SPC Part4 em8772-e 统计过程控制(4).pdf

EM 8772 • January 2002 $2.50 PERFORMANCE EXCELLENCE IN THE WOOD PRODUCTS INDUSTRY Part 4: Flowcharts S. Leavengood and J. Reeb Part 1 in this series introduced the reader to Statistical Process Control, and Part 2 provided an overview of how and why SPC works. Part 3 began the step-by-step process of building the practical skills necessary for hands-on implementation of SPC. It discussed Pareto analysis, a tool to help decide where to focus initial efforts. Part 4 discusses flowcharts. Part 5 in the series will continue building implemen- tation skills by discussing cause-and-effect diagrams. Future publications in the series will discuss case histories of wood products firms using SPC, providing real- world evidence of the benefits of SPC and examining pitfalls and successful approaches. What’s the next step in implementing SPC? After achieving top management’s co itment to using SPC, the next step in beginning an SPC program is to determine where to focus initial efforts to get the “biggest bang for the buck.” In Part 3, we presented Pareto analysis as a tool to locate the primary causes of nonconformities and therefore where to focus initial efforts. Now we need to know which specific activities in the process cause the nonconformity and which quality characteristic(s) to monitor. An example will help to clarify the above discussion and the objective of this report. The Pareto analysis conducted in Part 3 of this series revealed “size out-of- specification” as the major nonconformity, from the standpoint of both frequency and relative cost to scrap or rework. We now need to know: • The specific step or steps in the process (e.g., dry kilns, rip and chop, moulding) responsible for causing size out-of-specification • The quality ch