Seven speakers delivered papers defining SPC and QC, as well as applications to surface finishing and experiences with implementation of SPC, and measurement techniques applicable to SPC.

The first speaker was Mark Henry, Wear-Cote International, who stated that "the most practical methods of controlling quality are Total Quality Management (TQM) and SPC. These methods are intended to involve everyone in an organization, from the president and CEO to production personnel. In order for an organization to achieve these goals, lit must take a team approach to improving quality, with team involvement the main emphasis." Henry went on to remind listeners of the leaders of the present quality movementóDeming, Juran and Crosby óand the lists of steps they said organizations must take to achieve total quality. All three lists require commitment on the part of an entire organization.

John Kuczma, MacDermid, Inc., held audience interest with a forceful talk entitled "Specifications = Performance," in which he stressed the need for complete understanding of customer specifications and the pitfalls of not doing so. He began with a supposed truism: You always get what you pay for." Not so, he claimed. Instead it should be stated: You always pay for what you get, but only rarely do you get what you pay for." His point was that a specification poorly written and poorly understood is hopeless with regard to a quality product and competitiveness with foreign manufacturers. Where a customer demands the best, testing becomes extremely important and there should be two distinct testing criteria: Qualification of a vendor, and statistically acceptable production QC sampling on an ongoing basis. Finally, he said that the key to writing a specification is knowing what performance is expected from the end product.

Bill McNabb, Electroless Nickel Plating of Louisiana, followed with descriptions of the paperwork and forms used for quality assurance in his companys shops. They were developed in an effort to overcome the reputation for poor quality that was an obstacle to use of EN coatings in oil field and petrochemical applications. The potential for such use is high, he said, if a quality product is produced.

SPC and quality control in general cannot be accomplished without appropriate measurements. This was the theme of two papers, "The Measurement of Electroless Nickel," by John Stanwick, Fischer Technology, and "Electrochemical Assessment of Porosity and Corrosion Resistance of EN Coatings on Aluminum Alloys" by Dr. Morgan Tench, Rockwell International Science Center. Stanwick outlined the latest in measurement techniques for determining the thickness and other properties of an electroless nickel deposit non-destructively. Dr. Tench discussed the significance of pores in EN deposits on aluminum and how they affect corrosion resistance. He illustrated the determination of porosity by electrochemical means, using equivalent electrical circuits to explain the chemical processes.

David Kunces, a consultant, followed with a paper entitled "SPC is Good Record-Keeping." Many shops, he said, are keeping good records and using those records as tools. They are already performing SPC, whereas those who do not do this are only just surviving and are obviously not serious about quality. The emphasis on consistent quality is a result of increasing demands by industryóforcing EN users to incorporate SPC into their operations. He went on to describe the steps in typical EN processes and the records needed to support SPC, including documentation for rinses. Forms developed for the documentation were shown and their uses defined.

The final session paper, by Richard Vattimo, Occidental Chemical Corp., dealt with a significant aspect of SPC called variability, which was defined in terms of practical, everyday examples, such as the reasons ones cars gas mileage is never exactly the same from measurement to measurement, and why no two manufactured parts are ever identical. There are two kinds of variation: Common-cause and special cause. Knowing what common-cause variation in a process is, and eliminating special-cause variation, will determine what can be produced and what specifications can be accepted.