Statistical Quality Control

Statistical Quality Control l CHAPTER 17
TRUE/FALSE
17.1
The purpose of control charts is to help distinguish between natural variations and variations due
to assignable causes.
ANSWER: TRUE
17.2
If all of the control points on a control chart lie between the UCL and the LCL, then the process is
in control.
ANSWER: FALSE
17.3
Total Quality Management (TQM) refers to the management of quality throughout one's entire
organization.
ANSWER: TRUE
17.4
Quality is defined as the degree to which a customer is satisfied with a product.

ANSWER: FALSE
17.5
On a control chart, we plot the parameters from individual products.

ANSWER: FALSE
17.6
The central limit theorem provides the statistical foundation for control charts.
ANSWER: TRUE
17.7
An x-bar chart would be appropriate to monitor the number of defects by a production lot.
ANSWER: FALSE
17.8
An x-bar chart monitors the central tendency of a process.

ANSWER: TRUE
17.9
A p-chart could be used to monitor the average weight of boxes of cereal.

ANSWER: FALSE
17.10
A c-chart would be appropriate to monitor the number of weld defects on the steel plates of a ship's
hull.
ANSWER: TRUE
*17.11 Statistical Process Control helps set standards, and monitor, measure, and correct quality
problems.
ANSWER: TRUE
*17.12 Six-Sigma, like most useful approaches to quality, is a process of continuous improvement.
ANSWER: TRUE
*17.13 It is impossible to develop a process that has zero variability.
ANSWER: TRUE
*17.14 The objective of a process control system is to provide a signal whenever variation is present.
ANSWER: FALSE
*17.15 As long as the output of a process remains within specified limits, we consider the process to be
under control.
ANSWER: TRUE
*17.16 If we are attempting to control the diameter of bowling bowls, we will find a p-chart to be quite
helpful.
ANSWER: FALSE
*17.17 If we are attempting to determine the quality of a hole drilled in a steel plate by using a go/no go
gauge, we should be plotting the results on a p-chart.
ANSWER: TRUE
*17.18 If we are tracking quality of performance for a class of students, we should plot the individual
grades on an x-bar chart, and the pass/fail result on a p-chart.
ANSWER: TRUE
*17.19 In statistical process control, all error distributions are Normal.
ANSWER: FALSE
*17.20 C-charts are useful for monitoring production when there are only a few potential errors or defects,
but these may occur often.
ANSWER: FALSE
MULTIPLE CHOICE
Table 17-1
(For use in problems 17.22 - 17.24)
Sample Size
Mean Factor
Upper Range
n
A2
D4
2
1.880
3.628
3
1.023
2.574
4
0.729
2.282
5
0.577
2.114
6
0.483
2.004
7
0.419
1.924
8
0.373
1.864
9
0.337
1.816
10
0.308
1.777
12
0.266
1.716
17.21
Lower Range
D3
0
0
0
0
0
0.076
0.136
0.184
0.223
0.284
Bags of carrots are sampled to ensure proper weight. The overall average for the samples is 24
ounces. Each sample contains eight bags. The average range is 2 ounces. The upper control chart
limit for the average would be
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
24.373.
24.746.
23.254.
23.627.
none of the above
ANSWER: b
17.22
Bags of carrots are sampled to ensure proper weight. The overall average for the samples is 24
ounces. Each sample contains eight bags. The average range is 2 ounces. The lower control chart
limit for the average would be
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
24.373.
24.746.
23.254.
23.627.
none of the above
ANSWER: c
10
17.23
To guarantee that cans of soup are properly filled, some cans are sampled and the amounts
measured. The overall average for the samples is 12 ounces. Each sample contains 10 cans. The
average range is 0.4 ounces. The upper control chart limit for the range would be
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
0.7108.
0.0892.
12.7108.
12.0892.
none of the above
ANSWER: a
17.24
To guarantee that cans of soda are properly filled, some cans are sampled and the amounts
measured. The overall average for the samples is 12 ounces. Each sample contains 10 cans. The
average range is 0.4 ounces. The lower control chart limit for the range would be
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
0.7108.
0.0892.
12.7108.
12.0892.
none of the above
ANSWER: b
17.25
A company has been receiving complaints about the attitude of some of the sales clerks. Over a
10-day period, the total number of complaints was 360. The company wishes to develop a control
chart for the number of complaints. What would the upper control limit on the number of
complaints per day be?
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
6
36
42
54
ANSWER: d
17.26
A company is developing upper and lower limits for the percentage of defective items produced on
an assembly line. If the lower control limit is found to be 0.04, what should the company do?
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
set the lower limit at 0

set the lower limit at +0.04
set the upper limit at 0.04
leave the lower limit at 0.04
ANSWER: a
11
17.27
A company believes a process monitored by an x-bar chart to be in control when the most recent
control point exceeded the UCL value by 20%. The company should
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
believe that a random bad luck chance occurred and proceed on.
suspect that an assignable cause of variation now exists and can be found.
ignore the control point completely as it is simply an outlier.
wait for the next four samples to be taken to see if a trend develops.
ANSWER: b
17.28
Bags of pretzels are sampled to ensure proper weight. The overall average for the samples is 9
ounces. Each sample contains 25 bags. The standard deviation is estimated to be 2 ounces. The
upper control chart limit (for 95.5% confidence) for the average would be
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
9.4.
8.6.
9.8.
8.2.
ANSWER: c
17.29
The inspection of cans of juice involves sampling some cans and weighing them. The overall
average for the samples is 39 ounces. Each sample contains 36 cans. The standard deviation is
estimated to be 2 ounces. The 99.7% lower control chart limit for the average would be
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
37.67.
38.00.
39.33.
40.00.
ANSWER: b
17.30
Defects in electronic components will usually render the entire unit worthless. For a particular
component, the percent defective in the past has been 1%. If a sample size of 400 is taken, what
would the 95.5% lower control chart limit be?
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
0
0.02
0.01
0.95
ANSWER: a
12
17.31
A quality control program is being developed for batteries. The percent defective for these in the
past has been 2%. If a sample size of 100 is taken, what would the 99.7% upper control chart
limit be?
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
0.000
0.020
0.040
0.048
ANSWER: d
17.32
Total quality management refers to

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
use of statistics in process control.

statistical process control.
natural variations.
control charting.
enterprise-wide quality control.
ANSWER: e
17.33
Variations that need not occur in production processes are referred to as

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
assignable variations.
control variations.
natural variations.
process variations.
none of the above
ANSWER: a
17.34
Variations that usually occur in a process are called

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
process variations.
natural variations.
control variations.
assignable variations.
none of the above
ANSWER: b
17.35
R-charts measure changes in

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
17.36
central tendency.
degree of variation.
number of defects per production lot.
natural variations.
none of the above
ANSWER: b
Which of the following should cause a process control system to sound the alarm?
(a) natural variations
13
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
a mean is greater than a standard deviation

control variations
assignable variations
none of the above
ANSWER: d
17.37
x -charts indicate changes in

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
variation.
central tendency.
natural variations.
numbers of defects.
none of the above
ANSWER: b
17.38
The central limit theorem suggests that 99 percent of the sample average should fall within ____
standard deviations of the mean.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
1
1.5
2
2.5
none of the above
ANSWER: e
17.39
To sample variables, we must use

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
R-charts.
x -charts.
c-charts.
p-charts.
(a) or (b)
ANSWER: e
14
17.40
To measure attributes, we must use

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
x -charts.
p-charts.
R-charts.
y-charts.
none of the above
ANSWER: b
17.41
The normal distribution describes the occurrence of such items as the

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
average length of a bar of steel.

fraction defective for a production lot.
attributes such as good or bad.
number of defective units in a production lot.
none of the above
ANSWER: a
17.42
The normal distribution forms the basis for which of the following charts?
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
c-chart
x -chart
R-chart
all of the above
none of the above
ANSWER: b
17.43
The binomial distribution forms the basis for which of the following charts?
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
c-chart
x -chart
p-chart
all of the above
none of the above
ANSWER: c
17.44
The Poisson distribution forms the basis for which of the following charts?
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
c-chart
x -chart
p-chart
all of the above
none of the above
ANSWER: a
17.45
The c-chart would be useful when we

(a) took a number of measurements and computed the average.
15
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
took a number of measurements and computed the ranges.

found the fraction of the production lot defective.
found the number of defective items in a production lot.
none of the above
ANSWER: d
17.46
The x -chart would be useful when we

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
took a number of measurements and computed the average.

none of the above
ANSWER: a
17.47
The p-chart would be useful when we

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)

none of the above
ANSWER: c
17.48
The R-chart would be useful when we

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)

none of the above
ANSWER: b
16
17.49
Defects in marble countertops usually require the whole top to be reconstructed. In one kitchen
shop, the percent defective in the past has been 1 percent. If a sample size of 30 is taken, what
should be the 95.5 percent upper control limit be?
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
0.03
0.01
0.04
0.06
none of the above
ANSWER: c
17.50
The p-chart would not be useful when we

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)

(a), (b), (d)
ANSWER: e
*17.51 Defects in the finish of new, custom, automobiles usually require the whole body to be repainted. In
one custom shop, the percent defective in the past has been 2 percent. If a sample size of 10 is
taken, what should be the 97 percent upper control limit be?
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
0.03
0.01
0.04
0.06
none of the above
ANSWER: e
*17.52 Bags of tea are sampled to ensure proper weight. The overall average for the samples is 8 ounces.
Each sample contains eight bags. The average range is 0.1 ounces. The upper control chart limit
for the average would be
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
8.0179
8.0105
8.0152
8.0373
none of the above
ANSWER: d
17
*17.53 Bags of tea are sampled to ensure proper weight. The overall average for the samples is 8 ounces.
Each sample contains 10 bags. The average range is 0.1 ounces. What is the lower limit of the
range chart?
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
8.0215
8.0308
8.0000
8.0179
none of the above
ANSWER: b
*17.54 A company has been receiving complaints about the quality of some of its merchandise. Over a
15-day period, the total number of complaints was 255. The company wishes to develop a control
chart for the number of complaints. What would the upper control limit be?
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
29.37
4.63
259.37
21.12
ANSWER: a
*17.55 A company has been receiving complaints about the quality of some of its merchandise. Over a
15-day period, the total number of complaints was 255. The company wishes to use a control
chart for the number of complaints. During the current 15-day period, it appears that there will be
approximately 34 complaints. The company should
(a) assume that the process is under control, and simply move on.
(b) assume that the high complaint rate was simply a natural variation and keeping going as they
are.
(c) immediately begin seeking the cause of this variation.
(d) assume that the variation is due to inappropriate data logging.
(e) none of the above
ANSWER: c
*17.56 The Pristine Paint Company produces paint in gallon cans. The have found that over 10 samples
of 8 cans each, the average gallon can contains 1.1 gallons of paint. The average range found over
these samples is 0.15 gallons. What is the upper control limit for the averages in this process?
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
1.10
1.15
1.14
1.16
none of the above
ANSWER: d
*17.57 The Pristine Paint Company has taken the following measurements of the amount of paint in each
gallon can:
Time
Amount
Time
Amount
18
Time
Amount
07:00 am
08:00 am
09:00 am
10:00 am
of Paint
1.10
1.15
0.95
0.98
11:00 am
12:00 pm
01:00 pm
02:00 pm
of Paint
1.10
1.05
1.04
1.03
03:00 pm
04:00 pm
05:00 pm
06:00 pm
of Paint
1.06
0.97
1.02
0.96
Find the 99.7 lower control limit for the averages.

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
1.010
0.935
0.981
1.050
none of the above
ANSWER: c
*17.58 The average range of a process for packaging cereal is 1.1 ounces. If the sample size is 10, find
the upper control chart limit.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
0.245
1.955
1.777
0.223
none of the above
ANSWER: b
*17.59 Given the following sample results (100 units in each sample), find the 95% lower limit of the
appropriate p-chart.
Sample Number of Fraction
Number Errors Defective
1
0
0.00
2
9
0.09
3
6
0.06
4
7
0.07
5
2
0.02
6
7
0.07
7
7
0.07
8
5
0.05
9
4
0.04
10
5
0.05
19
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
0.0076
0.0964
0.2014
0.1397
none of the above
ANSWER: a
*17.60 In finding a 95% control limit for the mean, the z-value that should be used it.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
0.95
1.05
2
3
none of the above
ANSWER: c
PROBLEMS
17.61
A company is producing round shafts for drill presses. The average diameter of a shaft is 7.2
inches. Nine shafts are inspected and the diameters are measured. The standard deviation is
estimated to be 0.01 inches. What are the 95.5% upper and lower control limits for the x-bar
chart?
ANSWER: LCL=7.198 UCL=7.202
17.62
A quality control program is being developed for batteries. The percent defective for these in the
past has been 1.5%. If a sample of size 50 is taken, what are the 99.7% control limits for this?
ANSWER: LCL=0 (0.037) UCL=0.067
17.63
A computer software manufacturer has a toll free telephone number that customers may use if they
have problems or questions about the software. In the past, the company has averaged four calls
per hour on a particular product. If a 95.5% c-chart is developed for this, what would the limits
be?
ANSWER: LCL=0 UCL=8
17.64
A computer diskette manufacturer is concerned that some diskettes have bad sectors that would
cause a diskette to hold less information than it was intended to hold. In the past, only 5% of these
diskettes have had bad sectors. If the company wishes to set 99.7% control limits based on
samples of size 500, what would these limits be?
ANSWER: LCL=0.02 UCL=0.08
20
17.65
A p-chart has been developed for a particular item. In the past, 4% of such items have been found
to be defective. If a sample of 100 is taken, and 9 of these are found to be defective, should the
process be considered out of control? Explain.
ANSWER: If 99.7% control limits are developed, they are as follows: LCL=0 (.02) UCL=0.10.
Since 9% is in this range, the process is not out of control.
17.66
A company is producing hula hoops. The average diameter of the hula hoops is 36". Five hoops
are inspected and the range is determined. The average range for all samples is 3". What are the
99.7 % upper and lower control limits for the x -chart?
ANSWER: LCL = 34.27"
17.67
A company is producing hula hoops. The average diameter of the hula hoops is 36". Five hoops
are inspected and the range is determined. The average range for all samples is 3". What are the
99.7 % upper and lower control limits for the R-chart?
ANSWER: LCL = 0"
17.68
UCL = 6.34"
Jack Bennetton, manager of the Sandy Bottom Grocery Store, is concerned that his stock clerks are
mispricing items. For those items stocked during the last eight hours, he has counted 32 that were
mispriced. What would be the 99.7% control limits on this process?
ANSWER: LCL = 0 (-2)
17.69
UCL = 37.73"
UCL = 10
A bakery is attempting to make certain that all their cakes contain the same amount of ingredients
by weight. Over the last few days, they have taken several samples. The overall average weight of
the sampled cakes is 24 ounces, with an average range of 4 ounces. Each sample was of four
cakes. What would be the 99.7 upper and lower control limits for an x -chart?
ANSWER: LCL = 21 ounces
17.70
UCL = 27 ounces
At the Ezio Pasta Company, bags of macaroni are labeled "net weight 12.5 ounces." Each hour,
nine bags are taken and weighed to check the process control. The standard deviation has been
0.25 ounces, and the average weight has been 12.5 ounces. The average range has been 0.3
ounces. A sample has just been taken with the following weights: 12.7, 12.4, 12.1, and 12.6. Is
the process in or out of control?
ANSWER: The 99.7% control limits for an x -chart are: LCL = 12.25, UCL = 12.75. The
average of 12.45 is well within these limits. The 99.7% control limits for an R-chart are: LCL
0.055 ounces, UCL = 0.545 ounces. Therefore, since the range of this sample, 0.6 ounces, is
outside the control limits for the range, we would conclude that the process is out of control.
21
SHORT ANSWER/ESSAY
17.71
Quality may be defined as ___________________.

ANSWER: the degree to which the product or service meets specifications (or similar)
17.72
TQM refers to ___________________.

ANSWER: a quality emphasis that encompasses the entire organization, from supplier to customer
17.73
Natural variation of a production process that follows a normal distribution is characterized by two
parameters: ___________________ and ___________________.
ANSWER: mean (), standard deviation ()
17.74
When a process is out of control, ___________________ variations exist in the process.

ANSWER: assignable
17.75
When a process is in control, only ___________________ variations exist in the process.

ANSWER: natural
17.76
A(n) ___________________ chart is appropriate to monitor the percent defective of a production

process.
ANSWER: p
17.77
A(n) ___________________ chart is appropriate to monitor the diameter of milled axle shafts.
ANSWER: x-bar
17.78
A(n) ___________________ chart is appropriate to monitor the length of milled axle shafts.
ANSWER: x-bar
17.79
A(n) ___________________ chart is appropriate to monitor the number of pits of each milled axle
shaft.
ANSWER: c
17.80
A(n) ___________________ chart is appropriate to monitor the percent of defective milled axle
shafts per hour.
ANSWER: p
17.81
Both __________ and _________ are important when trying to control variables.
17.82
ANSWER: central tendency, dispersion

The three distributions used in statistical process control are the _________, __________, and
___________.
ANSWER: normal, binomial, Poisson
22
17.83
The two charts one might use to monitor test grades in a college course are ________, and
_______.
ANSWER: x -chart, R-chart
17.84
The chart one might use to monitor defects in producing carpet is ________.
ANSWER: c-chart
17.85
The charts one might use to monitor the overall performance of students in a college course are
_____________________________________.
ANSWER: x -chart & R-chart (for general grades), p-chart & c-chart (for pass/fail)
17.86
If the natural variations of a process are significant, we should _______________.

ANSWER: redesign the process
17.87
If the assignable variations of a process become significant, we should _____________.

ANSWER: adjust the process
17.88
The accuracy of statistical process control is heavily dependent on __________.

ANSWER: sample size
17.89
If we wish to monitor the number of defects on a page in a printing process, the distribution we
base our statistics on is the _______ distribution.
ANSWER: Poisson
17.90
If we wish to monitor the average diameter of the hula hoops we are producing, the distribution we
base our statistics on is the ________ distribution.
ANSWER: normal
23
MATCHING
17.91
R-chart
(a)
Count of attributes
17.92
p-chart
(b)
Average of variables
17.93
x -chart
(c)
Graphical presentation of process data
17.94
c-chart
(d)
Range of variables
17.95
Control chart
(e)
Fraction of attributes
ANSWERS: 17.91d, 17.92e, 17.93b, 17.94a, 17.95c

17.96
(a)
Lower limit for an x -chart
17.97
D R
(b)
Control limits for a c-chart
17.98
x A R
(c)
Upper control limit for a p-chart
17.99
p zs p
(d)
Upper control limit for a Range chart
17.100
x Z x
(e)
Upper limit for an x -chart
ANSWERS: 17.96b, 17.97d, 17.98e, 17.99c, 17.10a
24

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Statistical Quality Control

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Statistical Quality Control l CHAPTER 17

Quality is defined as the degree to which a customer is satisfied with a product.

On a control chart, we plot the parameters from individual products.

An x-bar chart monitors the central tendency of a process.

A p-chart could be used to monitor the average weight of boxes of cereal.