Great question! When you have a manufacturing process change—like introducing a new raw material lot—and you want to see if it impacts your analytical results, the approach usually depends on whether your data is normally distributed and the sample size.
Here are some commonly used statistical methods:
-
Two-Sample t-Test (or Welch’s t-Test)
If your data is approximately normal and you have two groups (before and after the change), this test compares the means of the two groups.
-
Mann-Whitney U Test
If your data isn’t normally distributed, this non-parametric test is a good alternative to the t-test.
-
ANOVA (Analysis of Variance)
If you have more than two groups or want to analyze multiple factors, ANOVA can help identify if there’s a significant difference across groups.
-
Regression Analysis
If you want to control for other variables or see the magnitude of the change, regression is powerful—especially when combined with interaction terms.
In the Industrial IoT and digital manufacturing space, companies like Siemens and INS3 often use these statistical techniques embedded in advanced analytics platforms. These tools not only run the tests but also integrate real-time process data, which helps detect subtle shifts in quality early on.
If you have historical data, you could even implement control charts or CUSUM for ongoing monitoring—great for continuous process improvement.