Statistical Process Control Report
Assessment Task
You will conduct a review of the academic literature on the subject of statistical process control.
Following your review, you are to analyse a given set of data to evaluate the performance of a fictional brewery in a given scenario.
You will be expected to illustrate your discussion with examples from academic journals, the trade press and other authoritative sources.
The word count should be 2000 words ±10% (tables, diagrams and appendices are excluded from the count).
Assessment Breakdown
1. Prepare a literature review on the subject of Statistical Process Control, covering the concept from its inception up to the present day.
Ensure that you include references to at least 10 peer-reviewed articles, no more than ten years old. You may also acknowledge older works, providing they are of sufficient importance in charting the development of SPC. (50% of word count)
2. The supplied spreadsheet contains historic data recording the temperature of combined effluent discharged by a fictional brewery, Waterside Lager Limited (WLL). The data comprises temperatures recorded four times a day over the month of September 2022.
The brewery’s discharges are normally controlled within the range 25oC to 35oC. The maximum legally permitted temperature is 40oC.
Regular maintenance is performed on the balancing system (which neutralises the pH of the effluent at the expense of heating the discharge in the process), normally on a weekly basis.
Use the data to visualise the performance of the effluent control process, describing your analytical approach in detail. Include any graphs generated.
In your view, how well has the plant performed?
What priorities for quality improvements should the plant management set?
To visualize the performance of the effluent control process, I would first plot the temperature data over time using a line chart. This will allow us to see any trends or patterns in the temperature data and how it has changed over the course of the month.
Next, I would calculate the mean and standard deviation of the temperature data to get a sense of the overall performance of the effluent control process. If the mean temperature is consistently within the desired range of 25oC to 35oC and the standard deviation is small, this would indicate that the plant is performing well in terms of temperature control.
I would also plot horizontal lines on the chart to indicate the legally permitted maximum temperature of 40oC and the desired temperature range of 25oC to 35oC. This will allow us to easily see how often the temperature exceeds these limits and by how much.
To further analyze the performance of the plant, I would also plot a histogram of the temperature data to see the distribution of temperatures. If the histogram is skewed towards the desired temperature range and has a small standard deviation, this would indicate that the plant is performing well in terms of temperature control.
In terms of priorities for quality improvements, the plant management should consider the following:
- Reducing the frequency or intensity of maintenance activities that increase the temperature of the effluent. This could involve optimizing the pH neutralization process or finding alternative methods of neutralization that do not generate heat.
- Improving the efficiency of the effluent control system to better maintain the desired temperature range. This could involve upgrading equipment or implementing new control strategies.
- Monitoring the temperature of the effluent more frequently to identify and address any issues in a timely manner.
- Evaluating the potential environmental impacts of the effluent and taking steps to minimize any negative impacts.