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Wikipedia says:
Some organizations who use quality or six sigma as one of their improvement
tools might use statistical process control charts to get their process under
control.
Process Control Charts simply track the
performance of a process over time.
As long as a process is performing within a certain
range, that process is said to be under control.
Statistical Process Control (SPC) is an effective method of
monitoring a process through the use of control charts. Much of its
power lies in the ability to monitor both process center and its
variation about that center. By collecting data from samples at various
points within the process, variations in the process that may affect the
quality of the end product or service can be detected and corrected,
thus reducing waste as well as the likelihood that problems will be
passed on to the customer. It has an emphasis on early detection and
prevention of problems.
The theory of Statistical Process control says that an organization does not
want to waste time chasing random change, but rather wants to focus on trends or
results outside some predetermined range.
For example, a parent might decide that their child and they have agreed to a
target grade of 90. They may have set a range of plus or minus 3 grade points
which is 87 to 93. As long as their child stays within this range then the
parent and child would say the child's process for studying and taking tests is
in control Should the child's grade drop below 87 then tutoring may be invoked.
If the child gets over 93 then the parents may be more open to looser
restrictions on the child's play time.
Although process control charts can get very involved using statistics, they
can also be employed in a very simple way as described in the student example
above.
Process control techniques have been around for over 100 years and are well
proven. The problem with process control techniques like control charts is that
employees may not consistently collect the data needed to determine if process
control has been achieved.
Process Control simply means that a process must be able to work within a
certain range before an organization can start work on process improvement.
Once a process is in control, an organization can start improving that
process. Improving a process prior to getting it under control is often a waste
of time because employees won't know what is causing the process to have large
variations. If there are a number of drivers causing these large variations then
how would anyone know how important each driver is.
In some cases everyone knows the process is broken. In this case, it may make
sense to throw out the old process and just redesign or reengineer a new
process.
Process control techniques have been around for over 100 years and are well
proven. The problem with process control techniques like control charts is that
employees may not consistently collect the data needed to determine if process
control has been achieved.
Process Control Charts are often thought of as being a Quality
Management or Six Sigma Tool.
Call John Antos at 972-980-7407 to find out more
about Process Control Charts and Process Management.
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