The utilization of these tools adds substantially to the ability to effectively monitor and control processes at minimum cost. If the two tools are combined, then even greater benefits can be achieved. However, the effectiveness of the SPC-APC system is a function the strength of the SPC control procedure and the soundness of the APC heuristic algorithms applied to the data. The goal is thus to marry a powerful control procedure with a robust heuristic program for data analysis and inference generation.