A a comparison of the markov chain and the integral equation approaches for evaluating the run length distribution of quality control charts

Two methods that are often used to evaluate the run length distribution of quality control charts are the Markov chain and integral equation approaches. Both methods have been used to evaluate the cumulative sum (CUSUM) charts and the exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) control charts. The Markov chain approach involves "discretiz-ing" the possible values which can be plotted. Using properties of finite Markov chains, expressions for the distribution of the run length, and for the average run length (ARL), can be obtained. For the CUSUM and EWMA charts there exist integral equations whose solution gives the ARL. Approximate methods can then be used to solve the integral equation. In this article we show that if the product midpoint rule is used to approximate the integral in the integral equation, then both approaches yield the same approximations for the ARL. In addition we show that the recursive expressions for the probability functions are the same for the two approaches. These results establish the integral equation approach as preferable whenever an integral equation can be found     

Exponentially weighted moving average control schemes with variable sampling intervals

The idea of using non-constant sampling intervals has been of interest in quality control applications since it was first suggested for the “skip-lot sampling plan” of Dodge. Recent interest has focused on the use of variable sampling interval (VSI) control schemes. VSI control schemes use a short sampling interval is given     

Computation of the run-length percentiles of CUSUM control charts under changes in variances

In this paper, the run-length distributions of cumulative sum (CUSUM) charts for monitoring mean changes under normal distributions have been investigated thoroughly. However, there are few studies devoted to the analysis of the run-length distributions of CUSUM charts under changes in process variances. Motivated by this, this paper develops a fast and accurate algorithm based on piecewise collocation method for computing the run-length distributions of CUSUM scale charts. It is shown that the proposed method can provide more accurate approximation to the run-length distribution than the conventional Gauss-type quadrature-based methods applied to the CUSUM location charts. Some computational aspects for facilitating computation load are discussed, including the alternative formulation based on matrix decomposition and the geometric approximation to the distribution of large run lengths.     

Simulating the average run length for cusum schemes using variance reduction techniques

Some variance reduction techniques utilizing the total hazard are developed to estimate the average run lengths of the cumulative sum charts through simulation when the process follows a general probability distribution. Particularly, we propose the hazard estimator and the cycle estimator. Simulation results are shown for the exponential case and these estimators are compared with the raw simulation estimator. Applicability to multivariate CUSUM schemes is briefly discussed in the conclusion.     

Robustness to non-normality and autocorrelation of individuals control charts

This paper studies the effects of non-normality and autocorrelation on the performances of various individuals control charts for monitoring the process mean and/or variance. The traditional Shewhart X chart and moving range (MR) chart are investigated as well as several types of exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) charts and combinations of control charts involving these EWMA charts. It is shown that the combination of the X and MR charts will not detect small and moderate parameter shifts as fast as combinations involving the EWMA charts, and that the performana of the X and MR charts is very sensitive to the normality assumption. It is also shown that certain combinations of EWMA charts can be designed to be robust to non-normality and very effective at detecting small and moderate shifts in the process mean and/or variance. Although autocorrelation can have a significant effect on the in-control performances of these combinations of EWMA charts, their relative out-of-control performances under independence are generally maintained for low to moderate levels of autocorrelation.     

A new non-parametric multivariate EWMA sign control chart for monitoring process dispersion

In this paper, a new non-parametric multivariate exponentially weighted moving average (NMEWMA) sign chart is proposed for monitoring the process dispersion. The run length characteristics of the NMEWMA sign chart are computed with the help of Markov chain and Monte Carlo simulations. Moreover, the NMEWMA sign chart is also used to detect changes in the process mean and dispersion simultaneously. An illustrative example is also used to explain the implementation of proposed control chart.     

Effect of measurement error on exponentially weighted moving average control charts under ranked set sampling schemes

Control charts are a powerful statistical process monitoring tool often used to monitor the stability of manufacturing processes. In quality control applications, measurement errors adversely affect the performance of control charts. In this paper, we study the effect of measurement error on the detection abilities of the exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) control charts for monitoring process mean based on ranked set sampling (RSS), median RSS (MRSS), imperfect RSS (IRSS) and imperfect MRSS (IMRSS) schemes. We also study the effect of multiple measurements and non-constant error variance on the performances of the EWMA control charts. The EWMA control chart based on simple random sampling is compared with the EWMA control charts based on RSS, MRSS, IRSS and IMRSS schemes. The performances of the EWMA control charts are evaluated in terms of out-of-control average run length and standard deviation of run lengths. It turns out that the EWMA control charts based on MRSS and IMRSS schemes are better than their counterparts for all measurement error cases considered here.     

Wald's approximations to the average run length in cusum procedures

Wald's approximation to the ARL(average run length in cusum) (cumulative sum) procedures are given for an exponential family of densities. From these approximations it is shown that Page's (1954) cusum procedure is (in a sense) identical with a cusum procedure defined in terms of likelihood ratios. Moreover, these approximations are improved by estimating the excess over the boundary and their closeness is examined by numerical comparisons with some exact results. Some examples are also given.     

The run length distributions of the R,s and s2 control charts when is estimated

R, s and s2 charts with estimated control limits are widely used in practice. Common practice in control-chart theory is to estimate the control limits using data from the process and, once the process is determined to be in control, to treat the resulting control limits as though fixed. While there are empirical rules for setting up the control charts using past or trial data, little is known about the run length distributions of these charts when the fact that control limits are estimated is taken into account. In this paper, we derive and evaluate the run length distributions associated with the R, s and s2 charts when the process standard deviation a is estimated. The results are then used to discuss the appropriateness of the widely followed empirical rules for choosing the number m of samples and the sample size n.     

Performance of the zone control chart

Average run lengths of the zone control chart are presented, The performance of this chart is compared with that of several Shewhart charts with and without runs rules, It is shown that the standard zone control chart has performance similar to some even simpler charts and a much higher false alarm rate than the Shewhart chart with all of the common runs rules. It is also shown that a slightly modified zone control chart outperforms the Shewhart chart with the common runs rules.     

An adaptive exponentially weighted moving average control chart for monitoring process variances

The exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) control chart is efficient in detecting small changes in process parameters but less efficient when the changes are relatively large, due to what is known as the inertia problem. To diminish the inertia, an adaptive EWMA (AEWMA) chart has been proposed for monitoring process locations to improve over the traditional EWMA charts. The basic idea of the AEWMA scheme is to dynamically weight the past observations according to a suitable function of the current prediction error. This article extends the idea of the AEWMA chart for monitoring process locations to the case of monitoring process dispersion. A Markov chain model is established to analyze and design the suggested chart. It is shown that the AEWMA dispersion chart performs better than the EWMA and other dispersion charts in terms of its ability to perform relatively well at both small and large changes in process dispersion.     

Optimal CUSUM and adaptive CUSUM charts with auxiliary information for process mean

The CUSUM chart is good enough to detect small-to-moderate shifts in the process parameter(s) as it can be optimally designed to detect a particular shift size. The adaptive CUSUM (ACUSUM) chart provides good detection over a range of shift sizes because of its ability to update the reference parameter using the estimated process shift. In this paper, we propose auxiliary-information-based (AIB) optimal CUSUM (OCUSUM) and ACUSUM charts, named AIB-OCUSUM and AIB-ACUSUM charts, using a difference estimator of the process mean. The performance comparisons between existing and proposed charts are made in terms of the average run length (ARL), extra quadratic loss and integral relative ARL measures. It is found that the AIB-OCUSUM and AIB-ACUSUM charts are more sensitive than the AIB-CUSUM and ACUSUM charts, respectively. Moreover, the AIB-ACUSUM chart surpasses the AIB-OCUSUM chart when detecting a range of mean shift sizes. Illustrative examples are given to support the theory.     

A weighted likelihood ratio test-based chart for monitoring process mean and variability

In this paper, a new single exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) control chart based on the weighted likelihood ratio test, referred to as the WLRT chart, is proposed for the problem of monitoring the mean and variance of a normally distributed process variable. It is easy to design, fast to compute, and quite effective for diverse cases including the detection of the decrease in variability and individual observation case. The optimal parameters that can be used as a design aid in selecting specific parameter values based on the average run length (ARL) and the sample size are provided. The in-control (IC) and out-of-control (OC) performance properties of the new chart are compared with some other existing EWMA-type charts. Our simulation results show that the IC run length distribution of the proposed chart is similar to that of a geometric distribution, and it provides quite a robust and satisfactory overall performance for detecting a wide range of shifts in the process mean and/or variability.     

The performance of multivariate CUSUM control charts with estimated parameters

In this paper, we study the effect of estimating the vector of means and the variance–covariance matrix on the performance of two of the most widely used multivariate cumulative sum (CUSUM) control charts, the MCUSUM chart proposed by Crosier [Multivariate generalizations of cumulative sum quality-control schemes, Technometrics 30 (1988), pp. 291–303] and the MC1 chart proposed by Pignatiello and Runger [Comparisons of multivariate CUSUM charts, J. Qual. Technol. 22 (1990), pp. 173–186]. Using simulation, we investigate and compare the in-control and out-of-control performances of the competing charts in terms of the average run length measure. The in-control and out-of-control performances of the competing charts deteriorate significantly if the estimated parameters are used with control limits intended for known parameters, especially when only a few Phase I samples are used to estimate the parameters. We recommend the use of the MC1 chart over that of the MCUSUM chart if the parameters are estimated from a small number of Phase I samples.     

Ewma control chart under linear drift

An accurate numerical procedure is presented for computing the average run length (ARL) of an exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) chart under a linear drift in the process mean. The performance of an EWMA chart is then evaluated under a linear drift in the mean. In processes where gradual linear drifts rather than abrupt changes in the mean model the shifts in the mean more accurately, an evaluation of the performance of an EWMA chart under a linear drift is more appropriate. Tables of optimal smoothing parameters and control chart limits are given which make the design of EWMA charts easy.     

On the Superiority of a Variable Sampling Interval Control Chart

The paper establishes the analytical grounds of the uniform superiority of a variable sampling interval (VSI) Shewhart control chart over the conventional fixed sampling interval (FSI) control chart, with respect to the zero-time performance, for a wide class of process distributions. We provide a sufficient condition on the distribution of a control chart statistic, and propose a criterion to determine the control limits and the regions in the in-control area of the VSI chart, corresponding to the different sampling intervals used by it. The condition and the criterion together ensure the uniform zero-time superiority of the VSI chart over the matched FSI chart, in detecting a process shift of any magnitude. It is shown that normal, Student's t and Laplace distributions satisfy the sufficient condition. In addition, chi-square, F and beta distributions satisfy it, provided that these are not extremely skewed. Further, it is illustrated that the superiority of the VSI feature is not trivial and cannot be assured if the sufficient condition is not satisfied or the control limits and the regions are not determined according to the proposed criterion. An application of the result to confirm the superiority of the VSI feature is demonstrated for the control chart for individual observations used to monitor a milk-pouch filling process.     

The influence of parameter estimation on the ARL of Shewhart type charts for time series

In this paper we discuss the behavior of the Shewhart residual chart and the modified Shewhart chart if the parameters of the underlying process are unknown and thus have to be estimated. We focus on the estimation of the variance. For AR models we also consider the estimation of the AR coefficients. The average run length (ARL) of the control chart with estimated parameters is compared with the ARL of the scheme for known parameters and with the ARL for independent variables. Additionally, we give recommendations on the choice of the estimators in the context of Shewhart control schemes.     

Improving the performance of the zone control chart

A general model for the zone control chart is presented. Using this model, it is shown that there are score vectors for zone control charts which result in superior average run length performance in comparison to Shewhart charts with common runs rules.

A fast initial response (FIR) feature for the zone control chart is also proposed. Average run lengths of the zone control chart with this feature are calculated. It is shown that the FIR feature improves zone control chart performance by providing significantly earlier signals when the process is out of control.     

Statistical control charts for monitoring the mean of a stationary process

Recently statistical process control (SPC) methodologies have been developed to accommodate autocorrelated data. A primary method to deal with autocorrelated data is the use of residual charts. Although this methodology has the advantage that it can be applied to any autocorrelated data it needs time series modeling efforts. In addition for a X residual chart the detection capability is sometimes small compared to the X chart and EWMA chart. Zhang (1998) proposed the EWMAST chart which is constructed by charting the EWMA statistic for stationary processes to monitor the process mean. The performance of the EWMAST chart the X chart the X residual chart and other charts were compared in Zhang (1998). In this paper comparisons are made among the EWMAST chart the CUSUM residual chart and EWMA residual chart as well as the X residual chart and X chart via the average run length.