Design of group acceptance sampling plans for truncated life tests using the percentiles of Zech distribution: Applications in industrial and medical settings

Abstract

Acceptance sampling is a quality technique used to minimize the risk of defective items reaching consumers. Unlike process-monitoring tools such as control charts, acceptance sampling focuses on the inspection of incoming materials and finished goods rather than continuous process evaluation. Traditionally applied in industrial settings, recent research has extended its  application to survival analysis through the use of specialized statistical distributions. This study proposes  a Group Acceptance Sampling Plan (GASP) based on the Zech distribution. The plan employs truncated life tests to improve both cost and time efficiency. The proposed method is evaluated using arbitrary parameter values, simulated and real-life datasets. Its performance is compared with group acceptance sampling plans based on the  New Weibull-Pareto and Gompertz distributions, The results indicate that the Zech-based GASP requires the smallest number of groups, making it a more efficient and cost-effective option for both industrial quality control and survival analysis applications.