STATISTICAL PROCESS-CONTROL - EXAMINATION OF USE IN A SMALL PRINTED-CIRCUIT BOARD MANUFACTURER

The paper reports a study into the use of statistical process control (SPC) in a company employing some 100 people, in the production of com plex and high technology printed circuit boards for aerospace and defe nce applications. The findings indicate considerable potential for the use of SPC. The continuing development of SPC should facilitate an in crease by operating staff in their processes and improve awareness of process variation, and should also lead to an improvement of process c onditions. It is pointed out that a variety of attitudes among operati ng staff were displayed to the perceived usefulness of SPC. In particu lar, there was confusion between specification limits and control limi ts, based on performance of the process, and concerns about the implic ations of narrow control limits.