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Leave A Comment: by Dennis Craggs
Leave A Comment: by Dennis Craggs
Introduction
Statistical Process Controls (SPC) is a suite of methods that can be employed to
control a manufacturing or assembly process. It has a wide range of potential
applications ranging from consumer products to defense. It can be employed at
the lowest element of component manufacturing or an assembly operation.
Fundamental Assumptions
• The process is stable and in control.
• The data are independent of each other.
• The data of each subgroup are identically distributed.
• Real valued data are approximately normally distributed and counting
data may be approximated by the normal distribution.
• A measurement can occur in only one subgroup, i.e., sampling without
replacement.
The challenge is to identify potential special causes before defects occur. Special
causes can come from materials, methods, personnel, tools, machinery, and the
environment. In modern manufacturing software controls and electronics need to
be considered. A process FMEA should be created and reviewed by a team of
design, manufacturing, and quality engineers plus experienced line personnel. For
carryover processes with minor modifications, the team should focus on prior
failure modes and the modifications.
Independence
The standard statistical assumption is that the data is independent and
uncorrelated with the prior values. Any variation is from common causes. An
example of a correlated process is the flight path of an aircraft. The current
position is determined by the prior flight history, i.e., position and velocity.
Embedded in the flight data is both common cause and special cause. A special
cause would be changes in the flight controls. A common cause would be
instrument measurement errors.
In manufacturing, tool wear is a cause of variation for some processes. The process
average is constantly shifting, but at a known rate. About the expected average,
there is variation due to common cause. The data can be corrected to account for
the shift in the process average and the remaining variation should be common
cause. A special SPC chart called the Average and Moving range can be used.
Distributions
The data from a stable controlled process can be described by statistical
distribution appropriate to the type of data:
Conclusions
If a process is stable and in control, the individual data are independent, data
variation is due to common cause, then SPC methods may be used. The
appropriate statistical method depends on the type of data to be analyzed.
Future articles in this series present further discussion of data types, the
appropriate distribution, and how to construct control charts. The next article
considers continuous variable measurement data, the normal distribution, and
control charts. Understanding the construction of the charts builds an
understanding of how to use the charts.
Note
If anybody wants to engage me as a consultant or trainer on this or other topics,
please contact me. I have worked in Quality, Reliability, Applied Statistics, and Data
Analytics over 30 years in design engineering and manufacturing. In the university, I
taught at the graduate level. Also, I provide Minitab seminars to corporate clients,
write articles, and have presented and written papers at SAE, ISSAT, and ASQ. I
want to assist you.
https://accendoreliability.com/spc-assumptions/