10-1 Quality Control

Operations Management

Chapter 6
Quality Control
William J. Stevenson

11h edition
10-2 Quality Control

Quality Control
• Quality control is a process that measures
output relative to standard, and acts when
output doesn't meet standards.
• The purpose of quality control is to assure that
processes are performing in an acceptable
manner.
• Companies accomplish quality control by
monitoring process output using statistical
techniques.
10-3 Quality Control

Phases of Quality Assurance

Figure 10.1

Inspection and
Inspection corrective Quality built
before/after action during into the
production production process

Acceptance Process Continuous

sampling control improvement

The least The most

progressive progressive
10-4 Quality Control

Inspection
• Inspection is an appraisal activity that compares
goods or services to a standard.
• Inspection can occur at three points:
- before production: is to make sure that inputs
are acceptable.
- during production: to make sure that the
conversion of inputs into outputs is proceeding
in an acceptable manner.
- after production: to make a final verification
of conformance before passing goods to
customers
10-5 Quality Control

Inspection
• Inspection before and after production
involves acceptance sampling procedure.
• Monitoring during the production process is
referred as process control

Inputs Transformation Outputs

Acceptance Process Acceptance

sampling control sampling

Figure 10.2
10-6 Quality Control

Inspection
• The purpose of inspection is to provide
information on the degree to which items
conform to a standard.
• The basic issues of inspection are:
1 - how much to inspect and how often
2- At what points in the process inspection
should occur.
3 - whether to inspect in a centralized or on-site
location.
4- whether to inspect attributes (counts) or
variables (measures)
 10-7 Quality Control

How much to inspect and how often

• The amount of inspection can range from no inspection to
inspection of each item many times.
• Low-cost, high volume items such as paper clips and pencils
often require little inspection because:
1. the cost associated with passing defective items is quite
low.
2. the process that produce these items are usually highly
reliable, so that defects are rare.
• High-cost, low volume items that have large cost associated
with passing defective items often require more intensive
inspection such as airplanes and spaceships.
• The majority of quality control applications ranges between
these two extremes.
• The amount of inspection needed is governed by the cost of
inspection and the expected cost of passing defective items.
10-8 Quality Control

Inspection Costs
Figure 10.3
Cost

Total Cost
Cost of
inspection

Cost of
passing
defectives

Optimal
Amount of Inspection
10-9 Quality Control

Where to Inspect in the Process

Inspection always adds to the cost of the product;
therefore, it is important to restrict inspection efforts to
the points where they can do the most good. In
manufacturing, some of the typical inspection points
are:
• Raw materials and purchased parts
• Finished products
• Before a costly operation
• Before an irreversible process
• Before a covering process
10-10 Quality Control

Examples of Inspection Points

Table 10.1
Type of Inspection Characteristics
business points
Fast Food Cashier Accuracy
Counter area Appearance, productivity
Eating area Cleanliness
Building Appearance
Kitchen Health regulations
Hotel/motel Parking lot Safe, well lighted
Accounting Accuracy, timeliness
Building Appearance, safety
Main desk Waiting times
Supermarket Cashiers Accuracy, courtesy
Deliveries Quality, quantity
10-11 Quality Control

Centralized versus on-site inspection

• Some situations require that inspections be
performed on site such as inspecting the hull of
a ship for cracks.

• Some situations require specialized tests to be

performed in a lab such as medical tests,
analyzing food samples, testing metals for
hardness, running viscosity tests on lubricants.
10-12 Quality Control
Statistical process control
• Quality control is concerned with the quality of
conformance of a process: Does the output of a
process conform to the intent of design?
• Managers use Statistical Process Control (SPC)
to evaluate the output of a process to determine if
it is statistically acceptable.
• Statistical Process Control:
Statistical evaluation of the output of a process
during production
• Quality of Conformance:
A product or service conforms to specifications
10-13 Quality Control

Control Chart

• Control Chart: an important tool in SPC

• Purpose: to monitor process output to see if it is
random (in control) or not (out of control).
• A time ordered plot representative sample
statistics obtained from an on going process (e.g.
sample means).
• Upper and lower control limits define the range of
acceptable variation.
10-14 Quality Control

Control Chart
Figure 10.4

Abnormal variation Out of

due to assignable sources control
UCL

Mean
Normal variation
due to chance
LCL
Abnormal variation
due to assignable sources

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Sample number
10-15 Quality Control

Statistical Process Control

• The essence of statistical process
control is to assure that the output of a
process is random so that future output
will be random.
10-16 Quality Control

Statistical Process Control

• The Control Process include

• Define what is to be controlled.
• Measure the attribute or the variable to be
controlled
• Compare with the standard
• Evaluate if the process in control or out of control
• Correct when a process is judged out of control
• Monitor results to ensure that corrective action is
effective.
10-17 Quality Control

Statistical Process Control

• Variations and Control

• Random variation: Common natural variations
in the output of a process, created by countless
minor factors. It would be negligible.

• Assignable variation: A special variation whose

source can be identified (it can be assigned to a
specific cause)
10-18 Quality Control

Sampling Distribution
• The variability of a sample statistic can be
described by its sampling distribution.
• The sampling distribution is a theoretical
distribution that describe the random variability of
a sample statistic.
• The goal of the sampling distribution is to
determine whether nonrandom-and thus,
correctable-source of variation are present in the
output of a process. How?
10-19 Quality Control

Sampling distribution
• Suppose there is a process for filling bottles with
soft drink. If the amount of soft drink in a large
number of bottles (e.g., 100) is measured
accurately, we would discover slight differences
among the bottles.
• If these amounts were arranged in a graph, the
frequency distribution would reflect the process
variability.
• The values would be clustered close to the process
average, but some values would vary somewhat
from the mean.
10-20 Quality Control

Sampling distribution (cont.)

• If we return back to the process and take samples
of 10 bottles each and compute the mean amount
of soft drink in each sample, we would discover
that these values also vary, just as the individual
values varied. They, too, would have a distribution
of values.
• The following figure shows the process and the
sampling distribution.
10-21 Quality Control

Sampling Distribution
Figure 10.5

Sampling
distribution

Process
distribution

Mean
10-22 Quality Control

Sampling distribution
Properties
• The sampling distribution exhibits much less
variability than the process distribution.
• The sampling distribution has the same mean as
the process distribution.
• The sampling distribution is a normal distribution
regardless of the shape of the process distribution.
(central limit theorem).
10-23 Quality Control

Process and sampling distribution

Process distribution Sampling distribution

Mean =  Mean = 

 2

Variance = 2 Variance = n

Standard deviation = 

Standard deviation =
n
Where:
n = sample size
10-24 Quality Control

Normal Distribution
Figure 10.6

 = Standard deviation

− − + +

Mean
95.44%

99.74%
10-25 Quality Control

Control limits
• Control charts have two limits that separate random
variation and nonrandom variation.
• Control limits are based on sampling distribution
• Theoretically, the normal distribution extends in either
direction to infinity. Therefore, any value is theoretically
possible.
• As a practical matter, we know that 99.7% of the values
will be within ±3 standard deviation of the mean of the
distribution.
• Therefore, we could decide to set the control limit at the
values that represent ±3 standard deviation from the mean
10-26 Quality Control

Control Limits
Figure 10.7
Sampling
distribution

Process
distribution

Mean

Lower Upper
control control
limit limit
10-27 Quality Control

SPC hypotheses
Null hypothesis
H0: the process is in control
Alternative hypothesis
H1: the process is out of control

Actual situation

Decision H0 is true H0 is false

Reject H0 Type I error Correct
Don’t reject H0 Correct Type II error
10-28 Quality Control

SPC Errors

• Type I error
• Concluding a process is not in control when it
actually is. The probability of rejecting H0 when
it is actually true.
• Type II error
• Concluding a process is in control when it is not.
The probability of accepting H0 when it is
actually not true.
10-29 Quality Control

Type I Error
Figure 10.8

/2 /2

Mean

 = Probability LCL UCL

of Type I error

Using wider limits (e.g., ± 3 sigma limits) reduces

the probability of Type I error
10-30 Quality Control

Observations from Sample Distribution

Figure 10.9

UCL

LCL

1 2 3 4
Sample number
10-31 Quality Control

Types of control charts

• There are four types of control charts; two
for variables, and two for attributes
• Attribute: counted data (e.g., number of
defective items in a sample, the number of
calls per day)
• Variable: measured data, usually on a
continuous scale (e.g., amount of time
needed to complete a task, length, width,
weight, diameter of a part).
10-32 Quality Control

Variables Control Charts

• Mean control charts

• Used to monitor the central tendency of a
process.
• X-bar charts
• Range control charts
• Used to monitor the process dispersion
• R charts
10-33 Quality Control

Mean Chart (X-bar chart)

• The control limits of the mean chart is calculated as follows: (first approach)

• Upper Control Limit (UCL) = x + z x

•Lower Control Limit (LCL) = x − z
x
Where:
n = sample size
z = standard normal deviation (1,2 and 3; 3 is recommended)

 = process standard deviation

x = standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the means


x =
n
x= average of sample means
10-34 Quality Control

Mean Chart (X-bar chart)

•Example
A quality inspector took five samples, each with
four observations, of the length of time for glue to
dry. The analyst computed the mean of each
sample and then computed the grand mean. All
values are in minutes. Use this information to
obtain three-sigma (i.e., z = 3) control limits for
the means of future time. It is known from
previous experience that the standard deviation of
the process is 0.02 minute.
10-35 Quality Control

Mean chart

Sample
1 2 3 4 5
1 12.11 12.15 12.09 12.12 12.09
Observation
2 12.10 12.12 12.09 12.10 12.14
3 12.11 12.10 12.11 12.08 12.13
4 12.08 12.11 12.15 12.10 12.12
12.10 12.12 12.11 12.10 12.12
x
10-36 Quality Control

Solution
• n=4
• z=3
•  = 0.02

12.10 + 12.12 + 12.11 + 12.10 + 12.12

x= = 12.11
5
 0.02 
UCL : 12.11 + 3  = 12.14
 4 
 0.02 
LCL : 12.11 − 3  = 12.08
 4 
10-37 Quality Control

Control chart

UCL
12.14

12.11
x

LCL
12.08

1 2 3 4 5

Sample
10-38 Quality Control

Mean chart
• A second approach to calculate the control limits:
• This approach assumes that the range is in control

UCL = x + A2 R
LCL = x − A2 R
This approach is
recommended when
Where: the process standard
deviation is not
A2 = A factor from table 10.2 Page 441 known

R = Average of sample ranges

10-39 Quality Control

Example
• Twenty samples of n = 8 have been taken from a
cleaning operations. The average sample range for the
20 samples was 0.016 minute, and the average mean
was 3 minutes. Determine three-sigma control limits
for this process.
• Solution

x = 3 min. R, = 0.016, A2 = 0.37 for n = 8 (table

10.2)
UCL = x + A2 R = 3 + 0.37(0.016) = 3.006
LCL = x − A2 R = 3 − 0.37(0.016) = 2.994
10-40 Quality Control

Range Control Chart (R-chart)

• The R-charts are used to monitor process dispersion;
they are sensitive to changes in process dispersion.
Although the underlying sampling distribution of the
range is not normal, the concept for use of range charts
are much the same as those for use of mean chart.
• Control limits:
UCL = D4 R
LCL = D3 R

Where values of D3 and D4 are obtained from table

10.2 page 441
10-41 Quality Control

R-chart
• Example
Twenty-five samples of n = 10 observations have been
taken from a milling process. The average sample range
was 0.01 centimeter. Determine upper and lower control
limits for sample ranges.
• Solution

R = 0.01 cm, n = 10
From table 10.2, for n = 10, D4 = 1.78 and D3 = 0.22
UCL = 1.78(0.01) = 0.0178 or 0.018
LCL = 0.22(0.01) = 0.0022 or 0.002
10-42 Quality Control

R-Chart
• Example
Small boxes of cereal are labeled “net weight 10
ounces.” Each hour, a random sample of size n = 4
boxes are weighted to check process control. Five hours
of observation yielded the following:
Time Box 1 Box 2 Box 3 Box 4 Range
9 A.M. 9.8 10.4 9.9 10.3 0.6
10 A.M 10.1 10.2 9.9 9.8 0.4
11 A.M 9.9 10.5 10.3 10.1 0.6
Noon 9.7 9.8 10.3 10.2 0.6
1 P.M 9.7 10.1 9.9 9.9 0.4
10-43 Quality Control

R-Chart
• Solution
n=4
For n = 4 , D3 = 0 and D4 = 2.28

0.6 + 0.4 + 0.6 + 0.6 + 0.4

R = = 0.52
5
UCL = D4 R = 2.28(0.52) = 1.1865
LCL = D3 R = 0(0.52) = 0

Since all ranges are between the upper and lower

limits, we conclude that the process is in control
10-44 Quality Control

Using Mean and Range Charts

• Mean control charts and range control charts
provide different perspectives on a process.

• The mean charts are sensitive to shifts in process

mean, whereas range charts are sensitive to
changes in process dispersion.

• Because of this difference in perspective, both

types of charts might be used to monitor the same
process.
10-45 Quality Control

Mean and Range Charts

Figure 10.10A

(process mean is
shifting upward)
Sampling
Distribution

UCL

x-Chart Detects shift

LCL

UCL

Does not
R-chart
detect shift
LCL
10-46 Quality Control

Mean and Range Charts

Figure 10.10B

Sampling
Distribution (process variability is increasing)

UCL

Does not
x-Chart
LCL
reveal increase

UCL

R-chart Reveals increase

LCL
10-47 Quality Control

Using the Mean and Range Chart

To use the Mean and Range control chart, apply the
following procedure:

1. Obtain 20 to 25 samples. Compute the appropriate

sample statistics (mean and range) for each sample.
2. Establish preliminary control limits using the formulas.
3. Determine if any points fall outside the control limits.
4. If you find no out-of-control signals, assume that the
process is in control. If not, investigate and correct
assignable cause of variation. Then resume the process
and collect another set of observations upon which
control limits can be based.
5. Plot the data on a control chart and check for out-of-
control signals.
10-48 Quality Control

Control Chart for Attributes

• Control charts for attributes are used when

the process characteristic is counted rather
than measured. Two types are available:
• P-Chart - Control chart used to monitor the
proportion of defectives in a process
• C-Chart - Control chart used to monitor the
number of defects per unit

Attributes generate data that are counted.

10-49 Quality Control

Use of p-Charts
Table 10.3
• When observations can be placed into two
categories.
• Good or bad
• Pass or fail
• Operate or don’t operate
• When the data consists of multiple samples
of several observations each
10-50 Quality Control

P-Charts
• The theoretical basis for the P-chart is the binomial
distribution, although for large sample sizes, the normal
distribution provides a good approximation to it.
• A P-chart is constructed and used in much the same way
as a mean chart.
• The center line on a P-chart is the average fraction
defective in the population, P.
• The standard deviation of the sampling distribution when
P is known is:
p (1 − p )
p =
n
10-51 Quality Control

P-Chart

• The Control limits

UCL = p + z p
LCL = p − z p

If p is unknown, it can be estimated from the samples. That

estimates p, replaces p in the preceding formulas, and
^
 p replaces p.
p Total number of defectives
Total number of observations
10-52 Quality Control

P-Chart
• Example
An inspector counted the number of defective
monthly billing statements of a company
telephone in each of 20 samples. Using the
following information, construct a control chart
that will describe 99.74 percent of the chance
variation in the process when the process is in
control. Each sample counted 100 statements.
10-53 Quality Control

P-Chart
• Example (cont.)
Sample # of defective Sample # of defective
1 4 11 8
2 10 12 12
3 12 13 9
4 3 14 10
5 9 15 21
6 11 16 10
7 10 17 8
8 22 18 12
9 13 19 10
10 10 20 16
Total 220
10-54 Quality Control

P-Chart
•Solution
Z for 99.74 percent is 3
220
p= = 0.11
20(100)
^ p (1 − p ) 0.11(1 − 0.11)
 p = = = 0.03
n 100

Control limits are

^
UCL = p + z  p = 0.11 + 3(0.03) = 0.20
^
LCL = p − z  p = 0.11 − 3(0.03) = 0.02
10-55 Quality Control

P-Chart
• Solution (cont.)
Fraction
defective

0.20 UCL

0.11 p

0.02 LCL

1 10 20
Sample number
10-56 Quality Control

Use of c-Charts
Table 10.3
• Use only when the number of occurrences per
unit of measure can be counted; non-
occurrences cannot be counted.
• Scratches, chips, dents, or errors per item
• Cracks or faults per unit of distance
• Breaks or Tears per unit of area
• Bacteria or pollutants per unit of volume
• Calls, complaints, failures per unit of time
10-57 Quality Control

C-Chart
• When the goal is to control the number of occurrences (e.g.,
defects) per unit, a C-chart is used.
• Units might be automobiles, hotel rooms, typed papers, or rolls of
carpet.
• The underlying sampling distribution is the Poisson distribution.
• Use of Poisson distribution assumes that defects occur over some
continuous region and that the probability of more than one
defect at any particular point is negligible.
• The mean number of defects per unit is c and the standard
deviation is:

c
10-58 Quality Control

C-Chart
• Control Limits

UCL = c + z c
LCL = c − z c

If the value of c is unknown, as is generally the

case, the sample estimate, c , is used in place
of c. where:

c = Number of defects ÷ Number of samples

10-59 Quality Control

C-Chart
• Example sample # of Sample # of
Rolls of coiled wire are defects defects
monitored using c-chart. 1 3 10 1
Eighteen rolls have been
2 2 11 3
examined, and the number
of defects per roll has 3 4 12 4
been recorded in the 4 5 13 2
following table. Is the
5 1 14 4
process in control? Plot
the values on a control 6 2 15 2
chart using three standard 7 4 16 1
deviation control limit.
8 1 17 3
9 2 18 1
45
10-60 Quality Control

C-Chart
• Solution
Average number of defects per coil = c = 45/18 =2.5

UCL = c + 3 c = 2.5 + 3 2.5 = 7.24

LCL = c − 3 c = 2.5 − 3 2.5 = −2.24 → 0

When the computed lower control limit is negative, the

effective lower limit is zero. The calculation sometimes
produces a negative lower limit due to the use of normal
distribution as an approximation to the Poisson
distribution.
The control chart is left for the student as a homework
 Managerial consideration concerning
10-61 Quality Control

control charts
• At what point in the process to use control charts: at the
part of the process that (1) have tendency to go out of
control, (2) are critical to the successful operation of
the product or service.
• What size samples to take: there is a positive relation
between sample size and the cost of sampling.
• What type of control chart to use:
• Variables: gives more information than attributes
• Attributes: less cost and time than variables
10-62 Quality Control

Run Tests
• Run test – a test for randomness
• Control charts test for points that are too extreme to be
considered random.
• However, even if all points are within the control
limits, the data may still not reflect a random process.
• Any sort of pattern in the data would suggest a non-
random process.
• The presence of patterns, such as trends, cycles, or bias
in the output indicates that assignable, or nonrandom,
cause of variation exist.
• Analyst often supplement control charts with a run
test, which is another kind of test for randomness.
10-63 Quality Control

Nonrandom Patterns in Control charts

Figure 10.11
• Trend: sustained upward or downward
movement.
• Cycles: a wave pattern

• Bias: too many observations on one side of

the center line
• Mean shift: A shift in the average

• Too much dispersion: the values are too

spread out
 10-64 Quality Control

Run Test
• A run is defined as a sequence of observations with a
certain characteristic, followed by one or more
observations with a different characteristic.
• The characteristic can be anything that is observable.

• For example, in a series AAAB, there are two runs; a

run of three A’s followed by a run of one B.
• The series AABBBA , indicates three runs; a run of
two A’s followed by a run of three B’s, followed by
a run of one A.
10-65 Quality Control

Run test
• There are two types of run test:
1. Runs up and down
2. Runs above and below the median
• In order to count these runs, the data are transformed
into a series of U’s and D’s (for up and down) and into
a series of A’s and B’s (for above and below the
median).
• There are three U/D and four A/B runs for the data:
25 29 42 40 35 38
- U U D D U
B B A A B A
Where the median is 36.5
10-66 Quality Control

Counting Runs

Figure 10.12 Counting Above/Below Median Runs (7 runs)

B A A B A B B B A A B

Figure 10.13 Counting Up/Down Runs (8 runs)

U U D U D U D U U D
10-67 Quality Control

Run test procedure

• To determine whether any patterns are present in
control charts, one must do the following:
1. Transform the data into both A’s and B’s and U’s
and D’s, and then count the number of runs in each
case.
2. Compare the number of runs with the expected
number of runs in a completely random series, which
is calculated as follows:
N
E ( r ) med = +1
2
2N − 1
E (r ) u / d =
3
Where: N is the number of observations or data
points, and E(r) is the expected number of runs
10-68 Quality Control

Run test procedure (cont.)

3. Calculate the standard deviations of the runs as:
N −1
 med =
4
16 N − 29
u/d =
90

4. Calculate the test statistic (Ztest) as following:

observed number of runs – expected number of runs
Z test
standard deviation of number of runs
N If the Ztest is
r − ( + 1)
Z t es t = 2 For the median within ± 2 or ± 3;
N −1
4
then the process
2N − 1 is random;
r − ( )
Z t es t = 3 Up and down otherwise, it is
16 N − 29
90
not random
10-69 Quality Control

Run test
• Example sample mean sample Mean
Twenty sample means 1 10 11 10.7
have been taken from a
process. The means are 2 10.4 12 11.3
shown in the following 3 10.2 13 10.8
table. Use median and 4 11.5 14 11.8
up/down run test with
5 10.8 15 11.2
z = 2 to determine if
assignable causes of 6 11.6 16 11.6
variation are present. 7 11.1 17 11.2
Assume the median is 11. 8 11.2 18 10.6
9 10.6 19 10.7
10 10.9 20 11.9
10-70 Quality Control

Run test
• Solution
sample mean A/B U/D Sample Mean A/B U/D
1 10 B - 11 10.7 B D
2 10.4 B U 12 11.3 A U
3 10.2 B D 13 10.8 B D
4 11.5 A U 14 11.8 A U
5 10.8 B D 15 11.2 A D
6 11.6 A U 16 11.6 A U
7 11.1 A D 17 11.2 A D
8 11.2 A U 18 10.6 B D
9 10.6 B D 19 10.7 B U
10 10.9 B U 20 11.9 A U
10-71 Quality Control

Run test
Solution (cont.)
1. A/B: 10 runs and U/D: 17 runs
2. Expected number of runs for each test is:
N 20
E (r ) med = +1 = + 1 = 11
2 2 Although the median
2 N − 1 2(20) − 1
E (r ) u / d =
3
=
3
= 13 test doesn’t reveal any
pattern, because its Ztest
3. The standard deviations are: value is within ±2, the
N −1 20 − 1 up/down test does; its
 med = = = 2.18
4 4 value exceed +2.
16 N − 29 16(20) − 29 consequently,
u/d = = = 1.8
90 90 nonrandom variations
4. The ztest values are: are probably present in
Z med =
10 − 11
= −0.46
the data and, hence, the
2.18
17 − 13
process is not in control
Zu / d = = 2.22
1.8
10-72 Quality Control

Process Capability

• Tolerances or specifications
• Range of acceptable values established by
engineering design or customer requirements
• Process variability
• Natural variability in a process
• Process capability
• Process variability relative to specification
10-73 Quality Control

Capability analysis
• Capability analysis is the determination of whether the
variability inherent in the output of a process falls within
the acceptable range of variability allowed by the design
specification for the process output.
• If it is within the specifications, the process is said to be
“capable.” if it is not, the manager must decide how to
correct the situation.
• We cannot automatically assume that a process that is in
control will provide desired output. Instead, we must
specifically check whether a process is capable of meeting
specifications and not simply set up a control chart to
monitor it.
• A process should be both in control and within
specifications before production begins.
10-74 Quality Control

Process Capability
Figure 10.15
Lower Upper
Specification Specification

A. Process variability
matches specifications
Lower Upper
Specification Specification

B. Process variability
Lower Upper
well within specifications Specification Specification

C. Process variability
exceeds specifications
10-75 Quality Control

Capability analysis
• If the product doesn’t meet specifications (not capable) a
manager might consider a range of possible solutions such
as:
1. Redesign the process.
2. Use an alternative process.
3. Retain the current process but attempt to eliminate
unacceptable output using 100% inspection.
4. Examine the specifications to see whether they are
necessary or could be relaxed without adversely affecting
customer satisfaction.
10-76 Quality Control

Process Capability Ratio

Calculate the capability and compare it to
specification width. If the capability is less than the
specification width, the process is capable.
Where: Capability = 6; where  is the process SD
Or calculate
specification width
Process capability ratio, Cp =
process width

Cp = Upper specification – lower specification

6
The process is capable if Cp is at least 1.33, this ratio
implies only about 30 parts per million can be expected
to not be within the specification
10-77 Quality Control

Capability analysis
• Example
A manager has the option of using any one of three
machines for a job. The machines and their standard
deviations are listed below. Determine which machines
are capable if the specifications are 10 mm and 10.8
mm.
Machine Standard deviation
(mm)
A 0.13
B 0.08
C 0.16
10-78 Quality Control

Capability analysis
•Solution
Capability = 6

Machine Standard Machine Capable

deviation (mm) capability
A 0.13 0.78 Yes
B 0.08 0.48 Yes
C 0.16 0.96 No

It is clear that machine A and machine B are

capable, since the capability is less than the
specification width (10.8 – 10 = 0.8)
10-79 Quality Control

Capability ratio
Example
Compute the process capability ratio for each machine
in the previous example
Solution
Machine Standard Machine Cp Capable
deviation capability
(mm) 6
A 0.13 0.78 0.8/0.78= 1.03 No
B 0.08 0.48 0.8/0.48 = 1.67 Yes
C 0.16 0.96 0.8/0.96 = 0.83 No
Only machine B is capable because its ratio exceed 1.33
10-80 Quality Control

3 Sigma and 6 Sigma Quality

Lower Upper
specification specification

1.350 ppm 1.350 ppm

1.7 ppm 1.7 ppm

Process
mean
+/- 3 Sigma

+/- 6 Sigma
10-81 Quality Control

Cpk ratio
• If a process is not centered (the mean of the
process is not in the center of the specification), a
more appropriate measure of process capability is
the Cpk ratio, because it does take the process
mean into account.
• The Cpk is equal the smaller of
Upper specification – process mean
3
And
Process mean – lower specification
3
10-82 Quality Control

Cpk Ratio
• Example
A process has a mean of 9.2 grams and a standard
deviation 0f 0.3 grams. The lower specification limit
is 7.5 grams and upper specification limit is 10.5
grams. Compute Cpk
Solution
1. Compute the ratio for the lower specification:
9.2 − 7.5 1.7
= = 1.89
3(.3) 0.9
2. Compute the ratio for the upper specification:
10.5 − 9.2 1.3 The smaller of the two ratios is 1.44
= = 1.44
3(0.3) .9 (greater than 1.33), so this is the Cpk .
Therefore, the process is capable
10-83 Quality Control

Improving Process Capability

• Simplify the process

• Standardize the process

• Mistake-proof

• Upgrade equipment

• Automate
10-84 Quality Control

Improving Process Capability

Method Examples
Simplify Eliminate steps, reduce number of parts

Standardize use standard parts, standard procedure

Make Design parts that can only be assembled

mistake-proof the correct way; have simple checks to
verify a procedure has been performed
correctly
Upgrade Replace worn-out equipment; take
equipment advantage of technological improvements
Automate Substitute processing for manual
processing
10-85 Quality Control

Limitations of Capability Indexes

1. Process may not be stable

2. Process output may not be normally
distributed
3. Process not centered but Cp is used