When manufacturing variation is reduced, two good things happen. One is that the consumer’s second product experience is more like the first. This builds consumer confidence and, therefore, repeat sales. The second is fewer production line stoppages and a process flow that is more laminar, less turbulent. Both of these outcomes of Process Variation Reduction (PVR) enhance the financial bottom line.
PVR capitalizes on the fact that quality and productivity are positively correlated when efforts toward their improvement are carried out correctly. Data carefully and systematically derived from the process are used to quantify both process capability and process performance. Capability is the intrinsic, inherent variability of the process, while performance is a measure of the finished product variation received by the consumer. The difference between performance and capability can usually be translated into dollars, and the draw to capture those dollars provides the PVR motivation.
We show the strategy for process variation reduction together with a step-by-step approach to successful application, illustrated by real examples.