RUFEREQ

There are two widely used process control techniques with the objective of reducing the process output variability. The first technique is Automatic Process Control (APC) that adjusts the process using information about its current level or deviation from a desired target. Examples of the APC actions for process adjustments include the minimum mean square estimate controller or proportional, integral and derivative controller to minimize the output deviations from the target. The other technique is Statistical Process Control (SPC) monitored by control charts, for examples, Shewhart, EWMA and CUSUM. While APC techniques are widely employed in continuous process industry to reduce common causes, SPC has been successfully used in industry to identify and eliminate the assignable cause of variations. Recently integration of APC and SPC successfully reduced the process output variability and improved the process efficiency. This paper provides a review of integration of APC and SPC and related applications. Future research topics are discussed.

M. Park, J. Kim, M. K. Jeong, E. A. Elsayed, A. S. Hamouda, K. N. Al-Khalifa