Editing Statistical process control (section)

===Application to non-manufacturing processes===

Statistical process control is appropriate to support any repetitive process, and has been implemented in many settings where for example [[ISO 9000]] quality management systems are used, including financial auditing and accounting, IT operations, health care processes, and clerical processes such as loan arrangement and administration, customer billing etc. Despite criticism of its use in design and development, it is well-placed to manage semi-automated data governance of high-volume data processing operations, for example in an enterprise data warehouse, or an enterprise data quality management system.<ref>{{cite book |first=Larry |last=English |title=Improving Data Warehouse and Business Information Quality: Methods for Reducing Costs and Increasing Profits |publisher=Wiley |date=1999 |isbn=978-0-471-25383-9 }}</ref>

In the 1988 [[Capability Maturity Model]] (CMM) the [[Software Engineering Institute]] suggested that SPC could be applied to software engineering processes. The Level 4 and Level 5 practices of the Capability Maturity Model Integration ([[CMMI]]) use this concept.

The application of SPC to non-repetitive, knowledge-intensive processes, such as research and development or systems engineering, has encountered skepticism and remains controversial.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Bob |last1=Raczynski |author2-link=Dr Bill Curtis |first2=Bill |last2=Curtis |title=Point/Counterpoint: Counterpoint Argument: Software Data Violate SPC's Underlying Assumptions |journal=IEEE Software |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=49–51 |date=May–June 2008 |doi=10.1109/MS.2008.68 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Robert V. |last=Binder |title=Can a Manufacturing Quality Model Work for Software? |journal=IEEE Software |volume=14 |issue=5 |pages=101–5 |date=September–October 1997 |doi=10.1109/52.605937 |s2cid=40550515 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Raczynski|first=Bob|date=February 20, 2009|title=Is Statistical Process Control Applicable to Software Development Processes?|url=https://www.stickyminds.com/article/statistical-process-control-applicable-software-development-processes|website=StickyMinds|language=en}}</ref>

In ''No Silver Bullet'', [[Fred Brooks]] points out that the complexity, conformance requirements, changeability, and invisibility of software<ref>{{Cite journal |author-link=Fred Brooks | last1 = Brooks, Jr. | first1 = F. P.| doi = 10.1109/MC.1987.1663532 | title = No Silver Bullet—Essence and Accidents of Software Engineering | journal = Computer | volume = 20 | issue = 4 | pages = 10–19 | year = 1987 | url = http://faculty.salisbury.edu/~xswang/Research/Papers/SERelated/no-silver-bullet.pdf| citeseerx = 10.1.1.117.315}}</ref><ref name="Brooks, Proc. IFIP" >{{cite conference |first=Fred P. |last=Brooks |title=No Silver Bullet&nbsp;— Essence and Accident in Software Engineering |book-title=Information processing 86: proceedings of the IFIP 10th World Computer Congress|publisher=North-Holland |date=1986 |isbn=978-0-444-70077-3 |pages=1069–76 }}</ref> results in inherent and essential variation that cannot be removed. This implies that SPC is less effective in the software development than in, e.g., manufacturing.