Control chart for attributes

introduction
• Variable control charts (x, R, s) are for quality
characteristics that can be numerically measured
• Many quality characteristics can be observed only
as attributes, i.e. by classifying into one of
– ‘Conforming’ / non-defective, accepted, etc.
– ‘Non-conforming’ / defective, rejected, etc.
• Several control charts may be used:
– The control chart for fraction nonconforming (p chart)
– The control chart for number of nonconforming items (np
chart)
– The control chart for nonconformities (c chart)
– The control chart for nonconformities per unit (u chart)
introduction
• Example:
Consider a glass container for a liquid product. We examine a
container for the presence of gas bubble on the glass, and
classify it into one of the categories called “nonconforming”
(if the glass contains one or more bubbles) or “conforming” (if
it does not)
• p-chart  fraction/percentage of nonconforming unit in
sample
• np-chart  number of nonconforming unit in sample
• c-chart  number of nonconformities (bubble spots) in all
unit in sample
• u-chart  number of nonconformities (bubble spots) per
inspection unit
p-chart :: statistical basis
• The fraction nonconforming is defined as the
ratio of the number of nonconforming items in a
population to the total number of items in that
population

• The statistic principles underlying the p chart

are based on the binomial distribution:
– random sample of n units of product is selected,
– p is probability of a unit being nonconforming,
– D is the number of units that are nonconforming,
– then the random variable D follows binomial distribution
with parameters n and p
p-chart :: statistical basis
• The probability of D equals value x:
n x
P ( D  x)    p (1  p ) n  x x  0, 1, ..., n
 x
• The mean and variance of D:
 D  np
 D 2  np(1  p)
• Sample fraction nonconforming is defined as:
D
ˆp 
n
• The mean and variance of random variable p̂ :
 pˆ  p
2 p(1  p )
 pˆ 
n
p-chart :: control limits
• If value of p is known or specified as standard:
p (1  p )
UCL  p  3
n
CenterLine  p
p (1  p )
LCL  p  3
n

• In-control  p̂ within limits & no non-random

behaviours
• Out-of-control  p̂ outside limits or there exist
non-random behaviours
p-chart :: control limits
• If value of p is not known  create trial chart
using m preliminary samples, each of size n
m m

 D  pˆ
i i
p i 1
 i 1

mn m

p (1  p )
UCL  p  3
n
CenterLine  p
p (1  p )
LCL  p  3
n
p-chart :: example
Frozen orange juice concentrate is packed in 6-
oz cardboard cans. These cans are formed on a
machine by spinning them from cardboard stock
and attaching a metal bottom panel. By
inspection of a can, we may determine
whether, when filled, it could possibly leak
either on the side seam or around the bottom
joint. Such a nonconforming can has an
improper seal on either the side seam or the
bottom panel. We wish to set up a control chart
to improve the fraction of nonconforming cans
produced by this machine.
p-chart :: example

Data of 30 preliminary samples, each of size 50:

p-chart :: example :: trial chart
• Estimate p:
m

D i
347
p i 1
  0.2313
mn (30)(50)

• Calculate control limits:

p (1  p )
CL  p  3
n
0.2313(1  0.2313)
CL  0.2313  3
50
CL  0.2313  0.1789

UCL  0.4102
CenterLine  0.2313
LCL  0.0524
p-chart :: example :: trial chart
Analysis of the data
Out of control indicates:
Sample 15: new
batch of material
Sample 23:
temporary
inexperienced
operator

Sample 15 and 23
should be eliminated,
then revise control
chart.
p-chart :: example :: trial chart (revision)
• Estimate p (with sample 15 & 23 discarded):
m

D i
301
p i 1
  0.2150
mn (28)(50)

• Calculate new control limits:

p (1  p )
CL  p  3
n
0.2150(1  0.2150)
CL  0.2150  3
50
CL  0.2150  0.1743

UCL  0.3893
CenterLine  0.2150
LCL  0.0407
p-chart :: example :: trial chart (revision)
Note that sample 21
now exceeds the
UCL, but
observations
conclude that there is
no assignable cause

This control chart

can be used for
future samples
(monitoring
current
production)
p-chart :: example :: process improvement
• Although the process is in control, the fraction
nonconforming is much too high
• The process quality can be improved (by
management action, not operator action)
• The engineering staff concludes that several
adjustments can be made on the machine to
improve performance
• The followings are 24 samples of n = 50 that are
taken during the next three shifts after the
adjustments. These samples are plotted on the
control chart
p-chart :: example :: process improvement
p-chart :: example :: process improvement

Below the LCL but no assignable cause. This

could be because of the improvement made.
p-chart :: example :: process improvement
• Immediate impression: the process is now
operating in a new quality level substantially
better than the center line level of 0.2150
• From hypothesis testing of two binomial
parameters, it is concluded that the two
streams of data are statistically diferent 
there has been a significant decrease in the
process fallout
• Therefore, control limits of p chart should be
revised again
p-chart :: example :: chart revision
• Estimate p (using sample 31 - 54):
p  0.1108

• Calculate new control limits:

p (1  p )
CL  p  3
n
0.1108(1  0.1108)
CL  0.1108  3
50
CL  0.1108  0.1332

UCL  0.2440
CenterLine  0.1108
LCL  0.0224  0
p-chart :: example :: chart revision
p-chart :: example :: chart usage
We can then collect more samples and use the p chart
p-chart :: example :: chart usage
p-chart :: chart design
• The parameters for the control chart that must
be specified:
– The sample size
– The frequency of sampling
– The width of the control limits
• It is relatively common to base a p-chart on
100% inspection of all process output
• We should generally select a sampling
frequency appropriate for the production rate
• Rational subgrouping may also play a role in
determining the sampling frequency (by shift,
daily, weekly, by Production Order, etc.)
p-chart :: chart design
• If p is very small, we should then choose n
sufficiently large so that we have a high
probability of finding at least one nonconforming
unit in the sample
• Suppose p = 0.01 and n = 8. We find that:
p (1  p ) 0.01(1  0.01)
CL  p  3  0.01  3  0.1155
n 8

• If there is a nonconforming item in the sample:

1
pˆ   0.1250
8
• It is unreasonable in many cases to conclude that
the process is out of control on observing a single
nonconforming item
p-chart :: chart design
• We should choose n so that the probability of
finding at least one nonconforming unit per
sample is at least 
• Suppose that p = 0.01, and  = 0.95:
– We want to find n such that P(D1)  0.95
– Using the Poisson approximation to Binomial, we find
from the cumulative Poisson table that  = np must
exceed 3
– This means that n >= 3/0.01 = 300
p-chart :: chart design
• Sample sizes should be large enough that we
have approximately a 50% chance of detecting
a process shift of some specified amount
(Duncan (1986))
• Suppose p = 0.01 and we want the probability
of detecting a shift to p = 0.05 to be 0.50. If 
is the magnitude of the process shift (in this
case from p = 0.01 to p = 0.05), n must satisfy:
p(1  p )
 L
n
L 2 3
n  ( ) p(1  p )  ( )2 (0.01)(0.99)  56
 0.05  0.01
p-chart :: chart design
• If the in control value of the fraction
nonconforming is small, another useful criterion
is to choose n large enough so that the control
chart will have a positive lower control limit
p(1  p) (1  p) 2
LCL  p  L 0 n L
n p
• If p = 0.05 and three sigma limits are used, the
sample size must be (1  0.05) 2
n (3)  171
0.05
• If n  171, the control chart will have a positive
LCL
p-chart :: variable sample size

• In some applications, the sample is 100%

inspection over some period of time 
variable sample size
• There are three approaches:
– Variable-width control limits
– Control limits based on an average sample
size
– The standardized control chart
p-chart :: variable sample size
p-chart :: variable sample size :: 1

• Variable sample size  variable control

limits
• p estimation:
25

D i
234
p i 1
25
  0.096
(2450)
n
i 1
i

• Control limits:
(0.096)(0.904)
CL  p  3ˆ p  0.096  3
ni
p-chart :: variable sample size :: 1
p-chart :: variable sample size :: 2

• When variation in sample size is not too

great  control limits calculation can be
based on average sample size
• Average sample size:
25

 n 2450 i
n i 1
  98
25 25

• Control limits:
p (1  p ) (0.096)(0.904)
UCL  p  3  0.096  3  0.185
n 98
p (1  p ) (0.096)(0.904)
LCL  p  3  0.096  3  0.007
n 98
p-chart :: variable sample size :: 2
p-chart :: variable sample size :: 3
• Use standardized control chart, where points are
plotted in standard deviation units
• Calculate Zi:
pˆ i  p
Zi 
p (1  p )
ni

• Center line = 0, UCL = +3, LCL = -3

p-chart :: variable sample size :: 3
np-chart
• np-chart is based on the number nonconforming
rather than fraction nonconforming
• np-chart should only be used when size of
sample (n) does not vary between samples
• Control limits for np-chart:
UCL  np  3 np (1  p )
CenterLine  np
LCL  np  3 np (1  p )

• np-chart is easier to interpret

np-chart :: example

• From the data: n = 50 and p = 0.2313

np-chart :: example

• The parameter of the np control chart would be

UCL  (50)(0.2313)  3 (50)(0.2313)(0.7687)  20.510
CenterLine  np  (50)(0.2313)  11.565
LCL  (50)(0.2313)  3 (50)(0.2313)(0.7687)  2.620

20.510 21 The number of

nonconforming
11.565 items is an
integer
2.620 2
p-chart :: oc curve
• The probability of type II error for the fraction
nonconforming control chart may be computed
from:
  P{ pˆ  UCL p}  P{ pˆ  LCL p}
  P{D  nUCL p}  P{D  nLCL p}

• Example: n = 50, UCL = 0.3697, LCL = 0.0303

  P{D  (50)(0.3697) p}  P{D  (50)(0.0303) p}
  P{D  18.49 p}  P{D  1.52 p}
  P{D  18 p}  P{D  1 p}
p-chart :: oc curve
p-chart :: oc curve