Economic acceptance sampling plans in complex multi-stage production systems

Specification of economic acceptance sampling schemes in complex multi-stage production systems is considered. The analysis is based on approximations of the distribution of lot fractions defective at all production stations of the system. A heuristic algorithm is developed that combines individual optimal solutions to subproblems corresponding to the production stations, to arrive at a near-optimal solution for the original problem. Numerical examples illustrate the application of the method to serial and non-serial manufacturing-assembly processes.