International Journal of Industrial Engineering & Production Research

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In this research, the decision on belief (DOB) approach was employed to analyze and classify the states of uni-variate quality control systems. The concept of DOB and its application in decision making problems were introduced, and then a methodology for modeling a statistical quality control problem by DOB approach was discussed. For this iterative approach, the belief for a system being out-of-control was updated by taking new observations on a given quality characteristic. This can be performed by using Bayesian rule and prior beliefs. If the beliefs are more than a specific threshold, then the system will be classified as an out-of-control condition. Finally, a numerical example and simulation study were provided for evaluating the performance of the proposed method.

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In order to perform Preventive Maintenance (PM), two approaches have evolved in the literature. The traditional approach is based on the use of statistical and reliability analysis of equipment failure. Under statistical-reliability (S-R)-based PM, the objective of achieving the minimum total cost is pursued by establishing fixed PM intervals, which are statistically optimal, at which to replace or overhaul equipments or components. The second approach involves the use of sensor-based monitoring of equipment condition in order to predict occurrence of machine failure. Under condition-based (C-B) PM, intervals between PM works are no longer fixed, but are performed only “when needed”. It is obvious that Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) needs an on-line inspection and monitoring system that causes CBM to be expensive. Whenever this cost is infeasible, we can develop other methods to improve the performance of traditional (S-R)-based PM method. In this research, the concept of Bayesian inference was used. The time between machine failures was observed, and with combining Bayesian Inference with (S-R)-based PM, it is tried to determine the optimal checkpoints. Therefore, this approach will be effective when it is combined with traditional (S-R)-based PM, even if large number of data is gathered.

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CCC-r control chart is a monitoring technique for high yield processes. It is based on the analysis of the number of inspected items until observing a specific number of defective items.  One of the assumptions in implementing CCC-r chart that has a significant effect on the design of the control chart is that the inspection is perfect. However, in reality, due to the multiple reasons, the inspection is exposed to errors. In this paper, we study the economic-statistical design of CCC-r charts when the inspection is imperfect. Minimization of the average cost per produced item is considered as the objective function. The economic objective function, modified consumer risk, and modified producer risk are simultaneously considered, and then the optimal value of r parameter is selected.

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The number of nonconforming items in a sample is monitored using the fraction defective known as the np-chart. The performance of the np-chart in Phase II depends on the accuracy of the estimated parameter in Phase I. Although taking large sample sizes ensures the accuracy of the estimated parameter, it can be impractical for attributes in some cases. Recently, the traditional c-chart and the np-chart with some adjustments have been studied to guarantee the in-control performance. Due to technology progresses, researchers have faced high-quality processes with a very low rate of nonconformity, for which traditional control charts are inadequate. To ameliorate such inaccuracy, this study develops a new method for designing the np-chart, such that the in-control performance is guaranteed with a pre-defined probability. The proposed method uses Cornish-Fisher expansions and the bootstrap method to guarantee the desired conditional in-control average run length. Through a simulation study, this study shows that the proposed adjustments improve the np-charts’ in-control performance.