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Inspection & cost of quality

Attribute and variables sampling plans (AQL, OC curve), first pass and rolled throughput yield (FPY and RTY), cost of poor quality (prevention, appraisal, internal and external failure) and material yield with loss cost; shortcuts to the Pareto chart and kaizen gains.

AQL sampling plan

Tells how many units to inspect in a lot and how many bad ones to accept, and shows the real risk of that decision for the supplier and the customer. Find the sampling plan from the standard (single or double, normal, tightened and reduced), design the smallest plan from AQL, RQL, α and β, compare plans and use variables sampling (k, σ known or unknown), with OC, AOQ and ATI curves.

Code letter, n, Ac, Re, OC curve, variables

FPY and RTY

Calculate rolled throughput yield for a multi-step process, how many parts are reworked and scrapped, the annual cost of the hidden factory and the gain from fixing the worst step.

Hidden factory, rework, scrap

Cost of poor quality

Add up scrap, rework, re-inspection, returns, warranty and penalties with the prevention, appraisal and failure model, see cost of poor quality as a share of revenue and the payback of poka-yoke or vision.

Prevention, appraisal, failures, poka-yoke

Material yield and losses

Enter raw material used, good output and weighed losses (scrap, trimmings, ends, samples) to get yield, unaccounted loss, material cost per good pound, a Pareto of losses by weight and money, scrap revenue and the annual saving at the yield target.

Balance, losses, scrap

Also useful

Pareto chart New

A Pareto chart sorts problems from largest to smallest and shows which few causes account for most of the defects, stoppages or costs, so you know where to start. Paste the categories with their counts (or the list of occurrences) and the page draws the Pareto chart with the cumulative curve and cut-off line, points out the vital few, groups “Other”, compares frequency vs cost, Pareto by stratum and before vs after, and exports PNG, one-page PDF and xlsx.

Vital few, 80/20, cost, strata

Kaizen / A3 savings

Enter the indicators before and after the improvement (time per part, scrap, inventory, machine hours, energy) and the kaizen costs: the calculator shows annual gain by item, payback, ROI, NPV and a summary table ready for the A3 and the PDF.

Payback, ROI, A3 table