Statistical Process Control

Read this chapter on the basics of statistical process control (SPC). SPC is a standard tool for monitoring whether a process is performing as expected and, if not, where problems occur. While reading, consider how this kind of tool factors in process capacity management.

Introduction

Control charts are one of the most commonly used methods of Statisical Process Control (SPC), which monitors the stability of a process. The main features of a control chart include the data points, a centerline (mean value), and upper and lower limits (bounds to indicate where a process output is considered "out of control").They visually display the fluctuations of a particular process variable, such as temperature, in a way that lets the engineer easily determine whether these variations fall within the specified process limits. Control charts are also known as Shewhart charts after Walter Shewhart, who developed them in the early 1900's.

Source: Peter Woolf et al., https://eng.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Industrial_and_Systems_Engineering/Book%3A_Chemical_Process_Dynamics_and_Controls_(Woolf)/13%3A_Statistics_and_Probability_Background/13.02%3A_SPC-_Basic_Control_Charts-_Theory_and_Construction%2C_Sample_Size%2C_X-Bar%2C_R_charts%2C_S_charts
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