Statisitical Process Control (SPC)
The Problems
Statistical Process Control (SPC) is a method of monitoring a process during its operation in order to control the quality of the products while they are being produced—rather than relying on inspection to find problems after the fact. The value of SPC is that by monitoring the process you can identify and take action on special causes of variation and other non-normal processing conditions; therefore, bringing the process under statistical control and reducing variation.
Manufacturing organizations are looking for SPC to help them with the following areas:
- Improve Product Quality – One way to improve product quality is to reduce the variation in the output of your process. By identifying the sources of variability that go into the manufacture of your product, and using SPC to analyze their impact, identify problems, and monitor the results you can improve achieve your quality goals.
- Reduce Scrap and Rework – Scrap and rework costs consist not only of lost labor and material, but the unexpected organizational cost on managing and handling these scrapped parts. Since SPC analysis provides trends of your process capabilities you can take action to correct process problems before scrap is generated.
- Increase Manufacturing Yield – Fewer scrapped parts means a higher yield for your investment in materials and equipment. It also means a more productive workforce.
- Meet Customer Requirements – You customers want to see evidence that your processes will product parts that meet their requirements. In the Automotive industry, the TS 16949 standard specifically calls for evidence that your organization can use SPC for the monitoring and measurement of your process capabilities. Implementing SPC allows you to satisfy your customer while improving your product.
The Needs
How do you solve these problems? See what the ideal solution provides