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Procedia CIRP 40 (2016) 580 – 583

13th Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing - Decoupling Growth from Resource Use

Application of Statistical Process Control (SPC) in Manufacturing

Industry in a Developing Country
Ignatio Madanhirea,*, Charles Mbohwab *
a
School of Engineering Management, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park 2006, Johannesburg, 0027, South Africa
OR
Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Zimbabwe, Mount Pleasant, Harare, 00263, Zimbabwe
b
School of Engineering Management, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park 2006, Johannesburg, 0027, South Africa

** Corresponding author. Tel.: +263-721-453-451; fax: +263-04-621-420 E-mail address: imadanhire@eng.uz.ac.zw

Abstract

This research focused on studying the statistical process control tool in manufacturing systems with the broad aim of upgrading
them to improve on quality and cost effectiveness. It represents an attempt to address the deficiency in the literature of SPC
implementation. With emphasis on early detection and prevention of the problems, SPC was shown to have a distinct advantage
over quality methods such as inspection of end product. There was need to check gauges and machines, and determine need for
some maintenance or overhaul work to be carried out as faulty machines could not produce quality good products. There was
need for operators to be trained, new documents to be produced and actions for the future to be agreed on. A system of reviewing
the progress and monitor the result was to be effected with as much priority as that given to financial results.
©
© 2016
2016 Published by Elsevier
The Authors. B.V.
Published by This is anB.V.
Elsevier open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the International Scientific Committee of the 13th Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing.
Peer-review under responsibility of the International Scientific Committee of the 13th Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing
Keywords: SPC, quality control, inspection, conformance, competitiveness, TQM

1. Introduction operating at an acceptable level [6].

The major challenge the industries in Zimbabwe face is
In today’s tough world market environment, the need to be associated with competitiveness as manufacturing
better is more demanding, and the need to be more organization fail to compete in region and globally. In this
competitive is a necessity to survive. A company cannot rest regard, there is need for these entities to work on improving
on the success of the past performance and expect to continue product quality and cutting cost as they manufacture their
to remain successful [1,2]. There are many well-known products [4]. Thus this study is intended to spell out the
examples of companies both large and small that were once concept of SPC for the benefit of those intending to use it
leaders in their fields and now are skeletons of themselves. their processes. Literature on the implementation of SPC
The key to being competitive lies in the ability to exceed mostly concentrates on the development of statistical tools
customers’ needs and expectations; as well as providing , in like control charts [7,9]. However, implementation of the
the manner required by the customer, a quality product at low methodology SPC in organization and its implications are
cost, on time, every time[3,4,5]. hardly discussed in detail.
In this era of strains on resources and rising costs of
manufacturing, it becomes increasingly apparent that 2. Overview of SPC
decisions must be made based on facts, not just opinions.
Consequently, data must be gathered and analyzed. This is 2.1 Background
where statistical process control (SPC) tools comes in to help
in the decision-making and determining if the process is Statistical Process Control (SPC) is the application of

2212-8271 © 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the International Scientific Committee of the 13th Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing
doi:10.1016/j.procir.2016.01.137
 Ignatio Madanhire and Charles Mbohwa / Procedia CIRP 40 (2016) 580 – 583 581

statistical methods to monitoring and control of a process to The Pareto effect has to be used to identify the vital few
ensure that it operates at its full potential to produce a processes, which control manufacture, and then building the
conforming product. Under SPC, a process behaves planning around these key processes and products for quality
predictably to produce as much conforming product as control activities.
possible with least possible waste. Key tools in SPC are
control charts, continuous improvement and design 2.3 SPC tools
experiments [8, 10].
Variations in the process that may affect the quality of the In practice, reports of SPC in manufacturing tend to
product can be detected and corrected, thus reducing waste as concentrate on a few processes. Thus to say SPC has been
well as the likelihood that problems will be passed on to the used to control formal inspections, testing, maintenance and
customer. With its emphasis on early detection and prevention personal improvement processes. Control charts are the most
of problems, SPC has a distinct advantage over other quality common tools for determining whether a process is under
methods, such as inspection, that apply resources to detecting statistical control [1, 2].
and correcting problems after they have occurred [11].
Table.1 Seven SPC quality tools (Source GOLD PRACTICE)
When a process is considered out of control, an alarm is
raised, so that engineers can look for assignable causes of Tool Application / Use
variation and try to eliminate them. It is more effective to take
a proactive approach to prevent the occurrence of out of Check Sheet To count occurrences of problems
control situations allowing the process to be adjusted in a
Histogram To identify central tendencies and any skewing to one
preventive way so that fewer non-conforming items will be side or the other
produced[12, 13].
Pareto Chart To identify the 20% of the modules which yield 80% of
2.2 SPC implementations the issues

Cause and To identify assignable causes

In SPC application, it is important to understand and Effect Diagram
identify key product characteristics which are critical to Scatter Diagram For identifying correlation and suggesting causation
customers or key process variation as shown in Fig 1. The key
steps for implementing SPC are [1,2]: Control Chart For identifying processes that re out of control
o Identify defined processes Graph For visually displaying data e.g in a pie chart
o Identify measurable attributes of the process
o Characterize natural variation of attributes
The combination of an Upper Control Limit (UCL) and a
o Track process variation
Lower Control Limit (LCL) specify, on control charts, the
o If the process is in control, continue to track
variability due to natural causes.
o If the process is not in control
Also Table 1 shows some of tools used in SPC, as away to
- Identify assignable cause
explore the natural variability of processes. Some are used as
- Remove assignable cause
techniques for eliminating assignable causes. Analysis of
- Return to ‘Track process variation’
defects is the most common for eliminating assignable causes.
Also analysis-related techniques such as Pareto analysis and
brainstorming are applied [11].
SPC requires defined processes and a discipline of
following them. It requires a climate in which personnel are
not punished when problems are detected [15].

2.4 SPC benefits

Statistical techniques provided by SPC enable optimizes

the amount of information needed for decision making,
through understating of business baselines, insights for
process improvements, communication of value and results of
processes, and active as well as visible involvement. SPC
provides real time analysis to establish controllable baselines;
learn, set and dynamically improve process capabilities; and
focus business on areas needing improvement [16].

3. Methodology

Questionnaire surveys and interviews were done on a

Fig .1 Steps in SPC implementation (Source GOLD PRACTICE) population which was derived from Zimbabwean
manufacturing industry based in Harare. Data collection also
582 Ignatio Madanhire and Charles Mbohwa / Procedia CIRP 40 (2016) 580 – 583

entailed use of observation, company documents and

structured experiments. The objective was to assess the level 4.3 Use of other techniques together with SPC tools
to which SPC methodology tools were used across the
industry, implementation difficulties encountered and to It was found that Design of Experiment (DOE) was the
establish gaps which could provide ready opportunities for least technique, although it is one of the advanced techniques
implementation industry wide in the country. helpful in identifying problems at the initial stages as shown
in Fig.4 below.

4. Results and Discussion

4.1 SPC implementation tools

As reason for implementation respondents indicated that

SPC is an overall quality effort. Others considered SPC as
important in for their organizations to match their competitors
and reduce overall production costs. It was of concern that
20% were not sure of the outcome if the start on SPC
programs as shown in Fig.2.

Greater benefit
Lesser benefit Fig.4 Usage of other tools
Lesser benefit
4.4 Realized benefits of SPC
Not sure
The respondents indicated that some of benefits of SPC
included increased understanding between employee and the
processes. The ability for employees to do trouble shooting
and process diagnosis was improved. There was also
improved work efficiency and resulting in reduced cost per
Fig.2 Extent of SPC benefits on implementation responses unit of production. The relation with customer was improved
resulting in reduction in customer concerns and complaints.
4.2 Extent of usage of tools
4.5 SPC implementation challenges
It was evident from the results that the most popular tools
in the industry were the Check Sheets and Flow Charts The results revealed that Zimbabwean industries still faced
respectively followed by Pareto Analysis as the third. The resistance to change and lack of companywide training for the
other five SPC tools did not have significant application as employees as difficulties in implementation of SPC. The third
given in Fig.3. ranking difficulty was lack of management commitment to
kick start the process as in Fig 5.

Fig.3 Usage of SPC tools Fig.5 Degree of difficulty of each of the challenges
 Ignatio Madanhire and Charles Mbohwa / Procedia CIRP 40 (2016) 580 – 583 583

for them to compete well in regional and global markets.

4.6 Use of SPC to monitor and control process If an organization operates in a third world economy and
needs to compete on a global scale, embracing SPC is a
It was also noted that most organizations had implemented necessity. When SPC is utilized properly, it enables
and maintained a formalized quality system, with most manufacturer to prevent problems, control their production
utilizing a measuring and monitoring device calibration. Also processes, and ultimately increase profits and customer
a big number was monitoring and controlling product quality satisfaction.
using visual (subjective) inspection.

References
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through use of these quality tools. Most popular tools in use
were the check sheets and flow charts.
On the whole, the usage of the SPC tools was very low
due to economic challenges the economy is going through,
and some serious stimulation is required to put the
manufacturing on an awareness drive to adopt SPC initiatives