Statistics in Advanced Manufacturing

Statistical concepts and methods have played a critical role in speeding the pace of industrial development over the last century. In return, industrial applications have provided statisticians with incredible opportunities for methodological research. The richness and variety of these applications have had a major influence on the development of statistics as a discipline: consider, for example, the extensive research in statistical process control (SPC) and change-point detection, dating back to the pioneering work of Shewhart in the 1920's, developments in automatic process control, design of experiments, sequential analysis, reliability, and so on. Recent efforts by manufacturers to adopt sustained quality and productivity improvement programs have generated a renewed interest in and appreciation for statistics in industry. In fact, fundamental statistical concepts such as understanding and managing variation form the backbone of popular quality management paradigms and practices.