Case Study: SPC to Improve Quality and Reduce Cost

One company that has been able to improve quality and reduce costs through the use of a computer based Statistical Process Control (SPC) software product is Green Bay Packaging Inc. The Green Bay Packaging Inc. plant in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a corrugated shipping container manufacturer, has been using SPC for years. Recently, customers are requesting statistical reports to be forwarded to them in an ongoing and timely manner. Initially, they responded by using handwritten control charts. This took additional time to perform and was a drain on their resources. It also did not allow them to perform alternate data analysis in a cost effective or timely basis.

Green Bay Packaging Inc. quickly saw the need for SPC software and chose SPC-PC IV from Quality America, Inc. They found the product to have all the charting tools they needed as well as the flexibility and ease of use their employees demanded. SPC-PC IV is now used in many divisions of the company. Not only are manufacturing plants utilizing the product, but the corporate quality staff uses SPC-PC IV to analyze monthly reports sent electronically by several divisions.

Green Bay Packaging Inc. then went one step further with SPC-PC IV and utilized its Real Time Gage Module to accept readings directly from gages. Prior to using the Real Time Module, they were recording measurements manually. They realized that this process can lead to a higher possibility of errors in reading the measurement from the gage, transcribing the measurements to paper, and entering the data into a computer. Besides reducing the possibility of errors, Green Bay Packaging Inc. main goal in reading measurements in real time was to provide immediate analysis and reduce data entry time.

They found that by using SPC-PC IV in real time they are now able to quickly and efficiently analyze the data using different tools. Green Bay Packaging Inc. is able to visualize the data in the form of histograms, something that they were unable to do consistently through their manual process. In addition, ability of SPC-PC IV to display their specification limits directly onto a histogram allows them to easily visualize their process in relation to specifications. Green Bay Packaging also stores assignable causes directly in the software to perform Pareto analysis to determine what areas of their process they need to focus on. This is something that was extremely difficult to do with paper records.

Through the use of SPC-PC IV, Green Bay Packaging has been able to monitor their process more effectively. This has lead to reductions in process variability, scrap material, and costs.

Learn more about the SPC principles and tools for process improvement in Statistical Process Control Demystified (2011, McGraw-Hill) by Paul Keller, in his online SPC Concepts short course (only $39), or his online SPC certification course ($350) or online Green Belt certification course ($499).