Quality Glossary Definition: Control chart Show
Also called: Shewhart chart, statistical process control chart The control chart is a graph used to study how a process changes over time. Data are plotted in time order. A control chart always has a central line for the average, an upper line for the upper control limit, and a lower line for the lower control limit. These lines are determined from historical data. By comparing current data to these lines, you can draw conclusions about whether the process variation is consistent (in control) or is unpredictable (out of control, affected by special causes of variation). This versatile data collection and analysis tool can be used by a variety of industries and is considered one of the seven basic quality tools. Control charts for variable data are used in pairs. The top chart monitors the average, or the centering of the distribution of data from the process. The bottom chart monitors the range, or the width of the distribution. If your data were shots in target practice, the average is where the shots are clustering, and the range is how tightly they are clustered. Control charts for attribute data are used singly.
Control Chart Example When to Use a Control Chart
Basic Procedure
Create a control chartSee a sample control chart and create your own with the control chart template (Excel). Control Chart ResourcesYou can also search articles, case studies, and publications for control chart resources. BooksThe Quality Toolbox Innovative Control Charting Improving Healthcare With Control Charts Case StudiesUsing Control Charts In A Healthcare Setting (PDF) This teaching case study features characters, hospitals, and healthcare data that are all fictional. Upon use of the case study in classrooms or organizations, readers should be able to create a control chart and interpret its results, and identify situations that would be appropriate for control chart analysis. Quality Quandaries: Interpretation Of Signals From Runs Rules In Shewhart Control Charts (Quality Engineering) The example of Douwe Egberts, a Dutch tea and coffee manufacturer/distributor, demonstrates how run rules and a Shewhart control chart can be used as an effective statistical process control tool. ArticlesSpatial Control Charts For The Mean (Journal of Quality Technology) The properties of this control chart for the means of a spatial process are explored with simulated data and the method is illustrated with an example using ultrasonic technology to obtain nondestructive measurements of bottle thickness. A Robust Standard Deviation Control Chart (Technometrics) Most robust estimators in the literature are robust against either diffuse disturbances or localized disturbances but not both. The authors propose an intuitive algorithm that is robust against both types of disturbance and has better overall performance than existing estimators. VideosControl Chart Excerpted from The Quality Toolbox, ASQ Quality Press. A Control Chart shows how a process varies over time while identifying special causes of variation and changes in performance. Similar to a run chart, it includes statistically generated upper and lower control limits. This type of chart prevents changing a process that is varying randomly within the control limits (no special cause present). Variables data in a control chart measure units in length, temperature, etc. Purpose of Control ChartsThe purpose of a control chart is to show Program Managers and project personnel if a process is varying over time which will allow them to correct those processes if needed. Best Time to Use a Control ChartDetermining the best time to use a control chart is important. The following is a list of when it’s a good time to use a control chart.
When Not to Use a Control ChartUnless the process question is clearly identified and the data supports an investigation of the process to control, control charts should not be the first tool used to analyze data. Steps in Developing a Control ChartDeveloping a control chart involves the following list of steps and activities:
Control Charts use two types of data:
Control Chart Negative OutcomesDefective: A unit that fails to meet acceptance criteria due to one or more defects. Defective data is used when a quality characteristic of an item cannot be easily measured but can be classified as conforming or non-conforming. It involves the fraction, or percent of defectives in a sample, and are represented in either an np chart or an n chart. Defect: A failure to meet one part of the acceptance criteria. Defect data is used when the quality of the item can be determined by the number of defects in the item or by counting the number of occurrences of some event per unit of time. The data can be shown in either the c chart or the u chart. AcqLinks and References:Updated: 7/11/2021 Rank: G27.2 |