A Frame Work for the Integration of Statistical Process Control and Engineering Process Control

Abstract

In Systems Engineering, there are two methods that are used to improve the product quality and to adjust process parameters. These methods are called Statistical Process Control (SPC) and Automation Process Control (APC). These strategies are the most tools used in improving the product quality for years, but they are developed separately and used in industries. In industry, there was no realization that these two techniques are complementary. The integration of SPC and APC started first by J. MacGregor in 1988 who introduced this concept into the research community. This work followed and supported in 1992 by the work of G. Box and T. Kramer. The research followed came up to a conclusion that combination of these two techniques will result in better performance than using each alone. This paper first will highlight the developments so far achieved in the integration of this two techniques. Then a proposed scheme will be presented to integrate SPC and APC to solve some tasks. New directions of research in integrating these techniques will be highlighted.