Performance comparison between on-line sensors and control charts Performance comparison between on-line sensors and control charts in manufacturing process monitoring

Abstract

The rapid evolution of sensor technology, using techniques such as lasers, machine vision and pattern recognition, provides the potential to greatly improve the Statistical Process Control (SPC) method for monitoring manufacturing processes. This paper studies the method of using on-line sensors to monitor manufacturing processes and compares that method with the control chart method, a widely used SPC tool. Two separate economic models are formulated for using either a sensor or a control chart to monitor a manufacturing process. Then, the two models are compared in a sensitivity analysis with lespect to several process parameters.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

KWEI TANG

Kwei Tang is E.J. Ourso Professor of Business Analysis at Louisiana State University. He received a B.S. from National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, an M.S. from Bowling Green State University, and a Ph.D. in Management Science from Purdue University. His current research interests include quality control, reliability and inventory theory. Dr. Tang is recipient of the 1988 Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation, is the Department Editor of HE Transactions in design of experiments and robust designs, serves on the editorial boards of Production and Operations Management, International Journal of Operations and Quantitative Management, and Hong Kong Journal of Business Management. He has published over 50 research papers in HE Transactions, Management Science, Operations Research, Naval Research Logistics, Technometries, Decision Sciences, European Journal of Operational Research and other journals. His professional affiliations include HE, DSI, INFORMS, and ASQ.

WILLIAM W. WILLIAMS

William W. Williams is the Executive Associate Dean and Marjory B. Ourso Professor in the E.J. Ourso College of Business Administration, Louisiana State University. His teaching and research interests are in operations management, particularly the design of quality assurance systems. His publications have appeared in HE Transactions, Techno-metrics, International Journal of Production Research, and Decision Sciences.

WUSHONG JWO

Wushong Jwo is Professor of Business Education at National Changhwa University of Education in Taiwan. He received his Ph.D. in quantitative business analysis from Louisiana State University. Dr. Jwo's research interests include quality control and stochastic process. He has published papers in several journals including Management Science.

LINGUO GONG

Linguo Gong is Associate Professor of Operations Management and Information Systems, Silberman School of Business at Fairleigh Dickinson University, New Jersey. He was formerly Associate Professor of Operations Management at Louisiana State University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. His current research interests include quality control, and production and inventory control. Dr. Gong has published articles in several journals including Management Science, Naval Research Logistics, Decision Sciences, and European Journal of Operational Research. He is a member of INFORMS.