In the world of business, problems occur. And it is good to know that many of them can be preventable using the right tools. And that is where process behavior charts come in. They are used in a wide variety of industries, especially in the manufacturing industry, for the purpose of finding out if a process is stable and in control. 

These charts visually monitor the performance of a process using a data-driven approach. And when they are used correctly, they can give you the ability to prevent problems from occurring in real time. In the instance of manufacturing, this means a company can eliminate problems like costly downtime. This makes process behavior charts an invaluable tool in that respect.

Besides that, process behavior charts can do so much more. Here are some of the other benefits.

Benefits of Using Process Behavior Charts in Organization

They tell you when something is wrong in a process

Sometimes it can be hard to tell when a process in trouble and needs to be amended. By looking at a control chart, you can be able to tell when it is time to make some improvements. That way, these charts serve as an early warning system, telling you when a process is about to misbehave.

As we know, in the world of manufacturing, producing a subpar product can be costly in many ways. For example, if your product is of low quality, you run the risk of disappointing customers, which can make them jump ship and seek out the competition. By using a process behavior chart, the problem can be identified it its infancy and corrected before it becomes a real issue.

They prevent unnecessary tampering of the process

Most times, a process behaves the way it should, meaning there’s no need to make any amendments. Tinkering with it would count as unnecessary tampering, which can cause it to misbehave. Tampering with it could accidentally leave it vulnerable to factors that can increase special cause variation, which is not the type of variation you want.

By looking at a control chart, you can make an informed decision in regards to the process; like when to avoid messing with what works. When a process is working correctly, the variation will be random along the center line. This is a good time to tell operators to do nothing and let it do what it does until the chart tells you otherwise.

They help you determine if your improvement efforts are working

Suppose you have a process that is not stable and is out of control. You can make amendments to it, but how can you tell whether your efforts have paid off? By looking at a control chart, of course. The chart can also alert you if your amendments are having the opposite effect; making the process worse rather than fixing it.

On top of assessing the impact of your amendments, process behavior charts can give you the power to predict the future output of a process. When a process is stable and in control, it can be predictable, This type of information can put you in a position to make informed decisions.

They eliminate guesswork when improving a process

Some people have a natural talent when it comes to fixing processes. This allows them to tell exactly what is wrong and how to fix it. These people operate by instinct, and by looking at a process behavior chart, they would just be confirming what their gut feeling has already told them.

However, not everyone has this innate ability, and to level the playing field, they can use a control chart. If they use their gut feeling in this scenario, they would be doing a lot of guesswork and probably fall prey to myths surrounding the performance of processes.

There are many tools that can be used to tell what is wrong with a process. Ensuring that all processes, especially in the manufacturing industry, are running smoothly is essential to customer satisfaction and gaining a competitive advantage. This is essentially what process behavior charts are for, which gives way to the above-mentioned benefits.

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In fact, Six Sigma’s entire evolution is towards quality. Here are some key principles of Six Sigma:

• Focus on customer’s requirements: To define what quality means, you need to go to the source, which is your customer/client who purchased your product or service. By focusing on the customer, you will give them a consistently high quality product/service.

• The process: Really understand what the customer needs from their perspective, and know the day-to-day process so you can identify what is and isn’t working. It’s referred to as “outside-in thinking.”

• Employee involvement: The name of the game is involvement. Make sure all employees are involved in what makes your company successful by implementing Six Sigma methodologies; this is done by education and opportunities for leadership.

Six Sigma Quality Tools and Approaches

• Control Chart: This is a way to track how a process is working over time. The measurements are compared to previous measurements, all things being the same, and is a good way to spot variances. 
• Pareto Diagram: This chart focuses on the effects that have the most chance or potential for improvements. The Pareto diagram is based on the Pareto principle that 20% of sources cause 80% of any issues.
• Process Mapping: This great visualization tool allows to “see” how things get done. You can view the entire process and identify the strengths and weaknesses in the entire processes. Also helps identify defects and reduce cycle time.
• Root Cause Analysis: You can use the 5 whys to determine the root cause of an issue. By removing the root cause, you remove the problem forever.
• DFSS (Design For Six Sigma): This enables us to design a product or service that doesn’t exist yet. This product or service would be designed with the customer’s requirements in mind.
• DMAIC: Stands for Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control. This template is used to improve the processes that produces the product or service. Remember, it is to improve the process an existing product or service.

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The run chart and the control chart are both highly useful tools in analyzing the performance of a process, and of the organization as a whole. While some managers tend to use them interchangeably and ignore the finer nuances between them, there are actually some significant differences between the two tools that require an educated approach in using them. The good news is that it’s actually not that hard to understand the differences, and doing so can have a great impact on your performance as a leader in your organization later on.

The Run Chart

A run chart is quite simple in its design and application, and it allows you to visualize the way a single variable or group of variables changes over time in relation to your operations. There are many applications for a run chart, and it’s one of the most flexible tools available for analyzing trends in data, but its simplicity is often mistaken for a lack of utility.

A good application of a run chart is identifying cycles or other odd variations in a process. Whenever some deviation from the norm occurs, and it can’t be traced to a random factor affecting the process externally, a run chart can give you a good idea of the source of the issue and allow you to localize it very efficiently.

It’s not rare to see run charts used to analyze how the performance of the company has been evolving in relation to the initial expectations about it, and they can indeed visualize this type of relation very effectively. To this end, run charts are also great for showcasing your progress to your customers or someone else who might be interested in finding out where the project currently stands.

The Control Chart

A control chart can be seen as an extension of the run chart, and it does indeed have many similar characteristics. However, where a run chart is concerned with showing how a process has been evolving through time with no regard to any target parameters, a control chart can give you a good overview of the current situation while taking some limits into account.

In other words, using a control chart can help you visualize if a process is staying within its reasonable norms. In cases when it doesn’t, the control chart will also show you the exact nature and scale of the deviation, allowing you to take localized action to correct the issue.

A control chart is more useful than a run chart when deviations are important to be accounted for, and when you need to be able to take corrective action as quickly as possible. On the other hand, it can unnecessarily complicate things if that kind of information is not relevant to your current activities. In that case, you should probably use a run chart instead, or at least minimize the number of limits visualized on the control chart.

When to Use Each One

In the end, both types of charts have their own uses, and you’ll find them appropriate in different situations, depending on the way you’re approaching your current problems. It’s a good idea to use a run chart whenever it fits the bill though, as it can often give you a better idea of what the situation is like without adding an unnecessary layer of complication.

Ono the other hand, if limits are important in your operations and in deciding your future course of action, it’s critical to ensure that you’re applying control charts in every situation where they make sense. With time, you’ll develop some intuition for when to use each type of chart, and when to actively avoid one or the other.

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The 7 quality tools include:

1. Stratification (Divide & Conquer): Here data is divided into smaller subcategories. These subcategories are divided into groups based on the information that they most cover, and the specific information given in these subgroups help solve an existing issue.
2. Histogram: These contain information on the frequency of specific occurrences that have to do with the issue needed to be resolved.
3. Check Sheet: An easy way to display both qualitative and quantitative data that is gathered for analysis; also called a tally sheet. This is great in understanding where in the progress that defect patterns happen.
4. Cause & Effect Chart (Fishbone or Ishikawa Diagram): This diagram is extremely useful in problem solutions as well as identifying the root causes for an issue.
5. Pareto Chart (80-20 Principle): This chart is based on 20% of causes resulting in 80% of effects. The Pareto charts help us visualize through the chart that the majority of end results come from a minority of actions or causes for defects.
6. Scatter Diagram: This is a mathematical chart that correlates a set of two variables for specific data.
7. Control Chart (Shewhart Chart): This is a great tool for observing all pertinent processes over time. This tool makes it easy to see the variation and pinpoint its occurrence.

These quality control tools help in gathering important data that will make quality improvement based on facts and not on arbitrary guesses. Keep in mind that the Voice of Customer (VOC) is of utmost importance since fulfilling the customer’s requirements is the reason you are in business, and without your customers, you won’t have a business or company.

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