UNIT I INTRODUCTION TO THE ORIGIN OF QUALITY CONTROL MEASUREMENTS

The product quality we enjoy today is made possible by our ability tomeasure to the
degree needed for the type of product being generated. Thereseems to be an
unwritten law that we are able to progress technologically onlythrough our ability
to measure more and more precisely. Through the centuries, the measurement of length
has presented many problems to mankind. The earlyEgypians used the cubit as their
measurement of length. It was defined as thedistance from the Pharoh's elbow to the
tip of his fingers. The cubit was equalto seven palms, and a palm was equal to four
digits. The Egyptians needed something more available than the Pharoh's arm
whenbuilding the pyramids, so they cut marks on a stick of wood. his worked fine
until the Pharaoh died and there was no standard left to check the length of the
stick of wood. In the years that followed, many standards and measuring
techniques weredeveloped, but it was as recently as 1889 that a universal standard
was adopted.In that year the International Bureau of Weights and Measures adopted
the meterbar as the standard of measurement. It was a special x-shaped bar of
platinum-iridium kept at zero degrees centigrade. Two scribed lines on the bar
represent one meter. In 1960 the red light band from Krypton 86 gas was adopted
as the newstandard of measurement. A meter is now defined as 1, 650, 763.73
wavelengths ofthe red line in Krypton 86 gas. As the need for measuring
techniques increased, the design of measuringequipment improved. Our precision
equipment of today is far removed from thewooden stick that the Egyptians used.
Even so, most of the advancement inmeasuring equipment has been made in recent
years. The first micrometer wasinvented in France in 1848 by Jean Palmer. This was
a crude looking instrumentthat looked like a C-clamp, quite different from the
micrometers of today. INTERCHANGEABLITY OF PARTS Although the name Eli
Whitney is snynonymous with the cotton gin, his mostimportant contribution to
society was the application of interchangeability ofparts. Until this time each
part was cast, cut, and shaped by the craftsman tofit its mating part. The amount
of parts that a craftsman could produce in agiven time depended upon the complexity
of the product. In 1798 Eli Whitney entered into a contract with the United
StatesGovernment to supply 10, 000 muskets. This seemed like an enormous task
becausea skilled gunsmith could only make 10 muskets a year. Many people laughed at
Eli Whitney's "hair-brained" idea, saying there were not enough gunsmithsavailable
to build all of the guns. In spite of the adverse public opinions, Eli Whitney
undertook the taskwith the idea that he could make parts so much alike that the
barrel, stock, orany other part could be removed and another fitted in its place.
Although he did not meet the scheduled delivery date, he did producemuskets with
interchangeable parts. He amazed the Government officials bybringing in the few
completed muskets, dis-assembling them, mixing the parts, and then re-assembling
them. The Government was so impressed that they grantedan extension of time and Eli
Whitney was eventually able to deliver the 10, 000muskets. The success of this
"hair-brained" idea was so great that this method hasbecome almost universally
adopted by present day industry. At first the schemewas to build a master and then
make all parts exactly like it. Of course aproblem always arose if the parts were a
little larger or smaller than themaster, or if holes were not located in the right
place. To help overcome this condition, templates and mating parts were used.
Ata later date the procedure of part drawings was introduced. These drawings are
commonly called blueprints. The dimensions on a blueprint show the minimum and
maximum sizes which will permit proper function of the assembly. The difference
between the minimum and maximum size is called the tolerance. The principle of
interchangeability of parts is the basis of our presentday economy. When we buy an
automobile we may want to replace the carburetor, the clutch, the motor or any other
part that may wear out. We may need a newdrive belt for a washing machine, a new
burner for a stove, a tube for atelevision set, or even a light bulb. With our
present day manufacturingmethods, we expect these parts to fit when we replace
them. Imagine the expenseinvolved if we would have to buy a new light fixture each
time a bulb burnedout! MASS PRODUCTION Shortly after World War I, Henry
Ford introduced the idea of massproduction to industry. The scheme he used was for
each production worker tomake a specific part while other workers assembled the
parts. The method he used enabled him to make so many Model T Fords that nearly
everybody could buy one. However, the introduction of mass production machinery
created new problems. The only way people could tell if parts were produced to
blueprint tolerances was to 100% inspect them. The labor cost of 100%
inspection greatly increased the cost of theproduct. In addition, it is a time
consuming operation. Little was done aboutthis until the United States Government
started to buy large amounts of suppliesduring World War II. They wanted some way
of knowing what they were buyingwithout looking at every item. Bell Telephone
Laboratories , among others, were given the task of solvingthis problem. Bell Labs,
under the direction of R. S. Jones, had been applyingstatistics to quality. This
started the way for statistical sampling. The useof sampling plans greatly reduced
the cost and labor of 100% inspection. About 1930, Dr. W. A. Shewhart, also of
Bell Labs, developed the ShewhartControl Chart for variables. These two statistical
applications, the controlcharts and sampling plans, have been the backbone of
Statistical Qualitycontrol. These ideas help satisfy the inspection needs of mass
production. GROWTH OF QUALITY CONTROL Men such as R. S. Jones, Dr.
Shewhart, E. L. Grant, J. M. Juran, A. J.Duncan, C. M. Kennedy, H. Dodge, and H.
Romig have made great contributions inadvancing the use of statistics to control
quality. This concept grew so factin industry that it became misused. Many people
with nothing more than a basiccourse, became a "preacher of the good word". They
were so involved in formulasand equations that they lost sight of the intended
goal. In the early days of Statistical Quality Control, we collected large
amounts
of data and spent a lot of time calculating the formulas. However our
present day industry is geared to large production and quick delivery. We donot
have time to collect large amounts of data, or enough trained personnel toanalyze
the data. We need something that will help us make a quick decisionwith a
calculated risk. To alleviate this situation, many new and quick methods have
been developedthat are easier to use and give a good approximation of the product
quality.Nomographs and conversion charts reduce the need for complicated
calculatons.Pocket calculaters and computers simplify the remaining calculations.
Inaddition, these devices help reduce the mathematical errors so common to thistype
of work. Other statistical tools have been developed that aid inconducting special
studiies. TOTAL QUALITY CONTROL THE MEANING OF QUALITY Quality may be
defined as the relationship between the results ofmanufacturing and its intended
design. At some time a customer has specificwants and needs. These wants and needs
are reflected into the product byMarketing and Design Engineering. Design
Engineering specifies the type ofmaterial that is necessary to build the product.
It is the responsibility ofPurchasing to buy the material which will enable the
manufacturing departmentsto build the product. After the product has been completed
and delivered to thecustomer, it must fulfill his original wants and needs, or he
will not besatisfied. If the product fulfills the customers expectations and he is
satisfied, we have a good quality product. Usually we consider a good quality
product as being the best obtainablequality, however this is not always true. In
industry good quality means thebest for certain customer requirements.
STATISTICAL QUALITY CONTROL We may define Statistical Quality Control as the
evaluation and control ofproduct and process conformation through the use of
statistical techniques.Some of the basic statistical techniques that are used to
evaluate productconformance will be discussed later. The term "statistical" may
cause consternation to us because it is usuallyassociated with involved theories
and mathematics. Although the statisticaltechniques may be complicated, the use of
the methods have been reduced toelementary arithmetic. If you ever purchased an
automobile on the time payment plan, perhaps youwill remember the salesman looking
in his book to find what your monthlypayments would be. All that he needed to know
was the amount you wished tofinance and the length of time. The work of calculating
interest rates etc., was already prepared for him. It would not necessarily help him
if he knew theformulas that were used to compute the tables in his book. The one
thing heshould know is how to use the tables. Today we find that most of the
basic statistical techniques have beenworked out for us in the form of tables,
charts, and nonomographs. Our job isto learn how to apply these techniques to the
best advantage. Therefore we willbe more concerned in this course with the concepts
and applications than theactual statistical derivation. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR
QUALITY? The use of statistical techniques blends well in the control of
productconformance, but we should not lose sight of the many other factors that
contribute to the control of a product. When we look at an industrial operation
through the eyes of Quality Controlthose things that pertain to quality would
include the design of qualityproducts, planning quality processes, buying quality
materials, manufacturingquality products, inspecting and testing for product
conformance, and shippingquality items. It can be seen that Quality is not the
responsibility of any onedepartment, it is everyone's job! It begins with design of
the product andcontinues until the product is in the hands of a satisfied customer.
Qualitycannot be inspected into a product--it must be built into it. Therefore, the
direct responsibility of producing good quality remains with the manufacturing
departments. An understanding of the techniques of statistical control and agood
corrective action program will improve product quality and ultimatelyincrease sales
and profits.