1. The AMS technical services team has embarked on a quality improvement effort.

Its first
project relates to maintaining the target upload speed for its Internet service subscribers.
Upload speeds are measured on a device that records the results on a standard scale in
which the target value is 1.0. Each day five uploads are randomly selected, and the speed
of each upload is measured. The following Table presents the results for 25 days.

a. Construct the appropriate control charts for these data.

b. Is the process in a state of statistical control? Explain.
c. What should the team recommend as the next step to improve the process?
2. The manager of a branch of a local bank has the business objective of reducing the
waiting times of customers for teller service during the 12:00 noon-to-1:00 P.M. lunch
hour. A subgroup of four customers is selected (one at each 15-minute interval during the
hour), and the time, in minutes, is measured from when each customer enters the line to
when he or she reaches the teller window. The results over a four-week period are as
follows:

a. Construct control charts for the range and the mean.

b. Is the process in control?
3. An article in the Mid-American Journal of Business presents an analysis for a spring
water bottling operation. One of the characteristics of interest is the amount of
magnesium, measured in parts per million (ppm), in the water. The data in the table
represent the magnesium levels from 30 subgroups of four bottles collected over a 30-
hour period:
 a. Construct a control chart for the range.
b. Construct a control chart for the mean.
c. Is the process in control?

4. Rochester-Electro-Medical Inc. is a manufacturing company based in Tampa, Florida, that

produces medical products. Management had the business objective of improving the safety
of the workplace and began a safety sampling study. The following data represent the number
of unsafe acts observed by the company safety director over an initial time period in which he
made 20 tours of the plant.

a. Construct a chart for the number of unsafe acts.

b. Based on the results of (a), is the process in a state of statistical control?
c. What should management do next to improve the process?

5. The following data were collected on the number of nonconformities per unit for 10 time
periods:
 a. Construct the appropriate control chart and determine the LCL and UCL.
b. Are there any special causes of variation?

6. To improve service quality, the owner of a dry cleaning business has the business objective of
reducing the number of dry-cleaned items that are returned for rework per day. Records were
kept for a four-week period (the store is open Monday through Saturday), with the results
given in the following table:

a. Construct a chart for the number of items per day that are returned for rework. Do you
think the process is in a state of statistical control?
b. Should the owner of the dry-cleaning store take action to investigate why 12 items
were returned for rework on Day 12? Explain. Would your answer change if 20 items
were returned for rework on Day 12?
c. On the basis of the results in (a), what should the owner of the dry-cleaning store do
to reduce the number of items per day that are returned for rework?

7. The branch manager of a savings bank has recorded the number of errors of a particular type
that each of 12 tellers has made during the past year. The results are as follows:
 a. Do you think the bank manager will single out Gina for any disciplinary action
regarding her performance in the past year?
b. Construct a chart for the number of errors committed by the 12 tellers. Is the number
of errors in a state of statistical control?
c. Based on the chart developed in (b), do you now think that Gina should be singled out
for disciplinary action regarding her performance? Does your conclusion now agree
with what you expected the manager to do?
d. On the basis of the results in (b), what should the branch manager do to reduce the
number of errors?

8. Natalie and Jim decide to begin by investigating the production of the cam rollers, which are
precision-ground parts. The last part of the production process involves the grinding of the
outer diameter. After grinding, the part mates with the cam groove of the particular sewing
pattern. The half-inch rollers technically have an engineering specification for the outer
diameter of the roller of 0.5075 inch (the specifications are actually metric, but in factory
floor jargon, they are referred to as half-inch), plus a tolerable error of 0.0003 inch on the
lower side. Thus, the outer diameter is allowed to be between 0.5072 and 0.5075 inch.
Anything larger is reclassified into a different and less costly category, and anything smaller
is unusable for anything other than scrap.

The grinding of the cam roller is done on a single machine with a single tool setup and no
change in the grinding wheel after initial setup. The operation is done by Dave Martin, the
head machinist, who has 30 years of experience in the trade and specific experience
producing the cam roller part. Because production occurs in batches, Natalie and Jim sample
five parts produced from each batch. The following table presents data collected over 30
batches
a. Is the process in control? Why?
b. What recommendations do you have for improving the process?