A double generally weighted moving average exceedance control chart

Since the inception of control charts by W. A. Shewhart in the 1920s, they have been increasingly applied in various fields. The recent literature witnessed the development of a number of nonparametric (distribution‐free) charts as they provide a robust and efficient alternative when there is a lack of knowledge about the underlying process distribution. In order to monitor the process location, information regarding the in‐control (IC) process median is typically required. However, in practice, this information might not be available due to various reasons. To this end, a generalized type of nonparametric time‐weighted control chart labeled as the double generally weighted moving average (DGWMA) based on the exceedance statistic (EX) is proposed. The DGWMA‐EX chart includes many of the well‐known existing time‐weighted control charts as special or limiting cases for detecting a shift in the unknown location parameter of a continuous distribution. The DGWMA‐EX chart combines the better shift detection properties of a DGWMA chart with the robust IC performance of a nonparametric chart, by using all the information from the start until the most recent sample to decide if a process is IC or out‐of‐control. An extensive simulation study reveals that the proposed DGWMA‐EX chart, in many cases, outperforms its counterparts.     

A nonparametric triple exponentially weighted moving average sign control chart

Nonparametric control charts are used in process monitoring when there is insufficient information about the form of the underlying distribution. In this article, we propose a triple exponentially weighted moving average (TEWMA) control chart based on the sign statistic for monitoring the location parameter of an unknown continuous distribution. The run-length characteristics of the proposed chart are evaluated performing Monte Carlo simulations. We also compare its statistical performance with existing nonparametric sign charts, such as the cumulative sum (CUSUM), exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA), generally weighted moving average (GWMA), and double exponentially weighted moving average (DEWMA) sign charts as well as the parametric TEWMA-$\overline{X}$ chart. The results show that the TEWMA sign chart is superior to its competitors, especially for small shifts. Moreover, two examples are given to demonstrate the application of the new scheme.     

An extended nonparametric homogeneously weighted moving average sign control chart

Parametric (or traditional) control charts are based on the assumption that the quality characteristic of interest follows a specific distribution. However, in many applications, there is a lack of knowledge about the underlying distribution. To this end, nonparametric (or distribution-free) control charts have been developed in recent years. In this article, a nonparametric double homogeneously weighted moving average (DHWMA) control chart based on the sign statistic is proposed for monitoring the location parameter of an unknown and continuous distribution. The performance of the proposed chart is measured through the run-length distribution and its associated characteristics by performing Monte Carlo simulations. The DHWMA sign chart is compared with other nonparametric sign charts, such as the homogeneously weighted moving average, generally weighted moving average (GWMA), double GWMA, and triple exponentially weighted moving average sign charts, as well as the traditional DHWMA chart. The results indicate that the proposed chart performs just as well as and in some cases better than its competitors, especially for small shifts. Finally, two examples are provided to show the application and implementation of the proposed chart.     

Nonparametric triple exponentially weighted moving average signed-rank control chart for monitoring shifts in the process location

Nonparametric (or distribution-free) control charts are used for monitoring processes where there is a lack of knowledge about the underlying distribution. In this article, a triple exponentially weighted moving average control chart based on the signed-rank statistic (referred as TEWMA-SR chart) is proposed for monitoring shifts in the location parameter of an unknown, but continuous and symmetric, distribution. The run-length characteristics of the proposed chart are evaluated performing Monte Carlo simulations. A comparison study with other existing nonparametric control charts based on the signed-rank statistic, the TEWMA sign chart, and the parametric TEWMA-$\overline{X}$ chart indicates that the proposed chart is more effective in detecting small shifts, while it is comparable with the other charts for moderate and large shifts. Finally, two illustrative examples are provided to demonstrate the application of the proposed chart.     

Function-based adaptive exponentially weighted moving average dispersion control chart

In this study, a new process dispersion monitoring control chart is proposed based on a function-based adaptation to select the smoothing constant value, named as a function-based adaptive exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) dispersion control chart. It is suggested to track shift ranges first expected in process dispersion by opting for smoothing constant computation with the help of a function. The shift magnitude assessment is made by an unbiased estimator that determines the smoothing constant value through the proposed function. The enhanced efficiency of the proposed chart can be assessed in terms of smaller run-length profiles, which are determined through Monte Carlo simulations. The proposed chart is compared with the existing adaptive EWMA dispersion chart, and it turned out to perform substantially efficiently in detecting all kinds of decreasing and increasing process dispersion shift magnitudes. Moreover, a real-life dataset application is explained in the example section to elaborate on the ease of implementation in the real-life scenario.     

A non-parametric double homogeneously weighted moving average control chart under sign statistic

In practical situations, the underlying process distribution sometimes deviates from normality and their distribution is partially or completely unknown. In that instance, rather than staying with/depending on the conventional parametric control charts, we consider non-parametric control charts due to their exceptional performance. In this paper, a new non-parametric double homogeneously weighted moving average sign control chart is proposed with the least assumptions. This chart is based on a sign test statistic for catching the smaller deviations in the process location. Run-length (RL) properties of the proposed chart are studied with the help of Monte Carlo simulations. Both in-control and out-of-control RL properties show that the proposed chart is a better contender as compared to some existing charts from the literature. A real-life application for practical consideration of the proposed chart is also provided.     

A double exponentially weighted moving average control chart for monitoring COM‐Poisson attributes

The Conway‐Maxwell‐Poisson (COM‐Poisson) distribution is a two‐parameter generalization of the Poisson distribution, which can be used for overdispersed or underdispersed count data and also contains the geometric and Bernoulli distributions as special cases. This article presents a double exponentially weighted moving average control chart with steady‐state control limits to monitor COM‐Poisson attributes (regarded as CMP‐DEWMA chart). The performance of the proposed control chart has been evaluated in terms of the average, the median, and the standard deviation of the run‐length distribution. The CMP‐DEWMA control chart is studied not only to detect shifts in each parameter individually but also in both parameters simultaneously. The design parameters of the proposed chart are provided, and through a simulation study, it is shown that the CMP‐DEWMA chart is more effective than the EWMA chart at detecting downward shifts of the process mean. Finally, a real data set is presented to demonstrate the application of the proposed chart.     

A nonparametric double generally weighted moving average signed-rank control chart for monitoring process location

Most control charts have been developed based on the actual distribution of the quality characteristic of interest. However, in many applications, there is a lack of knowledge about the process distribution. Therefore, in recent years, nonparametric (or distribution-free) control charts have been introduced for monitoring the process location or scale parameter. In this article, a nonparametric double generally weighted moving average control chart based on the signed-rank statistic (referred as DGWMA-SR chart) is proposed for monitoring the location parameter. We provide the exact approach to compute the run-length distribution, and through an extensive simulation study, we compare the performance of the proposed chart with existing nonparametric charts, such as the exponentially weighted moving average signed-rank (EWMA-SR), the generally weighted moving average signed-rank (GWMA-SR), the double exponentially weighted moving average signed-rank (DEWMA-SR), and the double generally weighted moving average sign (DGWMA-SN) charts, as well as the parametric DGWMA- $\overline{X}$ chart for subgroup averages. The simulation results show that the DGWMA-SR chart (with suitable parameters) is more sensitive than the other competing charts for small shifts in the location parameter and performs as well as the other nonparametric charts for larger shifts. Finally, two examples are given to illustrate the application of the proposed chart.     

The extended homogeneously weighted moving average control chart

Control charts are widely applied in many manufacturing processes to monitor the quality characteristic of interest. Recently, a homogeneously weighted moving average (HWMA) control chart was proposed as an improvement of the exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) chart for efficiently monitoring of small shifts in the process mean. In the present article, we extend the HWMA chart by imitating exactly the double EWMA (DEWMA) technique. The proposed scheme is regarded as double HWMA (DHWMA) control chart. The run-length characteristics of the proposed chart are evaluated by performing Monte Carlo simulations. A comparison study versus the EWMA, DEWMA, HWMA, mixed EWMA cumulative sum (CUSUM), CUSUM, and GWMA charts indicates that the DHWMA chart is more effective in detecting small to moderate shifts, while it performs similarly with its competitors for large shifts. We also study the robustness of the proposed chart under several nonnormal distributions, and it is shown that the DHWMA chart is in-control robust for small values of the smoothing parameters. Finally, two examples are given to demonstrate the implementation of the proposed chart.     

A triple exponentially weighted moving average control chart for monitoring time between events

Time between events (TBE) charts are used in high-yield processes where the rate of occurrences is very low. In the current article, we propose a triple exponentially weighted moving average control chart to monitor TBE (regarded as triple exponentially weighted moving average TEWMA-TBE chart) modeled by a gamma distribution. One- and two-sided schemes of the proposed chart are designed and compared with the double EWMA DEWMA-TBE and EWMA-TBE charts. It is shown that the lower- and two-sided TEWMA-TBE charts outperform its competitors, especially for small to moderate downward shifts, while the upper-sided TEWMA-TBE chart has very good detection ability for small shifts. We also study the robustness of the proposed chart when the true distribution is a Weibull or a lognormal and it is found that the TEWMA-TBE chart has better robustness properties than its competitors, especially for small shifts. Two illustrative examples from airplane accidents and earthquakes are also provided to display the application of the proposed chart.     

A Phase II nonparametric adaptive exponentially weighted moving average control chart

The in-control average run-length (ICARL) is often the metric used to design and implement a control chart in practice. To this end, the ICARL robustness of a control chart, that is, how well the chart maintains its advertised nominal ICARL value, under violations of the underlying assumptions, is crucial. Without the ICARL robustness, the shift detection property of the chart becomes questionable. In this article, first, the ICARL robustness of the well-known adaptive exponentially weighted moving average (AEWMA) chart of Capizzi and Masarotto (2003 Capizzi, G., and G. Masarotto. 2003. An adaptive exponentially weighted moving average control chart. Technometrics 45 (3):199–207.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) is examined, in an extensive simulation study, with respect to the underlying assumption of normality. The ICARL profiles of the AEWMA chart are calculated for a range of distributions of various shapes, including light-tailed, heavy-tailed, symmetric, and skewed. Our results show that the AEWMA chart is quite sensitive to the normality (shape) assumption and may not maintain the nominal ICARL under non-normality. Motivated by this, a distribution-free (nonparametric) analog of the AEWMA chart (called the NPAEWMA chart), based on the Wilcoxon rank sum statistic, is proposed for Phase I applications when a Phase I reference sample is available. The NPAEWMA chart shows good ICARL-robustness against non-normality and shift detection capacity.     

A sum of squares triple exponentially weighted moving average control chart

Control charts are widely known quality tools used to detect and control industrial process deviations in statistical process control. In the current paper, we propose a new single memory-type control chart, called the sum of squares triple exponentially weighted moving average control chart (referred as SS-TEWMA chart), that simultaneously detects shifts in the process mean and/or process dispersion. The run length performance of the proposed SS-TEWMA control chart is compared with that of the sum of squares EWMA, sum of squares double EWMA, sum of squares generally weighted moving average, and sum of squares double generally weighted moving average, control charts, through Monte Carlo simulations. The comparisons indicate that the proposed chart is more efficient, than the competing ones, in detecting small shifts in the process mean and/or variability for most of the considered scenarios, while it has comparable performance for some others in identifying large shifts in the process mean and small to large shifts in the process variability. Finally, two illustrative examples are provided to explain the application of the SS-TEWMA control chart.     

New efficient exponentially weighted moving average variability charts based on auxiliary information

Control chart is a well-known tool for monitoring the performance of an ongoing process. The variability of a process is an important parameter that may deteriorate the process performance if it is not taken care on time. In this study, we have proposed some new auxiliary information-based exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) charts for improved monitoring of process variability. We employed auxiliary information in some useful forms including ratio, regression, power ratio, ratio exponential, ratio regression, power ratio regression, and ratio exponential regression estimators. The performance of the newly developed charts is evaluated and compared with some existing charts (viz., the NEWMA, the Improved R, the Synthetic R, and the classical R charts), using some useful measures such as average run length (ARL), extra quadratic loss, and relative ARL. The comparative analysis revealed that the proposed charts outperform their counterparts, especially when there is a strong relationship between the study and the auxiliary variables. Finally, an illustrative example is provided for the monitoring of air quality data.     

An EWMA signed ranks control chart with reliable run length performances

During the design phase of a control chart, the determination of its exact run length properties plays a vital role for its optimal operation. Markov chain or integral equation methods have been extensively applied in the design phase of conventional control charts. However, for distribution-free schemes, due to the discrete nature of the statistics being used (such as the sign or the Wilcoxon signed rank statistics, for instance), it is impossible to accurately compute their run length properties. In this work, a modified distribution-free phase II exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA)-type chart based on the Wilcoxon signed rank statistic is considered and its exact run length properties are discussed. A continuous transformation of the Wilcoxon signed rank statistic, combined with the classical Markov chain method, is used for the determination of the average run length in the in- and out-of control cases. Moreover, its exact performance is derived without any knowledge of the distribution of sample observations. Finally, an illustrative example is provided showing the practical implementation of our proposed chart.     

A double homogeneously weighted moving average control chart for monitoring of the process mean

In the service and manufacturing industry, memory-type control charts are extensively applied for monitoring the production process. These types of charts have the ability to efficiently detect disturbances, especially of smaller amount, in the process mean and/or dispersion. Recently, a new homogeneously weighted moving average (HWMA) chart has been proposed for efficient monitoring of smaller shifts. In this study, we have proposed a new double HWMA (DHWMA) chart to monitor the changes in the process mean. The run length profile of the proposed DHWMA chart is evaluated and compared with some existing control charts. The outcomes reveal that the DHWMA chart shows better performance over its competitor charts. The effect of non-normality (in terms of robustness) and the estimation of the unknown parameters on the performance of the DHWMA chart are also investigated as a part of this study. Finally, a real-life industrial application is offered to demonstrate the proposal for practical considerations.     

A generally weighted moving average control chart for zero-inflated Poisson processes

Zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) model is very useful in high-yield processes where an excessive number of zero observations exist. This model can be viewed as an extension of the standard Poisson distribution. In this paper, a one-sided generally weighted moving average (GWMA) control chart is proposed for monitoring upward shifts in the two parameters of a ZIP process (regarded as ZIP-GWMA chart). The design parameters of the proposed chart are provided, and through a simulation study, it is shown that the ZIP-GWMA performs better than the existing control charts under shifts in both parameters. Moreover, an illustrative example is presented to display the application of the proposed chart on practitioners.     

A mixed cumulative sum homogeneously weighted moving average control chart for monitoring process mean

The homogeneously weighted moving average (HWMA) control chart is famous to identify small deviations in the process mean. The plotting statistic of the HWMA chart assigns equal weight among the previous samples as compared to the plotting statistic of the exponentially weighted moving average chart. We propose a new HWMA chart that uses the plotting statistic of the cumulative sum chart. The run length performance of the proposed chart is measured in terms of the average, the standard deviation, some percentile points, and compared with some existing counterparts' charts. The comparison shows that the proposed chart performs superior to their existing counterparts. An application based on a real-life dataset is also presented.     

The impracticality of homogeneously weighted moving average and progressive mean control chart approaches

There is growing literature on new versions of “memory-type” control charts, where deceptively good zero-state average run-length (ARL) performance is misleading. Using steady-state run-length analysis in combination with the conditional expected delay (CED) metric, we show that the increasingly discussed progressive mean (PM) and homogeneously weighted moving average (HWMA) control charts should not be used in practice. Previously reported performance of methods based on these two approaches is misleading, as we found that performance is good only when a process change occurs at the very start of monitoring. Traditional alternatives, such as exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) and cumulative sum (CUSUM) charts, not only have more consistent detection behavior over a range of different change points, they can also lead to better out-of-control zero-state ARL performance when properly designed.     

A moving average S control chart for monitoring process variability

An efficient alternative to the S control chart for detecting shifts of small magnitude in the process variability using a moving average based on the sample standard deviation s statistic is proposed. Control limit factors are derived for the chart for different values of sample size and span w. The performance of the moving average S chart is compared to the S chart in terms of average run length. The result shows that the performance of moving average S chart for varying values of w outweigh those of the S chart for small and moderate shifts in process variability.     

An efficient double exponentially weighted moving average Benjamini‐Hochberg control chart to control false discovery rate

A control chart based on double exponentially weighted moving average and Benjamini‐Hochberg multiple testing procedure is proposed that controls the false discovery rate (FDR). The proposed control chart is based on probabilities (or P values) to accept or reject the null hypothesis of the underlying process is in control. To make a decision, instead of using only the current probability, previous “m” probabilities are considered. The performance of the control chart is evaluated in terms of average run length (ARL) using Monte Carlo simulations. Procedure for estimation of parameters used in the control chart is also discussed. The proposed control chart is compared with previous control charts and found to be more efficient in controlling the false discovery rate.