IMPLEMENTATION OF STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL IN AN ALUMINIUM BEVERAGE CAN MANUFACTURING ORGANISATION

In order to survive in a competitive market, improving quality of products and processes in imperative to any organisation. This paper aims to assess the implementation and application of Statistical Process Control (SPC) as a quality improvement tool in a Beverage can manufacturer. The proposed organisation manufactures aluminium beverage cans for food and beverage packaging at a every high volume. Therefore, the business features a need for real time inspection and control methodology, in order to achieve high quality products with minimal defects, scraps and wastage. Survey questionnaires were formulated to investigate the organisational SPC implementation, the challenges of implementation that were experienced and the Critical Success Factors imposed on the organisation. It was found that especially during the implementation phase of SPC: the support and commitment of the executive management is an important and critical component for Continuous Improvements. Top management's resistance to change has been attributed to the organisation's lack of adoption of SPC, as a quality improvement tool. This has led to employees' lack of confidence to adopt and implement this tool. This paper creates awareness for the quality team, to implement SPC as a tool. The findings of the study provides a holistic roadmap for implementation. It is useful in providing managerial information which is critical for the development of plans for successful SPC implementation.