The last 20 years of my professional career have consisted of helping manufacturing organizations understand and deploy statistical methods. I’ve worked with operators on the shop floor, consulted with Six Sigma specialists, cajoled managers and convinced engineers. I have worked with and witnessed hundreds of statistical process control implementations. Some have been extravagantly successful, virtually transforming plants and corporate cultures. A small number of implementations have been woeful failures, effectively souring entire organizations on the use of statistical methods altogether. Then, there are the SPC deployments that occupy the middle ground between rousing success and flame-out failure. These deployments are usually characterized by an interesting mix of localized support, excitement and success, coupled with an undercurrent of corporate indifference.

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