Economic design of (X)over-bar charts with variable parameters: the Markov chain approach

This paper presents an economic design of (X) over bar control charts with variable sample sizes, variable sampling intervals, and variable control limits. The sample size n, the sampling interval h, and the control limit coefficient k vary between minimum and maximum values, tightening or relaxing the control. The control is relaxed when an (X) over bar value falls close to the target and is tightened when an (X) over bar value falls far from the target. A cost model is constructed that involves the cost of false alarms, the cost of finding and eliminating the assignable cause, the cost associated with production in an out-of-control state, and the cost of sampling and testing. The assumption of an exponential distribution to describe the length of time the process remains in control allows the application of the Markov chain approach for developing the cost function. A comprehensive study is performed to examine the economic advantages of varying the (X) over bar chart parameters.