QUALITY CONTROL AND ASSUARANCE.

MEU 08206.

Lecture 2.
QUALITY CONTROL TOOLS.
 CONTROL
• The process through which the specifications/performance are established and
met with standards is called control. This process consists of observing our
activity performance, comparing the performance with some standard and
then taking action if the observed performance is significantly too different
from the standards.
• The control process involves a universal sequence of steps as follows:
i. Choose the control object
ii. Choose a unit of measure
iii. Set the standard value
iv. Choose a sensing device which can measure
v. Measure actual performance
vi. Interpret the difference between actual and standard
vii. Taking action.
 QUALITY CONTROL (QC)
• Quality Control (QC) may be defined as a system that is used to maintain a
desired level of quality in a product or service. It is a systematic control of various
factors that affect the quality of the product. It depends on materials, tools,
machines, type of labour, working conditions etc.
• According to Juran “Quality control is the regulatory process through which we
measure actual quality performance, compare it with standards, and act on the
difference”.
• Another definition of quality control is from ANSI/ASQC standard (1978) quality
control is defined as “The operational techniques and the activities which sustain
a quality of product or service that will satisfy given needs; also the use of such
techniques and activities”.
• Alford and Beatty define QC as “In the broad sense, quality control is the
mechanism by which products are made to measure up to specifications
determined from customers, demands and transformed into sales engineering and
manufacturing requirements, it is concerned with making things right rather than
discovering and rejecting those made wrong”.
 TYPES OF QUALITY CONTROL
• Quality control can be divided into three main types, those are:
i. Off-line quality control: Its procedure deal with measures to select and
choose controllable product and process parameters in such a way that the
deviation between the product or process output and the standard will be
minimized. Much of this task is accomplished through product and process
design. Example: Taguchi method, principles of experimental design etc.
ii. Statistical process control: SPC involves comparing the output of a process
or a service with a standard and taking remedial actions in case of a
discrepancy between the two. It also involves determining whether a process
can produce a product that meets desired specification or requirements.
iii. Acceptance sampling plans: A plan that determines the number of items to
sample and the acceptance criteria of the lot, based on meeting certain
stipulated conditions (such as the risk of rejecting a good lot or accepting a
bad lot) is known as an acceptance sampling plan.
 STEPS IN QUALITY CONTROL
Following are the steps in quality control process:
i. Establish standards: Determine the quality standards or specifications that
products or services must meet.
ii. Set up the quality control systems: Implement processes and procedures
to ensure adherence to the established standards.
iii. Quality inspection: Inspect products or services at various stages of
production or delivery. There are two methods of inspection. They are:
100% inspection and sampling inspection.
• 100% Inspection - This type will involve careful inspection in detail of
quality at each strategic point or stage of manufacture where the test is
involved is non-destructive and every piece is separately inspected. It
requires more number of inspectors and hence it is a costly method. It is
suitable only when a small number of pieces are there or a very high degree
of quality is required. Example: Jet engines, aircraft, medical and scientific
equipment.
• Sampling Inspection - In this method randomly selected samples are
inspected. Samples taken from different patches of products are
representatives. If the sample proves defective, the entire concerned is to be
rejected or recovered. Sampling inspection is cheaper and quicker. It
requires less number of Inspectors. Example: Electrical bulbs, beverages,
etc.
iv. Detect deviations: Identify defects or deviations from set standards.
v. Corrective actions: Take corrective actions or necessary changes when
defects or deviations are found to achieve standards.
vi. Continuous improvement: Continuously monitor and improve quality
control processes to prevent defects and enhance overall quality.
vii. Feedback loop: Gather feedback from customers, employees and other
stakeholders to identify areas for improvement and adjust quality control
measures accordingly.
 QUALITY CONTROL TOOLS.
The first guru who proposed seven basic tools was Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa in
1968, by publishing a book entitled “Gemba no QC Shuho” that was
concerned managing quality through techniques and practices for Japanese
firms.
It is in this book that the seven basic quality control tools were first proposed.
valuable resource when applying the seven basic tools and (Omachonu Ross,
2004).
These seven basic quality control tools are : 1) Check sheets; 2) Flow/Run
charts (Trend Analysis); 3) Histograms; 4) Pareto charts; 5) Cause-and-effect
(Fishbone) diagrams; 6) Scatter diagrams; 7) Control charts.
Statistical process control (SPC) is a powerful collection of problem-
solving tools useful in achieving process stability and improving capability
through the reduction of variability. These tools, often called “the
magnificent seven,”
Figure 1 indicates the relationships among these seven tools and their
utilizations for the identification and analysis of improvement of quality
(Kerzner, 2009).

Figure 1: The seven quality control tools (Kerzner, 2009).

QC tools are the means for collecting data, analyzing data, identifying root
causes of any problems and measuring the results. These tools are used to
 IMPORTANCE OF QUALITY CONTROL TOOLS.
i. Track quality performance and trends
ii. Identify the existence of quality problems
iii. Analyze and gain insights into the causes and sources of quality
problems
iv. Figure out which problems to address
v. Help eliminate quality problems

Task:
Why we need to control quality?
What are the objectives, benefits and drawbacks of quality control?
What are the objectives, drawbacks and types of inspection?
Why are exactly seven tools?
 1. Check sheet
• In the early stages of process improvement, it will often become necessary to
collect either historical or current operating data about the process under
investigation.
• Check sheets facilitate systematic record keeping or data collection
observations are recorded as they happen which reveals patterns or trends.
Data collection through the use of a checklist is often the first step in analysis
of quality problem.
• A check sheet is a form used to record the frequency of occurrence of certain
product or service characteristics related to quality. Check sheet is a statistical
quality control tool which allow the user to collect data from a process in an
easy, systematic, and organized manner. The characteristics may be
measurable on a continuous scale such as weight, diameter, time or length.
• Also, data collected using check sheets can be used as input data for other
quality tools such as Pareto diagrams.
• There are four main types of check sheets used for data collection.
i. Defective Item Check Sheet: This type of check sheet is used to identify
what types of problems or defects are occurring in the process. Usually
these check sheets will have a list of the defects or problems that may occur
in the process. The type of data used in the defective item check sheets is
countable data. Table 1 below shows an example of a defective item check
sheet for the wave solder manufacturing process.
Table 1: Wave Solder Defect Count.
ii. Defective Location Check Sheet: These type of check sheets are used to
identify the location of the defect on the product. They are used when the
external appearance of the product is important. Usually this type of
check sheet consists of a picture of the product. On this picture, marks
can be made to indicate were defects are occurring on the surface of the
product.
iii. Defective Cause Check Sheet: This type of check sheet tries to identify
causes of a problem or a defect. More than one variable is monitored
when collecting data for this type of check sheets. For example, we could
be collecting data about the type of machine, operator, date, and time on
the same check sheet. Table 2 below is an example of this type of check
sheets.
• Table 2: Defect cause check sheet.

iv. Checkup Confirmation Check Sheet: This type of check sheet is used to
ensure that proper procedures are being followed. These check sheets usually
will have a list of tasks that need to be accomplished before the action can be
taken. Examples of checkup confirmation check sheets are final inspection,
machine maintenance, operation checks, and service performance check
sheets.
• Generally, the form of the check sheet is individualized for each situation
and is designed by the project team.
• When designing a check sheet, it is important to clearly specify the type of
data to be collected, the part or operation number, the date, the analyst, and
any other information useful in diagnosing the cause of poor performance. If
the check sheet is the basis for performing further calculations or is used as a
worksheet for data entry into a computer, then it is important to be sure that
the check sheet will be adequate for this purpose.
• Whenever possible, check sheets are also designed to show location.
 2. HISTOGRAM
• A histogram is a tool for summarizing, analyzing, and displaying data or A
histogram is a type of bar graph that displays the frequency distribution of the
data. It provides the user with a graphical representation of the amount of
variation found in a set of data. Histograms sort observations or data points,
which are measurable data, into categories and describe the frequency of the
data found in each category. the bar height indicates the number of times a
particular quality characteristic was observed.
• Figure 3 illustrates a histogram of the frequency of defects in a
manufacturing process.

Figure 3: Histogram for variables

 Features of a Histogram

• The following seven features make a histogram an excellent visualization

tool.
i. Easy to Understand and Interpret
You can understand a histogram in just seconds. It's really simple to read and
interpret.
ii. Quickly Visualized
Because a histogram is simple to create, you can quickly generate it. That
makes it easy to spot trends and anomalies.
iii. Helps You Detect Trends
When you see a histogram, you usually want to know where the peaks and
valleys are located. This helps you detect trends.
iv. Helps You Identify Anomalies
An anomaly occurs when a new event takes place. If you look at a
histogram, you may notice a spike or dip in one of the bars. This tells you
that an event took place in that data range.
v. Great For Large Datasets
Histograms are great for analyzing large datasets because they don't take up
much space on the screen. You can easily visualize thousands of data points
without having to scroll around.
 3. PARETO CHARTS
• A Pareto chart is a type of chart that contains both bars and a line graph,
where individual values are represented in descending order by bars, and
the cumulative total is represented by the line. It indicates the frequency of
defects, as well as their cumulative impact. Pareto Charts are useful to find
the defects to prioritize in order to observe the greatest overall
improvement.
• Pareto charts help prioritize by arranging them in decreasing order of
importance. In an environment of limited resources these diagrams help
companies to decide on the order in which they should address problems. Is
simply a frequency distribution of attribute data arranged by category.
• Pareto diagrams can be distinguished from histograms by the fact that the
horizontal scale of a Pareto is categorical, whereas the scale for the
histogram is numerical.
• The aim of Pareto chart is to figure out the different kind of
“nonconformity” from data figures, maintenance data, repair data, parts
scrap rates, or other sources. Also, Pareto chart can generate a mean for
investigating concerning quality improvement, and improving efficiency,
“material waste, energy conservation, safety issues, cost reductions”, etc.
• It contains both bars and a line graph, where individual values are
represented in descending order by bars, and the cumulative total is
represented by the line.
• It indicates the frequency of defects, as well as their cumulative impact.
Pareto Charts are useful to find the defects to prioritize in order to observe
the greatest overall improvement.
• Refer to the Fig. 4 below that shows a Pareto chart of shirts defects.

Figure 4: Pareto Chart for the defects in shirts.

There are three axes in this chart: X, Y, and Z which represent the following:
• X-axis shows the different types, or categories, of defects
• Y-axis shows how often these defects occur
• Z-axis represents the cumulative percentage
• To plot the cumulative percentage line, you’ll need to get your calculator out
and work out the cumulative percentage for each defect using this formula:
= x 100%
• Each bar usually represents a type of defect or problem. The height of the
bar represents any important unit of measure — often the frequency of
occurrence or cost.
• The bars are presented in descending order (from tallest to shortest).
Therefore, you can see which defects are more frequent at a glance.
• The line represents the cumulative percentage of defects.
 4. SCATTER DIAGRAMS
• A scatter diagram is a non-mathematical or graphical approach for
identifying relationships or correlations that might exist between two
different numeric variables on horizontal and vertical axis of a graph.
• It often indicates the relationship between two variables. They are often
used as follow-ups to a cause and effect analysis to determine whether a
stated cause truly does impact the quality characteristics.
• This graphical approach is quick, easy to communicate to others, and
generally easy to interpret.
• The shape of the scatter diagram often indicates what type of relationship
may exist between the two variables.
• Figure 5 shows a scatter diagram with correlations and without
correlations.
Figure 5: The scatter diagrams
 5. CONTROL CHARTS
• It can be defined as a graph used to study how a process changes over time.
They are used to monitor and control process on an ongoing basis. Data are
plotted in time order.
• A control chart always has a central line for the average, an upper line for
the upper control limit, and a lower line for the lower control limit.
• These lines are determined from historical data. By comparing current data
to these lines, you can draw conclusions about whether the process
variation is consistent (in control) or is unpredictable (out of control,
affected by special causes of variation).
• Also, they help to detect variations outside the normal operational limits,
and to identify the cause of variations.
• Figure 6 shows a generalized representation of a control chart.
Figure 6: Control charts
 6. FLOW CHART
• A flowchart is a type of diagram that represents a workflow or process. It
shows the sequence of events in a process.
• A flowchart can also be defined as a diagrammatic representation of an
algorithm, a step-by-step approach to solving a task. The flowchart shows
the steps as boxes of various kinds, and their order by connecting the
boxes with arrows.
• They are used for manufacturing and service operations. Flow charts are
often used to diagram operational procedures to simplify the system.
• They can identify bottlenecks, redundant steps and non-value added
activities. A realistic flow chart can be constructed by using the knowledge
of the person who are directly involved in the particular process. The flow
chart can be identifies where delays can occur.
Figure 6: Flowchart
 7. CAUSE AND EFFECT DIAGRAM
• A cause and effect diagram examines why something happened or might
happen by organizing potential causes into smaller categories.
• It shows and identifies systematic relationships between an effect and its
possible causes on the process.
• The cause-and-effect diagram is the only tool of the seven tools that is not
based on statistics. This chart is simply a means of visualizing how the
various factors associated with a process affect the process’s output.
• It is sometimes called as Fish-bone diagram or Ishikawa diagram.
• One of the reasons cause & effect diagrams are also called fishbone
diagrams is because the completed diagram ends up looking like a fish's
skeleton with the fish head to the right of the diagram and the bones
branching off behind it to the left.
• The main quality problem is referred to Fish-head; the major categories
of potential cause structural bones and the likely specific causes to ribs.
It explores possible causes of problems, with the intention being to
discover the root causes.
• Figure 7 is the completed fishbone diagram. It presents a picture of the
major factors that can cause Quality problems and, in turn, the smaller
factors that affect the major factors.
Figure 7: Fishbone diagram
 CONCLUSION
The quality tools provide a suite of methods for quality analysis and control:
• Histograms, run charts, control charts can identify problems.
• Fishbone is used to brainstorm possible causes.
• Scatter plots can be used to analyze whether relationships exist.
• Pareto analysis identifies which causes are most worth addressing.
• Checklists, templates, process definition and workflow automation can
prevent problems.
What to Learn About Each Tool?
• What is the tool?
• How is it used?
• For what purposes is it useful?
• What value does it add?
• What are its limitations?
• How can it be used effectively?