Multi-criteria design of an (X)over-bar control chart

Control chart designs are widely studied because control charts are not only costly used but also play an important role in improving firms' quality and productivity. Design of control charts refers to the selection of parameters, including sample size, control-limit width, and sampling frequency. In this paper, a possible combination of design parameters is considered as a decision-making unit; it is characterized by three attributes: hourly expected cost, average run length of process being controlled, and detection power of the chart designed with the selected parameters. Accordingly, optimal design of control charts can be formulated as a multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. To solve the MCDM problem, a solution procedure on the basis of data envelopment analysis is proposed. Finally, an industrial application is presented to illustrate the solution procedure. Also, adjustment to control chart design parameters is suggested when there are process improvements or process deteriorations. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.