Demonstrate an Understanding of the role of Statistical Process Control in Informing Management Decisions Relating to Quality: Statistical Process Control Report, Singapore

MODULE:   Managing Operations & Supply Chain

Purpose of the Assessment

This assignment is designed to enable you to demonstrate an understanding of the role of statistical process control in informing management decisions relating to quality.

Assessment Task

You will conduct a review of the academic literature on the subject of statistical process control.

Following your review, you are to analyse a given set of data to evaluate the performance of a fictional tannery in a given scenario.

You will be expected to illustrate your discussion with examples from academic journals, the trade press, and other authoritative sources.

Assessment Breakdown

Prepare a literature review on the subject of statistical process control, covering the concept from its inception up to the present day.

Ensure that you include references to at least 10 peer-reviewed articles, no more than ten years old. You may also find relevant reviews in the trade press and from other authoritative sources.

The supplied spreadsheet contains historic data recording the temperature of combined effluent discharged by a fictional tannery, Waterside Leather Limited (WLL) over the past four months.

The tannery’s discharges are normally controlled within the range 25^oC to 35^oC.The maximum permitted temperature is 40^oC. Regular maintenance is performed on the balancing system (which neutralises the pH of the effluent at the expense of heating the discharge in the process) on a monthly basis.

Use the data to visualise the performance of the effluent control process, describing your analytical approach in detail. Include any graphs generated.

In your view, how well has the plant performed?

In your judgement, what priorities for quality improvements should the plant management set?