ABSTRACT
Our activities to this point have largely been involved in the utilization of time indexed glitch information to find qualitative causes of excess variation and fix them. Our principal goal has been the reduction of variability. Our modes of intervention might be typically qualitative in nature, such as providing training for a joint replacement team or replacing faulty bearings. In other words, the use of control charts can be looked upon as a way to bring about conformity to the system as it was designed, always keeping an eye open to the possibility that improvements in the system over those suggested by the design are possible. And, speaking realistically, control charts are useful in improving systems which, if truth be told, were never fully designed, for which no complete flow chart exists. Our experiences in the United States and Poland indicate that such systems make up a large fraction of those in operation.
