Statistical Process Control
In 1992 Polaroid, began production of the Captiva. Marketed first in Germany as the Vision, then in Japan as the JoyCam, Polaroid needed world-class quality to win over finicky consumers. To achieve the coveted Six Sigma level of quality, Polaroid needed a Statistical Process Control (SPC) system to monitor dozens of camera performance characteristics. G&E Systems created a totally customized SPC for Polaroid's camera production line.
The Polaroid production line is highly automated; dozens of robots assemble hundreds of small parts into each camera. Automated test stands controlled by PCs test every shutter and completed camera. The test stands upload their test results to a LAN server at the end of each shift. The SPC system is a client/server application running on any PC connected to the LAN. Detailed data for every shutter and camera is extracted from the server. The system then produces summary results:
- Pareto of failures ranked to direct attention to the most critical problems first
- Histograms (both overall and segregated by tester) of each performance characteristic with upper control limit, lower control limit, and target
- Tables under each histogram comparing mean, sigma, Cp, and Cpk achieved with the nominal specification, tolerance and quality standard (generally, Cpk = 1.5 or 3 ppm)
- Charts showing the previous sixty days' performance
- Reports on details of each failure detected
Polaroid views this SPC as the key to achieving a six sigma quality standard and being a world-class manufacturer. The Captiva SPC system was so successful that Polaroid retained G&E Systems to develop similar systems for all its camera production lines.
E-Mail us for information on how you can purchase a copy of our Pareto spreadsheet softwre.
E-Mail us for information on how you can purchase a copy of our Histogram spreadsheet software.
E-Mail us for information on how you can purchase a copy of our Control Chart spreadsheet software.
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For more information E-Mail or contact us at
G & E Systems, Inc.
250 Edge Hill Road, Sharon, MA 02067-1017
(781) 784-1007 (Voice) (781) 784-1737 (Fax)