Courses

Statistical Process Control

General

Course Contents

The qualitative evaluation and improvement of the characteristics of a product requires the development of special statistical methods aimed at the detailed description and information of its quality level. The application of these special analyses is gaining increasing acceptance in industry, making it necessary to students’ information and training.

Summary of contents

  • Shewhart’s control charts (mean, range, standard deviation, individual observations, moving averages, exponentially weighted averages, cumulative deviations).
  • Pareto graph, Ishikawa diagram, attribute charts.
  • Analysis of process capability.
  • Sampling techniques of raw materials and products.
  • Characteristic growth curve, monitoring of continuous variables.
  • Application of basic statistics to the description of physicochemical parameters in the different phases of the production process (analysis of variance, t-test of two samples, regression and correlation analysis).
  • Case study of process quality assessment

Courses of practical exercises

  • Familiarization with the Minitab statistical program.
  • Analysis of variance of two or more factors, multiple comparisons of means.
  • Regression and correlation analysis.
  • Shewhart’s control charts.
  • Continuous variable control charts.
  • Advanced control charts.
  • Control charts for discrete variables (attribute charts).
  • Process capability analysis.
  • Case studies:
    1. Statistical evaluation of milk quality of selected dairy companies.
    2. Statistical evaluation of the peach compost quality.

Educational Goals

  • Acquiring knowledge in specialized statistical methods of monitoring product processing phases.
  • Understanding and interpretation of the physicochemical parameters that have a decisive effect on the formation of the final product characteristics.
  • The ability to statistically describe and evaluate the contribution of each parameter during process development.
  • The acquisition of substantial experience from the application of statistical techniques in food quality evaluation.

General Skills

  • Analyzing, interpreting and synthesizing data acquired from the statistical evaluation and information of food quality.
  • Adjusting in industrial production situations.
  • Readiness in decision making.
  • Willingness to collaborate and participate in project assignment groups with national or international impact.
  • Developing and spreading innovative ideas.
  • Product design and quality management.

Teaching Methods

Face to face:

  • Lectures (theory and problems) in the classroom.
  • Practical exercises (practice in the statistical software MINITAB by processing data from the food industry).

Use of ICT means

  • Presentation with PowerPoint slides using PC and projector.
  • Posting course material and communicating with students on the Moodle online platform.
  • Use of electronic devices for recording data and solving practical exercises.

Teaching Organization

ActivitySemester workload
Lectures30
Practical exercises30
Project writing67.5
Independent study60
Total187.5

Students Evaluation

Evaluation methods:

  • Written final exams in the theoretical part of the course (50% of the final grade).
  • Compulsory attendance at (at least) 80% of the practical exercises.
  • Written final exams in the practical part of the course involving management and evaluation of data from the food industry (case studies) using the statistical software MINITAB (50% of the final grade).
  • Optional exams in the practical part of the course using computers as previously stated (20% of the previous grade).

The course material and the evaluation criteria are presented and analyzed at the beginning of the semester in the classroom but also permanently online.

Recommended Bibliography

  1. Φωκάς-Κοσμετάτος Γ., (1972), Εισαγωγή στο Σύγχρονο Έλεγχο Ποιότητας, 3η έκδοση, ΕΛΚΕΠΑ, Αθήνα, σελ. 181.
  2. Hubbart M.R., (1990), Statistical Quality Control for the Food Industry, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, pp. 282.
  3. Λογοθέτης Ν., (1993), Management Ολικής Ποιότητας. Στάθης Νικητόπουλος, Αθήνα, σελ 564.
  4. Nelson L., (1984), The Shewhart Control Chart-Tests for Special Causes, J. Quality Technology 16(4): 237-239.
  5. Wadsworth H.M., Stephens K.S. and Godfrey A.B., (1986), Modern Methods for Quality Control and Improvement, Wiley and Sons, New York, pp. 690.
  6. Wetherill G.B. and Brown D.W. (1994). Statistical Process Control, Theory and Practice, Chapman and Hall, London, pp. 400.

Related Research Journals

  1. Journal of Quality Technology.
  2. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management.
  3. British Food Journal.