Future production systems: Influence of self-organization on approaches toquality engineering

Self-organization and cooperation have been introduced into Smart productio n systems to improve the flexibility and reactivity of OKP systems (one of a kind production). In this paper, we analyze the influence of self-organiz ation and collaborative processing concepts on process and product quality. These concepts have a direct impact on measurement and control processes o f the critical components of end-products. We will focus on some new techni ques - such as the James-Stein estimators and the Levy stable distribution. To end with, SPC techniques are reviewed in order to implement best of bre ed solutions with a view of monitoring and improving the performance of the process. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.