Abstract
Abstract Paper aims Identify the use of statistical thinking and techniques and their main difficulties and benefits in the Brazilian State of Sao Paulo industries. Originality There are few empirical studies on the application of the statistical thinking and techniques which study their difficulties of implementation and their benefits in manufacturing companies. Research method A web survey of a sample of 243 manufacturing companies. Main findings The companies, in general, use some statistical principles and basic techniques for process control and improvement, however, companies that use principles and techniques more consistently have greater operational and team benefits. The main difficulties are associated to lack of culture and knowledge. Implications for theory and practice The statistical application enables effective processes improvements and it is associated with motivation for further improvements, consolidation of improvement programs and culture of quality. This finding suggests managerial implications such as to plan actions to deploy and disseminate the culture of statistical thinking in an evolutionary way, training and support for use and to overcome barriers.
Highlights
The use of Statistical Thinking (STk) has been recently highlighted in the quality management literature due to its potential to increase organizations’ competitiveness by means of overcoming challenges related to product and process improvement (Hoerl & Snee, 2010)
Considering the relevance of the theme, this paper examines the presence and intensity of the use of STk and basic and advanced Statistical Techniques (STe), identifies barriers that hamper their application, and analyses the benefits of using the STk and STe based on process performance indicators
The STk should precede the use of statistical techniques, which are necessary to support and assist the operationalization of the concepts (Britz et al, 2000)
Summary
The use of Statistical Thinking (STk) has been recently highlighted in the quality management literature due to its potential to increase organizations’ competitiveness by means of overcoming challenges related to product and process improvement (Hoerl & Snee, 2010). Statistical Techniques (STe), already established in the scope of quality management, play a joint role with the STk, encompassing tools and methods that assist the data analysis and processing (Snee, 2004; Pfannkuch & Wild, 2004; Makrymichalos et al, 2005). There is a lack of researches related to the identification of benefits and implementation barriers in manufacturing Brazilian companies Such benefits have been identified based on the impact on process performance indicators, both objective and subjective. The paper presents the concepts of STk and STe, the research method, the description and analysis of the field research data and the final considerations
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