Process Capability Analysis in a Polypropylene Bag Manufacturing Company

Process capability analysis combines statistical tools and control charts with good engineering judgment to interpret and analyze the data representing a process. This work analyzes the process capability of a polypropylene bag producing company. The case study organization uses two plants for production and data was collected over a period of nine months for this study. Analysis showed that the output spread of plant 1 was greater than the specification interval spread which implies poor capability. There are non-conforming parts below the Lower Specification Limit (LSL: 500,000 metres) and above the Upper Specification Limit (USL: 600,000 metres) and that the output requires improvement. Similarly, the capability analysis of plant 2 shows that the overall output spread is greater than the specification interval spread (poor capability). The output centre in the specification and overall interval are vertically aligned, thus specifying that the output from plant 2 is also process centered and requires improvement. Recommendations were made to improve the outputs from each production plant.

Stability assessment and process capability analysis in a food pasta company

Statistical quality control is a set of tools and techniques that allows to verify, monitor and control the variability of processes to improve product quality and business competitiveness. The objective of this study was to evaluate the pasta production process of a company that belongs to the food industry sector in terms of stability and compliance of quality specifications. The Six Sigma improvement methodology was used, which focuses on identifying and eliminating the causes of variation in the processes. Data collection was accomplished by the use of different techniques, such as: interviews, brainstorming, review of documents, teamwork and direct observation. In addition, process documentation techniques and classical quality tools including Pareto chart, control charts, process capability analysis, histogram, Ishikawa diagram and experimental design were used. Multivariate data reduction techniques were also applied. The results showed for the quality characteristic Humidity that the process is out of statistical control and it is uncapable to meet the required specifications, for which the causes were investigated and improvement actions were proposed, achieving an increase in the sigma quality level.

Interoperability in NHS Acute Trusts within England: a Situation and Capability Analysis using Freedom of Information requests

Background Many central initiatives to improve digital maturity and interoperability in the NHS started after 2015. There are few prior assessments of digital maturity and interoperability. Methods Freedom of Information Act requests were sent to all English Acute NHS Trusts and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) to obtain information regarding digital maturity according to the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Electronic Medical Record Adoption Mode (EMRAM) scale, and interoperability. Results One third of Acute NHS Trusts have an EMR that meets requirements for EMRAM stage 6 or above. 17.4% of responding Trusts considered this. 59.1% of responding Trusts stated that their EMR allows for functional interoperability with other (interoperable) EMRs. The majority of responding Trusts had not conferred with other Trusts when making EMR purchasing decisions. Discussion In order to realise the benefits of digitisation and interoperability, we discuss policy recommendations including actions for local health economies.