Automating Quality Management with SPC Software

Similarly, when it comes to monitoring and identifying process variations from the data, operators don’t have to sit and stare at their dashboards and charts waiting for something out of the ordinary to pop up. That’s because—in addition to role-based dashboards that present the most important information to users according to their job—SPC solutions can automatically catch potentially harmful events and send alerts to the appropriate team members—alerting them to go in and review the problem. It may be that a process is out of specification or there was a missed or late data collection.

From their dashboards, operators can readily see if they have a queue of events in need of attention (see Figure 1). Defined workflows then take the guesswork out of problem resolution with prescribed actions that walk them through the necessary remedial steps, ensuring consistency in the proper handling of issues. Additional documentation noted on each event can also provide contextual information to prevent reoccurrences.

Dashboards for quality or plant managers would be slightly different; they would offer more oversight across operations, including events that are currently outstanding and team members who need to take action. This fosters better accountability so that individual events are quickly addressed before they escalate into larger quality concerns.

Automate the Grade

When quality teams are free from worrying about firefighting, missed data collections, and constant process monitoring, they can dedicate more time to examining their data to find ways to improve their processes and prevent issues, as well as to prioritize where to expend their resources. At the same time, though, trying to figure out where these opportunities lie can be overwhelming, given the huge volume of data coming from the production line. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack or digging for buried treasure without the benefit of a treasure map.

“Stream grading” is one innovative way that SPC software can help manufacturers dig through the deluge of data and surface process improvement knowledge. Stream grading is a function in which the software automatically processes unique streams of data from different products, lines, and features and applies SPC methods to provide a letter-number grade representing the expected and potential yield for a specific stream. When manufacturers standardize on an SPC software and centralize data collection across multiple plants, they can achieve enterprise visibility to compare the grades (i.e., performance) between sites and reveal opportunities for global improvements.

Here’s how the letter grades work: A grade of A, B, or C indicates the potential yield of each stream. In other words, how wide is the distribution compared to the specification limits? Grade A means the stream’s distribution is very skinny and could potentially fall well within the specification limits. Conversely, grade C indicates the stream’s distribution does not fit within the specification limits. For the numbers, a rank of 1, 2, or 3 represents the stream’s actual yield performance—in other words, how well the distribution is centered within the specification limits. A value of 1 means that the process is perfectly centered, 2 means it is off center, and 3 shows that it is way off center.

Combined, an A1 grade is a high-yield stream that is meeting its full potential, while a C3 grade is a low-yield stream that is not meeting its potential. The greatest opportunities for improvement are the A3 grades, which demonstrate that a stream is highly capable but is currently very off center. Small adjustments here can present huge returns in process improvement. The grading’s simple letter–number combinations (and color coding) make it easy for quality professionals to quickly uncover insights buried within their data and, in an agile way, prioritize their efforts and resources for continuous improvement.