Quality Magazine, September 1999 Wheeler's Workshop: Zed charts compare apples and oranges Page 1 of 4

September 1999

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Wheeler's Workshop
Zed charts compare apples and
oranges
Zed charts show your process even when you produce several different products
on the same line.

P roducts 1201 and 1202 are case-hardened in Unit C. The target value for Product 1201s
case thickness is 39 m, while Product 1202s target value is 18 m. Since the process of
measuring case thickness is destructive, one piece is measured from each batch of 480 pieces. The
data for the pieces measured from batches 43 through 72 are shown on the product-specific
charts, "Case thickness for product 1201" and "Case thickness for product 1202," below.

The 15 batches shown on the chart for

Product 1201 have an average case thickness
of 39.47 m. The 15 batches for Product
1202 have an average case thickness of 18.33
m. Both of these values are reasonably close
to the target values for the two products.
These product-specific charts do show that
Unit C has produced products that are
consistently and predictably close to their
target values, but neither chart tells the full
story of the Unit C process. Sequential
batches show up on separate charts, and the time-order information about this production unit is
lost in the fragmentation by product. Product-specific charts may be satisfactory for quality-
assurance purposes, but they are lacking in terms of process understanding and improvement.

In last months column ("Difference charts com- pensate for moving targets") this problem was
addressed by using a difference chart. The raw values were adjusted by subtracting the target
values from the original values before they were plotted on a chart. However, in this case, such a
"centering" of the values will not be sufficient because Product 1201 and Product 1202 do not
have the same amount of variation. The average range for Product 1201 is 5.07 m, while the
average range for Product 1202 is 2.36 m. This discrepancy means that, in addition to centering

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Quality Magazine, September 1999 Wheeler's Workshop: Zed charts compare apples and oranges Page 2 of 4

the values, we must also adjust the scale of each products values.

The traditional method of scale adjustment is

to divide by the Sigma(X) value for a given
measure. When working with process-
behavior charts the correct method of
computing a Sigma(X) value is to divide the
average range by the scaling factor, d2 . When
working with individual values we always use
two-point moving ranges, and for two-point
moving ranges the appropriate value of d2 is
1.128 standard deviation units. Hence, for
Product 1201:

Sigma (X) = Rbar/d2 = 5.07 m/1.128 std. dev. = 4.49 m/s.d.

while for Product 1202:

Sigma (X) = Rbar/d2 = 2.36 m/1.128 std. dev. = 2.09 m/s.d.

Notice that the Sigma(X) values express the number of measurement units that correspond to a
standard unit of dispersion. By converting from measurement units into standard units of dispersion
they provide a scale so that different measures can be compared.

To make this comparison possible we have to "standardize" the original values by subtracting off
the target value and then dividing by the Sigma(X) value. The traditional symbol for these
standardized values is the letter "Z", thus the resulting chart has been called a "zed chart." The
standardization transformation (also known as the zed transformation) for the Product 1201 values
would be:

Z = (X - target value)/Sigma(X) = (X - 39 m)/4.49 m/s.d.

while for Product 1202 the zed transformation would be:

Z = (X - target value)/Sigma(X) = (X - 18 m)/2.09 m/s.d.

To understand what the zed transformation does, we consider Batch 73. This batch consisted of
Product 1201, and the measured piece had a case depth of 35 m. This is 4 m below the target
value. Dividing by 4.49 m per standard deviation gives:

Z = (35 m - 39 m)/4.4 m/s.d. = -0.89 std. dev.

This zed score of -0.89 means that, for Product 1201, a raw value of 35 m is 0.89 standard
deviation units below the target value.

Batch 74 consisted of Product 1202, and the measured part had a case depth of 17 m. Using the

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zed transformation we get:

Z = (17 m - 18 m)/2.09 m/s.d. = -0.48 std. dev.

This zed score means that, for Product 1202, a raw value of 17 m is about one-half standard
deviation below the target value. By transforming the values from microns to standard-deviation
units we make it possible to compare apples and oranges on a common scale. As a result, we can
now visualize the process even when it is producing different parts.

To create a zed chart, you will first have to determine the appropriate zed transformation for each
product. This will require knowledge of the target value and a Sigma(X) value for each product.
The best place to get this information will be the product-specific charts shown earlier.

Next, you should record the product

identification number and the measurement
value obtained for a specific item. (If you do
not record the original values, you will be
unable to check that the correct zed
transformation was applied if a question should
arise later.) Then you subtract the appropriate
target value from the original value, and divide
by the appropriate Sigma(X) value to obtain
the zed value. Plot the zed value on the chart.
Compute the moving ranges using the zed
values. Plot the moving range values on the chart.

Thus, when it comes to actually keeping a zed chart, the extra work amounts to subtracting off a
value and dividing by another value before plotting a point and finding the moving range. With
todays calculators this extra work is minimal, especially compared with the effort generally
required to obtain the original measurement. Therefore, while some extra work is required to set up
a zed chart, its routine use is essentially no more complicated than any other process-behavior
chart.

While the product-specific charts have vertical scales that represent microns, the zed charts
vertical scales represent standard units of dispersion, and thus the limits are fixed values. The limits
for the zed portion of the chart will be located at 3.0 standard deviation units, while the central
line will be zero. For the corresponding moving-range chart, the upper limit will be 3.86 standard-
deviation units, and the central line will be 1.13 standard-deviation units. Since we are transforming
the data, we do not have to compute the limits for a zed chartthey remain fixed at these values.

The "Zed chart for batches 73 to 92" (click here for the chart) shows a run of nine batches above
the central line (Batches 75 to 83). Neither of the product-specific charts for these same batches
reveal this process shift. The objective of using process-behavior charts is to gain insight about
your process, and the first step in doing this is to visualize your process. Product specific charts do
tell you about the different products, but they do not show the overall process. The zed chart
allows you to see your process even when you are producing apples, oranges, and bananas on the
same line.

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Quality Magazine, September 1999 Wheeler's Workshop: Zed charts compare apples and oranges Page 4 of 4

Dr. Donald J. Wheeler is an internationally known continual-improvement specialist and the

author of Short Run SPC, Beyond Capability Confusion, and the coauthor of Understanding
Statistical Process Control, SPC Press, Knoxville, TN, 1999, (423) 584-5005.

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