STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL
DEFINATION
Statistical Quality Control (S.Q.C.) is a technique of maintaining the quality of goods
produced according to pre- determined level. Under this technique, characteristics of
the product are determined before its production and efforts are made to minimize
chance variations and to eliminate assignable variations by testing the product on
random basis in different phases of production.
MEANING OF THE WORDS
(a) STATISTICAL
This word explains that the technique of S.Q.C. is primarily based on statistical
methods and analysis.
(b) QUALITY
The word refers to the pre-determined properties, characteristics or standards
in respect of goods to be produced or services to be rendered. The term quality
does not describe good or bad quality but just refers to pre-determined
characteristics of the product.
(c) CONTROL
The term refers to maintain production process and products within the range
of pre-decided standards. If there are variances, their causes are identified. If
these causes are assignable, they are controlled, otherwise the process is
deemed to be out of control.
OBJECTIVES AND FUNCTIONS
(1) DETERMINATION OF SPECIFICATIONS
Properties, standards and qualities of the goods to be produced are
determined which may be economically viable and technically practicable.
(2) PRODUCTION ACCORDING TO SPECIFICATION
To carry on the production process as per pre-determined standards and
for this purpose necessary inspection is made at different stages.
(3) ANALYSIS OF VARIANCES
To find out variances in the quality of goods manufactured. If it is due to
random causes, efforts are made to minimize it and if it is due to
assignable causes necessary corrective measures are taken to eliminate
them.
(4) DEVELOPMENT OF QUALITY CONSCIOUSNESS
Helps to develop quality consciousness in the organization. It improves the
morale of employees and motivates them to maintain the desired
standard of quality.
(5) REDUCTION IN WASTAGES
It minimise the production of defective units and to control defects in
production process. It helps in reduction of wastages and cost of
production.
(6) SATISFACTION OF CUSTOMERS
Efforts are also made to provide maximum satisfaction to customers by
producing quality goods. It increases the goodwill of the product.
(7) RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
R & D activities are also undertaken in order to improve the process and
quality of production under S.Q.C.
ADVANTAGES OR IMPORTANCE
(1) ECONOMY IN INSPECTION
S.Q.C. is based on sampling inspection in place of 100% inspection. It
saves time, labour and money.
(2) EARLY DETECTION OF FAULTS
S.Q.C. implies inspection of manufacturing process at different stages on
continuous basis. It ensures an early detection of faults and, hence, a
minimum waste of rejected production.
(3) PROPER ANALYSIS OF VARIATION
S.Q.C. involves in finding out variations in the quality of product. If they
exist, proper analysis is made if assignable causes are identified,
necessary corrective measures are taken. It helps in smoothening the
production system.
(4) QUALITY CONSCIOUSNESS
S.Q.C. creates quality consciousness among producers, employees and
customers. The producers determine the quality, the employees do work
accordingly and the customers can estimate the reliability of the product
on this basis.
(5) EVALUATION OF VARIOUS COMPONENTS OF PRODUCTION SYSTEM
S.Q.C. helps in the evaluation of the various components of production
system. If there are variations and assignable causes are identified, it can
be found out whether raw materials is defective of labour is inefficient
or machines require replacement.
(6) REDUCTION IN COST
S.Q.C. it is possible to remove constraints in the production system, to
prevent unnecessary wastage and to avoid unnecessary inspection.it all
reduces the cost of production.
(7) BALANCE BETWEEN THE RISKS OF PRODUCERS AND CONSUMERS
S.Q.C. balances the risk of producers and consumers. On one hand, the
product having variation within control limits cannot be rejected by the
consumers and on the other hand producers cannot force the consumers
to accept the product with variations beyond these limits.
(8) KNOWLEDGE OF IMPACT OF CHANGE IN PRODUCTION SYSYTEM
If any change is introduced in raw material, labour, machine of
production process,one can easily analyses the impact of such change
with the help of control charts and utility of change can be evaluated.
(9) MORE RELIABILITY IN RESULTS
In S.Q.C. the work of sampling inspection is done very minutely. It
increases the possibility of more reliable results.
(10) EASY CO-ORDINATION
S.Q.C. makes it easier to co-ordinate the three important aspects of
production management, i.e., specification, production and inspection.
METHODS,AREAS,ASPECTS, TYPES OR TECHNIQUES
ASPECTS OR TYPES COVERED IN THE AREA OF S.Q.C ARE
1. PROCESS CONTROL
Under process control the production process of the product under production
is controlled, so that the final product maybe as per pre-determined standard.
It is important that process control is used not only in manufacturing process
but it can also be used in clerical process. The main instrument of process
control is CONTROL CHART. The advantages of process control are as follows:
(a) Defects in manufacturing process are detected at early stage.
(b) Once defects are detected, corrective measures can be taken as well as cost
and labour related to inspection at succeeding stages are reduced
automatically.
(c) Due to reduction in proportion of defective units, the rate of rejection in
product control also goes down.
(d) Variations due to random causes can be identified.
(e) The work of co-ordination between specification, production and inspection
goes on continuously.
2. PRODUCT CONTROL
It is also called ACCEPTANCE CONTROL or ACCEPTANCE SAMPLING. It is
concerned with the inspection of finished goods and decision that whether it is
according to the prescribed standard or not. It is important that through
product control effort is made to establish balance between the risks of
producer and consumer and it is assured to consumers that the product to be
delivered will definitely be within certain limits of prescribed standard.
DIIFERENCE BETWEEN PROCESS CONTROL AND PRODUCT CONTROL
BASIS OF DIFFERENCE PROCESS CONTROL PRODUCT CONTROL
1. STAGE OF It is concerned with the It is concerned with the
CONTROL control on processes inspection of the quality
employed during of the finished good.
manufacturing.
2. OBJECTIVE It decides whether the It inspects whether the
process is in the state of finished goods are of
control or not. prescribed standard or
not.
3. TECHNIQUE Control chart is used. Acceptance sampling is
used.
4. DECISION AND In process control, the In product control the
SOLUTION variation due to purchaser takes decision
assignable causes are of accepting or rejecting a
resolved. lot of products.
5. BASIS It is the bases of product Process control is the
control. bases of product control.
CONTROL CHARTS
MEANING
Control chart is a graphical method to control the quality of goods under
manufacturing process. It is based on sampling and probability, on which the quality
of the product is plotted. Its main objective is to disclose whether the manufacturing
process is in the state of control or not, so that in case of not being in the state of
control necessary corrective measures may be taken and the product may be
completed according to pre-determined specifications.
ADVANTAGES
1. INFORMATION AT A GLANCE
Control chart gives a view at a glance whether the process is in the state of
control or not.
2. CONTINUOUS INFORMATION
It provides information related to quality on continuous basis.
3. ECONOMIC
These charts are very economical because their preparation and inspection of
samples for this purpose is not very expensive.
4. CORRECTION OF ERRORS
The variations in quality of product are dotted on the control chart accordingly
necessary corrective measures may be taken.
5. KNOWLEDGE OF CHANGE IN PROCESS
If any change is made in respect of raw material, labour or machine, their
effects can be easily understood and analysed with the help of control chart.
6. HELP IN FUTURE ESTIMATES AND PLANNING
It can be known from control chart that if the process is in the state of control,
then to what extent success can be achieved in producing the goods according
to specifications. Moreover, these charts help in determining specifications in
future.
FORMS OF CONTROL CHART
A control chart consists of three horizontal parallel lines, on which measurement
related to various samples are plotted. These three lines are:
1. CENTRAL LINE (CL)
This line passes through the middle of the chart and represents the average
value of the plotted statistic for a large number of samples. It expresses the
prescribed standard of quality of the product in process. If the manufacturing
process is in perfect or ideal state of control, the points of all samples will
coincide with this line.
2. UPPER CONTROL LINE (UCL)
The upper control or TOLERANCE LIMIT is known by adding thrice of standard
error to have the average value of the process and it is shown in the chart by a
dotted line above and parallel to the central line.
3. LOWER CONTROL LINE (LCL)
This line is drawn on the values obtained by deducting thrice of standard error
from the average of the process and is also known as LOWER TOLERANCE
LIMIT. It is shown by a dotted line that passes through the chart below and
parallel to the central line.
TYPES OF CONTROL CHART
1. MEAN CHART OR X CHART
This chart provides an ongoing check of the quality averages of the samples
drawn from the production process and the main objective of this chart is to
scrutinize whether the averages of quantitative measurements of different
samples are in the state of control or not.
2. RANGE CHART OR R-CHART
It is used to show the variability or dispersion of the quality produced by a given
process. This chart explains the position of variation in the range of different
samples in comparison to average range. The range of sample means the
difference between the largest and the smallest measurement in the sample.
3. S.D. CHART OR CHART
This is an ideal measure of dispersion, S.D Chart can also be used to fulfill the
objective of R-Chart.
CONTROL CHARTS FOR ATTRIBUTES
When such quality characteristics is to be controlled, which cannot be
measured directly in quantitative measurement then control charts for
attributes are used. For this purpose, the product is divided as ‘defective’ and
‘non-defective’ or ‘acceptable’ or ‘non-acceptable’.
It should be noted that from the view of control chart there is a difference
between ‘defect’ and ‘defective’. Defect is a situation when the product does
not meet specifications, while defective item is one which contains defects
more than acceptable numbers.
Control charts for attributes can be of three types:
(1) CONTROL CHART FOR FRACTION OR PROPORTION OF DEFECTIVES OR p-
chart:
This chart is used when the items included in samples are divided as
‘defectives’ and ‘non-defectives’ and the main objective of this chart is to
control the proportion of defective items. The process of its construction is
as follows:
(a) Fraction or proportion of defectives: first of all, the fraction or
proportion of defectives in each sample is calculated as follows:
P=no. of defective units in the sample
Size of sample (total no. of units)
(b) Central line : the average of defectives in various samples (p) is obtained
which work as the value of central line as explained below:
Central line =(p) = Total no. of defectives in all the samples
Total no. of items in all the samples (n x k )
(c) Control Limits: The basis of this chart is binomial distribution. So the
control limits are determined as follows:
(d) Plotting and Interpretation: The points of all the samples are plotted on the
graph paper and it is observed that all the points are within control limits or
not. If some points are out of control limits, the process is said to be out of
control. If a point goes above the UCL, it reflects the lack of statistical
control. Such a point is called as High spot which indicates deterioration in
the lot quality. If a point goes below the LCL, it exhibits lack of control. Such
a point is called as Low Spot, which indicates improvement in the quality.
Note:
• The value of p cannot be negative. Hence if the value of LCL comes in
negative, it should be treated as Zero.
• p-chart can be prepared in terms of percentage.
• If the size of the sample differs, there will be different control limit
for different sizes. However, the central line will be common. Such
control limits are known as Variable Control Limits.’
• If the proportion of defective units is known on the basis of past
experience, then the central line and control line are determined the
basis of these past records.
(2) Control chart for number of defectives or np-chart:
If the size of all samples is the same, the construction of np-chart is more
convenient. The process of its construction is as follows:
(a) Central Line : the value of central line for this chart is equal to the value
of np, which is calculated as follows:
Central line or np = Total no. of defectives items in all samples
No. of samples
(b) Control Limits: The values of control lines are determined on the basis
of + 3 S.E by using the following formulae:
UCL=np + 3 n p q LCL=np=3 n p q
(3) Control chart for number of defects per unit or c-chart:
c-chart is constructed to control the number of defects per unit of the
product, such as number of spots in plates, no. of defects in carpets, etc.
The process of its construction is as follows:
(a) Central line: if the number of defects is known on the basis of past
experience, it is assumed as the value of c. If it is not known, then the
value of c is obtained by dividing the total of defects in all units inspected
by the number of units, i.e.,
Central Line=c= c=Total No. of defects in all observed units
k Number of units
(b) Control Limits: the control limit of c – chart is based on Poisson
Distribution, which are obtained as follow:
p-chart vs. np- chart
The appearance and interpretation of p-chart and np- chart remains almost similar.
p-chart is prepared on the basis of proportion or percentage of defective units, while
np- chart is prepared on the basis of number of defective units. In case p-chart size of
each sample need not be equal but in case of np-chart it is necessary that the size of
each sample must be equal.
