An approximate economically optimal inspection interval for production processes with finite run length

Increased competition on the global market forces producers to follow policies leading to finite production runs. This situation requires implementation of a new type of inspection procedures with the aim to improve or sustain production quality levels. One of the most important aspects in the design of inspection processes is the specification of inspection intervals. This paper provides a simple procedure to determine an approximate optimal inspection interval h for a given inspection plan, characterized by its probability of type-I error a and probability of type-II error β, for processes with finite run length.