The importance of data privacy in statistical process control

Digital Security

Whichever industry you are in, it is important for you to make business decisions that will help identify and prevent problems from ever occurring.

This is why statistical process control is truly beneficial for all types of businesses as it provides solutions through data-driven and scientific monitoring and analysis. It is designed to employ statistical techniques that control a process or production.

If you are an entrepreneur who is eyeing to integrate statistical process control in your operations, you also have to take into account the value of data privacy in this arena as this method is purely data-driven. Learn more about the importance of data privacy by reading our post below.

Data Privacy Defined

Data privacy relates to any piece of information, its value and importance, and how it should be handled. It deals not only with the handling of data, but also its usage, storage, and processing. In an entrepreneurial aspect, data privacy deals with company information including your numbers in terms of finances, research and development, workforce and many more. This may also include sensitive information of your clients and stakeholders. It can range from health and medical record, credit card information, social security numbers, bank account details, and many more.

Customer’s Trust and Data Privacy

In a study conducted by Cisco, it has been found that 48% of respondents have switched to another company or service provider due to concerns on data policies and data sharing practices. Another research executed by Pew Research Center has shown that 79% of their respondents have expressed concern on how companies are using the data about them. Data collection is integral in running your business and also improving your operations. However, it can make or break your company as well.

Aside from regulations that you need to legally comply with, it is undeniable that there is a growing concern for what you do and how you safeguard the data you collected. In the long run, if data privacy is disregarded, you will ultimately lose your clients and your stakeholders’ trust. Without their trust, your profits and reputation will be greatly affected.

Data Quality and Statistical Process Control

As mentioned earlier, statistical process control deals with copious amounts of data which allows companies to improve product and service quality as well as reduce any amount of variation. In the manufacturing industry for instance, a statistical process control tool can significantly add value and ensure the quality of the data being collected. Through this, operators, inspectors, and other key players in the production process will be able to carry on a realistic, reliable, and high quality analytics analysis which is integral in making critical business decisions and overall operational improvements.

Fueling Your Business Growth With Data Privacy

Aside from compliance and customer loyalty, securing data privacy is an extremely powerful tool in growing your business. More than a privacy principle exercised by companies from all industries on a global scale, protecting data privacy can help you gain a competitive edge and discover more business opportunities. Statistical process control can help you gain highly impactful insights about your operations, production, and other aspects of your business. These key insights generated from statistical analysis can lead to effective strategies that your competitors may not have discovered yet. If you want your business to grow exponentially and remain competent, you have to build your business on trust and privacy.

The Cost of Data Breaches

Data is a very valuable asset of any company. In Deloitte’s research on Cyber Risk in Advance Manufacturing, around 50% of executives lack the confidence that they are protected from data breaches. This is alarming as a data breach can bring about a significant revenue loss of $1-10 million. Apart from your business revenue, it can also negatively impact your brand reputation, company morale, customer trust and relationships, as well as loss of intellectual property. If you are implementing statistical process control in your manufacturing operations without protecting data privacy, you might end up with misleading data that can affect key decisions generated from the statistical analysis. This will lead to increase in variation which in turn may affect the cost  and quality of production as well as the insights generated which reflects the capability of the process.

Statistical process control has been historically proven as an effective tool in optimizing business processes and bringing value to your business. However, for this to be effective and practical, data privacy should be upheld right from the start. For any business to grow and become highly competent, statistical process control and data privacy should always go hand in hand.