Optimal control of a production process subject to AOQL constraint

Abstract

A production process which exhibits a decreasing pattern in the mean quality during the course of production is considered. A lower limit is specified for the quality characteristic of interest, and an item is classified as defective if its quality characteristic is below this lower limit. The major concern of the manufacturer is the average outgoing quality (AOQ). Hence, the process has to be adjusted after a time to avoid producing a large proportion of defective items due to deteriorating quality. To meet consumer specifications, an average outgoing quality limit (AOQL) is specified. A process-control scheme is developed in which decisions as to the upper and lower limit of the process mean are made based upon the choice of an AOQL. We discuss the decision problem of selecting the starting level of the process mean, and the level at which the process mean should be adjusted back to the starting level, so that the AOQ is not larger than AOQL. We consider a cost model which includes a fixed cost for adjustment, and a production cost which is assumed to be a function of the quality level. Due to the complexity of the model, a search procedure is used to find the optimal solution. In addition, an approximate solution which requires only simple calculations is developed, and is shown to be very effective in finding near-optimal solutions.