Total Process Variation
Common Cause Variation
Special Cause Variation
Common Cause Variation
Naturally occuring and expected
Result from normal variation in materials, tools, machines, operators, and the environment
Special Cause Variation
Abnormal or unexpected variation
Has an assignable cause
Variation beyond what is considered inherent to the process
SPC
Statistical Process Control
Monitoring a process to identify special causes of variations and signal the need to ttake action
Relies on control charts
Histograms vs. Control Charts
Histograms do not take into account changes over time
Control charts can tell us when a process changes