Supplier improvement via SPC application workshops

To help bring suppliers to a Six Sigma level, the concept of SPC applications workshops was developed. These workshops combine classroom training with actual hands-on applications using the supplier´s process as the training materials. This leaves the supplier with an understanding of how to implement the tools for `his´ process. Each workshop is designed to meet the needs of the supplier as well as to provide Motorola with essential data for evaluating the capability of a supplier to produce products to meet Motorola´s needs. Each workshop contains several basic elements which are common to all: problem definition, measurement capability studies, multi-vari analysis, process capability analysis, correlation analysis, and the development of a data collection and reporting format. The author discusses the methodology for performing an applications workshop as well as some of the results that have been obtained from the eight workshops that were performed with leadframe suppliers