A process oriented supplier quality contorl approach based on dynamic SPC

High quality suppliers are necessary for the success of any organization. To guarantee good quality products from suppliers, it is necessary to optimize the process parameters immediately when deviations of the part quality, that is required by the customer, have been observed. Optimization of process parameters are only possible when an experienced process operator adjusts the parameters of the process manually. Although statistical process control (SPC) enable the quality of conformance to be monitored and special causes of process variability to be identified, it is not well applied in some enterprises due to fact that operators cannot determine the 'out-of-control' position of the process, and the root causes of the quality problems with the limited knowledge they have. Therefore, the presented approach develops a system which combines dynamic control chart with the expert knowledge library. The system is carried out in two steps: the first step, a quality controller checks the product quality according to the reference values, when the process is going to be out of control, the system will give a warning to remind operators to take action exactly and keep the process in normal; in the second step, the system will give the related information and valuable suggestions to operator and help them to take correct action to keep the process in control. Copyright, American Society for Engineering Management, 2012.