The applications of Shewhart control charts are endless, and the analytical methodology of Statistical Process Control (SPC) is still innovative.
Shewhart control charts are the main analytical tool of Statistical Process Control (SPC), successfully used in industry, commerce, services, healthcare, sports, education, environmental monitoring, insurance, security, government and space (see examples below).
The innovativeness of Shewhart's control chart methodology is also confirmed by the fact that even those familiar with control charts first-hand in most cases did not have the opportunity to use them to their full potential.
“There is no substitute for knowledge. But the prospect of using knowledge is scary.”
Understanding theories of variability and the use of Shewhart control charts at all levels of company management, without exaggeration, is of the utmost importance for the competitiveness of Russian industry.
For example, in manufacturing, the use of Shewhart control charts allows you to find problems as soon as they appear and react correctly to them without committing errors of the first and second kind , even before they become the cause of defects and alterations.
Shewhart's control charts are indispensable for improving any company's business processes, the quality of products and services produced, increasing the efficiency of the company's personnel and operate at a new, previously inaccessible level of efficiency of decisions made - without new equipment and without new people¹ . Open solutions And articles in the field of fundamental knowledge presented on our website are intended to indicate only some examples of such solutions.
“What is not in the books, unclear, or even unknown to quality control engineers is that the same control charts that send statistical signals to the production worker also provide management with a measure of the totality of problems related to the system itself (common causes).
Again, systemic (general) causes are management challenges.”
Explanation of the quote by Edwards Deming (Sergey P. Grigoryev)
When a Shewhart control chart shows evidence of the presence of special causes of variability according to Western Electric zonal criteria , this indicates unstable (unpredictable) behavior of the process and indicates to the production worker that the variations observed in the “red” points are due to special reasons that should be eliminated and, if it cannot be eliminated at once, taken under control - this in most cases can be done at the shop level.
At the same time, the control limits (upper and lower red lines) of an unstable process demonstrate the minimum potential of the process state to which it will come after eliminating special causes at the shop level. These same control limits and process position (Central Line, CL) demonstrate a condition due to general (systemic) reasons, when further improvements in the vast majority of cases depend on how the process is designed, and this is within the competence of the company's top management. But systemic changes should be undertaken only after the specific causes of variation have been eliminated! Otherwise, you will not be able to evaluate their effectiveness.
If the Shewhart control chart demonstrates stable (predictable) behavior of the process - the control limits and average of the process demonstrate that the process is in the best state of which it is capable in the existing system of common causes. And if this state of the process does not satisfy the requirements for it, then only systemic changes can improve the state of affairs, and this is subject only to the top management of the company, but not to the shop floor. The stable state of the process will allow you to track the effectiveness of attempts made to improve the system in which this process operates.
Demanding that shop staff independently improve a stable process means creating demotivating conditions for workers in which small and big lies are born. And any sincere attempts by the working staff to improve such a process only lead to increasing its variability , which only worsens the process and causes disappointment in one’s own abilities.
Everyone at the enterprise, and especially top management, today needs new knowledge. The Stone Age did not end because we ran out of stones.
“Statistical process control opens the door to improvement and engineering innovation, makes it possible to measure the results of any improvement attempts, and makes the process truly transparent and measurable.
Many people know about statistical quality control in production. This is important, but production is only a small part of the overall system. You can achieve 100% success within production and, in the end, go bankrupt. The most important application of the principles of statistical quality control, by which I mean knowledge of common and special causes of variation, is in human resource management."
Shewhart control charts are the only analytical tool that answers the question “What to do?”, and does not simply count and compare indicators, and vice versa, what should not be done to improve the controlled process, even if such actions seem logical to the observer.
“Studying the maximum possible number of sources of variation that affect the quality of the final product, as well as taking measures to reduce it, should be the daily tasks of managers. Until this is the case, the outdated method of sorting, reworking and re-sorting is guaranteed to lead to lack of progress, low productivity and increasing uncompetitiveness.
Some of the most powerful and effective tools for improving production by reducing variation were the concepts and methods created by Walter Shewhart and developed by William Edwards Deming. They help bring about the changes that are so important to the survival of any company.
Statistical process control is, first of all, a whole worldview, supported by certain methods. It's a way of thinking, and that's what it's all about. Without such thinking, methods are completely useless! Only senior management can highlight the importance of control charts for continuous improvement. If senior management actively supports this, the potential impact of implementing control charts will exceed all expectations!”
Data types
To analyze business and technological processes using Shewhart control charts, any measurement and calculation data is suitable, for example:
- data on monitoring key quality characteristics of our own semi-finished products and finished products;
- data on monitoring key characteristics of the quality of services provided;
- C&M input control data;
- any key performance indicators (design, procurement, production, marketing and sales, maintenance, warehouse and logistics, etc.);
- any financial indicators (management and accounting statements), for example, accounts receivable and payable, net profit (loss), inventories, cost of sales, selling and administrative expenses, cash flow indicators (DFC);
- frequency of events (incidents, incidents), any count data (defects, breakdowns, accidents, unplanned shutdowns, safety incidents, etc.);
- predictive analytics data (controlled parameters of the functioning of expensive and critical equipment);
- data on size, weight, clearance, flow rate, liquid level, vibration (vibration diagnostics), pressure, temperature, humidity, gas analysis, position, speed, force, viscosity, density, hardness, radioactivity, illumination, dust content, concentration, presence and amount of impurities , tribodiagnostics, acidity, contamination, acoustic measurements, electrical measurements and other measurements.
Target audience for the use of Shewhart control charts
Industrial, service, logistics, trading companies and organizations
- Operational Efficiency and Productivity Departments.
- Quality services (QC, laboratories, quality directorate).
- Project managers for the development of production systems, Lean, Six Sigma.
- Managers of production departments (improving quality, better production planning and increasing productivity). The ideal place to use Shewhart control charts is where key quality attributes are produced, such as at operator stations at the shop floor.
- Purchasing Directorate (quality control of purchased C&M, incoming control and work with the quality of suppliers' products, tracking warehouse balances and timely replenishment without accumulating excess stocks).
- Heads of sales and marketing departments (better management of sales planning, objective assessment of the effectiveness of sales staff with the development of measures to improve it, assessment of the effectiveness of marketing activities, etc.).
- Heads of logistics departments (better management of delivery times, shipping operations, safety of products during transportation and loading and unloading operations).
- Managers of maintenance services for critical equipment and structures (assessment of the frequency of shutdowns for technical reasons, condition monitoring and predictive maintenance).
- Heads of monitoring centers and analytics in the field of cybersecurity.
- Heads of financial departments of companies.
- Heads of personnel development and training departments (corporate universities).
- Chief designers of R&D enterprises (to connect digital design processes with information about the capabilities of real production processes).
- Top management of companies.
Research organizations
- Analysts.
- Scientists.
- Heads of laboratories and test benches.
Healthcare organizations
- Chief physician.
- Laboratory doctor.
- Attending doctor.
Sports organizations
- Head coach.
- Trainer.
- Sports doctor.
- Sports analyst.
“At PQ Systems, we use Shewhart control charts in our sales, support, accounting and other systems. By tracking the number of outgoing and incoming calls, length of time on calls, number of contacts in each period, and other inputs, with Shewhart control charts we can track trends and set realistic expectations for individuals and the department as a whole.
You will not find a single accountant in our company presenting the net profit this month compared to last month. Instead, the net income for the reporting month is shown on the Shewhart control chart along with the previous 24 or 36 months.
One of the biggest benefits of control charts is that subjectivity is minimized and decisions are made based on the data collected. The voice of the process tells you what is happening. When changes are made to a system for improvement, the Shewhart Control Chart will show you how the process behaves after the change so you can determine the resulting effect.”
Shewhart control charts in industry.
Open solutions provide descriptions of real-life business situations and improvement methods using Edwards Deming's fundamental management principles and Shewhart's control charts. These methods can be successfully applied regardless of the types of activities of companies and organizations (production, services, public administration and security) and are aimed at better management (management), eliminating defects, reducing the number of errors and increasing the competitiveness of enterprises.
Open solutions Fundamental knowledge
Remote monitoring and predictive diagnostics (Predictive Maintenance) using Shewhart control charts.
Monitoring data of any dynamic systems to maintain stability, identify failure signals and system changes in the functioning of observed objects, predictive diagnostics of the technical condition of expensive equipment, critical structures and structures.
Shewhart control charts in healthcare
Shewhart control charts have unsurpassed ease of use by attending physicians for objective operational and statistical monitoring of the patient's condition (stability, changes, response to treatment methods) and improve the quality of decisions made by physicians.
Use of Shewhart control charts in space
Using Statistical Process Control in the NASA Deep Space Communications Network
Monitoring International Space Station telemetry using Shewhart control charts at NASA
Recommended roadmap for cooperation
Contact us to discuss your ideas and needs.