To introduce graduate students in industrial engineering, mechanical engineering or electrical engineering to the concepts and methods of quality engineering. Conventional methods of on-line QC, such as the control charts, as well as the relatively newly developed methods of off-line QC are covered in a comprehensive manner.

• Definition of quality: quality and variability, the concept of quality assurance, cost of poor quality.
• Control charts: Variable control charts, Attribute control charts, diagnostic trends and patterns, rational subgroups.
• Process capability analysis: Various indices for measuring process capability based on the fraction defective as well as on the continuous loss functions.
• Tolerance analysis and design: concept of propagation of error and methods of its computation in the linear and nonlinear environments.
• Parameter design: Concept and basic definitions, methods based statistical design of experiments and nonlinear optimization.
• Introduction to statistical sampling plans.
  
  

Homework: Biweekly assignments.
Examinations: Two exams: one midterm and one final
Projects: Students may propose their own project topics or carry out the class project.

Derman, Cyrus and Sheldon M. Ross, Statistical Aspects of Quality Control, 1997.
ISBN: 0-12-210010-7

1. Douglas, C., Introduction to Statistical Quality Control, John Wiley & Sons, 2001.
2. Grant and Leavenworth, Statistical Quality Control, Seventh Edition, 1996.
3. Logothesis, L., Managing for Total Quality, 1992.
4. Devor, Chang and Sutherland, Statistical Quality Design and Control, 1992;
5. Phadke, M.S., Quality Engineering using Robust Design, 1989;
6. Garvin, D.A., Managing Quality, Free Press 1988.
7. Taguchi, Introduction to Quality Engineering, Unipub 1986.
8. Harrington, Marcel Dekker, Poor Quality Cost, 1987.
9. Phadke, M.S., Quality Engineering Using Robust Design, Prentice Hall 1989.

NCSU has recommended minimum specifications for computers used for classes. Depending on your computer needs, we recommend your computer meet or exceed the following minimum specifications below.

PCs must have an Intel-compatible 1 GHz processor, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB hard drive with 1 GB free space available, 256 Color Display, CD-ROM drive, 1024x768 (min.) video adapter, sound card, and speakers. The operating system should be Windows XP Pro. Real One Player Basic (available free online) and high speed Internet connection such as cable, DSL, T1 or LAN will be required for EOL courses.

MAC users must have a G4 processor with firewire and USB factory built-in, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB with 1GB free space available, 256 Color Display, CD-ROM drive, 1024x768 (min) video adapter, sound card, and speakers. The operating system must be MacOS 10.4 (minimum) along with the above RealOne and Internet specifications above.

For more detailed information on computer specifications and recommendations, please refer to our website at: http://engineeringonline.ncsu.edu/currentstudents/computeraccess.htm

Any scientific programming language such as FORTRAN or PASCAL, or a spreadsheet such as Microsoft Excel.

Dr. Yahya Fathi, Professor
Department of Industrial Engineering
North Carolina State University
Campus Box 7906
Raleigh, NC 27695-7906

Phone: (919) 515-6417
Fax: (919) 515-5281
E-Mail: fathi@ncsu.edu
Instructor Website: http://www.ie.ncsu.edu/fathi/