Course Goals At the end of the course,

students should be able

to:

Perform data analysis and

suggest improvement plans

Design experiments to

efficiently optimize settings

Analyze factorial experiments

and draw statistically sound

conclusions

Develop control charts for

monitoring continuous and

discrete quality characteristics

Model time series data and

monitor for changes

Assess statistical process

capability

Apply methods of quality

control to manufacturing and

engineering settings

Course Description

Course Description

Instructor

Methods for Quality Improvement ISyE 3039 IC 113

“Statistics is the science of learning from experience.”

-Bradley Efron, 2006.

Topics include quality system requirements, designed

experiments, process capability analysis, measurement

capability, statistical process control, and acceptance

sampling plans.

In this course we will learn various statistical techniques for

improving the quality of engineering systems. Broadly, the steps in

this are summarized by the acronym DMAIC- Define, Measure,

Analyze, Improve, and Control. First we will study design of

experiments, which will enable us to plan how we will gather data.

We will practice the measure step by reviewing basic statistical

techniques. Analyze, improve, and control will be addressed by

studying statistical process control, which monitors when a process

has left its typical range of operation and needs repairing. The

content from this course is used in industrial systems,

manufacturing, health care, and any engineering environment

which involves the design and collection of data.

Anthony Bonifonte

Office: Main Building 312

Office Hours: Tuesday 11:00am - noon, Thursday 1:30pm – 2:30pm

If you are unable to attend these hours, you are encouraged to

email questions or schedule an appointment.

Email: ABonifon@gatech.edu

Catalog Description

Fall 2016

Tu - Th 12:05pm – 1:25pm

Course Logistics Prerequisites: ISyE 2028

Textbook: Introduction to Statistical Quality

Control, 7th edition, by Montgomery

http://www.amazon.com/Statistical-

Quality-Control-Douglas-

Montgomery/dp/1118146816

It is important to have the current edition of

the book, as some homework problems may

be selected out of it.

TA: Junying (Jasper) He, jhe85@gatech.edu

Office: Main 450

Office Hours: Wednesday 11:00am – 1:00pm

Expectations Honor Code: I trust you to adhere to the Georgia

Tech Honor Code on all assignments. On

exams you will be required to write and

sign the Honor Pledge: ‚I have adhered to the

Honor Code on this assignment‛. How the

Honor Code applies on each assignment is

specified below, and any questions should be

directed to me. Cheating is wholly

unacceptable and will be dealt with harshly.

Class communication: All electronic communication

will be through announcements using T-

square and delivered to your Georgia Tech

email. You are responsible for checking these

messages periodically to stay informed of

important dates and potential changes to the

syllabus.

I am pleased to reply to questions via email at

ABonifon@gatech.edu. Please include ‘ISyE

3039’ in the subject line. I check my email

frequently, but I reserve the right to a 48-hour

response period. This means questions

immediately before an exam or assignment

due date may not receive a timely response.

Please send all emails through your Georgia

Tech account so it does not get blocked by

spam filters.

Technology Policy: Please be respectful with your

use of laptops and other technology in class.

I request you only use them for class related

purposes, as I and others may find them

distracting. Cell phones should be kept silent

and away, and you can expect the same from

me.

Software: We will use computer software for some

of the course material. R is a powerful free

statistics program. Many of the homework

problems may be solved in Microsoft Excel,

but a small time investment to learn R will

greatly benefit you in the future.

Class forums: We have a forum on T-square. If

you have conceptual questions that may

benefit others, please post them there.

Class Project 15% Students will work in groups of 2-4 to identify a quality-

related problem, collect and analyze the necessary data,

draw conclusions, and present the solutions. A project

report (~7 pages) will be due Friday, 12/02/16. A 12-15

minute presentation will be made to the class during the

week of 11/29/16 – 12/01/16.

Of the project grade, 40% will derive from the written

report, 40% from the presentation, and 20% from feedback

given to fellow student’s presentations on standard

feedback forms.

Assignments and Grading

Homework 20% Homework problem sets will be assigned on a weekly basis. You are allowed to work in groups, however,

every student needs to submit individually and write up the solution in their own words. Problem sets will

be important to learn the skills you need to master course objectives. Some problems may be evaluated on

honest effort and others on accurate solutions. Solutions will be posted online in a timely manner.

Homework will be due at the start of class on the posted date. Please submit a legible hard copy. No late

homework will be accepted without an institute approved absence.

Re-grades: In the interest of fairness, re-grades for partial credit on homework will not be accepted. If you

believe a mistake on the grading was made, you have one week to submit a written explanation stapled to

the original assignment.

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort,

intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many

alternatives.”

-NY Times, 1939

Final Course Grade: 90-100 = A; 80-89 = B;

70-79 = C; 60-69 = D; <60 = F

Exams (2 in class 20% each), Final Exam 25%

Exams: Two exams will take place during class on 9/20/16 and 10/18/16. To succeed on these exams, you will

need to demonstrate competence in the skills required for the homework. Exams will contain quantitative

questions on topic content and applications, and open response questions.

Final exam: the final exam will take place 12/15/16 from 11:30am to 2:20pm. The final exam will be

cumulative.

You are allowed to bring one single-sided sheet of notes to each midterm exam, and three sides of notes to

the final exam.

Additionally, you will be provided necessary statistical tables.

Calculators are permitted, though they may not have communication capability (no cell phone or laptop

calculators).

No resources of any sort may be shared during exams.

If you have accommodations through ADAPTS, be sure to inform me in advance and provide the

necessary documentation from http://adapts.gatech.edu/

Grade disputes must be submitted in written format stapled to the original exam within one week of them

being returned.

Individual make up exams: Individual make-up exams will only be offered if a student has valid reasons,

such as documented illness, severe illness or death in the family, accidents, or court appearances. ‚I didn’t feel

well‛ is insufficient. You must provide documentation prior to the make up.

Course Schedule

Suppose you have machines that produce a variable number of Gizmos© every day. Each course

topic will prepare you to answer the quoted question.

Dates Topics Textbook Sections

Exam Homework Due

8/23, 8/25 Introduction, statistics review (summary statistics, hypothesis testing) “How can I quantify and describe the output of a machine?”

3.1 - 4.4

8/30, 9/01 Stats Review continued 9/01

9/06, 9/08 Statistics review (regression, ANOVA) “How do I model and analyze the number of Gizmos produced as a function of various settings?”

4.5 – 4.6 9/08

9/13, 9/15 Design of experiments – factorial experiments “How can I set up an experiment to test the impact of changing binary settings on Gizmo production?”

13.1 – 13.5 9/15

9/20, 9/22 Design of experiments – factorial experiments continued 9/20

9/27, 9/29 Design of experiments – fractional factorial experiments “If I have limited resources and can only set up a few experiments, which settings should I change?”

13.6 9/29

10/04, 10/06 Design of experiments – response surface methodology “How can I interpolate quantitative settings and find an optimal setting for maximum production?”

14.1 – 14.3 10/06

10/13 10/11: Fall Break Design of experiments – in class project

10/18, 10/20 Statistical process control – methods and philosophies “How should I test and manage the quality of Gizmo production?

5.1 – 5.7 10/18

10/25, 10/27 Statistical process control – control charts for variables “If I observe the number of Gizmos produced every day, how do I test if the manufacturing process is in control?”

6.1 – 6.6 10/27

11/01, 11/03 Statistical process control – control charts for attributes “If I observe the fraction of defective Gizmos produced every day, how do I test if the manufacturing process is in control?”

7.1 – 7.5 11/03

11/08, 11/10 Statistical process control – multivariate control charts “How can I track several quality characteristics of Gizmos at once?”

11.1-11.3 11/10

11/17 Other quality methods – tolerance design “How do I how do I ensure Gizmos can fit in their packaging, if both are variable?”

8.8, 9.1 – 9.2

11/22 Tolerance design continued 11/24: Thanksgiving Break

11/29, 12/01 Student Projects

12/06 Review n/a 12/06

“Quality is doing the right thing when no one is looking.”

-Henry Ford