What is Statistical Process Control (SPC)?

Statistical Process Control (SPC) is a scientific method for quality and process control. It is an inexpensive tool to monitor processes and predict their performance. It is most often used in manufacturing industries. SPC services and analysis may be applied to almost any repeatable process including healthcare, finance, and back office operations.

SPC techniques were developed in 1924 by Walter A. Shewhart. Shewhart was an engineer in Bell Laboratories. SPC came into widespread use in the United States during World War II. The techniques were largely forgotten in the U.S. after the war until the 1980s. That was when American manufacturing leaders woke up to discover that Japanese manufacturers were gaining market share due to superior quality and lower costs.

Real-time Statistical Process Control (SPC) Charts monitor and predict the performance of any process.

How does SPC work?

SPC works by periodic sampling of a production process, rather than 100% inspection. Sampling is much less expensive than 100% inspection. It is also more accurate because it is much less likely to produce fatigue in the inspector.

Engineers (or inspectors or machine operators) use computer software or pencil and paper to plot the sample data on a graph. This graph is called an SPC Control Chart. There are many types of control charts, depending on the type and source of data.

With a very small statistical sample, trained engineers (or computer software) can evaluate the statistical probability that the process is “stable” or “unstable.” Stable processes are left alone. Unstable processes are said to be “out of control.” Out of control processes are examined and stabilized.

What about meeting customer specifications?

One of the most common misconceptions is that a stable (in control) process is “in spec.” The truth is that a process can be stable and produce out-of-specification parts that don’t meet the customer’s needs.

The SPC Control Chart tells the user that the process is predictable. It doesn’t tell the user if it can meet the customer’s needs.

To know if a process is meeting the customer’s needs, the data sample is plotted on another graph—the Distribution Histogram.

The Distribution Histogram is sometimes called a Capability Histogram (or a Cpk Chart, or several other names) because it tells the user whether the process is capable of meeting the customer’s requirements.

Statistical Process Control (SPC) Distribution Histogram tells you whether a process is meeting customer expectations.

Why use Statistical Process Control software?

SPC systems give you immediate, objective knowledge about your processes. With this knowledge you can:

Respond to problems early and faster
Empower people to make better decisions
Reduce scrap, waste, and rework
Reduce material costs
Increase throughput
Increase customer responsiveness
Increase supply chain flexibility
Shift from an opinion-driven culture to a data and fact-driven culture

For stories where people like you have realized these benefits, see these case studies:

Multi-National Electronics Manufacturer Improves Quality Across Supply Chain – Disparate Systems Impact Manufacturing Quality Due to Lack of Visibility Across Silos and a Reliance on Manual Approaches
Multi-plant Packaging Company Drives Revenue Improvement by Boosting Line Speeds 15-20% Over Name Plate Capacity – Frustration Exposes Opportunity to Harmonize Quality System
PLZ Aeroscience Improves Production Control, Increases Sales – Improvement in Control Leads to Sales Growth, More Consistent Products, and Line Speeds Increasing by up to 20%
Creating a Data-Driven Culture Results in 90% Reduction in Scrap – Multi-plant Manufacturer Reduces Escaped Defects From 8% to Less Than 0.5%

Why real-time?

The sooner you know about problems, the sooner you can take corrective action.

Sampling frequency matters. People who deploy manual systems may only have the time to collect the data once or twice a shift. If they detect a problem during the inspection, then they probably have to isolate and inspect all of the product produced since the last inspection. This can be very expensive and time-consuming, and result in high levels of scrap or rework.

More frequent inspections (hourly or twice-hourly) greatly reduce the time a process can run amok before a problem is addressed.

Automated, real-time systems such as GainSeeker Suite SPC software reduce the effort and time required to inspect product, record data, and analyze the process for stability.

Why drill down?

Real-time product quality and process performance data is a valuable corporate asset. It becomes even more valuable when it is married or tagged with detailed information about the context of the data. This context (or tag or traceability) data makes it possible to drill down to root cause of problems.

This context information might include:

Operator
Material lot
Supplier
Machine
Tool
Plant
Serial #
And so forth

This contextual information can help you answer these kinds of questions:

What happens to this output variable when I change material suppliers?
Does this product perform better on machine A or machine b?
Do I get the same product regardless of who is operating the machine?
Do my customers get the same product regardless of which facility in my supply chain produces it?

Tagging detailed information with contextual information is best done through automated integration with systems of record, or collected through bar codes and other equipment directly from the machine operator or inspector.

Statistical Process Control (SPC) Drill Down helps you get to root cause.

Why GainSeeker Suite SPC Software for Statistical Process Control?

GainSeeker Suite is the real-time manufacturing intelligence platform with very robust tools for automating Statistical Process Control.

Some of the key capabilities include:

Connectors to any automated data source to streamline automation and data connectivity
User-configurable scripting to empower your team to manage your deployment
Robust charting and analytics tools
Data wizards that quickly and automatically make the root cause of variation visible
Role-based dashboards that deliver the right information to the right people in real-time

Gainseeker
Platform

Statistical Process Control (SPC)

In this article