Statistical Process Control for the Food Industry

5Tools in SPC

5.1 Basic Quality Tools

Controlling the process is not just about constructing and applying control charts. It is an activity that should become part of the primary business strategy in the services industry. In order to maintain the consistency of a process or to reduce the variability in production, problem‐solving activities commonly need to take place. Problem‐solving activities are not particularly new to quality management in the food industry. In fact, problem‐solving efforts are commonly facilitated by the usage of a variety of quality tools. Quality tools have a long history – some of the tools were even applied before World War II. Quality tools consist of both qualitative and quantitative approaches, which focus on improving companywide activities.

5.2 SPC Tools

Based on the Statistical Process Control (SPC) definitions discussed in the previous section, it is assumed that the tools related to SPC are broad enough to include all techniques including statistics, as well as being applicable in experiments that range from a random sample to the very sophisticated technique design of experiments (Montgomery 2012). There is no standard set of tools within SPC; however, there is a general agreement on seven tools: histograms, Pareto charts, cause‐and‐effect analysis (CEA)/fishbone diagrams, scatter diagrams, check sheets, and control charts. Nevertheless, it is agreed that a control chart is a primary tool within SPC. This chapter describes SPC tools and ...