Integrating novelty detection, neural networks and conventional tools for pattern recognition in multivariate processes

Multivariate Statistical Process Control (MSPC) techniques are effective tools for detecting the abnormalities of multivariate process variation. MSPC techniques are based on overall statistics; this has caused the difficulties in interpretation of the alarm signal, that is, MSPC charts do not provide the necessary information about which process variables (or subset of them) are responsible for the signal, and this task is left up to the quality engineers in production field. This article proposes a model based on LS-SVM pattern recognizer to diagnose the bivariate process abnormality in covariance matrix. The main property of this model is a supplement of MSPC |S| chart to identify the variable(s) which is (are) responsible for the process abnormality when |S| chart issue a warning signal. Through simulation experiment, the performance of the model is evaluated by accuracy rate of pattern recognition. The results indicate that the proposed model is an effective method to interpret the root causes of the process abnormality. A bivariate example is presented to illustrate the application of the proposed model.

BackgroundWe recently showed that the empirical use of a combination of 2 moving average (MA) statistical process control (SPC) charts was highly sensitive and specific for detecting potentially important increases in surgical site infection (SSI) rates. We performed this follow-up study to examine the performance of these same SPC charts when applied to known SSI outbreaks.MethodsWe retrospectively applied 2 MA SPC charts to all 30 SSI outbreaks investigated from 2007 to 2015 in a network of over 50 community hospitals. These outbreaks were detected via routine SSI surveillance activities that occurred in the network. We reviewed prior outbreak investigation documentation to determine the estimated time of outbreak onset and time of traditional surveillance outbreak detection. The first SPC chart utilized procedure-specific, composite SSI data from the hospital network for its baseline; the baseline for the second chart was calculated from SSI data from the outbreak hospital undergoing analysis. Both charts used rolling baseline windows but varied in baseline window size, rolling baseline lag, and MA window size. SPC chart outbreak detection occurred when either chart had a data point above the upper control limit of 1 standard deviation. Time of SPC detection was compared with both time of outbreak onset and time of traditional surveillance detection.ResultsWith the dual chart approach, SPC detected all 30 outbreaks, including detection of 25 outbreaks (83%) prior to their estimated onset (Figure 1). SPC detection occurred a median of 16 months (interquartile range, 12–21 months) prior to the date of traditional outbreak detection, which never occurred prior to outbreak onset. Both individual SPC charts exhibited at least 90% sensitivity in outbreak detection, but the dual chart approach showed superior sensitivity and speed of detection (Figure 2).ConclusionA strategy that employed optimized, dual MA SPC charts retrospectively detected all SSI outbreaks that occurred over 9 years in a network of community hospitals. SPC outbreak detection occurred earlier than traditional surveillance detection. These optimized SPC charts merit prospective study to evaluate their ability to promote early detection of SSI clusters in real-world scenarios.DisclosuresAll Authors: No reported Disclosures.

Results of a multicentre randomised controlled trial of statistical process control charts and structured diagnostic tools to reduce ward-acquired meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: the CHART Project

The presence of autocorrelation in time series data significantly affects the performance of statistical process control charts. For process data collected in real time, consecutive observations result in serial dependence that violates the assumption of sample independence. This paper focuses on the improvement of statistical process control (SPC) charts of individual observations when they are designed to monitor stationary processes in the presence of data autocorrelation. Three widely used SPC tools, Shewhart chart, Hotelling's T2 chart, and PCA‐based SPC charts, are chosen to demonstrate the proposed approach. There has been a modified version of SPC chart shown to be effective in accommodating the autocorrelation behavior, relying on a model‐based estimation of chart parameters. Process model estimation, however, is a challenging task, especially for complex systems. In this paper, a model‐free monitoring approach is proposed for SPC charts of individual observations, aimed at reducing the effect of autocorrelation on chart performance. It relies on a skipping strategy that creates sample bins with little or no autocorrelation. A single skipping chart and a combined skipping chart (CSC) are established, and a parameter sensitivity study is performed through simulations. In the case studies, the advantages of the CSC are noted as being a model‐free approach and having a performance consistent with that of the benchmark modified chart.

Multivariate statistical process control (MSPC) charts are particularly useful when there is a need to simultaneously monitor several quality characteristics of a process. Most of the control charts in MSPC assume that the quality characteristics follow some parametric multivariate distribution, such as the normal. This assumption is almost impossible to be justified in practice. Distribution-free MSPC charts are attractive, as they can overcome this hurdle by guaranteeing a stable (or in-control (IC)) performance of the control chart without the assumption of a parametric multivariate process distribution. Utilizing an existing distribution-free multivariate tolerance interval, we propose a Phase II Shewhart-type distribution-free MSPC chart for individual observations, with control limits based on Phase I order statistics. In addition to being easy to interpret, the proposed chart preserves the original scale of measurements and can easily identify out-of-control variables after a signal. The exact in-control performance based on the conditional and unconditional perspectives is presented and examined along with the control limits determination. The out-of-control performance of the chart is studied by simulation for data from a number of multivariate distributions. Illustrative examples are provided for chart implementation, using both real and simulated data, along with a summary and conclusions.

Quality improvement (QI) projects often employ statistical process control (SPC) charts to monitor process or outcome measures as part of ongoing feedback, to inform successive Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles and refine the...

Statistical Process Control (SPC) chart is a graphical tool that helps to identify a possible process shift. Though the SPC chart is, in theory, a monitoring tool that reveals only the result of a statistical hypothesis testing, in practice the chart's signaling is often used for making process adjustment. In this paper we develop a robust estimator of the process mean for processes monitored by SPC charts. This mean estimate can serve as an important reference for investigating assignable causes and taking appropriate corrective actions. When the control chart is implemented as a control device, the mean estimate can also provide a more accurate assessment of the amount of adjustment to be made to the process. We also demonstrate in this paper that when the process shift is relatively small, the proposed mean estimate outperforms the mean estimate usually used for the CUSUM scheme.

6579 Background: Collecting electronic patient reported outcomes (ePROs) reduces the burden of cancer and prevents acute care hospitalizations. However, broad implementation in the routine care setting remains challenging, partly because the optimal implementation strategies – actions that are most likely to encourage adoption and use – are not known. Since 2019, the SIMPRO Consortium has deployed an ePRO-based symptom management program (eSyM) across 6 community-based cancer centers. Methods: We used statistical process control (SPC) charts to identify variation due to special versus common causes (random variation) for one key performance indicator (KPI) – the weekly ePROs response rate. All 6 SIMPRO sites contributed data for this analysis: 3 for chemotherapy patients and 3 for surgery patients. Sites had to have at least 18 months of KPI data; information from the first 4 months after eSyM rollout were excluded to account for program ramp-up. The KPI was calculated as the number of patients who submitted an ePRO questionnaire divided by the number eligible to submit a questionnaire each week. The upper and lower confidence limits were set at +/- 2 sigma to allow for 95% of observations to fall within the limits. Three rules were applied to identify special cause variation: 1) astronomical points (outside sigma limits), 2) shifts (8 or more points above or below a center line), and 3) trends (6 or more points consecutively ascending or descending). Implementation strategies that mapped to special cause variations were selected as those most likely to impact the KPI. Results: Across the 6 sites that deployed eSyM, the mean KPI performance ranged from 19.7%-35.7%. SPC charts detected multiple special cause variations in the KPI at all 6 sites, though the patterns varied by site. All sites demonstrated positive and negative astronomical variations as well as positive and negative shifts. Three sites demonstrated negative trends; no sites demonstrated positive trends. Direct patient outreach was the implementation strategy most frequently associated with special cause variation, followed by changes in promoting the ePRO program to clinical staff. Positive changes were associated with strategy initiation; negative changes were associated with strategy discontinuation. Conclusions: Applying SPC charts to a KPI from the eSyM deployment highlighted the effect of personal communication with patients and providers, suggesting that these implementation strategies could offer value to other sites deploying eSyM. The absence of positive trends early in eSyM program deployment underscores the need to identify better implementation strategies and allocate more resources to foster program adoption and sustainability. Applying SPCs to other KPIs, such as symptom severity and healthcare utilization, could improve eSyM deployment and impact.

Multivariate Statistical Process Control (MSPC) is to control several quality characteristics simultaneously during a production process. When a process is statistically under control, only common causes of variability affect the process. The MSPC techniques help to detect the special causes of variability on the process. In the last few years multivariate quality control has been thoroughly studied and there are different but those charts don't let control de multivariate dispersion on process. Recently the generalized variance control chart /S/, has been develop to control multivariate dispersion. Nevertheless, this chart is unhelpful to work with incomplete databases or with missing data, that are commonly found in a great deal of processes due to the failure of certain sensors. In this sense, Garcia‐Diaz developed the effective variance control chart, /Sp/1/p, to control multivariate dispersion with missing data. To design the economic‐statistical of the Variance Effective control chart, attempting to obtain the values of the parameters in the sampling plan that minimize the expected operation costs by time unit, according to the restrictions of a minimum ARL value under control, and a maximum ARL value when the process is out of control.

PROCESS FAULT DIAGNOSIS USING RECURSIVE MULTIVARIATE STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL

The goal of engineering process control (EPC) is to minimize variability by adjusting some manipulative process variables. The goal of statistical process control (SPC) is to reduce variability by monitoring and eliminating assignable causes of variation. As suggested by Box and Kramer and others, it is possible to reduce both special cause and common cause variations by integrating EPC and SPC. In the integrated multivariate EPC (MEPC) and multivariate SPC (MSPC) charts, we propose some statistical and economic criteria, such as the average Euclidean distance from the target vector and the average quality cost (AQC) to evaluate the performance of the MEPC/MSPC charts. The traditional average run length (ARL), average Euclidean distance and AQC of three MSPC charts are investigated and compared. The results of the simulations show that the MEPC/MGWMA chart is more effective and more economical than both the MEPC/MEWMA chart and the MEPC/Hotelling multivariate chart in detecting small shifts of the mean vector. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Many high quality products are produced in a batch wise manner. One of the characteristics of a batch process is the recipe driven nature. By repeating the recipe in an identical manner a desired end-product is obtained. However, in spite of repeating the recipe in an identical manner, process differences occur. These differences can be caused by a change of feed stock supplier or impurities in the process. Because of this, differences might occur in the end-product quality or unsafe process situations arise. Therefore, the need to monitor an industrial batch process exists. An industrial process is usually monitored by process measurements such as pressures and temperatures. Nowadays, due to technical developments, spectroscopy is more and more used for process monitoring. Spectroscopic measurements have the advantage of giving a direct chemical insight in the process. Multivariate statistical process control (MSPC) is a statistical way of monitoring the behaviour of a process. Combining spectroscopic measurements with MSPC will notice process perturbations or process deviations from normal operating conditions in a very simple manner. In the following an application is given of batch process monitoring. It is shown how a calibration model is developed and used with the principles of MSPC. Statistical control charts are developed and used to detect batches with a process upset.

Statistical process control charts are important tools for monitoring process stability in manufacturing and service industries. Using multivariate control charts to monitor two or more related quality characteristic has become increasingly popular in today’s environment. Out-of-control signals in multivariate control charts may be caused by one or more variables or a set of variables. In the practice of quality control, in addition to the quick detection of process change, it is also critical to diagnose the change and identify which variable(s) has changed after an out-of-control signal occurred. In this paper, we propose a decision tree (DT)-based ensemble classifier to approach the problem of diagnosing out-of-control signal. The focus of this paper is on the variance shifts of a multivariate process. Simulation studies indicate that the proposed ensemble classification model is a successful method in identifying the source of variance change. A comparative study also reveals that DT using extracted features as input vector has slightly better classification performance than using raw data as input. The proposed method could be a useful diagnostic aid in monitoring shifts in process dispersion.

This article develops a new multivariate statistical process control (SPC) methodology based on adapting the LASSO variable selection method to the SPC problem. The LASSO method has the sparsity property of being able to select exactly the set of nonzero regression coefficients in multivariate regression modeling, which is especially useful in cases where the number of nonzero coefficients is small. In multivariate SPC applications, process mean vectors often shift in a small number of components. Our primary goals are to detect such a shift as soon as it occurs and to identify the shifted mean components. Using this connection between the two problems, we propose a LASSO-based multivariate test statistic, and then integrate this statistic into the multivariate EWMA charting scheme for Phase II multivariate process monitoring. We show that this approach balances protection against various shift levels and shift directions, and thus provides an effective tool for multivariate SPC applications. This article has supplementary material online.

<h3>Background</h3> Traditional strategies for surveillance of surgical site infections (SSI) have multiple limitations, including delayed and incomplete outbreak detection. Statistical process control (SPC) methods address these deficiencies by combining longitudinal...