ABSTRACT
The authors review the current BS 9000/CECC 90000 system for the quality assurance of electronic components. The historical development of the system and its limitations are reviewed paying particular attention to capability approval. The present system does not take account of the use of Statistical Process Control (SPC), long utilised in the commercial sector. Recent developments in the SPC approach provide the opportunity for substantive improvement to both the standard and current practice. The purpose of this paper is to explore the current developments associated with statistical process control and suggest how the systematic utilisation of SPC can be used to quantify and demonstrate a component suppliers manufacturing capability and how this could be used as part of the component approval process to show not only that a component meets its specification requirements but also to what extent performance exceeds its specification.
