Designing Quality Into Products During the Design and Development Phase

Abstract

To be effective, quality needs to be built-in and planned already in the product design phase. In this article, we will provide an overview of how design engineers can use statistical experimental design to develop high quality, robust, low cost products. Specifically we will show how experimental design can be used to design, test and improve products, and how these tools can help reduce the cycle time from initial conception to market introduction. Our focus will be on general philosophy and ideas. Practical examples from industry will be used throughout to illustrate the concepts.