Data Segmentation for a Better Prediction of Quality in a Multi-stage Process

There may be several parallel equipments having the same function in a multi-stage manufacturing process, which affect the product quality differently and have significant differences in defect rate. The product quality may depend on what equipments it has been processed as well as what process variable values it has. Applying one model ignoring the presence of different equipments may distort the prediction of defect rate and the identification of important quality variables affecting the defect rate. We propose a procedure for data segmentation when constructing models for predicting the defect rate or for identifying major process variables influencing product quality. The proposed procedure is based on the principal component analysis and the analysis of variance, which demonstrates a better performance in predicting defect rate through a case study with a PDP manufacturing process.