Using data mining methods for improvement of product and process quality

Recently, data analysis methods have been successfully employed in various areas of industry. With their help analysts gain valuable information and knowledge about business and technical processes. In addition to established and proven statistical methods, new data analysis techniques hiding behind catchwords such as Data Mining, Knowledge Discovery in Databases, and Computational Intelligence are increasingly used. These new approaches are primarily characterized by their ability to find conspicuous patterns in databases almost on their own. In a particular way, they support the general goal to detect existing and possibly still hidden information in databases. In chemical industry the information obtained is mainly meant to support the design of products and production processes, as well as the development of intelligent process management strategies.