Statistical Quality Control

(SQC)
Tamer Ismail
Assistant Professor of Industrial Engineering
Lecture 6 : Process Control by Attributes
p-charts for proportion defective or non-conforming units

• In cases where it is not possible to maintain a constant sample

size for attribute control, the p-chart, or proportion defective or
non-conforming chart may be used.
• It is, of course, possible and quite acceptable to use the p-chart
instead of the np-chart even when the sample size is constant.
• However, plotting directly the number of defectives in each
sample onto an np-chart is simple and usually more convenient
than having to calculate the proportion defective.
• The data required for the design of a p-chart are identical to
those for an np-chart, both the sample size and the number of
defectives need to be observed.

Process Control by Attributes

The below table shows the results from 24 deliveries of textile components. The
batch (sample) size varies from 405 to 2860.

Process Control by Attributes

For each delivery, the proportion defective has been calculated:

Process Control by Attributes

Control chart limits
• If a constant ‘sample’ size is being inspected, the p-control chart
limits would remain the same for each sample.
• When p-charts are being used with samples of varying sizes, the
standard deviation and control limits change with n, and unique
limits should be calculated for each sample size.
• However, for practical purposes, an average sample size (n ) may
be used to calculate action and warning lines.
• These have been found to be acceptable when the individual
sample or lot sizes vary from n by no more than 25 per cent each
way.
• For sample sizes outside this range, separate control limits must
be calculated.
• There is no magic in this 25 per cent formula, it simply has been
shown to work.

Process Control by Attributes

Process Control by Attributes
Process Control by Attributes
The below table shows the detail of the calculations involved and the
resulting action and warning lines.

Process Control by Attributes

• Figure shows the p-chart plotted with the varying action and warning
lines.
• It is evident that the design, calculation, plotting and interpretation of p-
charts is more complex than that associated with np-charts.

Process Control by Attributes

• The process involved in the delivery of the material is out of
control.
• Clearly, the supplier has suffered some production problems during
this period and some of the component deliveries are of doubtful
quality.
• Complaints to the supplier after the delivery corresponding to
sample 10 seemed to have a good effect until delivery 21 caused a
warning signal.
• This type of control chart may improve substantially the dialogue
and partnership between suppliers and customers.
• Sample points falling below the lower action line also indicate a
process which is out of control.
• Lower control lines are frequently omitted to avoid the need to
explain to operating personnel why a very low proportion
defectives is classed as being out-of-control.
• When the p-chart is to be used by management, however, the
lower lines are used to indicate when an investigation should be
instigated to discover the cause of an unusually good performance.
• This may also indicate how it may be repeated.

Process Control by Attributes

c-charts for number of defects/non-conformities
• The control charts for attributes considered so far have applied to cases
in which a random sample of definite size is selected and examined in
some way.
• In the process control of attributes, there are situations where the
number of events, defects, errors or non-conformities can be counted,
but there is no information about the number of events, defects, or
errors which are not present.
• Hence, there is the important distinction between defectives and
defects already given in previous section.
• So far we have considered defectives where each item is classified
either as conforming or non-conforming (a defective), which gives rise
to the term binomial distribution.
• In the case of defects, such as holes in a fabric or fisheyes in plastic film,
we know the number of defects present but we do not know the
number of non-defects present.

Process Control by Attributes

• Other examples of these include the number of imperfections on a
painted door, errors in a typed document, the number of faults in a
length of woven carpet, and the number of sales calls made.
• In these cases the binomial distribution does not apply.
• This type of problem is described by the Poisson distribution,
named after the Frenchman who first derived it in the early
nineteenth century.
• Because there is no fixed sample size when counting the number of
events, defects, etc., theoretically the number could tail off to
infinity.
• Any distribution which does this must include something of the
exponential distribution and the constant e.
• This contains the element of fading away to nothing since its value
is derived from the formula:

Process Control by Attributes

• As with the np-chart, it is not necessary to calculate probabilities in
this way to determine control limits for the c-chart.
• Once again the UAL (UCL) is set at three standard deviations above
the average number of events, defects, errors, etc.

Process Control by Attributes

• Let us consider an example in which, as for np-charts, the sample is
constant in number of units, or volume, or length, etc. In a
polythene film process, the number of defects – fisheyes – on each
identical length of film are being counted.
• The table shows the number of fisheyes which have been found on
inspecting 50 lengths, randomly selected, over a 24-hour period.

Process Control by Attributes

The total number of defects is 159 and, therefore, the average number of
defects c is given by:

Process Control by Attributes

Process Control by Attributes
The below figure is a plot of the 50 polythene film inspection results
used to design the c-chart, shows that the process is in statistical
control, with an average of 3.2 defects on each length.

Process Control by Attributes

• If this chart is now used to control the process, we may examine what happens
over the next 25 lengths, taken over a period of 12 hours.
• Figure below is the c-chart plot of the results. The Chart tells us that all was
running normally until sample 9, which shows 8 defects on the unit being
inspected, this signals a warning and another sample is taken immediately.
• Sample 10 shows that the process has drifted out of control and results in an
investigation to find the assignable cause. In this case, the film extruder filter
was suspected of being blocked and so it was cleaned.

Process Control by Attributes

u-charts for number of defects/non-conformities per unit
• We saw in the previous section how the c-chart applies to the
number of events, defects or errors in a constant size of sample,
such as a table, a length of cloth, the hull of a boat, a specific
volume, a windscreen, an invoice or a time period.
• It is not always possible, however, in this type of situation to
maintain a constant sample size or unit of time.
• The length of pieces of material, volume or time, for instance, may
vary.
• At other times, it may be desirable to continue examination until a
defect is found and then note the sample size.
• If, for example, the average value of c in the polythene film process
had fallen to 0.5, the values plotted on the chart would be mostly 0
and 1, with an occasional 2.
• Control of such a process by a whole number c-chart would be
nebulous.

Process Control by Attributes

• The u-chart is suitable for controlling this type of process,
as it measures the number of events defects, or non-
conformities per unit or time period, and the ‘sample’ size
can be allowed to vary.
• In the case of inspection of cloth or other surfaces, the area
examined may be allowed to vary and the u-chart will show
the number of defects per unit area, e.g. per square metre.
• The statistical theory behind the u-chart is very similar to
that for the c-chart.
• The design of the u-chart is similar to the design of the p-
chart for proportion defective.
• The control lines will vary for each sample size, but for
practical purposes may be kept constant if sample sizes
remain with 25 per cent either side of the average sample
size, n.

Process Control by Attributes

Process Control by Attributes
Process Control by Attributes