Use of coil testers for statistical process control

Statistical Process Control (SPC) has recently received attention from the industry press. It is a term that encompasses a wide range of techniques to identify and then control variations within a manufacturing process. In the coil winding industry, electrical measurement data are frequently used as a basis for product acceptance and are therefore generally available for SPC. However, the manual collection of this information can be tedious, and SPC is often abandoned on this account when there are other fires to put out. Recent advances in electrical coil testers have made it possible to constantly monitor the sometimes numerous control charts for out-of-control indications. This information can be collected and used for the application of SPC techniques. The changing role of the tester in the application of SPC to coil manufacturing, the advantages of today's state of the art testers, and the future direction of this technology are considered