Variable sampling interval Shewhart control charts for monitoring the multivariate coefficient of variation

In many industrial manufacturing processes, the ratio of the variance to the mean of a quantity of interest is an important characteristic to ensure the quality of the processes. This ratio is called the coefficient of variation (CV). A lot of control charts have been designed for monitoring the CV of univariate quantity in the literature. However, the CV control charts for multivariate quantity have not received much attention yet. In this paper, we investigate a variable sampling interval (VSI) Shewhart control chart for monitoring multivariate CV. The time between two consecutive samples is allowed to vary according to the previous value of the multivariate CV, which will help the chart to detect the process shifts faster. The comparison with the fixed sampling interval Shewhart chart is implemented to highlight the advantage of the VSI method. Finally, an illustrative example is demonstrated on real data.     

Hotelling’s T charts with variable sample size and control limit

The ideas of variable sampling interval (VSI), variable sample size (VSS), variable sample size and sampling interval (VSSI), and variable parameters (VP) in the univariate case have been successfully applied to the multivariate case to improve the efficiency of Hotelling’s T² chart with fixed sampling rate (FSR) in detecting small process shifts. However, the main disadvantage in using most of these control schemes is an increasing in the complexity due to the adaptive changes in sampling intervals. In this paper, retaining the lengths of sampling intervals constant, a variable sample size and control limit (VSSC) T² chart is proposed and described. The statistical efficiency of the VSSC T² chart in terms of the average time to signal a shift in process mean vector is compared with that of the VP, VSSI, VSS, VSI, and FSR T² charts. From the results of comparison, it shows that the VSSC T² chart for a (very) small shift in the process mean vector gives a better performance than the VSSI, VSS, VSI, and FSR T² charts; meanwhile, it presents a similar performance to the VP T² chart. Furthermore, from the viewpoint of practicability, it is more convenient for administrating the control chart than the VSI, VSSI, and VP T² chart. Thus, it may provide a good option for quick response to small shifts in a multivariate process.     

Nonparametric Multivariate CUSUM Chart and EWMA Chart Based on Simplicial Data Depth

Simplicial data depth is a useful tool for describing how central a vector is in a multivariate distribution. If the average simplicial depth of a subgroup of observations from a multivariate distribution is too small, it may indicate that a shift in its location or/both scale occurs. In this paper, we propose two new types of nonparametric control charts which are one-sided CUSUM and EWMA control schemes based on simplicial data depth. We also compute the Average Run Length of the CUSUM chart and the EWMA chart by Markov chain method. Recommendations on how to choose the optimal reference value and the smoothing parameter are also given. Comparisons between these two proposed control schemes and the multivariate EWMA are presented.     

Multivariate Bayesian process control for a finite production run

Most industrial products and processes are characterized by several, typically correlated measurable variables, which jointly describe the product or process quality. Various control charts such as Hotelling’s T², EWMA and CUSUM charts have been developed for multivariate quality control, where the values of the chart parameters, namely the sample size, sampling interval and the control limits are determined to satisfy given economic and/or statistical requirements. It is well known that this traditional non-Bayesian approach to a control chart design is not optimal, but very few results regarding the form of the optimal Bayesian control policy have appeared in the literature, all limited to a univariate chart design. In this paper, we consider a multivariate Bayesian process mean control problem for a finite production run under the assumption that the observations are values of independent, normally distributed vectors of random variables. The problem is formulated in the POMDP (partially observable Markov decision process) framework and the objective is to determine a control policy minimizing the total expected cost. It is proved that under standard operating and cost assumptions the control limit policy is optimal. Cost comparisons with the benchmark chi-squared chart and the MEWMA chart show that the Bayesian chart is highly cost effective, the savings are larger for smaller values of the critical Mahalanobis distance between the in-control and out-of-control process mean.     

Optimal inspection policy for three-state systems monitored by control charts

This paper presents the formulations of the expected long-run cost per time unit for a system monitored by a static control chart and by an adaptive control chart respectively. The static chart has a fixed sampling interval and a fixed sample size. The adaptive chart has a fixed sample size but variable sampling intervals. The system is supposed to have three states, normal working state, failure delay time state, and failed state. Two levels of repair are used to maintain the system. A minor repair is used to restore the system if a detectable defect is confirmed by an inspection. A major repair will be performed if the system fails. The expected cost per time unit for maintaining such a system is obtained. The objective of such analysis is to find an optimal sampling policy for the inspection process. An artificially generated data example and a real data example are used to compare the expected cost per time unit for both the static and adaptive control charts.     

Economic design of attribute np control charts using a variable sampling policy

To use a control chart, the quality engineer should specify three decision variables, namely the sample size, the sampling interval and the critical region of the chart. A significant part of recent research relaxed the constraint of using fixed design parameters to open the way to a new type of control charts called adaptive ones where at least one of the decision variables may change in real time based on the last data information. These adaptive schemes have proven their effectiveness from economical and statistical point of views. In this paper, the economic design of an attribute np control chart using a variable sampling interval (VSI) is treated. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to search for optimal design parameters minimizing the expected total cost per hour and to reveal the impact of the process and cost parameters on the behavior of optimal solutions. An economic comparison between the classical np chart, variable sample size (VSS) np control chart and VSI chart is conducted. It is found that switching from the classical attribute chart to the VSI sampling strategy results in notable cost savings and in reduction of the average time to signal and the average number of false alarms. In most cases of the sensitivity analysis, the VSI np chart outperforms the VSS np chart based on economical and statistical considerations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

可变抽样区间的非参数控制图

最近几年一些学者研究了可变抽样区间的质量控制图。Amin等提出了可变抽样区间(VSI)的非参数控制图———符号 (Sign)统计量图〔1〕。本文在此基础上研究位置VSI符号控制图的制定方法 ,并设计离散VSI符号控制图。符号控制图的优点是对非正态总体亦可应用 ,并且不需要过程方差的信息。本文将所设计的VSI符号控制图同固定抽样区间 (FSI)的常规图作比较 ,并举实例说明符号控制图的应用     

Distribution‐free precedence control charts with improved runs‐rules

Distribution‐free (nonparametric) control charts are helpful in applications where we do not have enough information about the underlying distribution. The Shewhart precedence charts is a class of Phase I nonparametric charts for location. One of these charts, called the median precedence chart (Med chart hereafter), uses the median of the test sample as the charting statistic, whereas another chart, called the minimum precedence chart (Min chart hereafter), uses the minimum. In this paper, we first study the comparative performance of the Min and the Med charts, respectively, in terms of their in‐control and out‐of‐control run‐length properties in an extensive simulation study. It is seen that neither chart is best as each has its strength in certain situations. Next, we consider enhancing their performance by adding some supplementary runs‐rules. It is seen that the new charts present very attractive run‐length properties, that is, they outperform their competitors in many situations. A summary and some concluding remarks are given. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

可变抽样区间的二项EWMA控制图

在制造过程中,对产品的不合格品数进行监控时,通常选用计数性控制图-np图,它是基于过程服从二项分布建立的,一般对于过程中出现的较大波动效果明显。为了提高控制图对不合格品数较小波动的监控效果,本文设计了产品不合格品数服从二项分布的EWMA控制图。提出可变抽样区间的二项EWMA控制图,并采用马可夫链法计算其平均报警时间。对固定抽样区间以及可变抽样区间二项EWMA控制图对比研究,表明当过程失控时,可变抽样区间二项EWMA控制图具有较小的失控平均报警时间,能够迅速监测出过程中的异常波动,明显优于固定抽样区间的二项EWMA控制图。     

可变抽样区间的多变量自相关过程VAR控制图

基于批量-均值法的思想,向量自回归(VAR)控制图对多变量自相关过程的较小偏移可以进行有效控制。为了提高多变量自相关过程监控效率,本文研究可变抽样区间的VAR控制图。首先,对多变量自相关过程的VAR控制图进行可变抽样区间设计;然后,用蒙特卡洛模拟方法计算其平均报警时间;最后,以平均报警时间为评价准则,对所设计的可变抽样区间VAR控制图与固定抽样区间的VAR控制图进行比较研究。研究结果表明:所设计的可变抽样区间多变量自相关过程VAR控制图较固定抽样区间的多变量自相关过程VAR控制图能更好的监控过程的变化。     

A new distribution-free adaptive sample size control chart for a finite production horizon and its application in monitoring fill volume of soft drink beverage bottles

Nonparametric control charts have received increasing attention in process monitoring. In this article, a new nonparametric sign (SN) control chart with variable sample size (VSS) for a finite horizon process is developed. The novelty of this research lies in the incorporation of the VSS technique into the nonparametric SN chart for a finite horizon process, hence, resulting in the development of a more sensitive nonparametric short run chart. The statistical performance of the new nonparametric VSS SN control chart is evaluated and compared with the existing fixed sample size (FSS) SN chart for a finite horizon process. The charts' performances are compared using the truncated average run length (TARL) and truncated standard deviation of the run length (TSDRL) criteria. The results obtained show that the nonparametric VSS SN short run chart is always quicker than the FSS SN short run chart in detecting process shifts for various underlying process distributions, hence, reducing scrap and rework cost. Finally, an application of the proposed control charting scheme is shown through a real-life example on the fill volume of soft drink beverage bottles.     

基于测量质量损失函数的控制图控制界限的优化

控制界限和抽样间隔是控制图的两个基本参数。常规控制图是基于3σ原理确定的控制界限,该控制界限是在大量试验基础上依据经验确定的,并没有精确的公式推导.对于抽样间隔,常规控制图也没有明确的规定。田口博士的质量损失函数可以很好的解决质量经济性方面的一些问题.利用田口博士的理论,通过确定适宜的二次测量质量损失函数,可以确定控制图的最佳控制界限和最佳抽样间隔.文章简要介绍了常规控制图原理和田口博士的质量损失函数,重点叙述了田口博士反馈控制系统的测量质量损失函数,在此基础上,研究了控制图最佳控制界限和最佳抽样间隔,并且通过具体实例验证了该控制图良好的经济性.     

联合监测过程位置参数和尺度参数的非参数Shewhart控制图

用于检测生产服务过程的传统控制图多数都假定过程的分布是已知的。这些控制困经常是在正态分布的假设下构建的,然而在服务质量实时监控中数据往往是非正态的。在这种情况下,基于正态分布假设的控制图的结果是不可靠的。为了解决这个问题,通常考虑非参数方法,因为在过程分布未知情况下,非参数控制图比参数图更加稳健有效。本文提出一个新的基于Van der Waerden和Klotz检验的Lepage型非参数Shewhart控制图(称为LPN图)用于同时检测未知连续过程分布的位置参数和尺度参数。文中给出了LPN图在不同参数下的控制限。依据运行长度分布的均值,方差和分位数,分析了LPN图在过程受控和失控时的性能,并与其他一些现有的非参数控制图进行比较。基于蒙特卡洛的模拟结果表明,LPN图对非正态分布具有很好的稳健性,并且在不同的过程分布下对检测位置参数和尺度参数,尤其对检测尺度参数的漂移都具有很好的性能。最后通过监控出租车服务质量说明LPN图在实际中的应用。     

An extension of Banerjee and Rahim's model for economic design of moving average control chart for a continuous flow process

In this paper, we propose a model of a moving average control chart (MA control chart) with a Weibull failure mechanism from an economic viewpoint. When the process-failure mechanism follows a Weibull model or other models having increasing hazard rates, it is desirable to have the decreasing sampling interval with the age of the system. The MA control chart is used to monitor quality characteristics of raw material or products in a continuous process. A cost model utilizing a variable scheme instead of fixed sampling lengths in a continuous flow process is studied in this research. The variable sampling scheme is used to maintain a constant integrated hazard rate over each sampling interval. Optimal values for the design parameter, the moving subgroup size, the sampling interval, and the control limit coefficient are determined by minimizing the loss-cost model. The performance of the loss cost with various Weibull parameters is studied. A sensitivity analysis shows that the design parameters and loss cost depend on the model parameters and shift amounts.     

Economic design of an attribute control chart for monitoring mean life based on multiple deferred state sampling

In this paper, we design an attribute np control chart using multiple deferred state (MDS) sampling under Weibull distribution based on time truncated life test. This chart is constructed for monitoring the variation of mean life of the product in a manufacturing process. The optimal parameters of MDS sampling and the control limit coefficients are determined so that the in‐control average run length (ARL) is as close as to the target ARL. The optimal parameters of MDS sampling are sample size and number of successive subgroups required for declaring the current state of process. Out‐of‐control ARL is considered as a measure of the performance of proposed chart and reported with determined optimal parameters for various shift constants. The out‐of‐control ARL of the proposed chart obtained under various distributions is compared with each other. The performance of proposed control chart is compared with the performance of the existing control chart designed under single sampling. In addition, the economic design of proposed chart using variable sampling interval scheme is discussed, and sensitivity analysis on expected costs is also investigated.     

基于可变抽样区间的累积和方差控制图研究

介绍了基于对数方差的累积和控制图,进行了可变抽样区间的控制图设计用Markov链方法计算可变抽样区间的累积和方差控制图的平均报警时间,并且与固定抽样区间的控制图进行比较,分析在不同参数取值下的平均报警时间.     

Adaptive sampling enhancement for Hotelling’s T charts

This paper makes a study of an adaptive sampling scheme useful to increase the power of the fixed sampling rate (FSR) T² control chart. In our study, the three parameters of T² control chart: the sample size, the sampling interval, and the upper percentage factor that is used for determining the action limit, vary between two values for a relaxed or tightened control, depending on the most recent T² value. The average time to signal (ATS) and adjusted average time to signal (AATS) a shift in the process mean vector for the new chart are derived and regarded as an objective function respectively to optimize its design parameters. With some minor changes, the new chart can be reduced to the variable sampling interval (VSI) T² chart, the sample size (VSS) T² chart, the variable sample size and sampling interval (VSSI) T² chart, or the FSR T² chart. Numerical comparisons among them are made and discussed. Furthermore, the effects of the initial sample number (use for estimating the in-control process parameters) upon the chart’s performance and adaptive design parameters are presented.     

Nonparametric variable selection and its application to additive models

Variable selection for multivariate nonparametric regression models usually involves parameterized approximation for nonparametric functions in the objective function. However, this parameterized approximation often increases the number of parameters significantly, leading to the “curse of dimensionality” and inaccurate estimation. In this paper, we propose a novel and easily implemented approach to do variable selection in nonparametric models without parameterized approximation, enabling selection consistency to be achieved. The proposed method is applied to do variable selection for additive models. A two-stage procedure with selection and adaptive estimation is proposed, and the properties of this method are investigated. This two-stage algorithm is adaptive to the smoothness of the underlying components, and the estimation consistency can reach a parametric rate if the underlying model is really parametric. Simulation studies are conducted to examine the performance of the proposed method. Furthermore, a real data example is analyzed for illustration.

     

可变参数的联合中位值和极差控制图

最近设计了可变样本容量和抽样区间的联合中位值$(\wt{x})$和极差$(R)$控制图$^{[1]}$, 本文利用Costa的可变参数控制图的方法$^{[2]}$, 设计包括可变控制限的可变参数的联合$\wt{x}$和$R$图(CVP $\wt{x}$--$R$图). 计算了在可变参数下发信号前的平均时间, 并同联合常规$\wt{x}$--$R$图(CFSSI图)和可变样本容量和抽样区间的联合$\wt{x}$--$R$图(CVSSI图)作比较, 所设计的控制图能较快地发现过程平均值和方差的小变化, 提高CVSSI图的效率     

具有可变抽样区间的EWMA标准差控制图

对指数加权滑动平均即EWM A标准差控制图进行了可变抽样区间设计,用M arkov-cha in方法给出了该控制图的平均报警时间的计算公式,并同固定抽样区间的常规EWM A标准差控制图进行比较,数据显示,所设计的控制图能较快的发现过程变化从而减少产品的不合格率.