Control charts

• Control charts, first designed by Dr. Walter A.

Shewart, are also known as Shewart charts
• It is a statistical technique for controlling the
quality of a product being manufactured
• It can predict the rejects when they are likely
to occur, which enables corrective action to be
taken before a defective product is actually
produced
 Theory of control charts
• It is well recognized that certain variations in the
quality of any product will always occur
• Natural variations follow the normal curve
• When the variations follow the normal curve, the
process is under control, otherwise, out-of-control
• If process is out-of-control, it is required to identify
the cause for the variation and try to eliminate it
» Continued…..
 Theory of control charts
• The maximum variation in the quality characteristic is +
3 σ, i.e., the variation in the quality characteristic of a
product should not exceed + 3 σ from the mean value
• Control chart is drawn by plotting mean value(μ), the
upper control limit(μ+ 3 σ), and the lower control
limit(μ- 3 σ)
• By plotting the measurements of the quality
characteristic of the products over the control chart, if
these lies in between the upper control limit(μ+ 3 σ),
and the lower control limit(μ- 3 σ) then the process is
in-control, otherwise, out-of-control
 Range control charts (R charts)
• These are used for controlling the range or
dispersion of the process producing a product
• Upper control limit = μ+3 σ, lower control limit
= μ-3 σ, where μ is mean of the sample ranges
and σ is standard deviation of sample ranges
• σ = (d3/d2)* μ, d3 and d2 vary with the
number of observations in a sample and
their values are given in a table
» Continued…..
 Range control charts (R charts)
• Upper control limit = μ+3 σ =(1+3d3/d2)* μ
=D4* μ
• lower control limit = μ-3 σ =(1-3d3/d2)* μ
=D3* μ
• The values of D3 and D4 are also given in
the table
 Construction of R charts
• The range for a sample is determined as
subtracting the lower value from the higher
one
• Determine the mean of the sample ranges
• Draw the mean value over the control chart
• Determine the upper control limit and the
lower control limit and draw them
• Plot the samples ranges over the R chart
 Analysis of R chart
• If all the points are within the UCL and the LCL
then the process is in-control , otherwise, out-
of-control
– If some of the points are lying outside the control
limits then it is required to identify the cause for
them and try to eliminate
– In case if some observation is outside the LCL then
it would be good to find the cause for this
observation
 Process capability study
• Process capability is the quality performance
capability of a process under in control conditions
– It is defined as 6 σ, where σ = μ / d2
– Process capability = 6 * μ /d2
• Process capability study is to assess whether the
process can meet the job tolerance limit for its long
run
– job tolerance limit is specified with the problem
– process capability should be less than the job tolerance
limit
 Use of control charts
• The control chart can be placed near the process so that
the operator himself can check the quality of the product
– By plotting the observed sample values over the chart , it can
be decided whether the process is in-control or out-of-control
– For the out-of-control process, cause should be identified and it
should be eliminated
• When should go for sampling it depends on the speed of
the process
– In a process with high rate of production and rapid process
drift, the sampling should be done at shorter intervals as
compared to a stable process
 Control chart of attributes
• Control chart of attributes are used in a
situation where the quality characteristics may
not be quantified
• The term defect refers to the failure of a
quality characteristic to meet the specified
standard
• The term defective designates an item with
one or more defects
» Continued……
 Control chart of attributes

• The quality of a product inspected for

attributes can be expressed as fraction
defective or defect per unit
– fraction defective= number of units found
defective / total number of units inspected
– defect per unit= total number of defects
observed / number of units inspected
 Control charts for fraction defective
• These are known as P charts, where P stands
for fraction defective
• Control limits for the P charts:
 (1   )
UCL    3    3
N
CENTRE LINE  
 (1  )
LCL    3    3 ,Where  refers to average fraction defective,
N
N refers to sample size, and  refers to s tan dard deviation
 Construction of P charts
• The fraction defective for a sample is
determined
• Determine the mean of the samples fraction
defective
• Draw the mean value over the control chart
• Determine the upper control limit and the
lower control limit and draw them
• Plot the samples ranges over the P chart
 Analysis of P chart
• If all the points are within the UCL and the LCL
then the process is in-control , otherwise, out-
of-control
– If some of the points are lying outside the control
limits then it is required to identify the causes for
them and try to eliminate them by taking some
action so that the quality can be improved
– In case if some observation is outside the LCL then
• either check the effectiveness of the inspection or find
the cause for this observation
 P charts with variable sample size
• In many cases, P charts are based on 100% inspection of
output of a process which may be varying at the time of
inspection
• In order to draw the control charts, use the average of
the sample sizes as sample size to determining the UCL
and the LCL
• Plot the samples over the P chart
• If for some of the samples, points lie beyond the UCL and
the LCL, then use their sample sizes in order to
determine the UCL and the LCL to assess whether the
process is in control or out of control
Number of defects control charts (C charts)

• C charts are used for such types of products

where some defects are always found
• Control limits for the C charts:
UCL    3    3 
CENTRE LINE  
LCL    3    3  , Where  refers to
average number of defects per unit ,
and  refers to s tan dard deviation
 Construction of C charts
• The product is inspected to determining the
number of defects
• Determine the mean of the number of defects
per unit
• Draw the mean value over the control chart
• Determine the upper control limit and the
lower control limit and draw them
• Plot the number of defects per unit over the P
chart
 Analysis of C charts
• If all the points are within the UCL and the LCL
then the process is in-control , otherwise, out-
of-control
– If some of the points are lying outside the control
limits then it is required to identify the causes for
them and try to eliminate them by taking some
action so that the quality can be improved
– In case if some observation is outside the LCL then
• either check the effectiveness of the inspection or find
the cause for this observation