Statistical Process Development (SPD) can best be described as a toolkit comprising a large number of techniques that can be applied to all manner of process improvement problems. They range from the simple and straightforward to the more complex and demanding. Many of the techniques are very familiar to those involved in this field. Others are used less often.
However, the strength of SPD does not lie solely in the techniques themselves. Equally important is a knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of each of the techniques. Just as in any other toolkit, some tools are better than others at certain jobs. If you choose the wrong one at the outset you should not be too surprised to learn that the outcome may not be as good as it could have been.
So SPD is not just a list of techniques that can be useful but also a knowledge of when and where to apply each of them to achieve the best results.
The techniques themselves have been developed over the last 40 years by a number of specialists in various fields. Many began as specialist statistical operations that required a high level of statistical knowledge to apply. These were then developed by others into methods that are far more easily understood by the non-statistician, resulting in their widespread use in industry both in the Far-East and the U.S.A.
Benefits:
Over the past few years The Quality Partnership has been using Statistical Process Development to tackle a number of assignments in a wide range of product areas. SPD has proved very useful in addressing many of the issues that are facing clients in the modern business climate. Examples include:
Yield Improvement - most assignments have an element of improving the output from existing equipment or processes.
Set-up Time Reduction - frequently, difficulties in change from one process to another (eg tool changes) mean that clients are reluctant to do this too often. This leads to large stockholdings and a loss of response to customer demands. SPD techniques have been used to minimise the 'settling down' periods that often beset these activities.
Process Time Reduction - in many cases, especially in process industries, the pace of the operation is determined by a few critical stages. These often involve some form of time dependent process where some form of stabilisation takes place (eg drying, cooling, etc). This period can often be reduced by investigation using SPD techniques.
Rapid Product Development - the use of some of these techniques in the area of product or process design can reduce the time required to bring a new product to market. In taking this approach the companies involved also minimise the risks of encountering problems in manufacture.
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