Patent ID: 7187992

Claim:
An apparatus facilitating design, manufacturing, and other processes comprising: a processor; a memory; a software application, physically stored in the memory, comprising instructions operable to cause the processor and the apparatus to: receive a plurality of article characteristic values associated with a set of articles having a range of variation as to a plurality of article characteristics; select a predictor characteristic from the plurality of article characteristics; determine the regression model between the predictor characteristic and a first remaining article characteristic in the plurality of article characteristics, wherein the regression model includes lower and upper prediction boundaries receive lower and upper specification limits for the predictor characteristic and the first remaining article characteristic; locate, relative to the regression model between the predictor characteristic and the first remaining article characteristic, the compliance area bounded by the upper and lower specification limits associated with the first remaining article characteristic and the predictor characteristic; locate the bounded regression area for the first remaining characteristic defined by the upper and lower prediction boundaries of the regression model and the upper and lower specification limits for the predictor characteristic; and identify the relationship between the bounded regression area and the compliance area.