6-3 |
Automated process control |
R. HITOMI and K. Huebner. Blue Diamond Growers, 1802 C St., Sacramento, CA 95814-0109 Continuous process improvement involves the use of data to facilitate analysis of a process to determine areas for potential improvement. Data collection can be a laborious and very costly task. Simultaneous data collection at multiple key process locations can result in knowledge that can be useful in control and troubleshooting. The problem is that the level of data necessary to create a useful database may not be feasible for many manufacturing operations. This is where the use of automated process monitoring and control can provide a cost effective means of collecting meaningful process data. A properly configured automated process control system provides a proactive approach to keeping a process in statistical control. It also provides the analysis and reporting tools to give insight into both positive and negative trends in the process. This allows manufacturing operations staff to utilize the data for justifying modifications to process parameters or to the process itself.
Session 6, The roadmap for process control
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