IN MANY SITUATIONS, THE QUALITY OF A PROCESS CAN BE CHARACTERIZED BY A SINGLE CONTINUOUS RANDOM VARIABLE, WHICH IS USUALLY ASSUMED TO FOLLOW A NORMAL DISTRIBUTION. HOWEVER, IT IS INCREASINGLY COMMON FOR PROCESSES TO BE CHARACTERIZED BY SEVERAL, USUALLY CORRELATED, VARIABLES. (KIM AND REYNOLDS 2005) MULTIVARIATE CONTROL CHARTS ARE WIDELY USED TO MONITOR INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES (MASON, ET AL.1995).