Unsure if your design is robust enough?
The Taguchi Method will help to ensure it is.
Classifying the design stage as more important than the actual manufacturing process in quality control, Taguchi aims to eliminate variances in production before they can occur, by solving them at the design stage.
Developed by Japanese engineer and statistician Genichi Taguchi and apparently taking over 50 years to fully devise, the ambition is to actively consider both the environmental impacts that the product will have during its usage, the manufacturing variations which could occur during the molding, and the component deterioration risk over the lifetime of the end product in order to design appropriately for it. The Taguchi method, commonly known as the Robust Design method, helps ensure excellent customer satisfaction by calculating the cost of failure in each of those real-life use scenarios and eliminating it.
In its entirety, the method can often be considered overly complicated and requires more than just a basic understanding of maths to calculate the formula - it was invented by a statistician after all - however, the fundamental principles of looking for design impact on the external world, and how factors not in the immediate area can affect a product, are good learning tools and great ways to view a design process even without the formulas.
A real-world example of this is at world-renowned plastic injectionmolding manufacturers ADIS Tachov s.r.o. who, along with hundreds of other products, produce unique door handles for Mercedes cars. The handles must withstand external conditions ranging from freezing temperatures to baking sun, all while remaining in perfect operational and aesthetic condition to enable the opening of the door and the satisfaction of the consumer. Considering the design element and taking such conditions into account, such a part can be designed in a way that meets all the criteria, and be manufactured to the highest possible quality in every batch.
Utilizing a SixSigma approach aimed at reducing waste during manufacturing and operations, ADIS actively embraces every method possible to deliver exceptional quality every day. Applying the Taguchi method, or at least certain key parts of it, is just another way they work toward delivering their motto: Quality with Integrity.
