QUALITY AND PROCESS OPTIMISATION. SMC technology has continued to develop steadily from its manual origins. In Europe, some 270000 tonnes SMC are manufactured and processed each year. The quality requirements of the automotive industry are compelling SMC manufacturers and processors to make constant improvements in process control and monitoring. In a joint project between resin/SMC manufacturers and SMC processors/end users, significant improvements in the consistency and quality of SMC products have been achieved.