Unit 5

STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL

5.1 Introduction

In these days of tough business competition, it has become essential to maintain the quality of the goods
manufactured and market them at reasonable price. If the consumers feel satisfied with regard to the
quality , price, etc. of the product manufactured by a certain company, it will result in goodwill for the
product and increase in sales. If not and if proper attention is not given to the complaints of the consumers
regarding quality, the manufacturer cannot push through his product in the market and ultimately he
has to quit the market. Hence it is important to maintain and improve the quality of the manufactured
products for the manufacturer to remain and flourish in his business. Variation in quality of the product
can be divided into two kinds, namely, chance variation and assignable variation.

Chance variation is the variation in the quality of the product which occurs due to many minor, but
random causes, such as slight changes in temperature, pressure and metal hardness. Assignable variation
is the variation that ocurs due to non-random causes like poor quality of input raw material, mechanical
faults, handling of machines by inexperienced operators, etc. Though no method is available by which
the chance variation can be controlled or eliminated, assignable variation can be eliminated, if detected
early during the production process.

1. Statistical Quality Control(SQC): Statistical Quality control (SQC) is a statistical method for
finding whether the variation in the quality of the product is due to random causes or assignable
causes. SQC does not involve inspecting each and every item produced for quality standards, but
involves inspection of samples of items produced and application of tests of significance.

Statistical quality control methods are applied to two distinct phases of manufacturing operation.
Process control and Acceptance sampling or product control.

1
Unit V − STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL 2

2. Process control means control of the quality of the goods while they are in the process of production.
To achieve process control, repeated random samples are taken from the population of items, as
and when they are being produced, the sample results are subjected to statistical analysis by means
of simple graphical device, known as control charts and the faults in the production process are
rectified then and there.

3. Control chart is a graphical device mainly used for the study and control of the manufaturing
process. It is simple to construct and easy to interpret. The manufacturer can find out, at a glance,
whether or not the process is under control so that the proportion of defective items is not excessive.
Control chart is also called shewhart chart.

There are two types of control charts, namely,

1. Control charts of variables (Mean and range charts)

2. Control charts of attributes (p−chart and c−chart)

4. Variables are the quality characteristics of a product that are measurable. e.g., diameter of a hole
bored by a drilling machine. For the construction of control charts of a variable, a record of the
actual measurements of that variable for the sampled items must be known.

5. Attributes are the quality characteristics of a product that are not amenable for measurement, but
are identified by their presence or absence, e.g., the presence (and hence the number) of defective
items in a sample.

Note:

1. Control charts for variables:

1. X−chart and R−chart.

2. X−chart and s−chart.

2. Since the standard deviation is an ideal measure of dispersion, a combination of control charts for
the sample mean and the sample s.d. is more appropriate than the combination of the mean and
the range charts for controlling process average and process variability.

3. The difficulty of computation of s makes the use of s−chart almost impractical in most industrial
situations. R−chart is preferred to s-chart because of its computational case.

4. Control charts for attributes:

1. p−chart for proportion of defectives

M. Radhakrishnan, Asst.Professor, SRMIST

Bio Statistics 3

2. np−chart for number of defectives

3. c−chart for the number of defects in a unit.

Of the above, p−chart is used when all the samples drawn from the produced items are of the
same size or of different size; np− chart is used only when all samples are of the same size n;
c−chart is used only when each sample consists of only one item.

5. np− and p− charts are used when p ≥ 0.05 or np ≥ 4.

6. p− chart is applied if 0.75n < ni < 1.25n for all i.

7. c−chart is used when c ≥ 4 or when c is small compared with the maximum number of defects
given in the data.
3R
8. The tolerance limits of X and R is µ = X ± .
d2

M. Radhakrishnan, Asst.Professor, SRMIST

Unit V − STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL 4

Control charts for variables

Sl.No. Control Limits
1. X−Chart: R−Chart:

CL =X CL =R
LCL = X − A2 R LCL = D3 R
U CL = X + A2 R U CL = D4 R
2. X−Chart: s−Chart:

CL = X
r  CL = s
n
LCL = X − A1 s
n−1 LCL = B3 s
r 
n U CL = B4 s
U CL = X + A1 s
n−1
Control charts for attributes
Sl.No. Control Limits
1. np−Chart:
CL = np
p
LCL = np − 3np(1 − p)
p
U CL = np + 3 np(1 − p)
2. p−Chart:
CL =p
"r #
p(1 − p)
LCL =p−3
n
"r #
p(1 − p)
U CL = p + 3
n
3. c−Chart:
CL =c
√ 
LCL =c−3 c
√ 
U CL = c + 3 c

M. Radhakrishnan, Asst.Professor, SRMIST

Bio Statistics 5

Problems

Problem 1 Given below are the values of sample mean X and sample range R for 10 samples, each of
size 5. Draw the appropriate mean and range charts and comment on the state of control of the process.

Sample No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Mean 43 49 37 44 45 37 51 46 43 47
Range 5 6 5 7 7 4 8 6 4 6
Solution: Given:

Sample No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total

Mean 43 49 37 44 45 37 51 46 43 47 442
Range 5 6 5 7 7 4 8 6 4 6 58
1 P
X = xi
N
(1)
442
= = 44.2
10
1 P
R = Ri
N
(2)
58
= = 5.8
10
From the table of control chart constants, for sample size n = 5, we have

A2 = 0.577, D3 = 0 and D4 = 2.115 (3)

Control Limits
X−Chart: R−Chart:

CL = X = 44.2
CL = R = 5.8
LCL = X − A2 R
LCL = D3 R = 0
= 44.2 − 0.577 × 5.8
U CL = D4 R
= 40.85
= 2.115 × 5.8 = 12.27
U CL = X + A2 R
= 44.2 + 0.577 × 5.8
= 47.55
The mean chart and range chart relevant to this problem are given below.

M. Radhakrishnan, Asst.Professor, SRMIST

Unit V − STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL 6

X − CHART
y

50 bb

b
b U CL : y = 47.55
b
b
b
b CL : y = 44.2
Sample mean X

40 b
LCL : y = 40.85
b

30
x−axis:1 cm=1 unit
20 y−axis:1 cm = 10 unit

10

0 x
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Sample Number

y
R − CHART x−axis:1 cm=1 unit
U CL : y = 12.27 y−axis:1 cm = 2 unit
12

10 b
b
b
b
b
b
Sample range R

8
b b

6 b

CL : y = 5.8
b

0 LCL : y = 0 x
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Sample Number

State of control:
All the sample points in the range chart lie within the control lines. Hence, as far as the variability of
the sample values is concerned, the process is under control. But in the mean chart, two points lie above
the upper control line and two points lie below the lower control line. Hence, as far as the average of the
sample values is concerned, the process is not under control. On the whole, we conclude that the process
is out of control.

M. Radhakrishnan, Asst.Professor, SRMIST

Bio Statistics 7

Problem 2 A machine fills boxes with dry cereal. 15 samples of 4 boxes are drawn randomly. The
weights of the sampled boxes are shown as follows. Draw the control charts for the sample mean and
sample range and determine whether the process is in a state of control.

Sample Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Weights of boxes (X) 10.0 10.3 11.5 11.0 11.3 10.7 11.3 12.3 11.0 11.3
10.2 10.9 10.7 11.1 11.6 11.4 11.4 12.1 13.1 12.1
11.3 10.7 11.4 10.7 11.9 10.7 11.1 12.7 13.1 10.7
12.4 11.7 12.4 11.4 12.1 11.0 10.3 10.7 12.4 11.5
Sample Number 11 12 13 14 15
Weights of boxes (X) 12.5 11.9 12.1 11.9 10.6
11.9 12.1 11.1 12.1 11.9
11.8 11.6 12.1 13.1 11.7
11.3 11.4 11.7 12.0 12.1

Solution:
As the X−Chart and R−Chart are to be drawn, we first compute the means and ranges of the given
samples.

Sample Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
P
Xi 43.9 43.6 46.0 44.2 46.9 43.8 44.1 47.8 49.6 45.6
Xi 11.0 10.9 11.5 11.1 11.7 11.0 11.0 12.0 12.4 11.4
Ri 2.4 1.4 1.7 0.7 0.8 0.7 1.1 2.0 2.1 1.4
Sample Number 11 12 13 14 15
P
Xi 47.5 47.0 47.0 49.1 46.3
Xi 11.9 11.8 11.8 12.3 11.6
Ri 1.2 0.7 1.0 1.2 1.5

1 P
X = xi
N
(1)
173.4
= = 11.56
15
1 P
R = Ri
N
(2)
19.9
= = 1.33
15
From the table of control chart constants, for sample size n = 4, we have

A2 = 0.729, D3 = 0 and D4 = 2.282 (3)

M. Radhakrishnan, Asst.Professor, SRMIST

 Unit V − STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL 8

Control Limits
X−Chart: R−Chart:

CL = X = 11.56 CL = R = 1.33
LCL = X − A2 R LCL = D3 R = 0
= 11.56 − 0.729 × 1.33 U CL = D4 R
= 10.59 = 2.282 × 1.33 = 3.04
U CL = X + A2 R
= 11.56 + 0.729 × 1.33
= 12.53

The mean chart and range chart relevant to this problem are given below.
y

x−axis:1 cm=1 unit

y−axis:1 cm = 0.5 unit

13.5
X − CHART

12

12.5 b b
U CL : y = 12.53
Sample mean X

12 b
b
b b

b
b
CL : y = 11.6 b

11.5 b

b
11 b b b

LCL : y = 10.59
10.5
..
.
x
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Sample Number

x−axis:1 cm=1 unit

y−axis:1 cm = 0.5 unit

3.5
R − CHART
U CL : y = 3.04
3.0

2.5 b b
Sample range R

2.0 b

1.5 b b CL : y = 1.3 b

b b
b
1.0 b

b
b b b

0.5

LCL : y = 0 x
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Sample Number

M. Radhakrishnan, Asst.Professor, SRMIST

Bio Statistics 9

State of control:
Since all the sample points lie within upper and lower control lines both in the X− chart and R− chart,
the process is under control.

Problem 3 The values of sample mean X and sample standard deviation s for 15 samples, each of size
4, drawn from a population process average and process are given below. Draw the appropriate control
charts for the process average and process variability. Comment on the state of control.

Sample Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Mean X 15.0 10.0 12.5 13.0 12.5 13.0 13.5 11.5 13.5 13.0
S.D. 3.1 2.4 3.6 2.3 5.2 5.4 6.2 4.3 3.4 4.1
Sample Number 11 12 13 14 15
Mean X 14.5 9.5 12.0 10.5 11.5
S.D. 3.9 5.1 4.7 3.3 3.3

Solution:
1 P
X = xi
N
(1)
185.5
= = 12.36
15
1 P
s = si
N
(2)
60.3
= = 4.02
15
From the table of control chart constants, for sample size n = 4, we have

A1 = 1.880, B3 = 0 and B4 = 2.266 (3)

Control Limits
X−Chart: s−Chart:

CL = X = 12.36
r 
n
LCL = X − A1 s
"rn #− 1 CL = s = 4.02
4
= 12.36 − 1.880 4.02 LCL = B3 s = 0
3
= 3.63 U CL = B4 s
r 
n = 2.266 × 4.02 = 9.11
U CL = X + A1 s
"r n#− 1
4
= 12.36 + 1.880 4.02
3

= 21.09

M. Radhakrishnan, Asst.Professor, SRMIST

 Unit V − STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL 10

The mean chart and s.d chart relevant to this problem are given below.
y
X − CHART
U CL : y = 21.09
21

20
x−axis:1 cm=1 unit
19 y−axis:1 cm = 1 unit

18

17

16

15 b

14
b b

b b
13 b

b b
CL : y = 12.36
12 b

b b

11
b

10 b

5 b
Sample mean X

4
LCL : y = 3.63

0 x
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Sample Number

M. Radhakrishnan, Asst.Professor, SRMIST

 Bio Statistics 11

y
s − CHART
U CL : y = 9.11
9

x−axis:1 cm=1 unit

8
y−axis:1 cm = 1 unit
7
b

6
b
Sample S.D. s

b
b

5 b
b

b
CL : y = 4.02
4 b

b
b
b b
b

3
b

0 LCL : y = 0 x
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Sample Number

State of control:
Even before drawing the control charts, we observe that the given sample mean values lie between 3.63
and 21.09 and given S.D. values fall with in 0 and 9.11. Hence, the process is under control with respect
to average and variability.

Problem 4 In a factory producing spark plugs, the number of defectives found in the inspection of 15
lots of 100 each is given below: Draw the control chart for the number of defectives and comment on the
state of control.

Sample No.: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
No. of defective: 5 10 12 8 6 4 6 3 4 5 4 7 9 3 4

Solution: Since each sample contains 100 items and number of defectives are given, the appropriate
control chart is np−chart.
Given:

Sample No.: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Total

No. of defective: 5 10 12 8 6
6 3 4 5 4 4 7 9 3 4 90
P
np 90
∴ np = = =6
N 15

and
1 1
p= ×6= × 6 = 0.06, since each sample contains 100 items.
n 100

M. Radhakrishnan, Asst.Professor, SRMIST

 Unit V − STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL 12

Control Limits for np−Chart:

CL = np = 6

p
LCL = np − 3 np(1 − p)
√
= 6 − 3 × 6 × 0.94 = −1.12
LCL cannot be negative, LCL = 0

p
U CL = np + 3 np(1 − p)
√
= 6 + 3 × 6 × 0.94 = 13.12

y
x−axis:1 cm=1 unit
np − CHART y−axis:1 cm = 1 unit
14

U CL : y = 13.12
13

12 b

11

10 b

9 b

8 b

7 b
Number of defectives np

CL : y = 6
6 b b

5 b
b
b

b
4 b b b

3 b b

0 LCL : y = 0 x
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Sample Number

State of control:

M. Radhakrishnan, Asst.Professor, SRMIST

Bio Statistics 13

Since all the sample points lie between the upper and lower control line, the process is under control.

Problem 5 15 samples of 200 items each were drawn from the output of a process. The number of
defective items in the samples are given below. Prepare a control chart for the fraction defective and
comment on the state of control.

Sample No.: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
No. of defective: 12 15 10 8 19 15 17 11 13 20 10 8 9 5 8

We have to prepare the chart for fractional defective, the appropriate control chart is p−chart.
Given:

Sample No.: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Total

No. of defective: 12 15 10 8 19 15 17 11 13 20 10 8 9 5 8 180

P
np 180
∴ np = = = 12
N 15

and
1 1
p= × np = × 12 = 0.06, since each sample contains 200 items.
n 200

Control Limits for np−Chart:

CL = p = 0.06

"r #
p(1 − p)
LCL =p−3
n
r
0.06 × 0.94
= 0.06 − 3 × = 0.01
200

"r #
p(1 − p)
U CL = p − 3
n

r
0.06 × 0.94
= 0.06 + 3 × = 0.11
200

The fractional defectives (i.e, values of p) for the given samples are

M. Radhakrishnan, Asst.Professor, SRMIST

 Unit V − STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL 14

Sample No.: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
No. of defective(np): 12 15 10 8 19 15 17 11 13
np 12
Fraction defective : =0.06 0.075 0.05 0.04 0.095 0.075 0.085 0.055 0.065
n 200
Sample No.: 10 11 12 13 14 15
No. of defective(np): 20 10 8 9 5 8
np
Fraction defective : 0.1 0.05 0.04 0.045 0.025 0.04
n
y
p − CHART
U CL : y = 0.11
0.11

0.10 b
x−axis:1 cm=1 unit
y−axis:1 cm = 0.01 unit
b

0.09
b

0.08
b b

0.07
b
Fractional defective p

0.06 b
CL : y = 0.06
b

0.05 b
b b

0.04 b b b

0.03
b

0.02

LCL : y = 0.01
0.01

x
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Sample Number

State of control:
Since all the sample points lie between the LCL and UCL line, the process is under control.

Problem 6 15 tape-recorders were examined for quality control test. The number of defects in each
tape-recorder is recorded below. Draw the appropriate control chart and comment on the state of control.

Unit No. (i): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

No. of defects (c): 2 4 3 1 1 2 5 3 6 7 3 1 4 2 1

Solution:Since the number of defects per sample containing only one item(i.e., tape-recorder) is given,

M. Radhakrishnan, Asst.Professor, SRMIST

 Bio Statistics 15

we can draw the c− chart.

Unit No. (i): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Total

No. of defects (c): 2 4 3 1 1 2 5 3 6 7 3 1 4 2 1 45
P
ci 45
c= = =3 Even though c < 4, we draw the c−chart, as it is only possible chart.
N 15

Control Limits for np−Chart:

CL =c=3

√ 
LCL =c−3 c
√
= 3 − 3 × 3 = −2.20
LCL cannot be negative, LCL = 0

√ 
U CL = c + 3 c
√
= 3 + 3 × 3 = 8.20

y
c − CHART x−axis:1 cm=1 unit
y−axis:1 cm = 1 unit
9
U CL : y = 8.2
8

7 b
Number of defects (c)

6 b

5 b

4 b b

CL : y = 3
3 b b b

2 b b b

1 b b b b

LCL : y = 0
0 x
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Sample Number (i)

State of control:
Since all the sample points lie between the LCL and UCL line, the process is under control.

M. Radhakrishnan, Asst.Professor, SRMIST

Unit V − STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL 16

Exercise
1) The following data give the coded measurements of 10 samples each of size 5, drawn from a production
process at intervals of 1 hour. Calculate the sample means and S.D.’s and draw the control charts for
X and s.

Sample Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Coded 9 10 10 8 7 12 9 15 10 16
measurements 15 11 13 13 9 15 9 15 13 14
(X) 14 13 8 11 10 7 9 10 14 12
9 6 12 10 4 16 13 13 7 14
13 10 7 13 5 10 5 17 11 14
2) 10 samples each of size 50 were inspected and the number of defectives in the inspection were:
2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 5, 1, 2, 3. Draw the appropriate control chart for defectives.

3) Construct a control chart for defectives for the following data:

Sample No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
No. inspected 90 65 85 70 80 80 70 95 90 75
No. of defectives 9 7 3 2 9 5 3 9 6 7

[ Hint:The size of the sample varies from sample to sample. Hence we can not construct
P the np− chart.
ni 800
We can construct p−chart, provided 0.75n < ni < 1.25n for all i. Here n = = = 80 and
N 10
Total no. of defectives 60
p= = ]
Total no. of items inspected 800

M. Radhakrishnan, Asst.Professor, SRMIST