This volume treats the four main categories of Statistical Quality Control: General SQC Methodology, On-line Control including Sampling Inspection and Statistical Process Control, Off-line Control with Data Analysis and Experimental Design, and, fields related to Reliability. Experts with international reputation present their newest contributions.

In the 1920's, Walter Shewhart visualized that the marriage of statistical methods and manufacturing processes would produce reliable and consistent quality products. Shewhart (1931) conceived the idea of statistical process control (SPC) and developed the well-known and appropriately named Shewhart control chart. However, from the 1930s to the 1990s, literature on SPC schemes have been "captured" by the Shewhart paradigm of normality, independence and homogeneous variance. When in fact, the problems facing today's industries are more inconsistent than those faced by Shewhart in the 1930s. As a result of the advances in machine and sensor technology, process data can often be collected on-line. In this situation, the process observations that result from data collection activities will frequently not be serially independent, but autocorrelated. Autocorrelation has a significant impact on a control chart: the process may not exhibit a state of statistical control when in fact, it is in control. As the prevalence of this type of data is expected to increase in industry (Hahn 1989), so does the need to control and monitor it. Equivalently, literature has reflected this trend, and research in the area of SPC with autocorrelated data continues so that effective methods of handling correlated data are available. This type of data regularly occurs in the chemical and process industries, and is pervasive in computer-integrated manufacturing environments, clinical laboratory settings and in the majority of SPC applications across various manufacturing and service industries (Alwan 1991).

Like the first three volumes, published in 1981, 1984 and 1987 and met with a lively response, the present volume is collecting contributions stressed on methodology or successful industrial applications. The papers are classified under three main headings; sampling inspection, process quality control and experimental design. In the first group there are nine papers on acceptance sampling. The second large group of papers deal with control charts and process control and the third group of papers includes contributions on experimental design.

Covering CUSUMs from an application-oriented viewpoint, while also providing the essential theoretical underpinning, this is an accessible guide for anyone with a basic statistical training. The text is aimed at quality practitioners, teachers and students of quality methodologies, and people interested in analysis of time-ordered data. Further support is available from a Web site containing CUSUM software and data sets.

This book provides insights into important new developments in the area of statistical quality control and critically discusses methods used in on-line and off-line statistical quality control. The book is divided into three parts: Part I covers statistical process control, Part II deals with design of experiments, while Part III focuses on fields such as reliability theory and data quality. The 12th International Workshop on Intelligent Statistical Quality Control (Hamburg, Germany, August 16 – 19, 2016) was jointly organized by Professors Sven Knoth and Wolfgang Schmid. The contributions presented in this volume were carefully selected and reviewed by the conference’s scientific program committee. Taken together, they bridge the gap between theory and practice, making the book of interest to both practitioners and researchers in the field of quality control.

A unique approach to understanding the foundations of statistical quality control with a focus on the latest developments in nonparametric control charting methodologies Statistical Process Control (SPC) methods have a long and successful history and have revolutionized many facets of industrial production around the world. This book addresses recent developments in statistical process control bringing the modern use of computers and simulations along with theory within the reach of both the researchers and practitioners. The emphasis is on the burgeoning field of nonparametric SPC (NSPC) and the many new methodologies developed by researchers worldwide that are revolutionizing SPC. Over the last several years research in SPC, particularly on control charts, has seen phenomenal growth. Control charts are no longer confined to manufacturing and are now applied for process control and monitoring in a wide array of applications, from education, to environmental monitoring, to disease mapping, to crime prevention. This book addresses quality control methodology, especially control charts, from a statistician’s viewpoint, striking a careful balance between theory and practice. Although the focus is on the newer nonparametric control charts, the reader is first introduced to the main classes of the parametric control charts and the associated theory, so that the proper foundational background can be laid. Reviews basic SPC theory and terminology, the different types of control charts, control chart design, sample size, sampling frequency, control limits, and more Focuses on the distribution-free (nonparametric) charts for the cases in which the underlying process distribution is unknown Provides guidance on control chart selection, choosing control limits and other quality related matters, along with all relevant formulas and tables Uses computer simulations and graphics to illustrate concepts and explore the latest research in SPC Offering a uniquely balanced presentation of both theory and practice, Nonparametric Methods for Statistical Quality Control is a vital resource for students, interested practitioners, researchers, and anyone with an appropriate background in statistics interested in learning about the foundations of SPC and latest developments in NSPC.