Quality Control Assurance

and Reliability
Dr. Sharad Shrivastava
BITS Pilani Department of Mechanical Engineering
Pilani Campus
 Lecture 10:
Chapter 7 : Part 2
Control Charts for variables
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Control chart for the mean and
SD
S-chart is preferable for larger sample sizes (equal to or
greater than 10)

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No given standards

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BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Given standard

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BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Problem

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BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Control chart for individual
units
• If the production rate is too low
• We go for Moving Range chart
• Moving range of two values is subtracting the lesser
value

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No given standard

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BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Given standard

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Problem

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Solution

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BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Control charts for short
production runs
• Shorter production runs are due to product specialization
and being responsive to customer needs
• Eg: A company assembles computers based on
customer orders. There is no guarantee that the next 50
orders will be for a computer with same hardware and
software
• X-bar and R-chart for shorter production runs
• Calculation of deviation from nominal value
Xi=Oi-Ni

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Z-MR chart

When individual data are obtained on quality characteristic,

an approach is to construct z-chart and MR-chart
Z=(moving value-process mean)/ process SD
Process SD for group I is estimated by
σi=MRi/d2
The relative-to-size option assumes that variability
increases with the magnitude of the quality characteristic
The constant option that pools all data assumes that the
variability associated with all groups is the same

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BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Other control charts

Cumulative sum control chart for the process mean

• Cumsum considers previous sample data also

• For a sample size of 1 this is more useful

• It shows even minor changes also

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 Chapter 8
Control Charts for Attributes
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Control Charts

There are two types of control charts that we deal with.

 Variables Control Charts

These charts are applied to data that follow a continuous
distribution.

 Attributes Control Charts

These charts are applied to data that follow a discrete
distribution.

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Attributes Data

Data that can be classified into one of several categories or

classifications is known as attribute data.

Classifications such as conforming and nonconforming are

commonly used in qualitycontrol.

Another example of attributes data is the count of defects

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 Types of attributes control chart

p chart
This chart shows the fraction of nonconforming or defective
product produced by a manufacturing process.
It is also called the control chart for fraction nonconforming.
np chart
This chart shows the number of nonconforming. Almost the
same as the p chart.
c chart
This shows the number of defects or nonconformities
produced by a manufacturing process.
u charts
This chart shows the nonconformities per unit produced by a
manufacturing process. BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
 Control Charts for Fraction Nonconforming

Fraction nonconforming is the ratio of the number of

nonconforming items in a population to the total number of
items in that population.

Control charts for fraction nonconforming are based on the

binomial distribution.

A quality characteristic follows a binomial distribution if:

 All trials are independent.
 Each outcome is either a “success” or “failure”
 The probability of success on any trial is given as p. The probability of a failure is 1-p
 The probability of a success is constant

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Binomial distribution

where L is the “distance” of the of the

control limits from the centre line,
expressed in standard deviation units.

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P Chart

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p-Chart construction for constant
subgroup size

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Trial and Revised Control Limits

 Control limits that are based on a preliminary set of data

can often be referred to as trial control limits.

 The quality characteristic is plotted against the trial limits, if

any points plot out of control, assignable causes should be
investigated and points removed.

With removal of the points, the limits are then recalculated.

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Example

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Sol:

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 Interpretation of Points on the Control Chart for
Fraction Nonconforming

 Care must be exercised in interpreting points that plot below the lower
control limit.

 They often do not indicate a real improvement in process quality.

They are frequently caused by errors in the inspection process or improperly

calibrated test and inspection equipment.

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Example

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Sol:

The control chart is shown below.

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Sol:

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Sol:

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Sol:

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 Sol:

The revised center line and control limits are shown on the
control chart in Fig. . Note that we have not dropped samples
15 and 23 from the chart, but they have been excluded from
the control limit calculations, and we have noted this directly
on the control chart. This annotation of the control chart to
indicate unusual points, process adjustments, or the type of
investigation made at a particular point in time forms a useful
record for future process analysis and should become a
standard practice in control chart usage.

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Design of the Fraction Nonconforming
Control Chart (np Chart)

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Example on np chart

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Sol:

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Control charts for variable
sample size

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Consider the following example
&Variable-width control limits:

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Sol:

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Control limit based on average
sample size

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Sol:

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The Standardized Control
Chart.
The third approach to dealing with variable sample size is to
use a standardized control chart, where the points are
plotted in standard deviation units. Such a control chart has
the center line at zero, and upper and lower control limits of
+3 and −3, respectively. The variable plotted on the chart is

where p (or if no standard is given) is the process fraction nonconforming in the

in-control
state

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BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Sol:

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Control Charts for Nonconformities
(Defects) – c Chart

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Example

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Sol:

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Control Chart for Nonconformities
per unit (u chart)

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Example

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Sol:

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Indications that special causes of
variations are present

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u Chart – variable width control limit

In a textile finishing plant, dyed cloth inspected for the

occurrence of defects per 50 m2. The data on 10 rolls of
cloth are shown in the table.

Set up a control chart for nonconformities per unit.

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Sol:

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Application of Control Charts

• The control chart, though originally developed for quality

control in manufacturing, is applicable to all sorts of
repetitive activities in any kind of organization.

• They can be used for services as well as products, for

people, machines, cost, and so on.
For example, we can plot errors on engineering drawings,
errors on plans and documents, and errors in computer
software as c or u charts.

• Sometimes, the quality control engineer has a choice

between variable control charts and attribute control charts.

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Advantages of attribute control charts

• Allowing for quick summaries, that is, the engineer may

simply classify products as acceptable or unacceptable,
based on various quality criteria.

• Thus, attribute charts sometimes bypass the need for

expensive, precise devices and time consuming
measurement procedures.

• More easily understood by managers unfamiliar with quality

control procedures.

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Advantages of variable control charts

• More sensitive than attribute control charts.

• Therefore, variable control charts may alert us to quality

problems before any actual "unacceptables" (as detected by
the attribute chart) will occur.

• Montgomery (1985) calls the variable control charts leading

indicators of trouble that will sound an alarm before the
number of rejects (scrap) increases in the production
process.

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Review

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Example
• What is the difference between a defect and
defective?
• The following tabulation gives defects
observed in an aircraft sub assembly
operation and shows the number of units
produced on each day during a week.
Prepare an U-chart for this. Assume U’=4.2
Mon Tue Wed Thurs Fri Sat

n 5 5 5 5 4 5

c 19 25 15 29 36 27
Sol:

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BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Example

The upper and lower control limits for a p chart are: LCL = 0
and UCL = 0.20. Determine the minimum possible sample
size n that is compatible with this control chart

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 Sol:

Solution:

p = 0.5(UCL + LCL) = 0.5(.20 + 0) = 0.10

LCL = p - 3 p(1− p) / n = 0

Therefore, p = 3 p(1− p) / n
0.10 = 3 0.10( 0.90 ) / n
(0.10)2 = 0.01 = 32 (0.10)(0.90)/n = 0.81/n
n = 0.81/0.01 = 81

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