Control Chart Types

How Many Types of Control Charts Are There?

There are two main categories of control charts:

  1. Variable control charts for measured data.
  2. Attribute control charts for counted data.

Within these two categories there are seven standard types of control charts. These are often refered to as Shewhart control charts because they were invented by Walter A. Shewhart who worked for Bell Labs in the 1920s.

seven types of control charts

Why are there so many types of control charts? What makes them different?

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Each control chart uses a different formula to account for three characteristics of the underlying data:

  1. The type of data (measured or counted)
  2. How measurements are grouped or what is counted
  3. The sample size

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QI Macros Draws All Seven of the Shewhart Control Charts

Shewhart Variable Control Charts

Use for Measured Data

(time, money, length, width, depth, weight, etc.)
Often contains decimals (.006, 8.9, 74.05)
Individuals Moving Range | XmR Chart: subgroup size = 1 XbarR Chart: subgroup size 2 to 5 XbarS Chart: subgroup size > 6
Shewhart Attribute Control Charts

Use for Counted Data

(number of defects, mistakes, errors, etc.)
Always a whole number (1, 44, 75)
c Chart: count of defects u Chart: count of defects - varying sample size p Chart: fraction defective - varying sample size np Chart: fraction defective - constant sample size

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QI Macros Draws These Specialized Control Charts Too

Other Variable Control Charts
Cusum Chart: detect small shifts in a process EWMA Chart: detect small shifts - subgroup size=1 Moving Average Hotelling T2: two interacting measurements Levey Jennings Chart: standard deviation Precision Control Chart: monitor paired measure Short Run SPC Chart: Deviation from Nominal (DNOM) ZmR Chart: Short Run Chart
Other Attribute Control Charts
p' Laney Chart u' Laney Chart g Chart: time or units between rare events t Chart: time between rare events

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