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2020

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Articles 1831 - 1860 of 1941

Full-Text Articles in Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering

Energy Forensics Analysis, Rupa Das Jan 2020

Energy Forensics Analysis, Rupa Das

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The energy consumed by a building can reveal information about the occupants and their activities inside the building. This could be utilized by industries and law enforcement agencies for commercial or legal purposes. Utility data from Smart Meter (SM) readings can reveal detailed information that could be mapped to foretell resident occupancy and type of appliance usage over desired time intervals. However, obtaining SM data in the United States is laborious and subjected to legal and procedural constraints. This research develops a user-driven simulation tool with realistic data options and assumptions of potential human behavior to determine energy usage patterns …


Assessment Of Heat Stress For Outdoor Work Conditions In Saudi Arabia, Jamal Alanazi Jan 2020

Assessment Of Heat Stress For Outdoor Work Conditions In Saudi Arabia, Jamal Alanazi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Outdoor workers have an increased risk of heat stress in Saudi Arabia since it is one of the hottest places in the Middle East. Recently, the government decided to limit outdoor work hours during the months of June, July, and August every year, and banned working under the direct sunlight from 12:00 to 03:00 p.m., although outdoor workers in the petroleum, natural gas, or emergency maintenance work industries are exempt from this prohibition. Traditionally, the efforts by safety and health professionals to mitigate work-related heat injury has been directed toward the assessment of environmental heat stress (e.g., wet-bulb globe temperature), …


Capital Equipment Upgrade Strategy In The Context Of Servitization, Muztoba Ahmad Khan Jan 2020

Capital Equipment Upgrade Strategy In The Context Of Servitization, Muztoba Ahmad Khan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Building on manufacturing servitization and Product-Service Systems (PSS) business models, the midlife equipment upgrade services introduce promising alternative to traditional equipment replacement, which is often capital intensive and time consuming. Midlife upgrade describes the process of improving the performance of and adding new functional capabilities into equipment during their active usage period by embedding technological innovation while satisfying evolving customers’ preferences over time. This strategy, however, has thus far been discussed primarily from a conceptual perspective in literature, and the state of the art lacks empirical evidence regarding the potential and outcome of successful midlife upgrades. Additionally, explorative studies report …


Implications Of Variability Of Electromyographic Measurements For Assessing Localized Muscle Fatigue, Hamad Nasser Alasim Jan 2020

Implications Of Variability Of Electromyographic Measurements For Assessing Localized Muscle Fatigue, Hamad Nasser Alasim

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The impact of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) is enormous due to a combination of direct and indirect costs associated with healthcare, lost workdays and human suffering. Because of the established relationship between Localized Muscle Fatigue (LMF) development and WMSDs, and in order to reduce and/or prevent WMSDs in workplaces, different fatigue assessment methods have been developed. Surface Electromyography (SEMG) is a commonly used LMF assessment technique. The SEMG signals are typically analyzed in time and frequency domains to predict LMF based on a relative change with respect to initial, or under no-fatigue conditions. Quantifying such change, however, relies on the …


Degrader Analysis For Diagnostic And Predictive Capabilities: A Demonstration Of Progress In Dod Cbm+ Initiatives, William Baker, Steven Nixon, Jeffrey Banks, Karl Reichard, Kaitlynn Castelle Jan 2020

Degrader Analysis For Diagnostic And Predictive Capabilities: A Demonstration Of Progress In Dod Cbm+ Initiatives, William Baker, Steven Nixon, Jeffrey Banks, Karl Reichard, Kaitlynn Castelle

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents a modified reliability centered maintenance (RCM) methodology developed by The Applied Research Laboratory at The Pennsylvania State University (ARL Penn State) to meet challenges in decreasing life cycle sustainment costs for critical Naval assets. The focus of this paper is on the requirements for the development of the on-board Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) system with a discussion on the implementation progress for two systems: the high pressure air compressor (HPAC), and the advanced carbon dioxide removal unit (ACRU). Recent Department of Defense (DoD) guidance calls for implementing Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) as an alternative to traditional …


Design For Sustainment: Governance Engineering In Major Acquisition Programs, William Baker, Kaitlynn M. Castelle, Joseph M. Bradley, Lucas C. Marino Jan 2020

Design For Sustainment: Governance Engineering In Major Acquisition Programs, William Baker, Kaitlynn M. Castelle, Joseph M. Bradley, Lucas C. Marino

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

During acquisition for a sustainment-dominated, major capital asset, decision-making and action to develop the sustainment system must begin early in the acquisition process to sufficiently align the necessary integrated logistics support demanded by these systems. Effective governance improves the likelihood of success for delivery of the asset and accompanying sustainment system to ensure the asset meets expected performance and remains functional over its planned decades-long service life. The service life of a Navy vessel can range from 25 to 50 years. In this case study, we examine the operation of the governance system for major maritime acquisitions, wherein a fleet …


A Review Of Problem Structuring Methods For Consideration In Prognostics And Smart Manufacturing, Patrick T. Hester, Andrew J. Collins, Barry Ezell, John Horst Jan 2020

A Review Of Problem Structuring Methods For Consideration In Prognostics And Smart Manufacturing, Patrick T. Hester, Andrew J. Collins, Barry Ezell, John Horst

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Successful use of prognostics involves the prediction of future system behaviors in an effort to maintain system availability and reduce the cost of maintenance and repairs. Recent work by the National Institute of Standards and Technology indicates that the field of prognostics and health management is vital for remaining competitive in today’s manufacturing environment. While prognostics-based maintenance involves many traditional operations research-centric challenges for successful deployment such as limited availability of information and concerns regarding computational efficiency, the authors argue in this paper that the field of prognostics and health management, still in its embryonic development stage, could benefit greatly …


A Survey Of The Current State Of The Practice In Bridging The Gap Between Engineering Ontologies And Modeling Profiles For Engineering Applications, John Artus Jan 2020

A Survey Of The Current State Of The Practice In Bridging The Gap Between Engineering Ontologies And Modeling Profiles For Engineering Applications, John Artus

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Model-Based Systems Engineering holds the promise of enhancing systems engineering tasks and product quality through better, more efficient exchange of data across tools, personnel, and departments, a higher quality of analysis resulting from greater access to cross-discipline data, better coordination between engineering activities and those of program management, and many other benefits. Yet, there is still no standardized method for achieving commonality of architecture vocabulary across projects, across, companies, across industries such that entities operating in the same domain produce products that speak the same technical language. Some specialized domains, such as the Department of Defense (DoD), have developed Architecture …


Weather Prediction: Improving Accuracy Using Data Mining And Forecasting Techniques, Pedro Marquez Jan 2020

Weather Prediction: Improving Accuracy Using Data Mining And Forecasting Techniques, Pedro Marquez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study is focused to provide the insights of weather to understand the significance of weather changes in any parameter. Weather forecasting contributes to the social and economic welfare in many sections of the society. Weather is extremely difficult to predict because it is a complex and chaotic system. This means that small errors in the initial conditions of a forecast grow rapidly and affect predictability. Nowadays, massive real-time data is being generated by IoT devices, radars, weather stations, and satellites. The need to adopt big data analytics in IoT applications is compelling. These two technologies have already been recognized …


Mathematical Modeling, Optimal Control And Stability Analysis For Dynamic Supply Chains, Yasser Alberto Davizon Jan 2020

Mathematical Modeling, Optimal Control And Stability Analysis For Dynamic Supply Chains, Yasser Alberto Davizon

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Dynamic supply chains (SC) are important to reduce inventory, to enable the flow of materials, and maximize profits. By this, dynamic SC require proper decision-making with effective performance and synchronization. In operations and production planning processes, decision-makers develop convenient and suitable decisions, to validate their hypoThesis about which decisions incorporate more profit while reducing costs on enterprise operations. Based on this, inventory management plays a crucial point in the supply chain analysis. In general, SC processes raw material, cash, and information flows, taking into account the demand profile of the system. This research work presents the mathematical modeling, optimal control, …


Design Of Experiments Analysis Of Powder Removal Methods For Ebm Manufactured Ti-6al-4v Parts, Luis Cesar Ramos Castañeda Jan 2020

Design Of Experiments Analysis Of Powder Removal Methods For Ebm Manufactured Ti-6al-4v Parts, Luis Cesar Ramos Castañeda

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Additive Manufacturing is a technology that allows the on-demand manufacturing of complex geometries that cannot be fabricated through traditional subtractive manufacturing methods. Powder Bed Fusion is one of the seven categories of Additive Manufacturing with two subcategories, the Laser Beam Melting and the Electron Beam Melting. Freedom of design, rapid prototyping, and customization are some of the benefits that this technology provides. Like any technology, there are limitations for each category and subcategory. The Electron Beam Melting uses the electron beam to pre-heat the powder bed, reducing the temperature difference between the build part and powder bed, causing the surrounding …


Real-Time Assembly Operation Recognition With Fog Computing And Transfer Learning For Human-Centered Intelligent Manufacturing, Wenjin Tao, Md Al-Amin, Haodong Chen, Ming-Chuan Leu, Zhaozheng Yin, Ruwen Qin Jan 2020

Real-Time Assembly Operation Recognition With Fog Computing And Transfer Learning For Human-Centered Intelligent Manufacturing, Wenjin Tao, Md Al-Amin, Haodong Chen, Ming-Chuan Leu, Zhaozheng Yin, Ruwen Qin

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In a human-centered intelligent manufacturing system, every element is to assist the operator in achieving the optimal operational performance. The primary task of developing such a human-centered system is to accurately understand human behavior. In this paper, we propose a fog computing framework for assembly operation recognition, which brings computing power close to the data source in order to achieve real-time recognition. For data collection, the operator's activity is captured using visual cameras from different perspectives. For operation recognition, instead of directly building and training a deep learning model from scratch, which needs a huge amount of data, transfer learning …


Eye-Tracking To Evaluate Trust In Human-Atr Interaction, Samuel Francis Adelman Jan 2020

Eye-Tracking To Evaluate Trust In Human-Atr Interaction, Samuel Francis Adelman

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Human collaboration with targeting aids have allowed analysts to achieve a greater level of coordination and productivity in a variety of fields. This project investigates the impact that an Assisted Target Recognition (ATR) algorithm’s false alarm rate and the task Target of Interest (TOI) level has on user-system trust and use in a targeting decision task. Previous studies suggest that an increased number of false alarms in an ATR task negatively impacts analyst trust in the system. This study will further contribute to this research, aiming to provide a better framework for appropriate tolerance levels within ATR algorithms, utilizing pre-truthed …


An Approach To Cluster And Benchmark Regional Emergency Medical Service Agencies, Swetha Kondapalli Jan 2020

An Approach To Cluster And Benchmark Regional Emergency Medical Service Agencies, Swetha Kondapalli

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Emergency Medical Service (EMS) providers are the first responders for an injured patient on the field. Their assessment of patient injuries and determination of an appropriate hospital play a critical role in patient outcomes. A majority of states in the US have established a state-level governing body (e.g., EMS Division) that is responsible for developing and maintaining a robust EMS system throughout the state. Such divisions develop standards, accredit EMS agencies, oversee the trauma system, and support new initiatives through grants and training. But to do so, these divisions require data to enable them to first understand the similarities between …


Human Powered Vehicle Internal Systems Design, Zachary Broadbent, Jordan Boos, Patrick Gaertner, Caleb Miner Jan 2020

Human Powered Vehicle Internal Systems Design, Zachary Broadbent, Jordan Boos, Patrick Gaertner, Caleb Miner

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The objective of this design project is to redesign the seat and steering system for the Human Powered Vehicle Team. The goal of the seat design is too improve ergonomics by making it more comfortable and adjustable. In making the seat adjustable, it will be easier for drivers to achieve an optimal efficiency when pedaling. The aim for steering will be to improve the ergonomics as well as performance by analyzing steering systems in the past and evaluating how each design was successful and for what reason. Another main goal of the steering system will be improving the stability and …


Internet Of Things For Sustainable Mining, Abdul Salam Jan 2020

Internet Of Things For Sustainable Mining, Abdul Salam

Faculty Publications

The sustainable mining Internet of Things deals with the applications of IoT technology to the coupled needs of sustainable recovery of metals and a healthy environment for a thriving planet. In this chapter, the IoT architecture and technology is presented to support development of a digital mining platform emphasizing the exploration of rock–fluid–environment interactions to develop extraction methods with maximum economic benefit, while maintaining and preserving both water quantity and quality, soil, and, ultimately, human health. New perspectives are provided for IoT applications in developing new mineral resources, improved management of tailings, monitoring and mitigating contamination from mining. Moreover, tools …


Internet Of Things In Sustainable Energy Systems, Abdul Salam Jan 2020

Internet Of Things In Sustainable Energy Systems, Abdul Salam

Faculty Publications

Our planet has abundant renewable and conventional energy resources but technological capability and capacity gaps coupled with water-energy needs limit the benefits of these resources to citizens. Through IoT technology solutions and state-of-the-art IoT sensing and communications approaches, the sustainable energy-related research and innovation can bring a revolution in this area. Moreover, by the leveraging current infrastructure, including renewable energy technologies, microgrids, and power-to-gas (P2G) hydrogen systems, the Internet of Things in sustainable energy systems can address challenges in energy security to the community, with a minimal trade-off to environment and culture. In this chapter, the IoT in sustainable energy …


Solar-Powered Exploration Of The Venus Atmosphere, Marc Migliozzi, Cory Everman, Rebecca Buerhle, Umar Muhammed, Steven Abbate, Chase Champagne Jan 2020

Solar-Powered Exploration Of The Venus Atmosphere, Marc Migliozzi, Cory Everman, Rebecca Buerhle, Umar Muhammed, Steven Abbate, Chase Champagne

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The objective of this study was to design a solar powered, unmanned aircraft to orbit in the upper Venus atmosphere and search for signs of alien life. Topics of flight conditions, signs of life, basic mission plan, source of power, design process, instrumentation, and final designs are covered. Solar energy is ideal for this type of mission because it is the only reliable and abundant energy source accessible for long term space travel. The target altitude, being 60 to 70 km, has winds of up to 95 m/s. The aircraft will need to remain stable under such conditions. Due to …


Rinse Tank Salinity Automation, George Pahoundis Jan 2020

Rinse Tank Salinity Automation, George Pahoundis

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Manufacturing processes are often consisted of many different processes and sub-processes. Each of these carries its own level of importance and impact to the overall picture. In this particular sub-process, salt is rinsed from a product via a rinse tank: a tank whose salinity may not exceed a certain level and whose temperature must not fall below a certain level. This setting is a prime opportunity to implement an automated control system to allow these parameters to be met with upmost efficiency. With potential savings in excess of $20,000 per year and an estimated payback period of 8 weeks, the …


Understanding Visual Representation Of Imputed Data For Aiding Human Decision-Making, Ryan M. Thompson Jan 2020

Understanding Visual Representation Of Imputed Data For Aiding Human Decision-Making, Ryan M. Thompson

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The effectiveness of representing higher dimensional data on a two-dimensional visualization was required to be studied in the development of a novel data imputation method, Continuous Imputation With Association Rules (CIWAR). When the CIWAR method is used to impute missing data, the method generates additional metadata that increases each imputed data point's dimensionality. Potential use cases for CIWAR include situations where imputed data would be analyzed by individuals with little or no data analytic experience or situations where imputed data would be used to aid high-stress time-critical human decision processes. A study was conducted to assess the effect of the …


A Scenario-Based Parametric Analysis Of The Army Personnel-To-Assignment Matching Problem, Matthew D. Ferguson, Raymond R. Hill, Brian J. Lunday Jan 2020

A Scenario-Based Parametric Analysis Of The Army Personnel-To-Assignment Matching Problem, Matthew D. Ferguson, Raymond R. Hill, Brian J. Lunday

Faculty Publications

This study aims to compare linear programming and stable marriage approaches to the personnel assignment problem under conditions of uncertainty. Robust solutions should exhibit reduced variability of solutions in the presence of one or more additional constraints or problem perturbations added to some baseline problems.
Several variations of each approach are compared with respect to solution speed, solution quality as measured by officer-to-assignment preferences and solution robustness as measured by the number of assignment changes required after inducing a set of representative perturbations or constraints to an assignment instance. These side constraints represent the realistic assignment categorical priorities and limitations …


The Impact Of E-Commerce On The Development Of Entrepreneurship In Saudi Arabia, Khulood Al-Mani Jan 2020

The Impact Of E-Commerce On The Development Of Entrepreneurship In Saudi Arabia, Khulood Al-Mani

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This paper is based on a Ph.D. study investigating the critical challenges facing e-commerce adoption by entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia, identifying the major driving factors, barriers, motivations, perceived advantages, potential problems and some practical solutions as well as future expectations from entrepreneurs’ perspectives. From the study findings, a set of practical recommendations were derived for the government, entrepreneurs and investors in Saudi Arabia to consider, to promote ecommerce entrepreneurship in the county.

The research was undertaken using a qualitative approach. Data collection techniques involved in-depth, semi-structured interviews, with (1) e-commerce entrepreneurs, and (2) government authorities, educational initiatives and private support …


Blockchain Adoption Model For The Global Banking Industry, Zaina Kawasmi, Evans Akwasi Gyasi, Deneise Dadd Jan 2020

Blockchain Adoption Model For The Global Banking Industry, Zaina Kawasmi, Evans Akwasi Gyasi, Deneise Dadd

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Blockchain has become the new hype term in the business world for the last decade. Due to the new technology’s characteristics and innovative applications, it is being adopted globally in a wide number of industries including the banking industry, yet no adoption model is provided to guide this process. This research aims to contribute to facilitating the successful adoption and implementation of the blockchain new technology in the banking industry. Building on the assumption that the blockchain’s adoption in banking will be directed by the regulations and best practices guidelines of the global banking regulatory bodies and practitioner, this research …


Assessment Of The Needs Of Ict Skills On Employability In Smes: A Vft Approach, Renatus Michael Mushi Jan 2020

Assessment Of The Needs Of Ict Skills On Employability In Smes: A Vft Approach, Renatus Michael Mushi

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

the globalised economy comes with extra demand of ICT skills among the graduates. This is due to the demand if ICT technicalities in performing a number of basic activities in the workplaces. Majority of studies which concentrate with ICT skills on employability deals with technical enterprises. In non-technical companies such as construction, manufacturing and agriculture, ICT is studied as among the basic skill-set of graduates. However, recently, there has been special demand of graduates with basic ICT knowledge on recruitment processes. This indicates the growing demand of basic ICT skills among a broad range of professions. However, the type of …


Table Of Contents Jitim Vol 29 Issue 1, 2020 Jan 2020

Table Of Contents Jitim Vol 29 Issue 1, 2020

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Table of contents


Table Of Contents Jitim Vol 29 Issue 3, 2020 Jan 2020

Table Of Contents Jitim Vol 29 Issue 3, 2020

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Table of contents


An Exact Single-Agent Task Selection Algorithm For The Crowdsourced Logistics, Chung-Kyun Han, Shih-Fen Cheng Jan 2020

An Exact Single-Agent Task Selection Algorithm For The Crowdsourced Logistics, Chung-Kyun Han, Shih-Fen Cheng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The trend of moving online in the retail industry has created great pressure for the logistics industry to catch up both in terms of volume and response time. On one hand, volume is fluctuating at greater magnitude, making peaks higher; on the other hand, customers are also expecting shorter response time. As a result, logistics service providers are pressured to expand and keep up with the demands. Expanding fleet capacity, however, is not sustainable as capacity built for the peak seasons would be mostly vacant during ordinary days. One promising solution is to engage crowdsourced workers, who are not employed …


Mental Workload Assessment Among Healthcare Workers During Pandemic Covid-19 At Hospital Tunku Azizah, Mohd Basari Mohd 'Aizat Jan 2020

Mental Workload Assessment Among Healthcare Workers During Pandemic Covid-19 At Hospital Tunku Azizah, Mohd Basari Mohd 'Aizat

Student Works (2020-2029)

Workload is the amount of work an individual has to do. There is a distinction between the actual amount of work and the individual's perception of the workload. In addition, with current pandemic situation, definitely causes an increased workload among healthcare workers. Somehow, front-liners are doing their best in battling COVID-19 to protect publics from any adverse effects by this aggressive identified Coronavirus. The purpose of this study is to determine level of mental workload and its relationship on mental health status and job satisfaction among healthcare workers. Scope of this study involving medical laboratory workers in Pathology Department Hospital …


การพยากรณ์ปริมาณความต้องการเหล็กรีดร้อนภายในประเทศด้วยวิธีการเรียนรู้ของเครื่อง, ชัยพฤกษ์ นิละนนท์ Jan 2020

การพยากรณ์ปริมาณความต้องการเหล็กรีดร้อนภายในประเทศด้วยวิธีการเรียนรู้ของเครื่อง, ชัยพฤกษ์ นิละนนท์

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

เหล็กเป็นวัสดุที่สำคัญชนิดหนึ่งและมีปริมาณความต้องการใช้งานมากขึ้นทุกปี ในอุตสาหกรรมเหล็ก การพยากรณ์เพื่อวางแผนการจัดซื้อวัตถุดิบ การจัดเตรียมการผลิต และแผนการขายจึงเป็นสิ่งที่สำคัญ การพยากรณ์ที่แม่นยำสามารถทำให้การวางแผนต่าง ๆ เป็นอย่างเหมาะสมและสามารถลดต้นทุนในการผลิตและการดำเนินการได้ งานวิจัยนี้จัดทำขึ้นเพื่อศึกษาการพยากรณ์และเปรียบเทียบความแม่นยำในการพยากรณ์ข้อมูลปริมาณความต้องการเหล็กรีดร้อนภายในประเทศ โดยใช้ข้อมูลตั้งแต่เดือนมกราคมปี ค.ศ. 2014 จนถึงเดือนธันวาคมปี ค.ศ. 2019 ตัวแบบการพยากรณ์ที่ใช้ในงานวิจัยนี้ประกอบไปด้วย ตัวแบบ Holt's Exponential Smoothing, ARIMA, Multiple Regression, Artificial Neural Network, eXtreme Gradient Boosting, Random Forest, Support Vector Regression และ Light Gradient Boosting Machine และตัวแบบผสมที่คัดเลือกจากตัวแบบการเรียนรู้ของเครื่องที่มีความแม่นยำที่สุดสามอันดับแรกมาทำการผสม จากนั้นทำการเปรียบเทียบความแม่นยำด้วยค่าร้อยละความคลาดเคลื่อนสัมบูรณ์เฉลี่ย (MAPE) ผลการวิจัยพบว่าตัวแบบที่มีความแม่นยำมากที่สุดคือตัวแบบผสม Artificial Neural Network, Random Forest และ eXtreme Gradient Boosting โดยใช้ตัวแบบ Artificial Neural Network เป็นตัวผสม มีค่า MAPE เท่ากับ 3.59% แม่นยำกว่าตัวแบบ Artificial Neural Network ที่เป็นตัวแบบการเรียนรู้ของเครื่องที่แม่นยำที่สุดด้วยค่า MAPE เท่ากับ 5.63% ถึง 36.23%


The Improvement Of Shewhart-Stable Time Series Processes By Applying Jensen-Shannon Complexity Measures To Characterize Emergent Structure, Blaine Lorimer Jan 2020

The Improvement Of Shewhart-Stable Time Series Processes By Applying Jensen-Shannon Complexity Measures To Characterize Emergent Structure, Blaine Lorimer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Despite the nearly universal imperative to continuously improve processes, Shewhart-stable time series are often ignored for improvement because of various generalized assumptions and "rules", many of which are actually very context dependent. The process control literature presents widely divergent views, including the extreme position that stable processes are completely random and therefore any further compensation ("tampering") can only increase process variability. The traditional reductionist approach to process improvement characterizes underlying factors using statistical variance measures, which has been very effective for unstable processes. However, this approach, especially when it involves Shewhart control charts, is generally much less effective for directing …