US Patent 7534378 Plastic forming process monitoring and control

A method of manufacturing and certifying operation of a system for producing plastic containers using equipment having at least one controllable action that affects quality of containers produced by the equipment includes inspecting raw materials for parameters that affect manufacturability and acceptability of containers produced from such materials, monitoring operation of the equipment including the at least one controllable action, inspecting containers produced by the equipment for variations that affect acceptability of the containers, automatically controlling operation of the equipment to eliminate variations in response to information obtained during the inspecting and monitoring steps, and certifying acceptability of containers produced by the equipment. In one presently preferred embodiment, some or all of these steps can be carried out automatically, such as by a controller that monitors the various steps and operational parameters of the manufacturing process to ensure compliance with predetermined limits for each step and operational parameter.