This papeer proposes a general approach of the multivariate expontially weighted moving average(MEWMA) chart, in which the smoothing matrix has full elements instead of only diagonal elements. The average run length (ARL) properties of this scheme are examined for a diverse set of quality control environments and the information to design the chhart is provied. Performance of the scheme is measured by estmating ARL and compared to those of two group cumulative sum (CUSUM) chats. The comparison resullts show that the MEWMA chart can improve its ARL performance in detecting a small shifts out-of-control in the start-up stage, the general MEWMA chart of a full smoothing matrix appears to offer an exceptional protection aginst departures from control in the process mean