Method Taguchi

The Taguchi method consists of a philosophy of quality, experimental design methods to build in robustness and methods to analyze data obtained from the experiments. All these topics are treated in text books [10-13]. 

The philosophy is simple make products with build-in robustness against all kinds of environmental disturbances and fluctuations. The experimental design methods are presented as linear graphs and orthogonal arrays, but are not essentially different from established designs like Factorial and Fractional Factorial designs [12]. The methods of analyzing 

There is also a lot of criticism on Taguchi s method, especially with respect to the data analysis part. Some of this criticism focuses on the use of Taguchi s quality criteria the signal-to-noise ratios [15]. A good example of the drawback of these signal-to-noise ratios is given in Chapter 6. 

A brief introduction into the Taguchi method is given in Chapter 4, whereas in Chapters 2 and 6 some of Taguchi s ideas are touched upon and discussed. The philosophy of Taguchi (build-in robustness) is present in Chapters 2,4, 6, 7 and 8. 

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Roy, R "A Primer on the Taguchi Method. Van Nostrand-Reinhold, Princeton, NJ, 1990. 

Bendell, A., Disney, J., and Pridmoie, W.A., Eds. (1989), Taguchi Methods Applications in World Industry, Springer-Verlag, London. 

Kackar, R.N. (1985), Off-Line Quality Control, Parameter Design, and the Taguchi Method, J. Qual. Technol, 17, 176-209. 

Becanse there are many factors involved in the dynamic mechanical compression of polyolefin foams, the Taguchi method was employed in a Perkin Elmer DM A7 dynamic mechanical analyser to establish a method to improve the measurement process. The signal-to-noise ratio was measured to determine how the variability could be improved. Control and noise factors were evaluated and levels chosen, with details being tabulated. Appendix A describes some of the factors. Tests were conducted on two closed cell foams. NA2006 foam is 48 kg/cu m LDPE and NEE3306 foam is 32 kg/cu m EVA. Different factors were shown to influence results for E and tan delta but an optimum combination is proposed for the simultaneous measurement of both properties. The results were less variable as frequency was increased. Small differences in the dynamic response of different materials should be measurable because of the low variability in the experimental results. 18 refs. 

For readers with no prior knowledge of the Taguchi method The Taguchi method is explained to some extent in Chapter 4. A general introduction is given in [11-13]. For detailed discussions, see the references given in Chapter 4 and Section 1.3.1. 

For readers with some knowledge of the Taguchi method... 

T. Bendell (editor), Taguchi Methods, Elsevier Applied Science, Amsterdam, 1989. 

G.S. Peace, Taguchi methods a hands-on approach, Addison Wesley, 1992. 

R.N. Kackar, Off-line Quality Control, Parameter Design, and The Taguchi Method, Journal of Quality Technology, 17 (1985) 176-188. 

J. Cullen, An introduction to Taguchi methods, Quality Today, September 1987. 

B. Gunter, A perspective on the Taguchi methods. Quality Progress, June 1987, 44-52. 

The choice for a sequential or a simultaneous method depends on the expected difficulty to obtain the optimum and the effort needed to perform one experiment. In this paper the problem is further complicated by the requirement of robustness. The optimization method will be determined after a discussion of robustness and the Taguchi method. 

The Taguchi method uses a particular experimental design, the goal of which is to select those settings of the design variables, which give optimal results for the performance of a product. More over, those settings of the noise factors are selected, that have minimal effects on the performance of the product. 

Ealey, L.A. (1988), Quality by design. Taguchi Methods and U.S. industry. Dearborn, MI ASI Press. 

Cobb BD, Clarkson JM. A simple procedure for optimising the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using modified Taguchi methods. Nucleic Acids Res 1994 22 3801-3805. 

In Taguchi methods, we define the quality of the product in terms of the deviation of some response parameter from its target or desirable value. The concept of quality and the idea behind the Taguchi philosophy is illustrated with the example shown in Figure 8.20. 

Fowlkes, W., and C. Creveling. Engineering Methods for Robust Product Design Using Taguchi Methods in Technology and Product Development. Upper Saddle River, NJ Prentice Hall, 1995. 

After the SCF system was operational, it was necessary to determine process parameters for removal of the common contaminants. Temperature, pressure, flow rate and time were identified as critical parameters and a number of experiments were designed using Taguchi methods to minimize the number of experiments necessary to accurately determine the effects of these parameters on the cleaning effectiveness. Damping fluid, Krytox 143AZ lubricant, and hydrocarbon vacuum pump oil were selected as the contaminants for removal. 

Sims, G. S. and Johri, S., Catalyst Performance Study Using Taguchi Methods , SAE 881589,... 

H. (2013) Optimization of sol-gel technique for coating of metallic substrates by hydroxyapatite using the Taguchi method. Mater. Sci. Poland, 31 (3), 424—433. 

Summers,J.C., Skowron,J.F., and Miller,M.J., "Use of Light-OfFCatalysts to Meet California LEV/ULEV Standards", SAE Paper 930386, 1993. Sims,G., "Catalyst Performance Study Using Taguchi Methods",... 

Recently, a method for optimizing ELISA procedures has been demonstrated (13). This method attempts to compare the net effects of different conditions using an experimental design called the Taguchi method. The method attempts to reduce the effects of the interactions of optimized variables, making it possible to access the optimal conditions even in cases in which there are large... 

Taguchi methods, and the other fractional factorials that we studied, have in common the idea of performing multivariate studies by means of orthogonal designs. Even if the researcher does not choose the ideal one, just by using them she will have more chances of succeeding than if she uses traditional univariate methods. 

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