spctoolkit
by Donald J. Wheeler
Foundations of
Shewhart's Charts
Any program designed to increase organizational
efficiency that does not use SPC is doomed to fail.
Last month, I described four myths relating to Shewhart's charts. This month
I will discuss four foundations of the charts.
Foundation One: Shewhart's
charts always use three-sigma limits. Regardless of the type of chart
you're using, the limits depend on the same principle. The data will be
used to determine the amount of variation that is likely to be background
noise, and the limits will be placed three estimated standard deviations
on either side of the central line.
Three-sigma limits are action limits-they dictate when action can be taken
on a process. They are not probability limits. While they have a basis in
probability theory, three-sigma limits were chosen because they provided
reasonable action limits. They strike an economical balance between the
two possible errors you can make in interpreting data from a continuing
process. Three-sigma limits neither result in too many false alarms nor
do they miss too many signals. In addition, they are unaffected by data
nonnormality, even when the subgroup size is one.
Foundation Two: Computing
three-sigma control limits requires the use of an average dispersion statistic.
By computing several dispersion statistics, using either an average or a
median dispersion statistic, computation stability increases. This use of
the subgroup variation will provide measures of dispersion that are much
less sensitive to a lack of control than most other approaches.
The choice of dispersion statistic is unimportant-ranges, standard deviations
or root mean square deviations may be used. If the proper approach is used,
different statistics will yield similar results. If the wrong approach is
used, different statistics will yield similar incorrect results.
Foundation Three: The conceptual
foundation of Shewhart's control charts is the notion of rational sampling
and rational subgrouping. How the data are collected, how they are arranged
into subgroups and how these subgroups are charted must be based on the
context of the data, the sources of data variation, the questions to be
answered by the charts and how the knowledge gained will be used.
Failure to consider these factors when placing data on a control chart can
result in nonsensical control charts. The effective use of Shewhart's charts
requires an understanding of rational sampling and rational subgrouping.
Foundation Four: Control
charts are effective only to the extent that the organization can use the
knowledge. Knowledge gathering is in vain without an organization that
can disseminate and use this knowledge. As long as there are internal obstacles
that prevent an organization from utilizing SPC charts, nothing will happen.
This is why so many of W. Edwards Deming's 14 points bear directly upon
this one foundation and why SPC alone isn't enough. On the other hand, any
program designed to increase organizational effectiveness and efficiency
that does not use SPC is doomed to fail.
This fourth foundation of Shewhart's charts is only implicit in Shewhart's
work-there was always the assumption that organizations behave in a rational
manner. However, Deming came to see that this wasn't the case. Simply giving
people effective methods for collecting, organizing and analyzing data wasn't
enough. In the absence of such methods, businesses had come to be run by
the emotional interpretation of the visible figures-a universal "My
mind is made up, don't bother me with the facts" syndrome.
While Deming's 14 points do not constitute the whole of his philosophy,
they are a profound starting point. They are not a set of techniques, a
list of instructions nor a checklist. They are a vision of just what can
be involved in using SPC. And they ultimately lead to radically different
and improved ways of organizing businesses and working with people. However,
a deep understanding is required before these 14 points can be used to accomplish
the total transformation. The need is not to adopt the 14 points individually
or collectively, but rather to create a new environment conducive to their
principles.
For further reading about Deming's 14 Points, I recommend The Deming Dimension
by Dr. Henry Neave (SPC Press).
About the author
Donald J. Wheeler is an internationally known consulting statistician and
the author of Understanding Variation: The Key to Managing Chaos, Advanced
Topics in Statistical Process Control and Understanding Statistical Process
Control, Second Edition.
© 1996 SPC Press Inc. Telephone (423) 584-5005.