FACTORIAL DESIGNS:
Assignment Overview:
Use the Excel spreadsheet that you downloaded in the Background of this module. It has the case problem included in a simulation that you can use.
Case Scenario:
You are the Quality Control Manager for Nature’s Creams, a producer of medicines and creams for healing and health. The marketing team is working on a new product, Dermi-cure, a cream that sooths wounds and aids in healing. The final process is being determined that produces the final cream product. The ingredients have been determined, but the process controls are causing a problem in generating a cream with the target pH level, which is 6.5. The current process is generating a pH that is either too high or too low, and the cream does not function properly in healing. It needs to be at 6.5 +/- 0.05 (between 6.45 and 6.55).
After talking to the process manager, you have determined there are three factors of concern: the process temperature, the process time, and the pressure setting.
Normally these are set at or near the following, and the general range of settings are:
Temperature (°F): Range: 100 to 130, at or near 115
Process Time (min): Range: 3 to 10, at or near 5
Pressure (psi): Range: 120 to 150, at or near 135
You are designing a Full Factorial experiment at two levels with these three factors to determine the best settings of these factors to produce the Dermi-cure at the desired pH of 6.5.
Case Assignment:
You need to determine the following as you interact with the simulation in the spreadsheet:
• The levels of the factors
• Which Effects and factors are significant?
• What the settings should be to produce the optimal Output Response
When you have determined the optimal settings of the significant factors, you will run a test to see if you have successfully improved the process. If not, you can reset and Redo!! (Wow, a Redo!!)
Assignment Expectations:
Write a paper that provides your optimum settings and the results. Discuss what you did in the simulated experiment and how you determined the optimum factors. This should be a two to three page paper. Use good organization and topic headings. Be sure to include references that you use.
Assignment: Continue with the situation from SLP4. Design a two level experiment.
SLP Assignment Expectations
What are the critical factors (choose 2, or 3, or 4). What are the settings of the factors that you will use in the experiment? Develop the design matrix showing the setting levels (as -1, +1) for the main effects and the interaction effects. In a two to three page paper, discuss the design and how you would perform the experiment and analyze the data and test the results. Finally, discuss briefly how this effort will improve quality. Be sure to include your references.