Experimental Design for Product and Process Design and Development

Abstract

The design of new products, or the improvement of existing ones, as well as the design and development of manufacturing processes to produce them, are crucial activities in most industrial organizations. Engineers and scientists play a critical role in these activities, and the efficiency and effectiveness with which the development process is performed are often a key factor in organizational success. Statistically designed experiments are an important component of product and process design and development. The last 20 years have seen many new developments in experimental design, accompanied by a significant growth of applications in engineering. Typical experimental design application areas include process and product characterization, achieving variability reduction, control and stability, process optimization and designing processes and products to achieve robustness. This presentation focuses on these applications, surveying and discussing contemporary methodology. Examples are given that illustrate applying these techniques in practice.