Quality Improvement Through Planned Experimentation
Updated to include the latest in experiment design, this breakthrough resource provides the methodology that engineers need to plan and conduct experiments to quantify cause-and-effect mechanisms in complex systems and to test whether changes to products, processes, and systems are improvements. The book offers a comprehensive framework for the sequential building of knowledge--a Model for improvement--that is key to making improvements. Step by step, the model reveals the tools and properties of sound experiments, the methods of planned experiments, and their application to the design of new and improved products and services. Case studies of experiments in action and forms and checklists for designing planned experiments facilitate the adoption of the methods into daily work of engineers, scientists, and managers. The Second Edition includes new and expanded coverage of how to: test changes to products, processes, and systems; evaluate the measurement process; extend planned experiments to large systems; apply experiments to new product design. Featuring an improved organization of material to underscore its unified approach to experiment design, this competitive tool enables firms to effect changes in products and services that are, verifiably, improvements.