No matter what your business manufactures—from clothing to electronics to industrial parts—it’s critical to prevent problems before they occur.
When it comes to issues that can arise during the manufacturing process, there are enhanced solutions, called Statistical Process Control (SPC), that you can employ to ensure manufacturing quality control. Here is what you need to know about SPC, how it works, and the specific benefits it brings to manufacturing companies.
What Is Statistical Process Control (SPC)?
Statistical Process Control (SPC) is an industry-standard methodology for measuring and controlling quality throughout the manufacturing process. Accurate data in the form of process and product measurements are obtained in real-time during manufacturing.
With predetermined limits established, the data obtained is plotted on a graph. Data that falls within set control limits shows that processes are operating as expected. Variations in the data might be due to a variety of issues, which may or may not be part of the manufacturing process. If data falls outside the control limits established, investigation is necessary to determine the source of the variation so that adjustments can be made before defects or other problems occur.
10 Benefits of Statistical Process Control
As a manufacturer, you already face enough external challenges. That’s why it’s vital that you avoid and minimize any internal challenges before they impact your products and your business. Fortunately, SPC is a data-driven technique that can help your operation do just that and more. Here are ten benefits of Statistical Process Control (SPC) for manufacturing companies.
- Eliminate Variation of Processes
- Reduce Defects, Waste, and Rework
- Improve Product Quality
- Maximize Productivity
- Reduce Manual Inspections
- Boost Customer Satisfaction
- Achieve Cost Reduction/Control
- Maintain Compliance with Various Standards
- Prevent Over-Tampering
- Get Extensive Analytics and Reporting
1. Eliminate Variation of Processes
The SPC software provides a manufacturer with charts that visually display the operation’s production efficiency. The user will be able to see any unnecessary processes or troubling variations so that further investigation can take place. The data provided allows a manufacturer to identify imperfections and improve their processes without relying on guesswork or assumptions.
2. Reduce Defects, Waste, and Rework
One of the primary benefits of an SPC software solution is uniformity. The software allows a manufacturer to achieve superior uniformity in the process and end products, no matter how many items are produced. Any potential defects or errors are detected and corrected before they become major issues, which reduces waste and the necessity to rework products.
3. Improve Product Quality
One of the ways your business competes is through its product quality. Without SPC software, it can be challenging to identify issues during the manufacturing process that could compromise quality. However, SPC will catch these trouble spots immediately so that your business can address them and maintain the standards it desires.
4. Maximize Productivity
Without SPC software, it’s difficult to identify and correct the problems/defects that arise in the production process. In many cases, issues can only be identified at the end of the process, such as problems that become evident during quality control testing. In this scenario, production would have to halt completely to figure out what went wrong, repairs may be necessary, and finished products might have to be discarded.
With the use of SPC software, production problems are caught much sooner. You’ll have the opportunity to pinpoint a problem as it happens and may only have to stop production briefly to fix a minor issue. In most cases, you won’t lose production time and will be able to maximize the efficiency of your operations.
5. Reduce Manual Inspections
Even with SPC, manual inspections are still a vital part of the manufacturing process because the human eye can often detect things that a computer system doesn’t. That said, humans can miss a lot of critical errors as well. When using an SPC solution, you can strike a working balance between the two, relying on the data you receive about your operations and creating a more streamlined process for manual inspections on the factory floor.
6. Boost Customer Satisfaction
Just about every business aims to exceed its customers’ expectations and create a lasting business relationship. This is just as true for a manufacturer as it is for an eCommerce business. SPC solutions can help your business produce products of the highest quality possible so that customers are happy, recommend your business to others, and continue their relationship with you long-term.
7. Achieve Cost Reduction/Control
The improved productivity, efficiency, and quality you achieve with SPC provide your business with various cost benefits. Having fewer product defects means less money spent on reworking products, paying additional labor, and sending wasted materials to scrap. You’ll spend less money dealing with defective products through returns and recalls. Finally, a reduction in manual inspections means you can dedicate those resources to other areas of your business.
8. Maintain Compliance with Various Standards
As a manufacturer, you may have to meet various standards – some regulatory and others established by your customers. For example, vehicle parts, such as seatbelts and airbags, must meet certain requirements. Using SPC software, you can input your control parameters and monitor the production process to ensure every element meets your stringent requirements.
9. Prevent Over-Tampering
How many times have your operators “tweaked” a process because they weren’t quite sure whether or not it was running correctly or required some adjustments? In some cases, it might be working just fine, and those changes actually do more harm than good. SPC gives your team the real-time data it needs to prevent over-tampering with a process that is working as it should.
10. Get Extensive Analytics and Reporting
When you use a digital solution like SPC software, you gain access to data analytics that can help you better understand your manufacturing processes and overall business. You can use the data provided by the solution to help you save costs, improve efficiency, and make more informed business decisions.
Why Choose GainSeeker Suite SPC Software?
Customers are always searching for the highest quality products available, and they have access to resources to ensure they receive them. As a manufacturer, one of your biggest challenges is achieving and maintaining your desired level of quality. You can accomplish this with Hertzler’s GainSeeker SPC software.
GainSeeker programs and analyzes data on the production floor, helping you eliminate defects before they impact your business, and robust tools automate the SPC process with solutions that include user-configurable scripting, data wizards, detailed analytics, and more. If you’d like to learn more about the GainSeeker Suite Platform, schedule a personalized online demo to experience first-hand how simple it is to get real-time, targeted, quality data for your business.
