**2. Dairy processing and quality**

Quality control for a safe product must be the objective of any food processing industry. In reality, the universal objectives to any process are minimising cost and maximising throughput, and/or efficiency ([23], p. 205). A network of interrelated activities that are repeated over time can be defined as a process ([24], p. 456), adjusting the process so as to improve specific parameters is termed 'process optimisation'. Additionally, many factors can relate to the performance of a process, for example the condition of a machine/instrument, processing parameters, environmental variables and material quality ([23], p. 211; [25]). Food processing is defined as any procedure undergone by food commodities, after they have left the primary producer and before they reach the customer [26]. In terms of dairy production, processing can take many forms and vary in the degree of complexity, i.e. from fluids to solids. In its simplest form, processing may involve no more than controlled storage such as refrigeration. At more complex levels, commodities may be processed to yield ingredients that are later combined to yield foodstuffs, for example, the conversion of liquid skim milk to skim milk powder. The revolutionary changes in manufacturing and the advancements of the dairy industry over the past 30 years have increased the need for optimised quality assurance and quality control methodologies. 'Total quality control (TQC) is a thought revolution in management' [27] and is deemed as a continual practice [1]. It is a flexible system whereby both processes and methods can be easily transformed. Jagdev et al. [23] explored a range of techniques to enhance process optimisation and concluded that a knowledge based system, analysing historical and real-time events on an on-going basis, enables the identification of any variations likely to present within a process, which would contribute to overall process optimisation. Process optimisation and enhanced quality, affects the success of a manufacturing plant in terms of higher productivity and reduced costs due to out of specification (OOS) product and downgrades [28].
