This book describes related methods and details case studies showing how they've been applied in engineering and business to save millions of dollars. These methods include: design of experiments (DOE) and statistical process control (SPC) charting approaches, failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), formal optimization, genetic algorithms, gauge reproducibility and repeatability (R & R), linear regression, neural nets, simulation, quality function deployment (QFD) and Taguchi methods. The aim is to help the reader determine which methods to use in which scenario and to predict the effectiveness of these methods.
Illustrative examples support all methods presented and case-study based exercises help the reader associate techniques with industrial problems. A glossary of acronyms is provided in addition to solutions to homework and practice exams.
Dr Theodore Allen is an associate professor in Industrial and Systems Engineering at The Ohio State University and a co-founder of the software company, Sagata Ltd. He is a senior member of the American Society of Quality and an associate editor of The Journal of Manufacturing Systems (Elsevier).