Coating process control in lithium-ion battery manufacturing using cumulative sum charts

The coating process in lithium-ion battery manufacturing is designed to distribute stirred slurry on substrates. The coating results have a significant effect on the performance of lithium-ion batteries. A well-controlled coating process can avoid material wastage in manufacturing and improve the safety of lithium-ion batteries. Studies have focused on factors that influence coating results. However, no systematic research has been conducted on the control of the coating process. In this paper, we propose an inexpensive but efficient approach to monitoring the results of slurry coating. A data measurement system, combined with cumulative sum charts and complex event processing, were developed to monitor the coating process. As part of our research, we utilized a cumulative sum chart to detect small changes in coating that could not be detected easily. Additionally, anomalies in the process were detected using complex event processing. Our work was applied in a real-world setting, and the experimental results showed that it was effective in detecting small changes in the slurry coating. Our research can be able to contribute to the development of a solution for the process control of slurry coating in the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries as well as bridge the gap between research and industry.