Effective, Speedy Experiments

Speed, efficiency and effectiveness. These are three very different things but are often associated with each other. According to folklore, the fastest doesn’t always finish first – so is efficiency and effectiveness what you should be striving for?

Design of Experiments (DOE) is like this. You can conduct experiments fast but what if you miss an important interaction because you can only experiment with one factor at a time? That would not be efficient and could possibly result in an output that was ineffective. You can conduct experiments by investigating all possible combinations and variables, which would be much more effective but it wouldn’t be efficient, or fast!

But what if you could have all three?

Design of Experiments (DOE), done strategically and correctly can transform speed to market, production efficiency and product quality. It is an invaluable tool to plan, conduct, analyse and interpret controlled tests to evaluate the factors used in a variety of experimental situations.

The method analyses processes to see the impact of varying process inputs and may provide masses of information about the effect on a response variable due to one or more factors. Many experiments involve holding certain factors constant and altering the levels of another variable. As well as increasing the efficiency of existing processes, DOE can reduce design costs, speed up new product introductions (NPI), reduce the risk of late design changes in a new product and optimize process steps.

To address the inherent challenges of speed, efficiency and effectiveness, Critical Manufacturing has introduced a new Experiments Management module to its modern MES.

Why we are excited about the Experiments Management Module:

Because it optimizes performance and saves time and cost for new product introduction (NPI) and product / process improvements!

The Experiments Management module increases the speed of DOE by enabling multi-parameter experiments to be carried out. As an integral part of the MES, experiments can be conducted alongside daily production schedules with complete transparency. The inherent data collection and visibility the MES provides for the shop floor further means engineers can readily gain in-depth knowledge of the process variables and their effect on production, helping them find ways to improve the quality and reliability of processes and products.

Engineers design, execute and monitor their experiments within the module, giving complete control and, with an intuitive user interface, reducing the time to carry out DOE.

Get better faster

Overall this new module will help manufacturers of complex products reduce the time taken to implement process improvements, make changes that increase production efficiency and enhance quality more quickly, and get new products to market faster – keeping them ahead of their competition while maximizing their return on investment and, ultimately, winning the race!

If you would like to find a faster, more efficient and effective way to control your experiments, or arrange a demonstration please visit: https://www.criticalmanufacturing.com/en/critical-manufacturing-mes/industry-4-0/experiments-management