Quality Control & Inspection

Quality
• Quality refers to the ability of a product or service to
consistently meet or exceed customer requirements
or expectations.
• By Crosby (1979): "Quality is conformance to
requirements or specifications.“
• By Juran (1974): "Quality is fitness for use.“
• The term quality implies different levels of
expectations for different groups of consumers.
Defining Quality: The Dimensions of
Quality
• Customer expectations can be broken down into a
number of categories, or dimensions, that customers
use to judge the quality of a product or service.
• Product Quality:
• Product quality is often judged on nine dimensions
of quality:
• Performance —main characteristics of the product.
• Aesthetics —appearance, feel, smell, taste.
• Special features —extra characteristics (like GPS
system, anti-skid, airbags).
• Conformance —how well a product corresponds to
design specifications.
• Reliability —dependable performance, Infrequent
need for repairs.
• Durability —ability to perform over time.
• Perceived quality —indirect evaluation of quality
(e.g., reputation).
• Serviceability —handling of complaints or repairs
(Ease of repair).
• Consistency —quality doesn’t vary.
The Determinants of Quality
• The degree to which a product or a service
successfully satisfies its intended purpose has four
primary determinants:
1. Design.
2. How well the product or service conforms to the
design.
3. Ease of use.
4. Service after delivery.
 Three aspects are usually associated with the
definition of quality: quality of design, quality of
conformance, and quality of performance.
Quality of design
• Quality of design deals with the stringent conditions
that a product or service must minimally possess to
satisfy the requirements of the customer.
• It implies that the product or service must be
designed to meet at least minimally the needs of the
consumer.
• The design should be the simplest and least
expensive while still meeting customer's
expectations.
• Figure shows the impact of the design quality level
on the cost and value of the product or service.
• Sometimes, it might be of interest to choose a design
quality level b, which maximizes the differences
between value and cost given that the minimal
customer requirements are met.
• This is done with the idea of maximizing the return
on investment. It may be observed from Figure that
for a designed quality level c, the cost and value are
equal.
• For any level above c (say, d) the cost exceeds the
value. This information is important when a suitable
design level is being chosen.
Quality of Conformance
• Quality of conformance implies that a manufactured
product or a service rendered must meet the
standards selected in the design phase.
• With respect to the manufacturing sector, this phase
is concerned with the degree to which quality is
controlled from the procurement of raw material to
the shipment of finished goods.
• It consists of the three broad areas of defect
prevention, defect finding, and defect analysis and
rectification.
Quality of Performance
• Quality of performance is concerned with how
well a product functions or service performs
when put to use.
• It measures the degree to which the product
or service satisfies the customer.
• This is a function of both the quality of design
and the quality of conformance.
Quality characteristics
• Quality characteristics fall into two broad classes:
variables and attributes.
• Characteristics that are measurable and are
expressed on a numerical scale are called variables.
Such as waiting time in a bank (minute), density of a
liquid, resistance of a coil etc.
• A quality characteristic is said to be an attribute if it
is classified as either conforming or nonconforming to
a stipulated specification.
• A quality characteristic that cannot be measured on
a numerical scale is expressed as an attribute. For
example, the smell of a cleanser is characterized as
either acceptable or not, the color of a fabric is
either acceptable or not.
Defects:
• A defect is associated with a quality characteristic
that does not meet certain standards. Furthermore,
the severity of one or more defects in a product or
service may cause it to be unacceptable (or
defective).
• The modern term for defect is nonconformity, and
the term for defective is nonconforming item.
• QUALITY CONTROL: Quality control may generally be
defined as a system that maintains a desired level of
quality, through feedback on product/service
characteristics and implementation of remedial
actions, in case of a deviation of such characteristics
from a specified standard.
• Quality Control is known as QC and focuses on
identifying defect.
• QC ensures that the approaches, techniques,
methods and processes are designed in the project
are following correctly.
• QC activities monitor and verify that the project
deliverables meet the defined quality standards.
• Quality Control is a reactive process and is detection
in nature.
• It recognizes the defects.
• Quality Control has to complete after Quality
Assurance.
• The domain of quality control may be divided into
three main subareas: off-line quality control,
statistical process control, and acceptance sampling
plans.
Off-Line Quality Control
• Off-line quality control procedures deal with
measures to select and choose controllable product
and process parameters in such a way that the
deviation between the product or process output
and the standard will be minimized.
• The goal is to come up with a design within the
constraints of resources and environmental
parameters such that when production takes place,
the output meets the standard.
• Thus, to the extent possible, the product and process
parameters are set before production begins.
• Online statistical process control means that
information is gathered about the product, process,
or service while it is functional. When the output
differs from a determined norm, corrective action is
taken in that operational phase.
• It is preferable to take corrective action on a real-
time basis for quality control problems.
Statistical Process Control
• Statistical process control involves comparing the
output of a process or service with a standard and
taking remedial actions in case of a discrepancy
between the two.
• It also involves determining whether a process can
produce a product that meets desired specifications
or requirements.
Acceptance Sampling Plans
• Acceptance sampling plans involve inspection of a
product or service.
• When 100% inspection of all items is not feasible, a
decision has to be made as to how many items
should be sampled or whether the batch should be
sampled at all.
• The information obtained from the sample is used to
decide whether to accept or reject the entire batch
or lot.
 QUALITY ASSURANCE:
• Quality Assurance is known as QA and focuses on
preventing defects.
• Quality Assurance ensures that the approaches,
techniques, methods and processes are designed for the
projects are implemented correctly.
• Quality assurance activities monitor and verify that the
processes used to manage and create the deliverables
have been followed and are operative.
• Quality Assurance is a proactive process and is
prevention in nature. It recognizes flaws in the process.
Quality Assurance has to complete before Quality
Control.
• [QA is focusing on preventing defect while QC is focusing
on identifying the defect.]
 QUALITY CIRCLE
• A quality circle is typically an informal group of
people that consists of operators, supervisors,
managers, and so on, who get together to improve
ways to make a product or deliver a service.
• Improvement-seeking ideas do not come only from
managers but also from all other personnel who are
involved in the particular activity.
• A quality circle can be an effective productivity
improvement tool because it generates new ideas
and implements them.
 Benefits of Good Quality
• Business organizations with good or excellent
quality typically benefit in a variety of ways:
(a) An enhanced reputation for quality,
(b) The ability to command premium prices,
(c) An increased market share,
(d) Greater customer loyalty,
(e) lower liability costs,
(f) fewer production or service problems.
(g) higher productivity,
(h) fewer complaints from customers,
(i) lower production costs, and higher profits.
 The Consequences of Poor Quality
• Some of the major areas affected by quality
are:
1. Loss of business.
2. Liability.
3. Productivity.
4. Costs.
 QUALITY TOOLS
• These tools aid in data collection and interpretation,
and provide the basis for decision making.
• The first seven tools are often referred to as the
seven basic quality tools.
1. Flowcharts.
2. Check Sheets.
3. Histograms.
4. Pareto Analysis.
5. Scatter Diagrams.
6. Control Charts.
7. Cause-and-Effect Diagrams.
8. Run Charts.
• Flowcharts: A flowchart is a visual representation
of a process. As a problem-solving tool, a flowchart
can help investigators in identifying possible points in
a process where problems occur.
• The diamond shapes in the flowchart represent
decision points in the process, and the rectangular
shapes represent procedures. The arrows show the
direction of “flow” of the steps in the process.
• Figure illustrates a flowchart for catalog telephone
orders in which potential failure points are
highlighted.
• Check Sheets: A check sheet is a simple tool
frequently used for problem identification. Check
sheets provide a format that enables users to record
and organize data in a way that facilitates collection
and analysis.
• Check sheets are designed on the basis of what the
users are attempting to learn by collecting data.
• Figure (a) shows tallies that denote the type of
defect and the time of day each occurred.
• Problems with missing labels tend to occur early in
the day and smeared print tends to occur late in the
day, whereas off-center labels are found throughout
the day.
• Figure (b) makes it easy to see where defects on the
product—in this case, a glove—are occurring.
• Histograms: A histogram can be useful in getting a
sense of the distribution of observed values.
• Pareto Analysis: Pareto analysis is a technique for
focusing attention on the most important problem
areas.
• Few factors generally account for a large percentage
of the total cases (e.g., complaints, defects,
problems).
• The idea is to classify the cases according to degree
of importance and focus on resolving the most
important, leaving the less important.
• Often referred to as the 80–20 rule, the Pareto
concept states that approximately 80 percent of the
problems come from 20 percent of the items.
• Scatter Diagrams: A scatter diagram can be useful
in deciding if there is a correlation between the
values of two variables.
• In this particular diagram, there is a positive
(upward-sloping) relationship between the humidity
and the number of errors per hour.
• The higher the correlation between the two
variables, the less scatter in the points; the points
will tend to line up. Conversely, if there were little or
no relationship between two variables, the points
would be completely scattered.
In Figure , the correlation between humidity and
errors seems strong because the points appear to
scatter along an imaginary line.
• Control Charts. A control chart can be used to
monitor a process to see if the process output is
random. It can help detect the presence of
correctable causes of variation. Control charts also
can indicate when a problem occurred and give
insight into what caused the problem.
• Cause-and-Effect Diagrams. A cause-and-effect
diagram offers a structured approach to the search
for the possible cause(s) of a problem. It is also
known as a fishbone diagram because of its shape, or
an Ishikawa diagram, after the Japanese professor
who developed the approach.
• This tool helps to organize problem-solving efforts by
identifying categories of factors that might be
causing problems.
Run Charts: A run chart can be used to track the
values of a variable over time. This can aid in
identifying trends or other patterns that may be
occurring.
 Quality Control
• Quality control: It is a process that measures
output relative to a standard and takes corrective
action when output does not meet standards.
• Every process generates output that exhibits random
variability. That is natural and cannot be corrected.
However, if there are nonrandom variations in
process output, that can be corrected.
• Quality control tools are used to decide when
corrective action is needed.
• Quality control efforts that occur during production
are referred to as statistical process control.
INSPECTION:
• Inspection is an appraisal activity that compares
goods or services to a standard. Inspection is a vital
but often unappreciated aspect of quality control.
• Although for well-designed processes little
inspection is necessary, inspection cannot be
completely eliminated.
• Inspection can occur at three points: before
production, during production, and after production.
• Inspection before and after production often involves
acceptance sampling procedures; monitoring during
the production process is referred to as process
control.
How Much to Inspect and How Often:
• Low-cost, high-volume items such as paper clips,
roofing nails, and wooden pencils often require little
inspection because (1) the cost associated with
passing defective items is quite low and (2) the
processes that produce these items are usually highly
reliable, so defects are rare.
• High-cost, low-volume items that have large costs
associated with passing defective products often
require more intensive inspections.
• It is neither possible nor economically feasible to
critically examine every part of a product or every
aspect of a service for control purposes.
• The cost of inspection, resulting interruptions of a
process or delays caused by inspection, and the
manner of testing typically outweigh the benefits of
100 percent inspection.
• The amount of inspection needed is governed by the
costs of inspection and the expected costs of passing
defective items.
Where to Inspect in the Process:
1. Raw materials and purchased parts.
2. Finished products.
3. Before a costly operation.
4. Before an irreversible process.
5. Before a covering process.
 STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL
• Statistical process control (SPC) is used to evaluate
process output to decide if a process is “in control” or
if corrective action is needed.
• All processes generate output that exhibits some
degree of variability. The issue is whether the output
variations are within an acceptable range. The issue is
addressed by answering two basic questions about
the process variations:
(a) Are the variations random? If nonrandom variations
are present, the process is considered to be unstable.
(b) Given a stable process, is the inherent variability of
process output within a range that conforms to
performance criteria?
• Chance or random variations:
The natural or inherent process variations in process
output are referred to as chance or random
variations.
• Assignable or nonrandom variation.
• Unlike natural variation, the main sources of
assignable variation can usually be identified
(assigned to a specific cause) and eliminated. Such as
Tool wear, equipment that needs adjustment,
defective materials, human factors problems with
measuring devices.
Sampling and Sampling Distributions:
• In statistical process control, periodic samples of
process output are taken and sample statistics, such
as sample means or the number of occurrences of a
certain type of outcome, are determined.
• The sample statistics can be used to judge
randomness of process variations.
 Control Charts
• An important tool in statistical process control is the
control chart.
• A control chart is a time-ordered plot of sample
statistics.
• It is used to distinguish between random variability
and nonrandom variability
• It has upper and lower limits, called control limits,
that define the range of acceptable (i.e., random)
variation for the sample statistic.
• The purpose of a control chart is to monitor process
output to see if it is random.
• A necessary (but not sufficient) condition for a
process to be deemed “in control,” or stable, is for all
the data points to fall between the upper and lower
control limits.
• Conversely, a data point that falls outside of either
limit would be taken as evidence that the process
output may be nonrandom and, therefore, not “in
control.”
• Type I error: Concluding a process is not in control
when it actually is. It is also referred to as an alpha
risk, where alpha (α) is the sum of the probabilities in
the two tails.
• Type II error: Concluding a process is in control
when it is not.
 Control Charts for Variables
Mean Chart
• A mean control chart, sometimes referred to as an (“
x bar”) chart, is based on a normal distribution.
• Control chart used to monitor the central tendency
of a process.
Alternatively
Example
Alternatively
Range Charts:
• Range control charts ( R -charts) are used to monitor
process dispersion.
• They are sensitive to changes in process dispersion.
• Control limits for range charts are found using the
average sample range in conjunction with these
formulas
• If the process standard deviation is known, control
limits for a range chart can be calculated using values
from Table.
 Assignment
• Sr. No 1 to 10
(Write a short note on Capacity planning and Aggregate planning )
• Sr. No 11 to 20
(Write a short note on operations scheduling and scheduling systems )
• Sr. No 21 to 30
( Write a short note on Human factor Engineering, errors and safety)
• Sr. No 31 to 40
(Write a short note on Job design, method study and work
measurement)
• Sr. No 41 to 51
(Write a short note on Environmental considerations in work place
design)
 Control Charts for Attributes
• Control charts for attributes are used when the
process characteristic is counted rather than
measured.
• For example, the number of defective items in a
sample is counted, whereas the length of each item
is measured.
• There are two types of attribute control charts, one
for the fraction of defective items in a sample (a p -
chart) and one for the number of defects per unit (a c
-chart).
• p –Chart: A p-chart is used to monitor the
proportion of defective items generated by a
process.
• The centerline on a p -chart is the average fraction
defective in the population, p.
• The standard deviation of the sampling distribution
when p is known is

• Control limits are computed using the formulas

• Note: Because the formula is an approximation, it
sometimes happens that the computed LCL is
negative. In those instances, zero is used as the lower
limit.
Example
• c – Chart: When the goal is to control the number
of occurrences (e.g., defects) per unit, a c - chart is
used.

• The mean number of defects per unit is c and the

standard deviation is root of c.
Example