Design of Experiments and Simultaneous Engineering

The product/process development cycle for the domestic automobile industry is characterized as having six major tasks from initial conceptualization through the pilot run just prior to high volume production. Simultaneous engineering represents applying a systems approach to the development cycle to reduce costs, shorten development time and achieve high quality products. Multi-disciplinary design teams are used. A continuous dialogue is necessary within and between teams to achieve desired results. Often the teams are considering design problems involving several product and process characteristics. Such an environment is ripe for application of design of experiments. Four examples, taken from actual applications, are given to demonstrate how design of experiments aids communication and decision making.