Process Improvement Plan in Preparation of Laundry 1

Running Head: Process Improvement Plan in Process of Laundry

Process Improvement Plan in Preparation of Laundry:

Statistical Process Control and Analysis

Writers Name

Course Name, Semester No, Class Level

Supervisor Name

August 28, 2009

Process Improvement Plan in Preparation of Laundry 2 Statistical Process Control Flowchart for process of laundry is as follows:
START

Sort the cloths for white, bright and dark colors.

Check the pockets of sorted cloths and empty it.

Read the product label to follow the instructions Measure the right amount of detergent.

Pour the detergent into washer. Y Is fabric softener required? N How to choose water temperature? Cloths What kind of cloths? Delicate Select cold water. Durable fibrics Add liquid fabric softener.

Select hot water.

How to choose laundry cycle? Durable fibrics What kind of cloths? Delicate Select Gentle Cycler. Adjust the water level as per load

Select Regular Cycle.

Upload the cloth in the machine, close the lid and start the machine. Wait for 45 minutes. Put the cloths in dryer. Close the lid and start the dryer.

Wait for 60 or more minutes.

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Take the dry cloths out.

END

Flowcharting. (n.d.). provides the necessary steps for designing the flowchart for doing the laundry. I have collected the data for identified metric Sorting Time for Cloths (Minutes and Seconds). Data collected for week 1: S. No WEEK 1 Sorting Time for Cloths (Minutes and Seconds) 4 minutes 45 seconds 4 minutes 55 seconds 4 minutes 35 seconds 4 minutes 48 seconds 4 minutes 54 seconds Sorting Time for Cloths (Seconds) 285 295 275 288 294

1 2 3 4 5

Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Monday

Statistical Process Control provides the necessary analytical platform to correctly identify whether process has any flaws or not. It allows making a decision about nature of variation regarding quality control whether its control will give better result.

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Control Chart for Week1 (1) Sorting Time (Seconds) for the Week1
311.6 UC

1 CL

263.1

LCL

Days of First Week Above Control charts show the variation in a measurement of Sorting Time in Seconds during the first week of observation. Statistical Result in First Week for Sorting Time Min 275 Mean Max 295 Median Range 20 Standard Deviation Control charts consist of following key points: 287.4 288 8.08

1) Measurements of first weeks are plotted on the x/y axis where x-axis denotes the each day of the week and y-axis denotes the sorting time of cloths in corresponding control charts. Since it is six weeks measurement, we can take each week as subgroup measurement.

Process Improvement Plan in Preparation of Laundry 5 2) I have defined the Center line as the mean of the data collected which is reflected in graph by solid lines with notation CL. 3) The Upper Control Limit (UCL) is reflected above the CL which is also called as the + 3 sigma line. 4) The Lower Control Limit (LCL) is reflected below the CL which is also called as the - 3 sigma line. Steps for Process Improvement Plan (PIP) using Statistical Process Control Statistical analysis provides useful insight for right decision only in the case of relevant data collection with the application of correct planning. Planning is crucial in evaluation of process to get optimum result. PDCA Cycle. (n.d.) shows importance of PDSA cycle by Walter Shewart in Process Improvement Plan.

(Source: http://www.hci.com.au/hcisite3/toolkit/pdcacycl.htm )

Process Improvement Plan in Preparation of Laundry 6 Plan The possible cause in variation of sorting time of clothing is putting the different type of cloths randomly in drawer haphazardly in random order. Control chart for sorting time in first week shows definite differences in time measured in second. Another cause of deviation is manual observation of the time. It can be started with different measurement in changing days of the week. Sorting time difference is due to change in seasonal factors as cold or hot weather changes the need of woolen type or other type of cloths in different season which can affect the sorting time. Do Quick-sorter for putting the cloths in different type of bins for washing can be used to reduce the variation in sorting time and total time of sorting. I can label different bins for cloth of heavy, normal or delicate nature and put the type of cloths in appropriate bin. Also if I can make the mark on drawers to set aside the drawers for each type of cloths, then I can put the cloths to same drawer every day like one for jeans, shirts, lingerie etc. Sorting the cloth is not a major bottleneck. So I will do the sorting according to weather and putting the right cloths in right place each day rather than doing the entire chore in one day. Study I will study the effect of applied changes in forthcoming week. The control charts of coming weeks data will give better insight about effect of changes over the time. I will observe the changes for one or two weeks and then I can introduce correction or different strategy according to the need of process improvement.

Process Improvement Plan in Preparation of Laundry 7

Act If result is satisfactory, I can set the standard process of change for identified bottlenecks. Once this process is standardized, I can go for improving the next bottleneck. Control Chart I have used Excel statistical tools for creating control chart which shows the graphical result of collected data for identifying, analyzing, improving and applying the control factors in the process. It can be repeated enough times which can ensure the quality. As our experiment and observation will go for six weeks, it will establish the process of continuous improvement.

Control Limits Steel, R. G. D. and J. H. Torrie (1980) states that empirical rules of statistics define the variation of data over the center line in the context of mean and standard deviation. The center line, also known as control line, is plotted by the value of mean from collected data. Its deviation is generally calculated as 3 away from the center line. There are three zones of control limits identified by . Statistics calculates the dispersion of data in normal distribution with percentages mentioned below: 1 68.3% 2 95.5% 3 99.7%

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Control Limit Calculation for Sorting Time of Cloths (Seconds) Control Limit 1 2 3 3 almost accounts for 99.7% of data. 90% Confidence Interval can be determined by - z*/n to + z*/n. Lower Control Limit (LCL) Upper Control Limit (UCL) 279.32 271.24 263.16 295.48 303.56 311.64

If it is 90% Confidence Interval, significant level will be 0.10. Critical value of z for significant level 0.10 = 1.645 Sample Size Mean of the Sample Standard Deviation 5 287.4 8.08

If we assume the population mean is equal to sample mean, then Confidence Interval = (287.4-1.645*8.08/5, 287.4-1.645*8.08/5) = (281.45, 293.34) All data of sorting time is inside the confidence interval except time consumed on Thursday.

Conclusion

Process Improvement Plan in Preparation of Laundry 9 Control limit gives the accuracy of data in defined zone of 3 with 99.7% consistency. In our case, it is almost 100%. This is also called as automatic control limit. Western Electric Company (1956) reflects that the zone of 2 provides 95.5% accuracy which is also defined as warning limit. But in our case it is 100%.There are outliers from the control limit of 1. There are data outside the confidence interval. These fluctuations can be due to special causes as observation done through manual process without applying the special equipment of measurement. There were human factors of temperature control to be comfortable for donning particular types of cloth due to change in weather and it will affect the time measurement of sorting the cloth.

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References

Bibliography
Steel, R. G. D. and J. H. Torrie (1980), Principles and Procedures of Statistics. New York: McGraw-Hill. Western Electric Company (1956), Statistical Quality Control Handbook, available from ATT Technologies, Commercial Sales Clerk, Select Code 700-444, P.O. Box 19901, Indianapolis, IN 46219, 1-800-432-6600.

Web Site
Flowcharting. (n.d.). Retrieved August 28, 2009, from Online Course Material : http://www.nos.org/htm/basic2.htm PDCA Cycle. (n.d.). Retrieved August 28, 2009, From problem-faced to problem-solved: http://www.hci.com.au/hcisite3/toolkit/pdcacycl.htm