Statistical process control / John Oakland and Robert James Oakland.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Process understanding -- 1. Quality, processes and control -- 2. Understanding the process -- 3. Process data collection and presentation -- Process variability: 4. Variation: understanding and decision making -- 5. Variables and process variation -- Process control: 6. Process control using variables -- 7. Other types of control charts for variables -- 8. Process control by attributes -- 9. Cumulative sum (cusum) charts -- Process capability: 10. Process capability for variables and its measurement -- Process improvement: 11. Process problem solving and improvement -- 12. Managing out-of-control processes -- 13. Designing the statistical process control system -- 14. Six-sigma process quality -- 15. The implementation of statistical process control -- Appendices.

Statistical process control is a tool which enables both manufacturers and suppliers to achieve control of product quality by applying statistical methods to controlling processes. This guide provides an introduction to the concept. $b The business, commercial and public-sector world has changed dramatically since John Oakland wrote the first edition of Statistical Process Control - a practical guide in the mid-eighties. Then people were rediscovering statistical methods of `quality control' and the book responded to an often desperate need to find out about the techniques and use them on data. Pressure over time from organizations supplying directly to the consumer, typically in the automotive and high technology sectors, forced those in charge of the supplying production and service operations to think more about preventing problems than how to find and fix them. Subsequent editions retained the `took kit' approach of the first but included some of the `philosophy' behind the techniques and their use. The theme which runs throughout the 7th edition is still processes - that require understanding, have variation, must be properly controlled, have a capability, and need improvement - the five sections of this new edition. SPC never has been and never will be simply a `took kit' and in this book the authors provide, not only the instructional guide for the tools, but communicate the management practices which have become so vital to success in organizations throughout the world. The book is supported by the authors' extensive and latest consulting work within thousands of organisations worldwide. Fully updated to include real-life case studies, new research based on client work from an array of industries, and integration with the latest computer methods and Minitab software, the book also retains its valued textbook quality through clear learning objectives and end of chapter discussion questions. It can still serve as a textbook for both student and practicing engineers, scientists, technologists, managers and for anyone wishing to understand or implement modern statistical process control techniques.