Control chart
statistical process control tool
Control charts (also known as Shewhart charts, after Walter A. Shewhart, or process-behavior charts) are graphical plots used in statistical process control (SPC) to determine whether a manufacturing or business process is in a state of statistical control. They form the basis of modern statistical process control, and are one of the seven basic tools of quality control.
A control chart plots a process statistic, such as a mean, range, or proportion, over time together with a centre line and upper and lower control limits that distinguish common-cause variation from special-cause variation. Points outside the control limits or non-random patterns within them indicate that the process should be investigated for assignable causes of variation. When a process is in statistical control, control charts can be used to predict its future performance. Control charts were invented by Shewhart at Bell Labs in the 1920s.
Overview
If analysis of the control chart indicates that the process is currently under control (i.e., is stable, with variation only coming from sources common to the process), then no corrections or changes to process control parameters are needed or desired. In addition, data from the process can be used to predict the future performance of the process. If the chart indicates that the monitored process is not in control, analysis of the chart can help determine the sources of variation, as this will result in degraded process performance. A process that is stable but operating outside desired (specification) limits (e.g., scrap rates may be in statistical control but above desired limits) needs to be improved through a deliberate effort to understand the causes of current performance and fundamentally improve the process.
“Control chart” enters the record as statistical process control tool. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Control, chart and statistical can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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