So far in this series our focus has remained on statistical process control (SPC) in manufacturing. We’ve alternated between more traditional uses of SPC that remain relevant in this digital era and discussing uses of SPC and its related techniques that are enabled by the marvels of modern technology.

Here in Part 7 we move away from manufacturing and discuss SPC’s continued relevance, and potential, in areas such as planning and healthcare. In the examples that follow, we also aim to reinforce the importance of three key elements inherent in SPC:
1. Aim: What do you want to achieve? (Which questions should the data be helping you to answer?)
2. Context: You need to know what your data represent (i.e., when collected, how collected, conditions when collected, what might have influenced the results you got).
3. Thought: How to organize, use, and analyze the data to extract the needed insight and maximum information from them.

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