Process control charts with variable parameters, also known as adaptive charts, allow one to intensify or to relax the control of the process according to the information about the process obtained from the most recent sample. In this paper, we study an adaptive scheme for the c, np, u, and p charts that allows one to vary one, two, or all design parameters (sample size, sampling interval and control limit width). The adaptive scheme increases significantly the speed with which the control chart detects process disturbances. We propose, in addition, a simple and fast procedure using an Excel spreadsheet for selection of the best values for the design parameters, from a set of practicable values.
variable parameter control charts; attributes; statistical process control
