The objective of this research planning effort is to develop an integrated research program to facilitate process and product development. The effort will focus on the development of a Statistical Process Control (SPC) decision support system for process improvement. The system will contain knowledge and expertise in SPC and neural network process modeling methods. Industry interaction will be fostered through the participation of forest products industries. The long term goal is to develop and implement engineering techniques to improve forest products manufacturing and the extension of these techniques to other non-traditional manufacturing areas.
