Improving the manufacturing process quality using experimental design techniques: a case study

Design of experiments (DoE) is a strategy of planning, conducting, analysing and interpreting experiments so that valid conclusions can be drawn efficiently and economically. It has proved to be very effective for improving the process yield, process performance, and process variability. The paper highlights common problems and gaps in the state-of-the-art in DoE. The paper also presents a case study for optimising the product life using DoE methodology. A significant improvement in the product life was observed. The results of the case study were fascinating and would encourage the engineering team within the company to apply this powerful technique in other core processes to achieve process improvement at low costs.