Statistical process control: Best practices in small and medium enterprises

Many developing countries have started to focus on quality in manufacturing industries including small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. Statistical Process Control (SPC) is one of the quality improvement practices companies employ to ensure the reliability of their products, thus increasing customer satisfaction. This paper aims to present the recent development of a computer-based SPC system to be used by operators or shop-floor workers to perform simple data analysis, as well as to enhance the efficiency of the improved process. Ideas and information concerning system development are generated through an in-depth case study at ten SME companies, featuring interviews, questionnaires and observation. The system, namely small and medium enterprises statistical process control (SMEs-SPC), tends to focus on particular data sets, simple statistical operations and user groups. The findings show that the SMEs-SPC system is highly practical for quality data management and data analysis and has advantages over the manual SPC. Furthermore, it is suitable for users with a limited understanding of SPC and/or statistical background, highlighting the importance of SPC.

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