A successful strategy for implementing statistical process controls

In the summer of 1987, the IBM Endicott (NY) Substrate Business Unit Management Team made a commitment to formulate and implement a comprehensive statistical process control (SPC) strategy for the entire substrate manufacturing line. The cornerstone of this strategy was the creation of a management support team consisting of upper-level management and statisticians to develop the strategy, manage the implementation, and resolve any problems. Process teams (one per unique process), consisting of a manufacturing engineer, quality engineer, statistician, and two key manufacturing operators, were then set up to study the process flow and its parameters to determine if control charts were appropriate. The implementation strategy is described. The accomplishments include: 177 control charts on the manufacturing floor, 23 technical reports that were written with 60 first-time authors, elimination of major sampling inspection gates, and control charts that continue to prevent major problems from occurring