p-chart: Getting the most

Collect as many subgroups as possible before calculating control limits. With smaller amounts of data, the p-chart may not represent variability of the entire system. The more subgroups you use in control limit calculations, the more reliable the analysis will be. Typically, 20 to 25 subgroups will be used in control limit calculations.

P-charts have several applications. When you begin improving a system, use them to assess the system’s stability.

After the stability has been assessed, determine if you need to stratify the data. You may find entirely different results between shifts, among workers, among different machines, among lots of materials, etc. To see if variability on the p-chart is caused by these factors, collect and enter data in a way that lets you stratify by time, location, symptom, operator, and lots.

You can also use p-charts to analyze the results of process improvements. Here you would consider how the process is running and compare it to how it ran in the past. Are there fewer nonconforming units?

Finally, use p-charts for standardization. This means you should continue collecting and analyzing data throughout the process operation. If you made changes to the system and stopped collecting data, you would have only perception and opinion to tell you whether the changes actually improved the system. Without a control chart, there is no way to know if the process has changed or to identify sources of process variability.

See also:
>p-chart: What is it?
>p-chart: What does it look like?
>p-chart: When is it used?