Appendix IB. Course Syllabi

IE 361 Quality Control

Techniques for controlling the quality of products and services. Techniques for improving quality through process control. Project involving the design of quality system. Nonmajor graduate credit.

Prerequisites: Stat 231 or 401.

Text:
Statistical Quality Assurance Methods for Engineers by Vardeman and Jobe. John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 1999.

Course Objectives:

1. To learn, practice and apply statistical methods useful in variation reduction, process improvement and quality assurance.
2. To gain experience in the application of sound logic and quantitative skills in the improvement of a real industrial or service process or product.
3. To practice and develop teamwork and leadership skills.
4. To practice and refine communication and presentation skills.

Topics Covered:

1. Introduction to quality assurance and the role of statistics.
2. Simple quality assurance tools (including basic concepts of metrology and corresponding statistical methods).
3. Basic Shewhart control charting.
4. Engineering feedback control and SPC.
5. Advanced process monitoring methods (multivariate, EWMA and CUSUM charts).
6. Process characterization and capability analysis (including process capability, tolerance and prediction intervals, probabilistic tolerancing and propagation of error).
7. Factorial and fractional factorial experimental design and analysis.
8. Sampling inspection.
9. Modern Quality Culture.

Class Schedule:
The course meets 3 times per week for 50 minutes. The class environment is varied. 3 sessions are devoted to oral (and PowerPoint) presentation of term projects. 1 session is moved to the evening and used as a poster session for term projects. 1 session is cancelled and rescheduled as a half hour project-group mid-term discussion with the instructor concerning how the project is going. 2 sessions are used for in-class demonstrations/labs over basic statistical tools (Gage R&R studies and Shewhart control charts). 2 sessions are devoted to in-class exams. The other class periods are used primarily in a standard lecture/discussion format.

The class term project is executed completely outside of class time, at the convenience of the student groups and their business clients.

Professional Component Contributions:
The students learn not only specific technical statistical material relevant to variation reduction, process improvement and quality assurance, but they also learn how to function as members of a real world quality improvement team and to report professionally on that work. In the term project, they are essentially charged with independently finding a client organization or business and making a real contribution towards genuinely improving some process or product. This has to be done within the constraints of their own schedules and the time constraints, priorities and budget constraints of their clients.

Relationship to Program Objectives:

IMSE Objective 1
The course term project is essentially "free form." Technical statistical tools taught in the course are far from the only tools that turn out to be relevant as they pursue their quality improvement goals. They are forced to think broadly, and integrate what they have learned in many different courses.

IMSE Objective 2
The term project groups always end up finding a diverse set of application areas. The poster session and in-class presentations expose all students in the course to this variety of application areas.

IMSE Objective 3
The IE 361 term project functions as an early real world experience in Industrial Engineering Design. All of the components of student creativity, an open-ended problem, iterative movement to a final solution, the end goal of meeting a real need, synthesis, feasibility considerations and detailed description of a final solution are practiced in the project.

IMSE Objective 4
The reporting requirements and peer and instructor feedback provided on the mini paper and term projects provide serious opportunities and direction for students to improve their communication skills. (Those students who take advantage of the offer of "for free" instructor feedback on preliminary versions of their written and oral reports receive additional and especially effective mentoring in this area.)

IMSE Objective 6
Most IE 361 project groups end up finding that they must independently research matters related to their specific application area, or learn additional statistical methods in order to produce a workable solution for their project clients. That experience is a clear indicator to them of the necessity of lifelong learning.

IMSE Objective 7
Students often find that their IE 361 projects become a serious "selling point" for them as they interview for jobs. Potential employers see in the initiative and analytical skills required to produce a strong project, the personal qualities that will eventually produce an effective business leader.

Prepared by: Stephen B. Vardeman

Date Prepared: May 15, 2000