The tools and technique used in Statistical Process Control have been used around the world to monitor and measure process variation and allow real positive changes to be made. The majority of engineers and scientists have had some exposure to this important technique but in many cases this has been badly taught and they fail to see the usefulness of it properly applied. This book has been written with the authors 30 years experience in practical Statistical Process Control and is aimed squarely at practising engineers and scientists rather than statisticians and mathematicians. Practical Statistical Process Control takes a graphical approach using a software tool called Minitab. The author concentrates on each step of using the technique with explanations along the way of each decision point. Readers will find this guide both practical and useful, with copious screenshots of the software in use and clear precise explanations. The emphasis is on understanding the technique and being able to use it in real world applications. Key points: * Provides tools and techniques for practical business and process improvement. * Introduces screenshots and explanations for each step of SPC including the importance of assessing the measurement system and constructing control charts. * A worked example, using Minitab sample data with clear explanations of the variables and analyses. This book will be extremely useful to engineers and scientists who want to solve quality, process and manufacturing problems quickly and easily.

Practical Process Control introduces process control to engineers and technicians unfamiliar with control techniques, providing an understanding of how to actually apply control in a real industrial environment. It avoids analytical treatment of the numerous statistical process control techniques to concentrate on the practical problems involved. A practical approach is taken, making it relevant in virtually all manufacturing and process industries. There is currently no information readily available to practising engineers or students that discusses the real problems and such material is long overdue. - An indispensable guide for all those involved in process control - Includes equipment specification, troubleshooting, system specification and design - Provided with guidelines of HOW TO and HOW NOT TO install process control

The business, commercial and public-sector world has changed dramatically since John Oakland wrote the first edition of Statistical Process Control – a practical guide in the mid-eighties. Then people were rediscovering statistical methods of ‘quality control’ and the book responded to an often desperate need to find out about the techniques and use them on data. Pressure over time from organizations supplying directly to the consumer, typically in the automotive and high technology sectors, forced those in charge of the supplying production and service operations to think more about preventing problems than how to find and fix them. Subsequent editions retained the ‘took kit’ approach of the first but included some of the ‘philosophy’ behind the techniques and their use. The theme which runs throughout the 7th edition is still processes - that require understanding, have variation, must be properly controlled, have a capability, and need improvement - the five sections of this new edition. SPC never has been and never will be simply a ‘took kit’ and in this book the authors provide, not only the instructional guide for the tools, but communicate the management practices which have become so vital to success in organizations throughout the world. The book is supported by the authors' extensive and latest consulting work within thousands of organisations worldwide. Fully updated to include real-life case studies, new research based on client work from an array of industries, and integration with the latest computer methods and Minitab software, the book also retains its valued textbook quality through clear learning objectives and end of chapter discussion questions. It can still serve as a textbook for both student and practicing engineers, scientists, technologists, managers and for anyone wishing to understand or implement modern statistical process control techniques.

Written in clear language, this hands-on manual simplifies the essentials for monitoring, analyzing, and improving quality. The authors explain how to set up and use variable and attribute control charts, as well as analyze frequency histograms, and evaluate machine and process capability.

Emphasizing the importance of understanding and reducing process variation to achieve quality manufacturing performance, this work establishes how statistical process control (SPC) provides powerful tools for measuring and regulating manufacturing processes. It presents information derived from time-tested applications of SPC techniques at on-site process situations in manufacturing. It is designed to assist manufacturing organizations in explaining and implementing successful SPC programmes.

During the past decade interest in quality management has greatly increased. One of the central elements of Total Quality Management is Statistical Process Control, more commonly known as SPC. This book describes the pitfalls and traps which businesses encounter when implementing and assuring SPC. Illustrations are given from practical experience in various companies. The following subjects are discussed: implementation of SPC, activity plan for achieving statistically controlled processes, statistical tools, and lastly, consolidation and improvement of the results. Also, an extensive checklist is provided with which a business can determine to what extent it has succeeded in the actual application of SPC. Audience: This volume is written for companies which are going to implement SPC, or which need a new impetus in order to get SPC properly off the ground. It will be of interest in particular to researchers whose work involves statistics and probability, production, operation and manufacturing management, industrial organisation and mathematical and quantitative methods. It will also appeal to specialists in engineering and management, for example in the electronic industry, discrete parts industry, process industry, automotive and aircraft industry and food industry.

The first statistics guide focussing on practical application to process control design and maintenance Statistics for Process Control Engineers is the only guide to statistics written by and for process control professionals. It takes a wholly practical approach to the subject. Statistics are applied throughout the life of a process control scheme – from assessing its economic benefit, designing inferential properties, identifying dynamic models, monitoring performance and diagnosing faults. This book addresses all of these areas and more. The book begins with an overview of various statistical applications in the field of process control, followed by discussions of data characteristics, probability functions, data presentation, sample size, significance testing and commonly used mathematical functions. It then shows how to select and fit a distribution to data, before moving on to the application of regression analysis and data reconciliation. The book is extensively illustrated throughout with line drawings, tables and equations, and features numerous worked examples. In addition, two appendices include the data used in the examples and an exhaustive catalogue of statistical distributions. The data and a simple-to-use software tool are available for download. The reader can thus reproduce all of the examples and then extend the same statistical techniques to real problems. Takes a back-to-basics approach with a focus on techniques that have immediate, practical, problem-solving applications for practicing engineers, as well as engineering students Shows how to avoid the many common errors made by the industry in applying statistics to process control Describes not only the well-known statistical distributions but also demonstrates the advantages of applying the large number that are less well-known Inspires engineers to identify new applications of statistical techniques to the design and support of control schemes Provides a deeper understanding of services and products which control engineers are often tasked with assessing This book is a valuable professional resource for engineers working in the global process industry and engineering companies, as well as students of engineering. It will be of great interest to those in the oil and gas, chemical, pulp and paper, water purification, pharmaceuticals and power generation industries, as well as for design engineers, instrument engineers and process technical support.