SPC Demystified - InfinityQS Partner Program...SPC Demystified. by Douglas C. Fair, Chief Operating...

SPC Demystified

by Douglas C. Fair,Chief Operating Officer, InfinityQS

Statistical Process Control Enables Manufacturers to Easily Fix Problems— and Prevent Them

Copyright © InfinityQS International, Inc. All rights reserved.

What is SPC? If you are new to Statistical Process Control (SPC), this can be a daunting question. SPC is everywhere in manufacturing—yet there may still be some who either don’t know about it or are intimidated by the concept. I mean, after all, “statistics” is right there in the name, right? Some people may have bad memories of advanced maths in school.

The answer to “what is SPC?” is not simple, but it shouldn’t be scary either. Hopefully this brief will help demystify the term, alleviate any fears you may have, and answer any lingering questions.

Why Should I Use SPC?In short, Enact® works the way manufacturers do: it mirrors the manufacturing process, and provides visibility and insight that go beyond traditional quality systems—offering opportunities for global transformation of product quality and competitiveness.

We all know that manufacturing is a highly competitive industry, and that manufacturers are only as good as their processes. Your organization is judged by the quality and volume of products that your processes produce. But there are struggles, most notably:

› Reducing scrap, waste, defects, and rework

› Improving product quality

› Eliminating variation in processes

› Maintaining compliance with regulatory and customer requirements

However, you may be looking for better methods: not just to fix problems but prevent them. Not just to eliminate variations but to improve the bottom line. And not just to improve quality—but to never ship a bad product again.

Let’s look at how using a modern approach to SPC methods using real-time quality data can help you achieve the operational excellence you need—but even more importantly, let’s look at how the transformation you’re looking for is actually within your grasp.


Defining SPCAt InfinityQS®, we define SPC as a “methodology for measuring and controlling quality during the manufacturing process.” We’re known as the SPC experts in the manufacturing industry. It’s our bread and butter, you might say.

We look at SPC as the culmination of all the aspects of maintaining and improving quality in your manufacturing environment, including:

› Data collection

› Notification

› Prioritizing

› Analyzing

› Reporting

› Making decisions that transform your business

Let’s look at each of these aspects of SPC—and how they fit into the overall scheme—so we can demystify the term.

Modern Data CollectionSPC data collection can set the stage for significant process and product improvements. Your SPC system can become the foundation for greatly reducing risk, waste, and defects. But if you want the system to work right, you’ll need to take a long, hard look at how you collect data.

Ditch the Paper

Manual data collection can introduce errors, such as:

› Data written on paper may be illegible or misinterpreted

› Numbers could be accidentally transposed

› The paper might be lost or damaged

› If transferring data from paper to an electronic system, numbers might be misread or entered incorrectly

› Storing (and then finding) paper data is a challenge

Operators enjoy working with software that makes data collection fast and easy. They will thank you if you implement a system that reduces their burden and eliminates the hassles associated with juggling paper and spreadsheets.

It’s time to go digital, and there are several data collection technologies you might consider. You’ll want to consider electronic data collection features for hand-held gauges, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), pre-existing databases, and manufacturing execution and enterprise resource planning systems. Those types of data should be able to be captured automatically, without engaging an operator.

Barcode scanners are a fast, convenient, and inexpensive means for entering defects data or associating information (such as purchase order numbers, lot codes, and other descriptive fields) to data that are being captured by operators and inspectors.


Operator Notifications & AlarmsSPC works best when your system sends reminders to operators and inspectors when data collections are required. That’s critical. You need to know if those data collections did or didn’t occur as scheduled. If data collections are missed or skipped, you should be notified—and reports should tell you what was missed and why.

For example, say you need data from a specific product feature to be collected each hour. Instead of asking your busy operators to remember to gather data every 60 minutes, they can instead concentrate on their production tasks and forget about watching the clock—secure in the knowledge that they will receive a notification when it’s time for a quality check.

Beyond Notifications: Keeping an Eye on Quality

Your SPC system can alert your team immediately whenever issues occur, or when violations are triggered on the shop floor.

Real-time alarms can help mitigate the damaging consequences of undetected excessive variation, unsafe products, unbalanced ingredients, and much more. Whether visual or auditory, alarms catch the user’s attention and reach them wherever they are—whenever a violation occurs.

Prioritizing Your Quality EffortsSo, what do you do with data that didn’t trigger alarms? What do you do with the tremendous amount of data that falls within spec limits?

If your SPC system doesn’t currently store data in a centralized data repository, it should—and here’s why. When all your data is stored in one place, intelligent aggregation can be performed at the drop of a hat. Aggregating large amounts of data across multiple lines or plants enables you rapidly understand the big quality picture, which can help drive strategies that can transform organizational performance.

Imagine rolling up and viewing all your data on a single screen, exposing where your company has the greatest opportunities for improvement. You can now quickly and easily determine where to initiate improvement projects that

could make the greatest positive impact on quality and costs.

Essentially, we’re talking about prioritizing your quality improvement efforts—we’re not talking about analyzing data that triggered alerts and alarms. Aggregating all your quality data—even the values that fall within specification limits—will enable you to pinpoint and prioritize where to deploy your scarce and valuable quality experts and resources to generate the biggest bang for your buck, as quickly as possible.

It’s a brave new world.


Analyzing Your Data for Useful InformationYour quality professionals, engineers, and Six Sigma teams are the analysts who extract “data gold” in the form of pertinent information from the big quality picture. The big quality picture does not provide the detailed information that can be acted upon; instead, it’s used for guidance and prioritization for where to focus improvement efforts.

As adept as analysts are at extracting the details, they first need to be directed to where opportunities for improvement lie. The prioritization you just performed—in which you aggregated all your data and identified the high priority items—is the map that highlights opportunities for improvement and defines where your analysis experts need to dig.

And let ‘em dig! Your SPC solution can help them uncover the gold hidden in your data. Their success means that you will know exactly where the issues lie, and how the most impactful improvements can benefit your operations.

Your analysts should be able to identify process improvements that will enhance quality in a specific area, which can then be turned into best practices that can be applied across the enterprise. In this way, your data miners will be able to break down your priorities into information that can be acted upon to help transform performance.

Reporting Your ResultsNow your data experts can take the analysis they have performed on your quality data and report to local teams: operations directors, plant managers, quality managers, and other operations personnel. Data experts should have one goal in mind: convincing the local plant team that the valuable information they’ve uncovered will dramatically improve operations.

The information conveyed by these data experts is critial—it’s organization-changing. The reason that data experts need to be convincing is to get buy-in from plant personnel. The real work—the change that needs to occur in any organization—takes place at the plant level. The people working on the shop floor put the plans conjured up by data experts into action.


Transforming Your BusinessSo, your quality experts have made their pitch—a variety of recommendations for improvement—and the recipients, the local operations people on the shop floor, are skeptical. But, they’re convinced enough, and maybe even curious enough that they want to try something—maybe just one small thing—on a limited basis.

Let’s say they try one of the recommendations, gather data from a line or across multiple lines, and compare the results to the data collected prior to deploying the recommendations. This is generally when they have their “aha!” moment. They quickly understand that data can be converted into incredibly useful, operationally beneficial information—even when generated by corporate people (who reside outside of the manufacturing plant).

Think about the benefits that moments like these can have for an organization. Suddenly people realize that the corporate quality experts are truly interested in supporting plant operations. They realize that everyone really is “in this together,” and perhaps they even see what they can do to support company success.

It is very satisfying to see that data, that information, provide valuable insights. And success—as we all know—brings people together, helps get everyone involved, and makes every one of your employees an engaged stakeholder.

In ConclusionSo, there’s the answer to the “what is SPC?” question. It’s not simple, but it shouldn’t be scary anymore, either. Remember, you’re only as good as your processes—and your organization will be judged by the quality and volume of products your processes produce.

Now that SPC has been demystified, you can see that it can help fix problems—and prevent them. On the plant floor: reduce waste, defects, rework, and scrap; improve product quality; and eliminate process variation. At the corporate level: improve the bottom line, reduce risk, and transform how your organization looks at quality.

InfinityQS International, Inc. | Washington DC | Seattle | London | Beijing | Delhi | www.infinityqs.com


Partner Program Headquarters InfinityQS Europe, Ltd.730 Capability Green Luton, BedfordshireLU1 3LUUnited Kingdom

T/ +44 (0)1582 380560 E/ [email protected]

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Corporate HeadquartersInfinityQS International, Inc.12601 Fair Lakes CircleSuite 250Fairfax, VA 22033USA

T/ +1-703.961.0200E/ [email protected]

A seasoned quality professional with 30 years of experience in manufacturing, analytics, and statistical applications, Douglas C. Fair serves as Chief Operating Officer for InfinityQS. Before joining InfinityQS in 1997, Doug began his career at the Boeing Aerospace Company and spent several years working as a quality systems consultant for Fortune 500 companies.

Doug earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Statistics from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee, a Six Sigma Black Belt from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and is a senior member of the American Society for Quality.

About Douglas C. Fair, Chief Operating Officer, InfinityQS

SPC Demystified - InfinityQS Partner Program...SPC Demystified. by Douglas C. Fair, Chief Operating...

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