Taguchi Method Lecture 02

TAGUCHI METHOD
A PRIMER ON THE TAGUCHI METHOD

SECOND EDITION
Ranjit K. Roy
Copyright © 2010 Society of Manufacturing Engineers

ISBN 13: 978-0-87263-864-8
2
Dr. Mohamed Abdelhalim Mansour Zagazig University Faculty of Engineering Industrial Engineering Department 05/31/2021
Chapter 3
MEASUREMENT OF
QUALITY
3
THE QUALITY CHARACTERISTIC
Every product is designed to perform some intended function. Some measurable
characteristic, generally referred to as the quality characteristic, is used to express
how well a product performs the function.
Consider a light bulb; its quality can be measured in terms of its hours of life. For a
machine automatically producing 2.00 inch diameter shafts, the deviation from this
target dimension may be a quality characteristic.
In a majority of cases, the quality characteristic may be a single measurable

quantity such as weight, length, hours, and so on. For some products, subjective
measurements like “good,” “bad,” “low,” and “high” may be used. In other
instances, subjective and objective evaluations may be combined into an Overall
Evaluation Criteria.
5
No matter how the quality of the product is measured, by a single criterion or by
a combination of multiple criteria, the measure will possess one of the following
three characteristics that indicates the direction of desirability of results:
• bigger is better
• smaller is better
• nominal is best
Suppose that we are investigating a pump to determine the best design

parameters that produce the maximum flow rate. In this case, the quality of the
design may be judged by the flow rate, measured in units of cubic feet per
minute, which therefore will be of the characteristic “bigger is better.”
6
If, on the other hand, the purpose of the study is to determine the least noisy pump, the noise
measured in units of, say, decibels, will be of the type described by “smaller is better.”
When the object or process under study has a target value, as for a battery of 9.0 volts or a
process to machine a cylinder with a 3.00 inch inside diameter, the measure of quality will
possess the “nominal is best” characteristic.
In general engineering practices, performance of a product or process is termed ‘result’ or

‘response’ and is expressed in terms of any suitable units of measurements.
In scientific experimental studies involving DOE, the term quality characteristic (QC) is used,
along with its two attributes: units of measure and the direction of desirability. For example, in
a study to improve the power output of an internal combustion engine, the selected QC may be
expressed as, QC: power generated (horsepower, bigger is better).
7
VARIATION AS A QUALITY YARDSTICK
Variation is the law of nature. In nature, no two

objects are absolutely alike. They could be very
similar, but hardly identical. No two people are
exactly alike. No two apples have precisely the
same weight. Mother Nature likes variety.
Variations in nature are often obvious to the
human eye.
8
Consider man/machine-made items. Superficially, parts look and function
alike. However, when examined closely, manufactured products also exhibit
variation, which, unlike in nature, may not be obvious to the human eye.
Two ballpoint pens of the same brand do not write in the same way;
two light bulbs do not last the same amount of time;
two appliances do not function in exactly the same manner;
two engines of similar specifications do not perform identically.
This is because products made for the same purpose will show factor
influences and perform differently.
9
Generally, the quality characteristic of a product varies in two ways.
First, it differs from another of the same kind, and
second, it differs from the desired (target) value.
Consider five 9-volt transistor batteries. When their voltages are measured
accurately with a voltmeter, they may display a range of 8.90, 8.95, 8.99, 9.20, and
9.20 volts. All of the batteries may work well for radios with a range of acceptance
of 8.5 to 9.5 volts, exceeding the variation in these batteries. But for a
sophisticated instrument, only batteries that exhibit a voltage very close to the
target value, say, 8.95 to 9.05 volts, will operate the instrument properly. Batteries
with excessive deviations from the target value may produce unreliable readings or
may even damage the instrument.
10
The first kind of variation can be displayed by comparing one item with another.
The maximum voltage variation among the batteries is 0.3 (9.2 to 8.9) volts.
Although all of the batteries are nominally rated at 9 volts, most of them will
deviate from this value. The deviation from this target or nominal value
constitutes the other type of variation. These variations are shown in Figure 3-1.
In Figure 3-1(a), the average value of the parameter deviates from the target
value; the range of value (variation) is also excessive.
Figure 3-1(b) shows the average on-target, but the variation is still excessive.
Figure 3-1(c) illustrates the desired characteristic—on target and with narrow
variation.
11
Figure 3-1.
Typical quality
distributions
12
COST OF VARIATION
Early in his research, Dr. Taguchi observed that unexpected variation was common to all
manufacturing processes and that it was the primary cause for rejection of parts.
Parts were rejected upon inspection when they did not conform to a predefined
specification.
Rejection increases the cost of production.

Often, 100% inspection is excessively costly or impractical; thus, a defective part may reach a
customer and lead to warranty costs and customer dissatisfaction.
Taguchi held that variation is costly even beyond the immediate factory production cost and
that excessive variation causes loss of quality.
He contended that the cure for quality loss is reduction of variation. Thus, he recommended
that effort should be directed toward minimizing variation, with less emphasis placed on
production within fixed tolerance limits.
13
QUALITY AND VARIATION
Taguchi viewed variation as a lack of consistency in the product, giving rise to poor
quality. With this view, he developed methodologies aimed at reducing both of the
elements of variation:
(a) deviation from the target and (b) variation with respect to others in the group.
In Figure 3-2, a typical quality measure of a product is compared with the desired state.
Note that the product mean value is off target and that the variation around the mean is
large, though within upper and lower acceptance limits. A much narrower distribution is
desired, with more frequent achievement of the target value and smaller variation
around the target value.
How is this accomplished?

What does it mean in terms of cost savings?
The financial implications of variation will be covered in a later chapter. In this chapter,
we will discuss in detail Taguchi’s approach to variation reduction. 14
Figure 3-2.
Representa-
tion of the
Taguchi
approach
15
THE QUALITY WE ARE AFTER
The quality of a product or a process may be difficult to define in quantitative terms.
Quality is what the customers perceive it to be; thus, quality varies from product to product and
from customer to customer.
The criteria customers use to judge the quality of a product are related to the satisfaction derived
from the product and are numerous and often difficult to quantify.
Research has shown that a lack of product consistency is a major factor in the perception of poor
quality. Consistency (reduced level of variation) favorably affects most common elements of
quality.
To customers, quality may include service after delivery, ease of assembly, product performance,
frequency of maintenance, and so on.
Our focus is the element of quality reflected by the performance of a product or service. The
Taguchi approach for reducing variation in performance is a two-step process:
1. Make the product/process perform in the best manner most of the time (less deviation from the target).
2. Make all products perform as identically as possible (less variation between the products). 16
TAGUCHI QUALITY STRATEGY
Taguchi’s approach to enhance quality in the design phase involves two steps:
1. Optimizing the design of the product/process (system approach).
2. Making the design insensitive to the influence of uncontrollable factors (robustness).
When a product is optimum, it performs best under the available operating conditions.
Depending on the specified performance, the optimum will imply that the product has
achieved the most, the least, or the target value of the quality measure. Optimizing the
design of a product means determining the right combination of ingredients or making the
proper adjustments to the machine so that the best results are obtained. Consider a baking
process. Assume several bakers are given the same ingredients to bake a pound cake, the
object being to produce the best-tasting cake. Within limits, they can adjust the amount of
ingredients, but they can only use the ingredients provided. They are to make the best cake
within available design parameters. Taguchi’s approach would be to design an experiment
considering all baking ingredients and other influencing factors, such as baking
temperature, baking time, oven type (if a variable), and so on. 17
SELECTING DESIGN PARAMETERS FOR REDUCED VARIATION
In the last section, quality according to Taguchi’s methodology was defined. Taguchi
strives to attain quality by reducing the variation around the target. In an effort to reduce
variations, he searched for techniques that allow variability to be reduced without
necessarily eliminating the causes of variation. Often in an industrial setting, totally
removing the causes of variation can be expensive. A no-cost or low-cost solution may be
achieved by adjusting the levels and controlling the variation of other factors. This is what
Taguchi tries to do through his Parameter Design approach. There is no cost or low cost in
reducing variability in parameter design. Furthermore, the cost savings realized far exceed
the cost of additional experiments needed to reduce variations.
The Taguchi method is most effective when applied to experiments with multiple factors.
But the concept of selecting the proper levels of design factors, and reducing the variation
of performance around the optimum/target value, can be easily illustrated through an
example involving only one factor. 18
An electronic circuit that controlled the color characteristics of a television set was
significantly influenced by the line voltage. The experimenter, wishing to select the right
voltage, investigated the color quality at several input voltages. The influence of voltage
variation on color quality is shown in Figure 3-3. If the desirable range of voltage for circuit
design is between VC and VD, then what voltage should be specified for the circuit?
Obviously, the choice should be a point within working voltage range VC and VD that
provides stable color quality.
In Taguchi terminology, one would look for the input voltage that reduces variation of the
color quality. The experimenter would initially select a voltage at point B, so the variation
around B, say, to B’ or B’’, would minimally affect the output, that is, the color quality.
Voltage B is highly attractive because small fluctuations in the line voltage (B’to B’’) will not
significantly affect the color quality of the TV as perceived by the customer-user.
19
20
The objective for products involving multiple factors is similar but slightly more
complex. The idea is to combine the factors at appropriate levels, each within the
respective acceptable range, to produce the best result and yet exhibit minimum
variation around the optimum result.
To see how the Taguchi technique is used for many factors, consider once again the
process of determining the best recipe for a pound cake (Figure 3-4). The objective is
to determine the right proportions of the five major ingredients—eggs, butter, milk,
flour, and sugar, so that the recipe will produce the best cake most of the time (Figure
3-5). Based on the past experience of involved team members, the working ranges of
these factors are established at the levels as shown in Figure 3-6. At this point, we face
the following questions.
How do we do determine the right combination?
21
How many
Dr. Mohamed experiments
Abdelhalim Mansour do we need
Zagazig to run
University and
Faculty in what combination?
of Engineering Industrial Engineering Department 05/31/2021
COMMON TERMINOLOGY
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COMMON TERMINOLOGY
The technique for laying out the conditions of experiments
when multiple factors are involved has been known to statisticians
for a long time. The technique was first introduced by Sir Ronald A. Fisher in England in the 1920s
and is popularly
known as the factorial design of experiments. The method helps
an experimenter determine the possible combinations of factors
and to identify the best combination. To determine the optimum
combination, Dr. Taguchi prescribes carrying out a number of
experiments under the conditions defined by the rules he has developed. In experimental layout,
he uses the same principles as
that of factorial design, except that his methods are much simplified
and standardized.
25
In the cake example, with five factors each at two levels, there
are 32 (25) combinations of all possible factors and levels. If we
could bake 32 cakes, we would surely find the best-tasting one
among these 32 cakes, and we would know the impact of each
ingredient level on taste. For most industrial situations, carrying

out a large number of experiments is not feasible.
Taguchi accomplishes the same objective with a smaller number
of tests. He selects a particular eight-trial fractional factorial

design (orthogonal array) that produces the most information
regarding the best-tasting cake. The factor/level combinations for
these eight experiments are defined by using the L8 (27) orthogonal
arrays. This orthogonal array (OA) is a table of eight rows and
seven columns of numbers developed to design experiments with
seven two-level factors. Orthogonal arrays are products of many
years of statistical research that bears a high degree of confidence.

They are so constructed such that the columns are balanced (equal
number of levels) within each column, and also the columns are
balanced (equal number of level combinations) between any two columns. Thus, an experiment planned using the balanced orthogonal
arrays provides statistically meaningful results.
26
An OA experiment design leads to reduction of variation caused
mainly by controllable factors. Uncontrollable factors (noise, dust,
and so on) can be handled in two ways. First, the experiment trial
can be repeated at different noise conditions. Second, the noise
factors can be included in a second orthogonal array (called an
outer array), which is used in conjunction with an inner array,
the array of controllable factors.
Because OAs are used to define the unique experimental
conditions as well as the noise factors, Taguchi calls the former
design inner array and the latter outer array. When outer array
experiments are performed, or when there are multiple samples
tested in the individual experimental condition, the analysis involves
transformation of the results into a signal-to-noise ratio
(S/N). S/N follows a transformation of the trial results into a logarithmic
scale, which changes the results of unknown nonlinear
behavior into a linear relationship with the influencing factors.
This process identifies the optimum condition and the expected
performance with the least variability of the controllable as well
as the uncontrollable factors.
The actual steps involved in designing the experiments using
inner and outer arrays will be discussed in Chapter 5.
27
EXERCISES
3-1. How does Taguchi’s view of quality differ from the conventional
practice?
3-2. How does variation affect cost and quality?
3-3. What are the main causes of variation?
3-4. How is a product design optimized?
3-5. How does Taguchi make the design less sensitive to the noise
factors?
3-6. What are orthogonal arrays?
3-7. What is implied by the term parameter design and what is its
significance in achieving higher product quality?
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Thank You

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TAGUCHI METHOD

A PRIMER ON THE TAGUCHI METHOD

Copyright © 2010 Society of Manufacturing Engineers

In a majority of cases, the quality characteristic may be a single measurable

Suppose that we are investigating a pump to determine the best design

In general engineering practices, performance of a product or process is termed ‘result’ or

Variation is the law of nature. In nature, no two

First, it differs from another of the same kind, and

second, it differs from the desired (target) value.

Rejection increases the cost of production.

How is this accomplished?

2. Making the design insensitive to the influence of uncontrollable factors (robustness).

when multiple factors are involved has been known to statisticians

known as the factorial design of experiments. The method helps

an experimenter determine the possible combinations of factors

and to identify the best combination. To determine the optimum

combination, Dr. Taguchi prescribes carrying out a number of

could bake 32 cakes, we would surely find the best-tasting one

among these 32 cakes, and we would know the impact of each

ingredient level on taste. For most industrial situations, carrying

Taguchi accomplishes the same objective with a smaller number

of tests. He selects a particular eight-trial fractional factorial

regarding the best-tasting cake. The factor/level combinations for

these eight experiments are defined by using the L8 (27) orthogonal

arrays. This orthogonal array (OA) is a table of eight rows and

seven columns of numbers developed to design experiments with

seven two-level factors. Orthogonal arrays are products of many

years of statistical research that bears a high degree of confidence.

arrays provides statistically meaningful results.

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