Information Services and Products

What is "SPC" - A Wayworld Tutorial
Back | Tutorial Content Guide | Next Page

SPC, or Statistical Process Control, is a method for measuring, understanding and controling variation in a manufacturing process. It is one tool among many used in a broader vision of business operations (see The Deming Vision), which includes ideas like continuous improvement, in-process quality, teams and the use of statistics to know the unknowable.

Statistical Process Control.. It is exactly what it says, but uses three dirty words:

• Statistical - worse than math, worse than arithmetic. Worse than reading my reports.
• Process - using a recipe to cook is a "process". So is buidling a space shuttle. The key word here is "complicated". Manufacturing is a complicated process.
• Control - Nobody likes to be controlled. We all want to be in control of our lives. Control is a kind of power, the ability to affect change; it all depends on how you use it.

• It is not a fad. It has a long, international history.
• It is a personal skill. One person can learn it and use it.
• It is a transferable skill. Once you learn it, you can use it in nearly any business or process.
• It is part of a bigger picture. A picture that is changing the nature of "work" itself.

You’ll notice some "practice" lessons in this tutorial. They are to help with getting the ideas working together, and would also be part of a live presentation on SPC.

What you find in this tutorial alone is not enough to start SPC. This tutorial is meant to sketch the rough outline of what SPC is about.

Thanks to Mario Martin, who has studied SPC with me and helped write this report.

Back | Tutorial Content Guide | Next Page - The Goal of SPC

1997-2011 © Wayworld Inc.