Every analytics initiative in manufacturing fails the same way twice. The first time, it fails technically — the wrong tools get bought, the data isn’t clean, the models never make it to production. The second time, it fails politically — leadership loses patience, the plant floor never trusted it, and the budget gets quietly redirected somewhere else.
Statistical Process Control: The Discipline Manufacturers Keep Reinventing (And Still Getting Wrong)
Every few years, Statistical Process Control gets rediscovered. A new generation of quality engineers finds Shewhart’s work, plants control charts on the shop floor, and declares victory. Then the charts go stale. Operators stop trusting them. Leadership loses interest. And the cycle repeats.
