Statistical Process Control

Content

2 Introduction

3 SPC and Leadership

4 Effect of SPC in the Front Line Staff

5 Data collection

6 SPC and Process Management

7 SPC and Management Targets

8 Process Variability

9 Process Capability

10 Continuous Improvement

11 SPC and Training

12 Conclusion

13 References
13.1 Books
13.2 Internet

2 Introduction

This paper discusses the impact of SPC for an organization. What SPC can do for an organization as well as what the organization has to provide for SPC to work successfully. This paper doesn’t discuss, how SPC works or how it can be installed into an organization. It discusses the requirements for SPC to work successfully as well as the output of SPC, and how it can be used for the organization to move forward, on the basis of organization, which do already use SPC successfully.

(Oakland 1990 a) Statistic process control (SPC) is a strategy for reducing variability, the cause of most quality problems. Variation of products can be caused by nearly everything, delivering times, in ways of doing things, raw material, people attitudes, equipment, and its use, maintenance, and so one. SPC can help to improve processes continually by reducing its variability. The basic question therefore, which should be asked recurrently is:

Can we do the job more consistently?

Therefore, there must be willingness, to implement changes in every parts of business, to achieve continuous improvement. SPC is not just control; it enables reliable and consistent processes, and continuous improvement, which is important to fulfil long-term requirements of the customers, and the company. Quality can’t be inspected it must be built.

Therefore creating quality is not the job of the quality department, it’s the job of everybody in the company. Knowledge of the current statement of the process is essential for both operational as well as strategic decisions for design and technology functions.

The following questions helps to get this information, which should be asked contiguously.

- Can we do the job correctly?
- Are we doing the job correctly?
- Have we done the job correctly?
- Could we do the job better?

3 SPC and Leadership

(Evans 1993 a) Before quality can be introduced into a process, the right managerial techniques must be instituted and followed. Leadership means organizing human and capital resources in order to produce a quality product or service. Leadership means to foresee the development of the products, and providing a motivating climate for people while controlling processes. SPC can help to make the right strategic decisions, for continuous improvement of quality and products on the one side. On the other side SPC needs self-responsible and motivated worker to work successfully, to install such a climate is the duty of leadership.

(Evans 1993 b) During the 1970s the Florida Power Light Company became a bureaucratic and inflexible organisation, because they have focused too much on costs, therefore everything was centralized. Also employees were not really included into improvements. In the 1980s they changed their system to a much flexile and decentralized ones. Supervisors were expected to train their employees and play more the role of a coach. The result was that employees were much more motivated, and suggestions for improvement increased from 600 to 25.000 per year, which had considerable effects on quality of their products.

4 Effect of SPC in the Front Line Staff

(Cottman 1993 a) Quality of a product begins at the basic level of an organisation. It begins with the individual worker and requires innovative thinking, and teamwork. SPC methods must recognize personal involvement. SPC cannot ensure, that a process remains in control; individuals bring it about. Quality cannot be achieved into a product without quality being achieved by each individual.

Therefore responsibility must be transferred from the management level down to the individual worker. Which will lead to higher motivated worker, following the most important motivation theories like Herzbergs Motivational Factors or Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. And if motivation of employees increases, normally productivity of them will increase too. This sounds simple, but to be able to transfer responsibility to the individual worker, they must be able to deal with it. Therefore a lot of training, and knowledge about the process and SPC is required.

(Evans 1993 c) The Jacksonville Naval Aviation Depot developed a continuous improvement strategy designed to maximize worker improvement ideas and to implement them quickly. Therefore they have organized workers into teams and have reduced management barriers. They have installed a computer system, which generates quick information for the front line staff. So they were able to solve problems much quicker. The management was forced to draw attention to workers suggestions, und to implement their improvement ideas as quick as possible. Which increased the motivation level of the workforce, and saved millions of dollars for the company.

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