Certified Quality Engineer (CQE) Practice Exam

Control charts are a powerful tool used to monitor and evaluate the stability and performance of a process over time. They establish a baseline by displaying the process variation and control limits, which allow quality engineers to detect any shifts, trends, or patterns that indicate significant changes in the process. By plotting data points on the control chart, one can visually assess whether a process is in control or if it has deviated from its established baseline.

When changes are made to a process, control charts can help indicate how those changes affect the process's performance in relation to the established baseline. Control chart patterns can reveal variations due to common causes, which are inherent to the process, or special causes, which are induced by specific changes or external factors. This makes control charts an effective method for measuring the impact of changes and ensuring that any adjustments lead to the desired improvements in quality and efficiency.

Other techniques, such as statistical sampling or capability analysis, serve different purposes. Statistical sampling focuses on collecting data from a subset of a population to make inferences about the entire population and does not inherently establish a baseline for ongoing monitoring. Process benchmarking involves comparing an organization's processes against best practices from other institutions, which is more about performance improvement rather than establishing a baseline for measurement of change. Capability