Statistical Process Control as a Service: An Industrial Case Study

Strong operations support is one of the key requirements for competitive success of modern manufacturing organisations. An important aspect of operations support is Statistical Process Control (SPC); the use of statistical methods for monitoring and control of manufacturing processes and products. However, implementation of SPC requires a certain amount of statistical knowledge and understanding. Although this is not an issue for big companies (e.g. in automotive sector), smaller companies are unable to provide the required knowledge in-house. In this paper, a service-driven approach for SPC is proposed, in which SPC is outsourced through the use of modern information and communication technologies, such as web services. This Statistical Process Control as a Service approach is illustrated and discussed through an industrial case study.