This document provides an overview of the Taguchi Method presented by Bobby Wyrwa. It discusses key concepts of the Taguchi Method including designing quality into products rather than inspecting it in, minimizing deviation from targets, and measuring quality costs as a function of deviation from standards. It provides examples of using design parameters to reduce variation and an example problem of making tile size less sensitive to temperature variation in the kiln through adjusting lime content in clay. The presentation introduces Dr. Genichi Taguchi and some of the fundamental principles of the Taguchi Method for robust product design.

1. Taguchi Method
Presented by:
Bobby Wyrwa
Dr. Genichi Taguchi IE672-852
Professor Bernier
4/25/12

2. Electrical Communication
Laboratories
Murry Hill, New Jersey Tokyo, Japan
Dr. Taguchi – Head of R&D Productivity and Product Quality

3. Concepts
Quality should be designed into the product and
not inspected into it
Quality is best achieved by minimizing the
deviation from the target
The cost of quality should be measured as a
function of deviation from the standard and the
losses should be measured system-wide

4. Quality Designed Into the Product
Quality improvement begins at the design
stage
Continues through to the production stage
Inspection, screening, or salvaging does
not improve poor quality
Quality should be based on the philosophy
of prevention.

5. Minimizing Deviation From the
Target
Quality is directly related to the deviation of a
design parameter from the target value
Properties skewed toward one end of an
acceptance range yet show a shorter life
expectancy
– Step 1: Specify a target value
– Step 2: Develop manufacturing process to meet target
value

6. Quality As a Function of Deviation
Measuring deviations from a given design
parameter in terms of the overall life cycle
costs of the product
Scrap, rework, inspections, returns, or
product replacement

7. Limitations of Quality Control
The need for timing with respect to
product/process development
Techniques MUST be applied in the early
stages of the design
Taguchi method may not always apply

8. Design Parameters for Reduced
Variation
Reducing the variation around the target
– Easier to attain quality
Highly used for industrial settings
Low cost solutions can be found by
adjusting the levels and controlling the
variation of OTHER factors
Cost savings exceed the cost of additional
experiments

9. Example
Process objective: Economic
manufacturing of high quality (color,
size, …) tiles
Problem: Uneven size due to
temperature variation in kiln
Traditional approach: Redesign kiln for
more even temperature distribution
($.5M investment with no guarantee)
Robust design approach: Find a set
product or process design parameters
that makes the size insensitive to
temperature variation
Solution: Increase lime content from
1% to 5% in clay

10. Thank You
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