The 12th Symposium on QFD/Gth International Symposium on QFD 2000 - Novi

INSPECTION AND CONTROL OF RAW MATERIAL APPLIED TO ELECTRONIC CERAMICS THROUGH THE QUALITY CHART
J. C.S. Dias and P.A. CauchickMiguel
Quality Management & Metrology Research Group

Methodist University of Piracicaba (UNIMEP), Rod.SP 306, km 1, 13450-000 Santa Barbara d'Oeste, SP, Brazil, e-mail: pamiguel@unimep.br; jcsdias@dglnet.com.br

0QFD Institute and P.A. CauchickMiguel

Abstract

Varistors are electronic ceramics with non-linear behaviour of the characteristics tension-current, used as the main material applied in surge arrestors. This paper reports a study of electronic ceramics inspection and control by presenting a methodology which relates technical requirements and management characteristics using QFD. A quality chart has been developed to correlate job hnctions and quality assurance elements from the ISOKD2 9001 (the year 2000 version). The chart associates these two groups of issues giving the level of importance in the relationship between each other. The main purpose of this analysis is to identifjl which IS0 9001 requirements have more impact on the job fimctions related to the inspection and control of electronics ceramics applied to surge arrestors.

Key-words: Job Function, Quality Assurance; Quality Function Deployment (QFl)).

INTRODUCTION Electronic ceramics have as principal component non linear resistors (called varistors) used for protecting buildings against storms, i.e. equipment for absorbing atmospheric discharges (surge arrestors). The manufacturing process demands rigid quality control with rather long lead-time manufacturing, usually involving high costs. Effective inspection of materials is vital. For example, the costs involved when scraping a batch of parts from the sinterization process can reach more than $10 thousand. Currently, the control of raw materials (electronic ceramics) is a responsibility of the supplier in a quality assurance basis. However, it would be desirable to have a more effective inspection and control methodology in order to increase the quality assurance at most. In this context, this paper reports a study of raw material inspection and control based on demanded and quality characteristics. It presents an application of QFD to relate technical
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requirements and management characteristics considering the product quality demands (for inspection and control) and quality characteristics of ISO/CD2 9001: 2000 (1999).

CONCEPT OF VARISTORS AND IT APPLICATION

Zinc Oxide (ZnO) varistors are electronic ceramic materials whose electrical behaviour is dominated by gain-boundary interface states. The varistors are produced by a ceramic sintering process that gives rise to a structure comprised of conductive ZnO grains surrounded by electrical insulating barriers (Levinson and Philipp, 1986). The application of ZnO varistors are predominantly in the field of circuit overvoltage although some uses of the material as an active circuit element have been described (Sakshaug et al., 1977). The overvoltage protection application derives from the fact that electronic circuits and systems containing low cost, high reliability, solid state components are frequently powered by regular 120 V ac power line sources (Levinson and Philipp, 1986). ZnO varistors are highly complex, multicomponent oxide ceramics whose electrical behaviour depends not only on the ceramic microstructure but also on detailed process occurring at the ZnO grain boundaries. Microstructure is the number and identity of phases, including porosity, the relative amounts of these phases, and the characteristic size, shape, orientation, and distribution of these phases (Ohio-Brass, 1998). A representation of an ideal ZnO varistor microstructure is presented in Figure 1. According to Leite et al. (1988), the electrical behaviour of the varistors is defined by the presence of electrical barriers in the material grain boundaries. In this sense, the electrical field depend on the average number of electrical barriers and the value of the tension per barrier. Controlling the varistor microstructure, i.e. varying the size of the grain for a fixed material thickness or maintaining the size of the grain for a variable thickness, can lead the design of varistors for different applications.
Eledrode

Gram

\ ;

SegrtEgation L a y s

Eledrode

\
I'

Figure 1 Representation of an Ideal ZnO Varistor Microstructure (Ohio-Brass, 1998).

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Fabrication of ZnO varistors follows standard ceramic techniques. Zinc oxide varistors contain approximately 90-weight percent ZnO with the remaining being composed of up to eight components. A typical processing scheme would be (Ohio-Brass, 1998):
e

e
e

e
e
e

e
e

e
e e e

Weigh the correct amounts of additives (oxides except ZnO); Ball mill the additives; Calcine the additives to pre-react the oxides; Ball m i l l the calcined product to mix and reduce the particle size; Spray dry the slurry to form a pressable powder; Press; Burn out the organic binder; Sinter; Lap the varistor faces; Apply electrodes; Apply and cure an insulating collar; Electrically test and sort.
A simplified flow diagram is presented in Figure 2.
ZnO
Bi,O,, other metal

Prepare Varistor Powder

Fire

Form ZnO

I
Electrode
i Leads I Encapsulate

Varistor ceramic
- - --- -

11

Device Packaging

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Although it is not shown in Figure 2, a number of tests must be conducted in the raw material for inspection and control, as follows: Chemical analysis (spectometry, spot tests, etc.); Scanning electron microscopy; Surface analysis (BET); Thermal analysis; X-ray fluorency test; and X-ray diffraction test;

According to Moulson and Herbert (1995), the manufacturing operations should consider a mix of physical and chemical tests in laboratory and in the field. However, it should not be neglected the necessity of having the raw material suitably identified and verified before its use. As can be seen previously, quality of raw material as well as the manufacturing processes are vital to achieve quality in the production of these types of electronic ceramics (varistors). In this sense, applying a methodology which considers inspection and control, from which quality requirements are established, can be regarded as an important step for achieving quality assurance. Moreover, it is understood that this methodology should consider not only technical aspects of material inspection and control but also management issues, such as those related to the requirements of IS0 9000 serie of standards. The former can be represented by the job functions (necessary to achieve success in the technical issues), while the latter can be represented by the quality system embraced by ISO/CD2 9001: 2000 (1999) requirements. In order to comply with the standard, relevant job (or operational) functions are selected, i.e. the determination of the important operations considering IS0 9001 requirements. According to Aka0 and Hattori (1998), efforts to build a true quality assurance system can be used through the combination of QFD and IS0 9000 requirements, as described at the following session.

THE CONCEPTUAL MO
The methodology practised under the name of 'Quality Function Deployment' can be broken down into two components: quality deployment (QD) and narrowly defined quality fbnction deployment (QFD). Figure 3 illustrates this definition proposed by Aka0 (1990; 1998). Quality Deployment (QD) can be defined as translating the user demands into substitute characteristics (quality characteristics), detemining the design quality of a completed product, and systematically deploying the quality of each product system into that of each part and process element as well as the relationships among them (Akao, 1998). Narrowly defined QFD can be defined as systematically deploying the job functions and operations that contribute to quality into step-by-step details.
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Quawy

I
Broad@Defined QFD (Comprehensive QFD)
I

I
~

Plamung Design Prototypmg Manufacturing

Service

Job Functions: Narrow&Defined QFD

Figure 3 - Definition of QFD (Akao, 1990; 1998).

Quality management systems, as those based on the I S 0 9000, can be considered as an important initiative to establish relevant issues for the quality systems. According to Aka0 et al. (1999), the deployment of quality standard elements of I S 0 9000 have been achieved significant advances in the quality control systems but they are not assure the quality of the product or service. The product quality can be achieved by combining QFD and I S 0 9000 standard requirements, e.g. as reported in a study conducted in Brazil by Gomes et al. (1998). Therefore, the application of QFD, aiming to have a more effective quality system, result in a system which assure quality on both process (IS0 9000 quality system) and out put (producthervice) of the company (Cauchick Miguel, 1998). The conceptual model for combining QFD and ISOKD2 9001: 2000 (1999) used in this work is based on a previous work conducted by Aka0 and Hattori (1 998). The model is illustrated in Figure 4. This paper tries to put some efforts in this direction by exploring and developing matrix 2, more specifically related to inspection and control of varistors.

Broadly Denned
QFD

Assurance
Itens
I I

I
I S 0 9000 Quality System

Quality System

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> ,

R e g U l w m

Documentation of operations

Figure 4 - I S 0 9000 Quality System with QFD (Akao and Hattori, 1988).

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DEVELOPING THE QUALITY CHART (MATRIX 2)

A quality chart has been developed which relates technical issues and ISO/CD2 9001: 2000 (1999) requirements. This work was conducted according the following steps:
I . Company Profile and QFD Team

This work was conducted in a small company which belongs to the electro-electronic sector. The company has received technology from a research centre of electrical products in France. It produces surge arrestors suitable for overvoltage protection of distribution electrical networks, substations, catenaries, and vehicles. Due to some difficulties in implementing this pilot project, the QFD team did not work as a team in the sense they should work together all the time. The meetings usually involved half member from the total of six participants. The team consisted of the industrial director, quality control manager, shop floor supervisor, supply manager, an electrical engineering consultant, and a quality system consultant.
2. Demanded Quality Deployment

The technical issues are regarded as the demanded quality. There were two levels to develop the demanded quality deployment table:
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Level 1: job functions; Level 2: detailing of each job function.

The first level of them is related to the job fbnctions, such as purchasing, costing, inspection, document control, safety, storage, and distribution. The second level gives fbrther details of each job function. For example, purchasing activities involve request, estimate, transportation, documentation, packing, and so on. The demanded quality table was developed using the Atrinity Diagram, as suggested by Cheng et al. (1995). According to Shindo et al(1990), Cheng et al. (1995), and Peixoto and Carpinetti (1998), the job fimction should express the real company necessities. The demanded quality table for the job fbnctions including the two levels is shown in Table 1.
3. Quality CharacteristicsDeployment

The ISO/CD2 9001: 2000 (1999) requirements are the management elements to be complied with, equivalently to the quality characteristics.

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The IS0 9001 elements, based on the CD2 (Committee DraR 2)l, are shown in Table 2.
Table 1 - Demanded Quality Table - Job Functions. Level 1 Level 2

Specification Storage

MTS - Material Technical Specification Level of production stock Level of safety stock Level of stick of research and development I Purchase reauests

Purchasing

Ouotations National Purchase reauests International Purchase reauests

IInvoice dispatch
Import declaration Incoming material report Cost Control Purchasing costs Appraisal costs warrantv costs Non-conformity costs Documentation
i

Packing

I
I

Inspection Handling Safety Registration

Technical records Quality certificates Safety records Material inspection Electric tests Storage I Distribution Safety standards Handling:standards Application Non-conformity reports
I

The standard is currently on DIS (Draft International Standard)version. The CD2 version was considered due the fact that the DIS version was not available at the time of the study.

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Table 2 - IS0 9001 Requirements

Level 1
Quality Management Requirements
-

Level 2

Level 3

General requirements Customer requirements Legal requirements Policy Planning Objectives

Quality planning

Quality Management System

General requirements Responsibility and authority Management representative Internal communication Quality manual Control of documents Control of records

Management review General requirements

Human resources

Assignment of personnel Competence, training, and awareness

Information Infrastructure Work environment Product and/or Service Realisation Customer-relatedprocess Identifkation of customer requirements Review of customer requirements Customer communication Design and development General requirements Design and development inputs Design and development outputs Design and development review
Design and development verification

Design and development validation Control of changes

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Table 2 - IS0 9001 Requirements (continued).

Level 1 Level 2
Purchasing

Level 3

I Verificationof purchased producthervice

I

Product/Serviceoperations

I General requirements

Measurement, Analysis, and Improvement

II
I

Measurement and monitoring of customer satisfaction Internal audit

Measurement, Analysis, and Improvement (continued)

Measurement and monitoring (continued)

Measurement and monitoring of product

I and/or service
I

Control of non-conformity

General requirements Nonconformity review and disposition

Analysis of data for improvement Improvement General requirements Corrective action Preventive action

5. Quality Plan

The degree of importance for each job hnctions is established by using a scale ranging from 1 to 5 (being 1 'not important', and 5 'very important'). From the quality chart (job knctions versus I S 0 9001 elements), the quality plan table is developed considering the competitive analysis, the planning, and the absolute and relative weight. Table 3 shows the quality plan. It is
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identified in Table 3 which job function are more relevant under the customer point of view. In this case, it is the internal customer who attributes the degree of importance for each job function. To perform the competitive analysis two competitors were chosen. The first one, named company 'XI is a Brazilian company which do not have the technology of varistors manufacturing, but produce a similar product, i.e. it employs a previous technology for producing a ZnO device. On the other hand, company 'Y' is a French international competitor which produces surge arrestors using the state of the art technology. According to Aka0 (1996), the rate of improvement ('ratio' in Table 3) is related to the company strategic plan. They are considered as key points where the product should be improved. In this case, they are also considered as the key process where the quality assurance points should be implemented. Then, the sales points are attributed and the absolute and relative weight are calculated. Figure 5 shows the most relevant job functions from the Table 3. It shows that 'non conformity costs', 'material inspection', safety handling', technical material specification', 'incoming material reports' are the top five job fbnctions from the demanded quality table.
T

t
Safety handing

t
t
Nun canformity costs
I
0

10

12

14

Relative Weight (?!o)

Figure 5 Most Relevant Job Functions.

As shown in Figure 5, the majority of job fbnction within the top five is related to the material specification, inspection and control, The top priority is the non conformity costs, which reflects a real concern with the possibility of loss in the production, since the production cost of each component is about $6. Besides, in case of occurring defects during the process, it is not possible to rework the component as well as the lead time is rather high. The second most relevant identified job function is the material inspection. As described in session 2, the material inspection is of paramount importance. These inspections are carried out by a series of physical and chemical

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assessment; these processes involve high costs in terms of equipment and human resources. The third job fimction is related with safety during the handling process. It is worth mentioning that the safety aspects are associated with the instructions when handling the material in order not to contaminate it during fabrication and, as a consequence, reduce the levels of non conformity. The fourth and fifth top job function are "technical material specification' and 'incoming material reports'. The former concerns the necessary technical information to perform the process and the latter concerns the records when receiving the raw material. Others relevant job functions are purchasing costs and inspection costs, both with 5,7%.
6. House o f Quality and 7. Quality Design

This phase is currently being conducted. Through the relationship between the job functions versus quality characteristics, the house of quality can be obtained. The appropriate symbols indicating the strength of the relationship are used ('strong correlation', 'moderate correlation', and 'weak correlation'; blank means 'no correlation").The applied scale was 1,2, and 4 as one of the possible group of values according to Cheng et al., 1995 (the other scales can be 1, 3, and 9, or 1, 3, and 5). One of the purposes of this analysis is to identify which IS0 9001 elements have larger relative importance. In other words, it is attempted to establish which IS0 9001 element has more impact in the job functions. From the preliminary results, the top six IS0 9001 elements (with more than 3% of relative weight) were identified (the numbers by brackets correspond to the numerical sequence in the I S 0 9001): General requirements (7.4 Purchasing); Verification of purchased products and services (7.4 Purchasing);
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Purchasing information (7.4 Purchasing); Identification and traceability (7.5 Product/Service Operation); Analysis of Data for improvement (8.4 Analysis of Data for Improvement); Non-conformity review and disposition (8.5 Control of Non-conformity);

Currently, it is being performed the quality design process. One of the main difficulties is to establish the performance measures of each IS0 9001 element as well as determine the competitor comparative analysis. After doing that, it will be possible to devise the targets the company should establish in order to decide where to put efforts also considering the relative weight. This is meant to be the next step in this study.

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CONCLUSIONS

Undoubtedly, to implement a quality system based on I S 0 9000 requirements is a vital condition for achieving quality assurance in the process, i.e. within the narrowly defined QFD. However, it is understood that only IS0 9000 certification is not enough for a company to achieve quality of its products or services. In this sense, IS0 9000 requirements are a necessary but insufficient condition to satis@both process and product quality assurance. Since IS0 9000 requirements alone are not enough, it is necessary to find out how to assure product quality. As an attempt to fulfil this need, the application of QFD methodology appears to be an effective solution. By combining it with I S 0 9000 requirements a conceptual model of the entire quality system (product and network of procedures related to the job functions) can be obtained. This paper reported the combination of QFD and IS0 9001 elements for inspection and control of electronic ceramics. From the construction of the demanded quality table for the job functions, it was possible to calculate the importance weight for each job fbnction. Further work will involve the operation documentation and establishment of control points for the relevant job functions. Through the development of the quality matrix (job hnction versus IS0 9001 elements), it is possible to apply a potent methodology for identi@, priors, and establish targets for purchasing, inspection and control of raw material (electronic ceramics) employed for surge arrestors production. The next steps in this direction will be the determination of performance measures suitably for assessing the company performance and comparing with the competitors. Consequently, the quality design can be developed. Finally, the integration of Quality Function Deployment and I S 0 9001 elements results in a more effective process of quality assurance in the search of continuos improvement in order to achieve product quality and, as a consequence, customer satisfaction.

References
Akao, Y. Qualiv Function Deployment QFD - Integrating Customer Requirements into Product Design. Edited by Y. Akao, Productive Press, Portland, Oregon, 1990. Akao, Y. Introduction to Quality Function Deployment. Fundaqilo Cristiano Ottoni, Escola de Engenharia da UFMG, Belo Horizonte, 1996 (in Portuguese). Akao, Y. Introduction to QFD.Quality Function Deployment Advanced Class. QFD Institute, 1719 June, 1998. Akao, Y. and Hattori, Y. Quality System Based on IS0 9000 Combined with QFD. Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Quality Function Deployment, Sidney, 1998.
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Akao, Y., Ohfuji, T. and Tanaka, K. Towards Product Development Management. Proceedings o f the Fijth International Symposium on QFD, Belo Horizonte, p. 1- 10, 1999.
f the Second Seminar on Cauchick Miguel, P.A. Integration of QFD and I S 0 9000. Proceeding o Quality: QFD - Concept and Application. Edited by P.A. Cauchick Miguel, Technology Centre, UNIMEP, Santa Barbara dOeste, p. 30-36, 1998 (in Portuguese).

Cheng, L.C., Skapin, C.A., Oliveira, A., Kracetuski, E., Drumond, F.B., Boan, F. S . , Prates, L.R., and Vilella, R.M. QFD - Quality Planning. Ed. Littera Maciel, Belo Horizonte, MG, 1995 (in Portuguese). ISO/CD2 9001: 2000 Quality Management Systems - Requirements. International Organization for Standardization, Switzerland, 1999. Gomes, A.C.F. et al. Using QFD to Establish a Quality Assurance Network. Transactions o f the tenth Symposium on QFD, Novi, MI, p. 185-196, 1998. Leite, E.R., Longo, E. and Varela, J.A. Sintering and Microstructure of ZnO Varistors. Cerdmica, Vol. 34, no. 216, pp. 48, 1988 (in Portuguese). Levinson, L.M. and Philipp, H.R. Zinc Oxid Varirtors - A Review. Ceramic Bulletin, Vol. 65, no. 4, pp. 639-646, 1986. Moulson, A.J. and Herbert, J.M. Electroceramics Chapman Hall, London, 1995.

- Material,

Properties, and Applications.

Ohio-Brass. EU 1055-HR ZnO Varistors- A Review. Ohio-Brass, Mansfield, 1998. Peixoto, M.O. and Carpinetti, L.C.R. QFD Methodology. Proceeding o f the Second Seminar on Quality: QFD Concept and Application. Edited by P.A. Cauchck Miguel, Technology Centre, UNIMEP, Santa Bh-bara dOeste,p. 4-29, 1998 (in Portuguese).

Sakshaug, F.C., Kresge, J.S. and Mske, S.A. A New Concept in Station Arrestor Design. IEEE Transactionsof Power Applied Systems, PAS-96, pp. 647-658, 1977. Shindo, H., Kubota, Y. and Toyomi, Y. Using the Demanded Quality Deployment Chart: Developing the Quality Plan. In: Akao, Y . QuaZity Function Deployment - Integrating Customer Requirements into Product Design. Productivity Press, Portland, p. 26-49, 1990.
Biographies

Paul0 A. Cauchick Miguel is graduated as an Industrial Engineer; he is a former manufacturing engineer of Bendix (now Bosch Break Systems) and Varga (now a TRW plant) companies in

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Brazil. Currently, he is an associate professor in the Faculty of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the Methodist University of Piracicaba (UNIMEP). He holds a PhD at the University of Birmingham, UK, and heads the Quality Management Research Group at UNIMEP. He is also an independent consultant and examiner of the Brazilian Quality Award (1999 edition). Jose Celso Sobreiro Dias works as manager in a purchasing department in a company which produces electronic ceramics. He is also a part time MSc student in the Post-graduation Programme of Industrial Engineering at UNIMEP.

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