Solution Sheet: Assignment 2

(INSE 6210 – Fall 2012-2013)

• Practice Exercise of Lecture 6 slide (page 32)

Hospital MaryLand is receiving several complaints from customers on long telephone calls, late
ambulances, long waiting times for beds, long treatment times, unhygienic room conditions,
shortage of staff, outdated machinery, impolite staff, and heavy patient fees. What improvements
are required?
Apply the 7 management and planning tools to plan improvements for each of the problems at
Maryland. Develop the PDCA cycle.

Answer: The 7 management and planning tools are:

• Affinity diagram
• Interrelationship diagram
• Tree diagram
• Matrix diagram
• Matrix Analysis
• Arrow diagram
• Process Decision Program Chart

Please refer to document Lecture 6 PE.pdf for the answer.

• Textbook Chapter 7: Review Question (Q4, Q8), Problems (Q1, Q3, Q4, Q5, Q7,Q10)

Q4. What does the term in statistical control mean? Explain the difference between capability
and control.
Ans. A process is said to be in statistical control when variations in the process are due only to
common causes (no special causes are present). A process may be in statistical control but not
capable of meeting design specifications. Thus, design specifications are requirements (ideally)
demanded by the customer, and “translated” into technical specifications by the designer. If the
process is determined to be incapable of producing the measurement what the design
specifications call for, it must be studied and one of three things must be done. 1) The process
must be improved by changing the skills of the workers, material characteristics, or machine
characteristics; 2) the specification must be changed, in consultation with the customer and
designer; or 3) the costs of rigorous inspection, scrap, and rework must be accepted in order to
“screen out” bad products or services before they reach the customer. The latter should be a
“stopgap” measure, at best.

Q8.What does one look for in interpreting control charts? Explain the possible causes of different
out-of-control indicators.
Ans. The characteristics that one looks for in interpreting control charts are those that indicate
whether or not the process is remaining in control, or whether assignable causes have crept into
throw the process out of control. These might be detected through using the rules of thumb of: 1)
one point outside of a control limit; 2) two out of three consecutive points in the outer one-third
region; 3) four out of five points in the outer two-thirds region, or 4) eight consecutive points on
the same side of the centerline. Such out-of-control indicators may be traced to causes such as:
one-time events (calculating error, power surges); sudden shifts in process average (new
operator, inspector, or machine setting); cycles (day vs. night shifts, gauge variations, seasonal
effects); trends (tool wear, operator fatigue, improving operator skills); hugging the centerline
(taking samples from several machines, miscalculation of control limits).

Q1. Thirty samples of size 3 were taken from a Wilmer Machine Shop machining process over a
15-hour period. These data can be found in the worksheet Prob. 7-1.
a. Compute the mean and standard deviation of the data.
b. Compute the mean and range of each sample and plot them on control
charts. Does the process appear to be in statistical control? Why or why not?

Ans. a) Descriptive statistics for Wilmer Machine Co., based on all 50 samples, are shown
below. The histogram shows the “classic” bell curve shape.
 Descriptive Statistics for Problem 7-1 Bin Frequenc
y
2.69 1
Mean 3.526 2.89 6
Standard Error 0.044 3.09 7
Median 3.565 3.29 12
Mode 3.610 3.49 12
Standard Deviation 0.417 3.68 26
Sample Variance 0.174 3.88 8
Kurtosis -0.383 4.08 7
Skewness 0.163 4.28 5
Range 1.790 More 5
Minimum 2.690
Maximum 4.480
Sum 317.340
Count 90.000

Histogram

30
25
Frequency

20
15 Frequency
10
5
0
e
69
89
09
29
49
68
88
08
28
or
2.
2.
3.
3.
3.
3.
3.
4.
4.
M

Bin

b) Results from 30 samples of 3 show that the R chart is apparently in control for the
Wilmer Machine Co. However, on the x chart, means for samples 11-18 fall below the
center line (violating the rule that fewer than 8 consecutive points should on the same
side of the mean). Assignable causes should be determined and eliminated, and control
limits should be re-calculated. (See spreadsheet C7Pr01XR.xls for details.)
  

Q3.Fujiyama Electronics, Inc. has been having difficulties with circuit boards purchased from
an outside supplier. Unacceptable variability occurs between two drilled holes that are
supposed to be 5 cm apart on the circuit boards. Thirty samples of four boards each were taken
from shipments sent by the supplier as shown in the data listed in the worksheet Prob. 7-3.
 a. Construct ⎯x - and R-charts for these data.
b. If the supplier’s plant quality manager admitted that they were experiencing quality
problems for shipments 18, 19, and 21, how would that affect your control chart? Show
this adjustment on revised ⎯x - and R-charts for these data.
c. Ten more observations were taken, as shown in the second table in the worksheet. Using
the revised ⎯x - and R-charts from part (b), comment on what the chart shows after
extending it with the new data.

Ans.
a) Center Lines, CL x : x = 5.100; CLR : R = 1.083

Control limits for the x - chart are:

x ± A2 R = 5.100 ± 0.729 (1.083) = 4.310 to 5.890

For the R-chart: UCLR = D4 R = 2.282 (1.083) = 2.471

LCLR = D3 R = 0

 
b) We can see from the above x - chart that Samples 19 and 21 are out of control and from
the R-chart, above, that sample 18 is out of control on its range. We obtain the following
control limits and related charts after dropping these 3 points:

New Center Lines: Center Lines, CL x : x = 5.037; CLR : R = 1.057

Control limits for the x - chart are:

x ± A2 R = 5.037 ± 0.729 (1.057) = 4.266 to 5.808

For the R-chart: UCLR = D4 R = 2.282 (1.057) = 2.412

LCLR = D3 R = 0

The x and R-charts, below, now show that the process is in control.
 Prob. 7-3 B X-bar Chart Averages
Lower control limit
Upper control limit
Center line

6
Averages

4
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

Sample number

Prob. 7-3 B R-Chart Ranges

Lower control limit
Upper control limit
Center line

2.5

2
Ranges

1.5

0.5

0
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49

Sample number

c) The additional data shows that the process is still operating within control limits.
See the "composite" control charts below.
 
 

 
 Q4.Discuss the interpretation of each of the following control charts:

Ans. a) Two points outside upper control limit.

b) Process is in control
c) Mean shift upward in second half of control chart.
d) Points hugging upper and lower control limits.

Q5. For each of the following control charts, assume that the process has been operating
in statistical control for some time. What conclusions should the operators reach
at this point?
 
  

 
Ans.a) The first control chart shows an out-of-control process with a definite downward
trend. The last 4 out of 5 points are below one standard error away from the mean. The
process needs adjustment upward.
 b) The second control chart shows an out of control condition, with the first eight points
above the centerline. Then there appears to be a sudden shift in the process average,
putting the next six points below the centerline. It is possible that the process is being
over-adjusted. It needs to be centered and then watched for out-of-control indications
with no unnecessary operator intervention.

c) The third control chart shows the data hugging the centerline, indicating that the process
is possibly out of control. If the process has multiple machines or operators, a control
chart should be constructed for each machine to avoid "masking" the variation brought on
by mixing data from several sources.

d) The fourth control chart shows a process that is stable and in control.

e) The fifth control chart shows an out of control condition, with a point above the upper
control limit.

f) The sixth control chart shows that seven out of eight of the most recent points are below
the centerline, indicating that the process is out of control.

g) The last control chart shows too many points close to the upper and lower control limits,
indicating an out of control condition.

Q7.The fraction defective for a folding process in a Quality Printing plant is given in the
worksheet Prob. 7-7 for 25 samples. Fifty units are inspected each shift.
a. Construct a p-chart and interpret the results.

b. After the process was determined to be under control, process monitoring began, using the
established control limits. The results of 25 more samples are shown in the second part of
the worksheet. Is there a problem with the process? If so, when should the process have
been stopped, and steps taken to correct it?

Ans. See data and control chart below for Quality Printing Company’s plant. See
spreadsheet C7Pr07P.xls (first two tabbed sheets) for details.

  CL  p  = 0.06             

   s p   =     [( p)(1− p)] / n  =  [(0.06) (0.94)] / 50  = 0.0336 

Control limits:

  UCLp =  p  + 3 sp =  0.06 + 3(0.0336) = 0.1608 

  LCLp =   p  ‐ 3 sp = 0.06 ‐ 3(0.0336) = ‐ 0.0408 use 0 
 The process appears to be under control.

Fraction nonconforming
Prob. 7-7 A Attribute (p) Chart Lower control limit
Center line
Upper control limit
0.1800

0.1600
Fraction nonconforming

0.1400

0.1200

0.1000

0.0800

0.0600

0.0400

0.0200

0.0000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

Sample number

b) When the additional data is added, while the process is being monitored using the previously
calculated control limits, the process starts to go out of control, with samples 29, 30, 31
being the first indicators. Two out of three of these are more than 2 σ away from the
mean, p . Later, four out of five samples between 37-41 are more than 1 σ away from the
mean, p . Finally, sample 48 exceeds the upper control limit. See Part B tabs (2nd two
sheets) on spreadsheet C7Pr07P.xls for details. The process should have been stopped
and corrected when the first indications were seen. If these were missed, it is certain that
sample 48, which was above the control limits should have been spotted, and the process
stopped.
 

Q10. AtYourService.com, an Internet service provider (ISP), is concerned that the level of access
of customers is decreasing, due to heavier use. The proportion of peak period time when a
customer is likely to receive busy signals is considered a good measure of service level. The
percentage of times a customer receives a busy signal during peak periods varies. Using a
sampling process, the ISP set up control charts to monitor the service level, based on proportion
of busy signals received. Construct the p-chart using on the sample data in the table in the
worksheet Prob.7-10. What does the chart show? Is the service level good or bad, in your
opinion, based on the p-chart data?

Ans. Average sample size = 521.04

CL p = 173 / 13026 = 0.0133

  s p  =     [( p)(1− p)] / n  =  [(0.0133)(0.9867)] / 521.04  = 0.0050 

  UCLp =  p  + 3 s p  =  0.0133 + 3(0.0050) = 0.0283 

  LCLp =  p  ‐ 3 s p  = 0.0133 ‐ 3(0.0050) = ‐ 0.0017, use 0  

All points fall within the control limits.

 
Problem 7‐10:  p‐charts  

 
• Textbook Chapter 8: Review Question (Q2, Q6, Q9), Problems (Q6, Q7, Q14, 15)
 

Q2. What are the principal benefits of quality function deployment (QFD)?
Ans. QFD benefits companies through improved communication and teamwork between all
constituencies in the production process, such as between marketing and design, between design
and manufacturing, and between purchasing and suppliers. Product objectives are better
understood and interpreted during the production process. Use of QFD determines the causes of
customer dissatisfaction, making it a useful tool for competitive analysis of product quality by
top management. Productivity as well as quality improvements generally follow QFD. QFD
reduces the time for new product development. QFD allows companies to simulate the effects of
new design ideas and concepts. Companies can reduce product development time and bring new
products into the market sooner, thus gaining competitive advantage.

Q6. What is design failure mode and effects analysis (DFMEA)? Provide a simple example
illustrating the concept.
Ans. The purpose of design failure mode and effects analysis is to identify all the ways in which
a failure can occur, to estimate the effect and seriousness of the failure, and to recommend
corrective design actions. A DFMEA usually consists of specifying the following information for
each design element or function: Failure modes; effect of the failure on the customer; severity,
likelihood of occurrence, and detection rating; potential causes of failure, and corrective actions
or controls. A simple example of a DFMEA for an ordinary household light socket is provided
in the chapter.

Q9. Explain the product life characteristics curve and how it can be used.
Ans. The product life characteristics curve, is the so-called "bath-tub curve" because of its shape. It
is actually the failure rate curve. Such curves can be used to understand the distinctive failure rate
patterns of various designs and products, over time.

Q6. Compute the average failure rate during the intervals 0 to 30, 30 to 60, and 60 to 90, and 0 to
100, based on the information in Figure 8.22.

Ans. Based on the Cumulative Failure Rate curve,

From 0 - 30, slope = 29 / 30 = 0.967

From 30 - 60, slope = (35 - 29) / (60 - 30) = 0.200

From 60 - 90, slope = (65 - 35) / (90 - 60) = 1.000

From 0 - 100, slope = 90 / 100 = 0.9

Q7. The life of a watch battery is normally distributed with a mean of 1,000 days and standard
deviation of 60 days.

a. What fraction of batteries is expected to survive beyond 1,100 days?

 b. What fraction will survive fewer than 880 days?
c. Sketch the reliability function.
d. What length of warranty is needed so that no more than 10 percent of the batteries
will be expected to fail during the warranty period?

Ans. a) P(x > 1100) = 0.5 - P(1000 < x < 1100)

1100-1000

P(1000 < x < 1100)= P (z < ----------------) = P (0 < z < 1.67) = 0.4525

60

Therefore, P(x > 1100) = 0.5 - 0.4525 = 0.0475 should survive beyond 1100 days.

880 -1000

b) P (x < 880) = P (z < -------------) = P (z < -2.0 )

60

Therefore, P (x < 880) = 0.5 - 0.4772 = 0.0228 should survive less than 880 days.

c) This distribution looks approximately like:

d) Let xw be the limit of the warranty period.

P (x < xw) = 0.10; z = -2.33, for z = x-1000 = -2.33 , xw = 860.2 hours for the

60 warranty limit.

Q14. In a complex manufacturing process, three operations are performed in series. Because of
the nature of the process, machines frequently fall out of adjustment and must be repaired. To
keep the system going, two identical machines are used at each stage; thus, if one fails, the
other can be used while the first is repaired (see accompanying figure).
  

The reliabilities of the machines are as follows:

Machine Reliability

A .80

B .90

C .98

a. Analyze the system reliability, assuming only one machine at each stage.

b. How much is the reliability improved by having two machines at each stage?

Ans. a) RaRbRc = (0.80)(0.90)(0.98) = 0.706

b) RaaRbbRcc = [1 - (1 - 0.80)2] [1 - (1 - 0.90)2] [1 - (1 - 0.98)2] =

(0.96) (0.99) (0.9996) = 0.950

Q 15. An automated production system consists of three operations: turning, milling, and
grinding. Individual parts are transferred from one operation to the next by a robot. Hence, if one
machine or the robot fails, the process stops.

a. If the reliabilities of the robot, turning center, milling machine, and grinder are 0.98, 0.94,
0.98, and 0.90, respectively, what is the reliability of the system?

b. Suppose that two grinders are available and the system does not stop if one fails. What is
the reliability of the system?
Ans. a) RtRmRg = (0.98)(0.94)(0.98)(0.90) = 0.7485

b) RtRmReg = (0.98)(0.94)(0.98)[1 - (1 - 0.90)2] = 0.8938

• Practice Exercise of Lecture 9 slide (page 41)
Hospital MaryLand is receiving several1 complaints from customers on long telephone calls, late
ambulances, long waiting times for beds, long treatment times, unhygienic room conditions,
shortage of staff, outdated machinery, impolite staff, and heavy patient fees. Develop a QFD to
improve customer quality at Midlands hospital.

Answer: Please refer to document Lecture 9 PE.pdf for the QFD diagram.

• Textbook Chapter 9: Review Question (Q2, Q4, Q11), Problems (Q4, Q8, Q10)

Q2. What is the purpose of design of experiments?

Ans. The purpose of design of experiments is to set up a test or series of tests to enable the
analyst to compare two or more methods to determine which is better, or to determine levels of
controllable factors to optimize the yield of a process, or minimize variability of a response
variable.

Q4. How do Taguchi methods differ from traditional design of experiments (DOE)?

Ans. Taguchi’s approach focuses on optimizing design parameters to reduce the variability caused by
manufacturing variations. In most industrial processes, controlling variability is much harder than
controlling the average value. Taguchi categorizes variables that affect product performance according
to whether they are design parameters or sources of noise. Design parameters are simply the nominal
dimensions chosen by the designer. Classical DOE focuses on these parameters, but often require many
costly experimental runs to estimate all the main effects and interactions. Sources of noise include all
those variables that cause performance to deviate from target values. Taguchi’s approach includes and
systematically varies noise factors in a designed experiment, while deemphasizing interaction effects.

Q 11. Define Monte-Carlo simulation. What are the common applications for Monte-Carlo
simulation in DFSS?
Ans. Monte-Carlo simulation is based on repeated sampling from probability distributions of
model inputs to characterize the distributions of model outputs, usually in a spreadsheet
environment. By randomly selecting model inputs and evaluating the outcomes, we may
construct a distribution of potential outcomes of key model variables along with their likelihood
of occurrence. This provides an assessment of the risk associated with a set of decisions that
analytical methods generally cannot capture. By manipulating key decision variables and
evaluating the risks associated with them, managers can use a simulation model to help identify
good decisions.

Monte-Carlo simulation is currently being used in Six Sigma to analyze and understand the
effects of uncertainty on the performance of processes and product designs. Common
applications in DFSS include
 • Identifying key parameters driving variation,
• Understanding and reducing variation,
• Obtaining early visibility into design performance,
• Creating robust designs, and
• Optimize parameters and tolerances

Q4. A team was formed to study the dishwasher part described in problem 2. While continuing to
work to find the root cause of scrap, they found a way to reduce the scrap cost to $4 per part.
a. Determine the Taguchi loss function for this situation.

b. If the process deviation from target can be held at 0.015 cm, what is the Taguchi loss?

Ans. The Taguchi Loss Function is: L(x) = k (x - T)2

a) $4 = k (0.024)2

k = 6944.44

∴ L(x) = k (x - T)2 = 6944.44 (x - T)2

b) L(x) = 6944.44 (x - T)2

∴ L(0.015) = 6944.44 (0.015)2 = $1.56

Q8. A computer chip is designed so that the distance between two adjacent pins has a
specification of 2.000 ± 0.002 millimeters (mm). The loss due to a defective chip is $4. A
sample of 25 chips was drawn from the production process and the results, in mm, can be
found in the Ch9dataset file for Prob.9-8 on the student CD-ROM.
a. Compute the value of k in the Taguchi loss function.

b. What is the expected loss from this process based on the sample data?

Ans. See spreadsheet C9 Pr8.xls for summary statistics. For a specification of 2.000 ± .002
mm and a $4 scrap cost analysis of the dataset for this problem provides the following
statistics:
x = 2.00008; D = 2.00008 - 2.00 = 0.00008

σ = 0.00104

a) L(x) = k (x - T)2

$4 = k (0.002 )2 ; ∴ k = 1,000,000

b) EL(x) = k (σ2 + D2) = 1,000,000 ( 0.001042 + 0.000082 ) = $1.088

Q10. In the production of transformers, any output voltage that exceeds ± 25 volts is
unacceptable to the customer. Exceeding these limits results in an estimated loss of $200.
 However, the manufacturer can adjust the voltage in the plant by changing a resistor that
costs $1.75.
a. Determine the Taguchi loss function.

b. Suppose the nominal specification is 120 volts. At what tolerance should the
transformer be manufactured?

Ans. a) The Taguchi Loss function is: L(x) = k (x - T)2

200 = k (25)2

k = 0.32

So, L(x) = 0.32 (x-T)2

b) $1.75 = 0.32 (x-120)2

5.47 = (x - 120)2

(x - T)Tolerance = 5.47 = 2.34 volts

∴ x = 122.34

• Practice Exercise of Lecture 10 slide (page 11) or Practice exercise: Ch 9, Q 13

How many factors and levels are present in this experiment. Compute main and interaction
effects. Analyze the results.

 
Answer:  Please refer to document Lecture 10 PE.pdf for the DOE results of the above 23=8
experiment (2 levels, 3 factors).