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A SURVEY OF THE IMPACT OF STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL SUCCESS
FACTORS ON QUALITY AND FIRM PERFOMANCE

PURPOSE

    The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between Statistical Process Control (SPC) success factors and quality and firm performance in manufacturing organization.

INSTRUCTIONS

This survey consists of four parts :
     Part 1 : SPC implementation issues
     Part 2 : SPC success factors
     Part 3 : Impact of SPC implementation on quality and firm performance
     Part 4 : General information about organization
Please answer the following questions before completing this survey.

Question 1 : Are you familiar with 7 Basic Quality Tools (Graphs, Pareto, Check Sheet, Histogram, Cause Effect, Scatter Diagram and Control Charts) ?
YES
NO

Question 2 : Are you familiar with the concept and the techniques of SPC ?
YES
NO

    If the answer to the question 1 or 2 is NO, you are probably not the right person to answer this survey. Kindly pass this survey to a member of your organization that is familiar and knowledge in SPC techiniques. Any information that you provide in this survey will be kept confidential. If you have any problems regarding this survey, please do not hestitate to call Mr. Jafri Mohd Rahani at 07-553 4568 or 016-284 3516.

Thank You


PART 1 : SPC IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES

This part contains specific statistical process control techniques that are actually being implemented at your organization. If you are not familiar with the techniques, please do not answer. Please tick the appropriate number the extent of implementation of each of the following SPC techniques. Use the following guidelines for the extent of implementation.
    1 = No implementation : Never used
    2 = Little implementation : Used in selected process in production
    3 = Some implementation : Used in production and quality control area
    4 = Extensive implementation : Used in more than 80 percent of Total departments
    5 = Complete implementation : Used in ALL departments

SPC Techiniques
Extent of implementation
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
1. Process flow charts
2. Check sheet
3. Cause effect diagram
4. Pareto charts
5. Histogram
6. Scatter diagram
7. Attribute control charts (p, np, c, u)
8. Variable control charts (x-bar and R, x-bar and s)
9. Cumulative sum (CUSUM) control charts
10. Exponential Weighted Moving Average (EWMA) control charts
11. Multivariate control charts
12. Control charts for individual measurement
13. Short run control charts
14. Process capability study (Cp, Cpk)
15. Gage Repeatability & Reproducibility
16. Acceptance sampling

Please indicate by tick the appropriate number, your agreement with the following statements characterizing the factors that would contribute the difficulty for SPC implementation.
    1 = Strongly disagree
    2 = Disagree
    3 = Some what agree
    4 = Agree
    5 = Strongly agree


Factors that would contribute the difficulty for SPC implementation
Your Agreement
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
1. Lack of commitment and involvement of top management
2. Lack of training and education
3. Invalid capable measurement systems
4. Lack of awareness and benefits
5. Lack of implementation plan and proper planning
6. Lack of knowledge of product/process parameter
7. Failure to interpret control charts and take necessary action


PART 2 : SPC SUCCESS FACTORS

Please indicate by tick the appropriate number, your agreement with the following statements characterizing the SPC success factors.
    1 = Strongly disagree
    2 = Disagree
    3 = Some what agree
    4 = Agree
    5 = Strongly agree


SPC SUCCESS FACTORS
Your Agreement
A. Top management commitment (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
1. Top management regulary spearheads quality improvement effort
2. Top management provides visible support for the use of SPC
3. Top management provides adequate resources to facilitate SPC efforts
4. Lack of awareness and benefits
5. Top management has objectives for quality performance

B. Teamwork
1. Cross functional teams meet regualrly to discuss quality improvement effort
2. Teams are recognized for superior quality improvement effort
3. Supervisors encourage problem solving activity through teamwork

C. SPC training and education
1. Basic SPC training is given to related production workers before doing the charting
2. Quality related training is given to manegers and supervisors in your organization
3. Real life examples from production floor is importance for effective training
4. Knowledge gained of SPC tools must be applied immediately after training
5. Refresher classes in the application of SPC tools regularly conducted

D. Control charts
1. Proper control charts are being used to monitor the stability of the process
2. Control charts are being used to satisfy the customer demands
3. Whenever the process is out-of-control, special causes are identified and removed
4. The computer software is required to construct control charts

E. Identification of process/product parameter
1. Selection of key process/product parameter is critical for the study
2. The impact of selecting those parameter to the process is well known
3. The customer has asked to monitor or control this parameter

F. Process prioritization and identification
1. Selection of key process from a larger number of processes is being done
2. Management assists in choosing process that has caused problems
3. Process flow chart and cause and effect diagram helps in defining the process

G. Measurement systems analysis
1. Adequate measurement system analysis (MSA) is in place
2. Only calibrated measurement devices are being used to take measurement
3. Gage repeatability and reproducibility (GR & R) is performed before conducting SPC

H. Pilot project
1. Choose right application for the pilot project
2. Pilot project is carefully palnned to produce benefits and savings
3. Successes from pilot applications is publicize to secure management confidence

I. Use of SPC Facilitator
1. A technical expert comes to my aid when a problem arises regarding the use SPC
2. Technical support for the implementation and use of SPC is obtained in-house
3. A champion to oversea implementation of SPC is available

J. Cultural Change
1. Regular meetings are held to discuss SPC problems based on data
2. Problems discovered through the use of SPC is resolved based on data
3. Results of SPC would be discussed with other related employee
4. The workers resistance to change were communicated effectively by management

K. Deployment
1. SPC is being implemented in other production departments within organization
2. SPC is being implemented according to a well structured action plan
3. SPC procedures are being applied by improvement teams such as quality control circle, kaizen group, etc.
4. SPC procedures are being applied by large number of relevent personnel in the daily work


PART 3 : IMPACT OF SPC IMPLEMENTATION ON QUALITY AND FIRM PERFORMANCE

Please indicate by tick the appropriate number, your agreement with the following statements characterizing the impact of SPC implementation on quality and firm performance.
    1 = Strongly disagree
    2 = Disagree
    3 = Some what agree
    4 = Agree
    5 = Strongly agree


QUALITY AND FIRM PERFORMANCE
Your Agreement
A. Quality Performance (Soft Aspects)
1. Customer satisfication has increased over the past three years
2. Our company has experience improvement in meeting industry and quality assurance regulations
3. Our company images has improved nationally and internationally for business
4. Our plant good manufacturing practice has improved over the past three years

B. Quality Performance (Hard Aspects)
1. Cost of scrap and rework has decreased over the past three years
2. Process variability has decreased over the past three years
3. The product cycle time has decreased over the past three years
4. The product delivery has improved over the past three years

C. Firm Performance
1. Our plant's sales have grown over the past three years
2. Our product unit cost of manufacturing has decreased over the past three years
3. Out plant's profit has grown over the past three years
4. Our market share has grown over the past three years


PART 4 : GENERAL INFORMATION

Please indicate by ticking in the appropriate boxes or by filling in information.

1. Your position :
2. Classification of your company.
  Electronic   Plastic
  Electrical   Rubber
  Metal-based industry   Others (please specify)

3. Number of full time employees.
  Less than 50   51 - 150
  151 - 500   501 - 1,000
  1001 - 2000   More than 2,000

4. Annual sales turnover of your company.
  Less than RM 5 million   RM 5 - 10 million
  RM 10 - 25 million   RM 25 - 50 million
  More than RM 50 million

5. Certification and quality awards your company has gained :
(You may tick more than one item)
  ISO 9000   ISO 14000
  TS 16949   TQM status/Quality Award
  OSHA 18000   Others (please specify)

6. Classify your company's type of ownership.
  Locally owned (100% Malaysian owned)   Asian multinational corporation
  Joint venture (More than 60% Malaysian owned)   Western mutinational corporation

7. How long has your company been implementing SPC?
  Locally owned (100% Malaysian owned)   Asian multinational corporation
  Joint venture (More than 60% Malaysian owned)   Western mutinational corporation

8. Classify your company manufacturing types.
  Contract Manufacturer   Original Equipment Manufacturer
  Others (please specify)


THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND COOPERATION IN ANSWERING THIS QUESTIONNAIRE

    

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