Post an article or website and summarize why it might provide further insight for each of the following posts:

Post 1: " Statistical process control, or SPC, is an industry-standard methodology for measuring and controlling quality during the manufacturing process. Quality data in the form of product or process measurements are obtained in real-time during manufacturing (What is SPC?,nd).

Typically the key data is collected and visually displayed in a control chart over time. The chart will also contain control limits that set and upper and lower conditions for a process that is in control.

The control chart is then used to monitor the process and make any needed adjustments to maintain the process control. Better stated by Walter Shewhart, "the purpose of statistical process control is to quantify variation and prevent the manufacture of defective product (Shewhart, 1931).

Case Study

SPC was actually applied at a sawmill with great success (Young, Bond, &Wiedenbeck, 2007). The common problem the mill was facing was the large amount of variation coming from sawing processes as wood material was being processed. Because of minimum size expectations by the customers, the mill needed to oversize the cuts to offset the large variation in the process as to not send out a defect. As a result, the mill produced over-sized parts resulting in higher material costs.

To solve the problem, a wireless real-time SPC system was installed to monitor the cut dimensions. The system allowed the sawmill to monitor the process and make quick adjustments to the process. This allowed the mill operators to set the cut dimension closer to the target since they make adjustments before bad parts are made. This resulted in using less material, a cost savings, and ultimately a competitive advantage for the sawmill.

Application to Final Project

For my group, our project focuses on a key quality characteristic on a aerospace fuel injection nozzle. This characteristic requires less than .002" of tilt or perpendicularity of the weld from the base to the end of the nozzle shroud. As the project shows, this weld process is driving a large amount of waste in rework and scrap. However, no SPC exists at this site to help make the problem visible and to control the process into the weld. In this case, the site relied on year-to-date scrap and rework numbers to identity the problem, which is way late in the game.

SPC could help solve this problem in two ways. First with SPC in place on the key perpendicularity characteristic, the weld operators would have known immediately of any shift in process and if adjustments were needed. Next SPC could also be applied to key inputs into the weld process that have a large effect on weld perpendicularity. With this tool in place, the input into the process would in much better control reducing the variation from the weld process. Like the sawmill, the site would be producing parts much closer to the expectation resulting in a cost improvement."

Post 2: " Henry Ford was quoted as saying "It's not the employer that pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It's the customer who pays the wages" (Ruth, 2015). Understanding the needs and expectations of the customer is critical to the success of any organization.

Six Sigma and Lean management techniques have become increasingly popular as companies aligned themselves to customer service, and sought out new and better ways of increasing customer satisfaction and becoming more competitive. Some organizations that chose one path or the other have found that they eventually reached a plateau, and have logically started investigating other approaches to continuous improvement (Arnheiter&Maleyeff, 2005). In the article "The Integration of Lean Management and Six Sigma", the authors seek to eliminate misconceptions of both methods, while describing the benefits of the combined approach.

Our group project is focused on reducing the amount of unplanned scrap generated during the manufacture of cold headed fasteners at my employer, Shannon Precision Fastener. The technical tools of six sigma and lean management are invaluable to drive improvement and efficiency throughout the process and supply chain, which directly impacts the bottom line. The article describes the problems faced by manufacturers of complex products, which may have thousands of opportunities for defects (OFDs). In a world market that expects perfect quality, especially in the case of highly complex products, the manufacturer must rely upon their supply base to provide the highest-quality components to be successful.

Evaluation

Our project scope is focused on the reduction of unplanned scrap that results from tool failures during production. In addition to the obvious benefits of waste elimination such as improved efficiency, reduced scrap and less tooling expense, we anticipate these improvements will lead to greater sales and improved customer satisfaction.

As automotive manufacturers adopt six sigma strategies and set new targets for quality and reliability, we as suppliers must lead and adopt the same strategies and goals. If we adopt the view that each component we supply is a potential OFD for our customer, the need to control variation takes on a new light. These shared goals will align our organizations and demonstrate our desire to truly partner with them.

Key to attaining our goal is the lean management component of reducing variability. Specifically, we want to understand the weakest links in the machine tooling, that result in the highest-frequency / highest-waste failure modes. Understanding them will allow us to further investigate methods of way reducing variation in tool life, and ultimately result in a proactive tool replacement strategy that will reduce muda (waste) - another key lean element.

By replacing the tools before they fail, we will prevent the creation of the majority of the defects that could lead to material isolations or customer concerns. We already utilize many of the zero quality control (ZQC) system practices that were espouse by Shigeo Shingo, such as source inspection by operators, poka-yoke mistake proofing, and ensuring setup quality via standardized training and work instructions (Shingo, 2006). Existing procedures will be revised to be more effective and hold new gains, any new documents created as needed."