Multivariate profile charts for statistical process control

The multivariate profile (MP) chart is a new control chart for simultaneous display of univariate and multivariate statistics. It is designed to analyze and display extended structures of statistical process control data for various cases of grouping, reference distribution, and use of nominal specifications. For each group of observations, the scaled deviations from reference values are portrayed together as a modified profile plot symbol. The vertical location of the symbol is determined by the multivariate distance of the vector of means from the reference values. The graphical display in the MP chart enjoys improved visual characteristics as compared with previously suggested methods. Moreover, the perceptual tasks required by the use of the MP chart provide higher accuracy in retrieving the quantitative information. This graphical display is used to display other combined univariate and multivariate statistics, such as measures of dispersion, principal components, and cumulative sums.