Control Plans

Control plans are used to track critical characteristics that must be kept in control during a manufacturing or assembly process and record the methods for maintaining control. Examples of critical process characteristics are the temperature range for wax that will be sprayed onto the finished vehicle, uniformity of a cut, calibration for a machine tool, and the like. These characteristics may be kept under control by performing inspections, maintenance procedures, error-proofing and other methods. 

To add a control plan, select an item in the System panel then choose Insert > Other > Add Control Plan.

The Control Plan tab will open in the Analysis panel. In addition, the control plan icon will appear in the corresponding column in the System Hierarchy tab of the System panel if that column has been selected for display on your computer. (To hide or display columns, right-click the column headers in the System panel, then click Customize Columns to select which columns you want to display. These settings are stored per computer/username on the System Hierarchy page of the Application Setup, so any project that you open on this computer will have the same columns displayed.)

Setting up a Control Plan

The control plan analysis contains two tabs: a Header tab and a Worksheet tab. Use the Header tab to enter general information about the entire analysis and use the Worksheet tab to enter descriptions about the manufacturing or assembly process, the associated characteristics that need to be tracked and the strategy for controlling the characteristics that have been identified.

You can also develop a control plan based on the critical issues that have already been identified in process FMEAs (PFMEA) or PFD worksheets. (See Sync Options for Control Plans.)