Statistical Process Control (SPC)

With statistical process control (SPC), you can:

SPC is a philosophy that emphasizes the use of statistical techniques, such as control charts, in all areas of a company to make continuous improvements in quality and productivity by reducing variation in processes.

SPC uses control charts to analyze a process or its outputs and take appropriate actions to achieve and maintain a state of statistical control. A process is in statistical control (“in control”) when all special causes of variation have been eliminated and only common causes remain, i.e., observed variation can be attributed to a constant system of chance causes. A process in statistical control can be described by a predictable distribution. 

Some of the important benefits of using SPC and the corresponding control charts are:

Several statistical tests (alarm rules) can be used to determine whether a control chart is "in control". A predefined battery of alarm rules has been implemented in IFS/Quality Management – Statistical Process Control. One or more of these alarm rules can be activated. If an alarm rule violation occurs for an activated alarm rule, information about the alarm rule violation is displayed in the control chart page.

If any of these alarm rules are violated, corrective action should be considered.

There are numerous types of control charts that can be used for different situations. The picture below describes the most commonly used control charts and when to use them:

 

The formulas used to calculate these different types of control charts are:

The values for the constants A2, A3, D3, D4, B3, B4 and E2 can be found in any Statistical Table. n =sample size, p = (number of defective in sample) / (number of items in sample), n (sample size)*((total number of defective samples) / (total number of samples)), c = number of defects counted in a sample, u = (number of defects counted in a sample) / (number of items in a sample).

Control charts are typically displayed graphically.