Abstract
This research discusses the robust design method for reducing cost and improving quality using the fractional factorial design approach. Robust design is proposed by Professor Genichi Taguchi to determine the optimum configuration of design parameters for better performance, higher quality and lower cost. The philosophy Taguchi recommends is sound and should be included in the quality improvement process of any organization. However, some methods of statistical data analysis and some approaches to the design of experiments, which he advocates, are unnecessarily complicated and sometimes ineffective. His sound engineering concepts can be combined with more efficient and effective experimental design and statistical data analysis methods. This is demonstrated by simultaneously optimizing the nominal value and the tolerances for a nonlinear RL electric circuit using the fractional factorial design approach instead of the Taguchi orthogonal array approach. Another contribution of this research is the incorporation of manufacturing cost data into the design stage.
