ABSTRACT
The time of a quality control department, or an individual person, is divided between routine controls, "putting out fires" on an emergency basis, and problem-solving. Also some time should be available for long-range planning. Too often nearly all of the time is spent on routine matters and in meeting emergencies as they arise. Keeping in mind the profit and loss statement, it is of high importance to reserve a generous portion of time beyond day-to-day matters, to seek improvements in quality and costs. This chapter discusses the typical applications of control charts for industrial problems. The control charts are particularly helpful in the exploratory phases of research where it is not yet known which factors are most influential on the variable under study, or, if they are known, at approximately what level they should be held.
