Abstract:
Statistical Process Control (SPC) is an indispensable methodological approach to
implement Total Quality Management (TQM) in production processes. More generally,
statistical thinking is becoming accepted as a necessary philosophy to reduce variation and
thus improve quality and performance throughout the entire chain of marketing,
development, production and sales processes. SPC is aimed at delivering high quality
products to customers. It is a powerful problem solving technique used for monitoring,
controlling, analyzing, managing and improving a process using statistical methods. In
order to determine whether or not a process is in a state of statistical control, SPC uses astatistical
tool called a control chart. This is a simple graph with three lines; the centerline
represents the process mean, and the other two lines (called control lines or limits)
represent the allowed process variability.