

a. Construct a p-chart using a 99% confidence interval (1.96 standard deviation)

b. Plot the 10 sample collected
c. Based on the plotted data points, what comments can you make?
ST3
Determine the suitable inspection technique for the following situations

a. the production of airplanes

b. the production of toys in large volume
c. nuclear operations
d. a product whose inspection cost RM100 per unit but the cost of defective product is
RM10,000 per unit.
e. Production of chololates

STUDY QUESTIONS

1. Briefly describe the internal and external failure costs as a result of poor product quality

2. Explain the following : a. Receiving inspection

b. Work in process inspection
c. Final inspection

3. Differentiate between variable and attribute inspection

4. Briefly discuss four dimensions of quality

5. a. Define quality
b. Discuss the importance of quality

6. What are conditions for using 100% inspection and sampling inspection

7. When do you use control chart for attribute and how do you interpret it for management

8. Explain the meaning of quality to the production people.

9. Explain the three types of costs arising from quality control.

10. To ensure good quality products, quality control needs to be exercised throughout the
production system. Where and when should quality control inspections be performed?
11. PDQ Company uses the process control chart below as a means of monitoring the quality
of its product ‘GREAT’ produced daily.

0.36 Upper Control limit (UCL)

Quality 0.18 Mean

Characteristics0
Lower Control limit (LCL)
Time

The following are samples taken from today’s operation.

Date : 25 April 1999
Sample No Time Sample size Defective item (units)
1 10.00 a.m. 50 10
2 12.00 noon 50 12
3 14.00 p.m. 50 15
4 16.00 p. 50 16
5 18.00 P.M. 50 18

Plot all the values in the chart above and explain the defectives found on that day.
What action should be taken?

12. Malaysian Sungkit Sdn.Bhd. produces silk clothes. The company wants to establish a p-
chart to monitor the production process and maintain high quality. They believe that
approximately 99-74% of the variability in the production process 9corresponding to 3-
sigma limits, or z = 3) is random and thus should be within control limits, whereas 0.26%
of the process variability is not random and suggests that the process is out of control.

The company has taken 20 samples (one per day for 20 days), each containing 1 00
pairs of silk clothes (n = 1 00), and inspection them for defects, the results of which are
as follows:

Samples Number of Samples Number of

Defectivet defectives
1 6 11 12
2 0 12 10
3 4 13 14
4 10 14 8
5 6 15 6
6 4 16 16
7 12 17 12
8 10 18 14
9 8 19 20
10 10 20 18

The mean proportion defective for the population is not known. Construct a p-chart for
this process using 30 limits, and describe the variation in the process.
13. METRO TV conducted a survey in Klang Valley area to determine the quality of their
HBO/Cartoon/MTV Cable Channel, as perceived by groups of 100 existing subscribers in
the area. Ten samples were taken over a ten-week period with the single question of-.

“Are you sarisfied wih the quality of our HBO/Cartoon/MTV Cable programs?”

The answer was simply tallied as either -.

Week # Yes Answers

1 40
2 50
3 35
4 50
5 45
6 40
7 50
8 45
9 30
10 45

a) Develop a p-chart of the survey using a 99.7% confidence internal ( 3 )

b) Plot the samples collected.
c) What comments can you make about the process?

14. The following data is the result of data processing done by the operators of MITSUMI
Company on analyzing their output. Each operator analyzed 50 units of output.

Operator No. Number Rejected

1 2
2 2
3 1
4 2
5 1
6 1
7 3
8 2
9 2
10 2

a) Determine the average fraction defective

b) Draw or construct the p-chart at 99.5% confidence level
c) With the help p-chart, what conclusion can you make regarding the defects?
15. A manufacturer would like to make a control chart for the number of discrepanies in the
supply chassis of an 18-inch TV set. Fifteen samples of size 100 have been taken and
the discrepanies are as follow :-

Sample no No. of Errors

1 3
2 14
3 8
4 2
5 6
6 7
7 2
8 9
9 3
10 1
11 3
12 8
13 4
14 6
15 2

a) Construct a control chart based on 99.7% confidence interval (3 – std. deviation)

b) Explain the defects found in sample no.2.

Solution To Selt Test

Accept all production lot as good.
Sample 1 – below the LCL. This indicates that the quality has improved. Investigate to find
out what the causes for low defects are.
Sample 2 – Although is it still below the UCL, there is a reason to be concerned regarding
the quality of the product. The causes need to be identified as well and action
should be taken to correct this.
 Comments : Reject sample 1 and sample 8, accept others

ST3
a) 100% inspection
b) Sampling inspection
c) 100% inspection
d) 100% inspection
e) Sampling inspection