Proposed Short Runs Multivariate Control Charts for the Process Mean

In recent years, there is a trend in manufacturing industries to produce smaller lot sizes or low volume production. This trend is due to increased emphasis on just-in-time techniques (JIT), synchronous manufacturing, job-shop settings, the reduction of in-process inventory, and costs. The term used to describe such low volume production is “Short Runs Production” or more commonly “Short Runs.” In such an environment, the run of a process is short, usually fewer than 50. Therefore, a principal practical problem is the need to chart a large number of different processes and the consequent large number of charts required. This article discusses proposed multivariate control charts for short runs based on individual measurements and subgrouped data.