Customer profile | Jaguar

British automaker Jaguar picks SQCpack to augment SPC charting

British automaker Jaguar has selected SQCpack to supplement its manual system of statistical process control and to support analysis of charts by shop floor operators.

"We believe that the people dimension is critical in SPC," says Barry Dunn, who is manager of the SPC for Jaguar’s operations in the West Midlands, UK, adding that the interface between people and the data is critical to understanding and improving processes. The use of pencil and ruler to enter and chart data offers an opportunity for that interface, he believes, and reinforces the company’s belief that it is operators who know their processes and how to improve them.

SPC engineers use SQCpack to analyze capability

Jaguar’s SPC engineers are located in the Birmingham plant. A team headed by Dunn takes data that has been generated manually by operators on the shop floor and uses the functionality of SQCpack to establish control charts and analyze capability for that data. 

"We went to the Windows version primarily because of its Y2K compliance," says Dunn, referring to concerns about software that may not respond to the calendar’s change to the year 2000. He has introduced it to his engineers and is impressed with its improved functionality, he says.

Jaguar’s XK and XJ models have been especially successful in North American markets. Enthusiasts have appreciated the unique design elements of the traditional British automobile, the successful launch of the all new "S" type saloon fully complementing the existing Jaguar range. In 1998, Jaguar had its highest sales ever, with more than 50,000, including record North American sales.

The new Jaguar S Type, described as a "precision engineered luxury sports saloon that achieves the highest standards of technical excellence," is powered by a new 3.0 liter AJ-V6 engine or a 4.0 liter AJ-V8.