DOE - Inner-Outer Arrays

STATGRAPHICS Rev.
7/24/2009
2009 by StatPoint Technologies, Inc. DOE Inner/Outer Arrays - 1
Design of Experiments Inner/Outer Arrays (Legacy Procedure)

Summary
The Inner and Outer Arrays selection on the Create Design menu creates experimental designs
in which two types of factors are varied:

- controllable factors that the experimenter can manipulate both during the experiment and
during production.

- noise factors that can be manipulated during the experiment but are normally
uncontrollable.

The goal of the designs is to find levels of the controllable factors where the response variables
are relatively insensitive to changes in the noise factors. Structurally, the experiment consists of
two designs: an inner array in which the controllable factors are varied, and an outer array in
which the noise factors are varied.

As pioneered by Genichi Taguchi, this emphasis on robustness in parameter design and
reduction in process variability is very important in developing a product which is capable of
meeting specifications on a daily basis.

Example
The example described in this documentation comes from Myers and Montgomery (2002). They
describe an experiment performed to help reduce the defect rate of a soldering process used in
the manufacture of printed circuit boards. The goal of the study was to find a combination of 5
controllable factors that would minimize the rate of solder defects. Those 5 factors are shown
below with the region over which they were to be studied:

Controllable Factor Low High Units
temperature 480 510 F
speed 7.2 10 ft/min
wave height 0.5 0.6 in
preheat temperature 150 200 F
flux density 0.9 1.0 degrees

As part of the study, 3 noise factors were also varied in order to judge the sensitivity of the defect
rate to uncontrollable fluctuations. Those factors and the range over which they were to be varied
is shown below:

Noise Factor Low High Units
solder -5 5 degrees
conveyor -0.2 0.2
assembly 1 2

In production situations, the noise factors would not be controlled.
STATGRAPHICS Rev. 7/24/2009
Sample StatFolio: doe innerouter.sgp

Design Creation
The designs proposed by Taguchi are created by selecting Create Design from the design of
experiments menu and completing several dialog boxes.

Dialog #1 Design Type
The first dialog box displayed during design creation is shown below:

- Design Class: type of design to be created.

- No. of Response Variables: the number of response variables Y that will be measured during
each experimental run. This number may range from 1 to 16.

- No. of Control Factors: the number of experimental factors X that will be varied from run to
run in the inner array. These are factors which can normally be controlled and for which
optimal levels are desired. The number of controllable experimental factors may range from
2 to 8.

- No. of Noise Factors: the number of experimental factors X that will be varied from run to
run in the outer array. These are factors which cannot normally be controlled but tend to
introduce variability into the process. The number of noise factors may range from 0 to 11.
(Note that noise factors are not required. If none are provided, the design will consist of only
an inner array. In such cases, certain options will not be available.)

- Comment: a comment to appear on the output from the analysis procedures.

Dialog #2 Response Variables
The second dialog box requests information about each of the response variables:

Click on the numbers 1, 2, 3, , one at a time and enter the following information for each
response variable in the experiment:

- Name - a name for each response containing up to 32 characters.

- Units or comment - an optional label or comment of up to 64 characters to be included
on the experiment worksheet.

Dialog #3 Design Selection
The third dialog box is used to specify the types of designs to be used for the inner and outer
arrays:

Two designs must be specified:

1. Control Design (Inner Array) - a design in which the control factors are varied. In the
above dialog box, the design selected is an L8 design. This is an orthogonal array with 8
runs. The notation 2^7 indicates that it is capable of studying up to 7 factors or
interactions at 2 levels each. In fact, the design is equivalent to a 2-level fractional
factorial design in 8 runs.

2. Noise Design (Outer Array) - a design in which the noise factors are varied. The design
selected for the noise factors is run at each combination of the control factors. In this
case, a 4 run design (L4) has been selected. It is a 2^3 and thus capable of studying up to
3 main effects or interactions, each at 2 levels.

In general, the number after the L indicates the number of runs in the design. Notation such as
2^1x5^11 indicates that 1 factor may be studied at 2 levels and up to 11 factors may be studied at
5 levels each. Either or both of the designs may be run in random order.

Details regarding orthogonal arrays may be found in books such as Logothetis and Wynn (1994).
The notation typically used for these designs is similar to the following for the L8 design:

Column
Run
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
2 1 1 1 2 2 2 2
3 1 2 2 1 1 2 2
4 1 2 2 2 2 1 1
5 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
6 2 1 2 2 1 2 1
7 2 2 1 1 2 2 1
8 2 2 1 2 1 1 2

In the above table, 1 indicates that a factor will be run at its first or low level, while 2 indicates
that the factor will be run at its second or high level. The design can accommodate up to 7
factors if no interactions are to be estimated. If less than 7 factors are to be varied (as in the
current case), then the unused columns may be assigned to interactions. Actually, since the
above design is resolution III, two-factor interactions are confounded with themselves and with
main effects. Taguchi typically relies on the experimenter being able to identify ahead of time
which interactions might be present, or else all interactions may be assumed to be nonexistent.

The outer array in the example is an L4, which can accommodate up to 3 factors at 2 levels each:

Column
Run
1 2 3
1 1 1 1
2 1 2 2
3 2 1 2
4 2 2 1

At each of the 8 settings in the inner array, 4 experiments will be done while varying the noise
factors according to the inner array. The total number of experiments to be performed is
consequently 8 x 4 = 32.

Dialog #3 Column Assignments
Once the orthogonal arrays have been created, a dialog box is displayed through which the
control and noise factors may be assigned to different columns of the orthogonal arrays:

Initially, STATGRAPHICS suggests column assignments that permit interactions amongst the
first several factors to be estimated if desired. For example, it suggests the following
assignments for the inner array:

Column 1 - factor A

Column 2 - factor B

Column 4 - factor C

Column 7 - factor D

Column 6 - factor E

This leaves columns 3 and 5 unassigned. However, the interactions are such that the last 2
columns may be used to estimate:

Column 3 - interaction AB

Column 5 - interaction AC

Actually, many other interactions could be estimated by columns 3 and 5 (and also the other
columns). For details on each of the available designs and which interactions are estimable by
which columns, refer to a book on Taguchi methods such as Logothetis and Wynn (1994).

Dialog #4 Experimental Factors
The fourth dialog box requests information about each of the experimental factors:

Click on the letters A, B, C, , one at a time and enter the following information for each
experimental factor in the design:

- Name - since factor names become column names in a standard STATGRAPHICS
datasheet, each name may have up to 32 characters and contain any character other than
symbols used in algebraic expressions.

- Units or comment - an optional label or comment of up to 64 characters to be included
on the experiment worksheet.

- Labels button labels are assigned to each level of the factors by pressing the Labels
button and entering information on the following dialog box:


If valid numeric values are entered in increasing order, the factor will be treated as
continuous. Otherwise, it will be treated as non-continuous. This affects the type of
analysis performed after the data is collected. If the Labels button is not pressed, the
numbers 1, 2, will be used to represent the levels and the factor will be assumed to be
continuous.

The following table shows the information for the current example:

Factor Low High Units
temperature 480 510 degrees F
speed 7.2 10 ft/min
wave height 0.5 0.6 inches
preheat temp 150 200 degrees F
flux density 0.9 1.0 degrees
solder -5 5 degrees
conveyor -0.2 0.2
assembly 1 2

The first 5 factors are the control factors. The last 3 are the noise factors.

Design Attributes
Once the dialog boxes have been completed, the Design Attributes window is displayed:

Inner/Outer Arrays Design Attributes
Design class: Inner/Outer Arrays
File name: <Untitled>
Comment: Myers and Montgomery soldering example

Base Design
Number of control factors: 5
Number of noise factors: 3
Number of responses: 1
Number of runs in inner array: 8
Number of runs in outer array: 4
Randomized: Outer array only

Factors Levels Units
temperature 2 degrees F
speed 2 ft/min
wave height 2 inches
preheat temperature 2 degrees F
flux density 2 degrees
solder 2 degrees
conveyor 2
assembly 2

Responses Units
defects DPM

It contains a summary of the input data.

Worksheet
The experimental runs are entered into the datasheet automatically. They may also be displayed
in the Worksheet, a portion of which is shown below:

Worksheet for solder.sfx - Myers and Montgomery soldering example
run block temperature speed wave height preheat temperature flux density solder conveyor assembly defects
(degrees F) (ft/min) (inches) (degrees F) (degrees) (degrees) (DPM)
1 1 480.0 7.2 0.5 150.0 0.9 -5.0 0.2 2.0
2 1 480.0 7.2 0.5 150.0 0.9 5.0 -0.2 2.0
3 1 480.0 7.2 0.5 150.0 0.9 5.0 0.2 1.0
4 1 480.0 7.2 0.5 150.0 0.9 -5.0 -0.2 1.0
5 2 480.0 7.2 0.6 200.0 1.0 -5.0 0.2 2.0
6 2 480.0 7.2 0.6 200.0 1.0 5.0 -0.2 2.0
7 2 480.0 7.2 0.6 200.0 1.0 -5.0 -0.2 1.0
8 2 480.0 7.2 0.6 200.0 1.0 5.0 0.2 1.0
9 3 480.0 10.0 0.5 200.0 1.0 -5.0 0.2 2.0
10 3 480.0 10.0 0.5 200.0 1.0 5.0 0.2 1.0
11 3 480.0 10.0 0.5 200.0 1.0 5.0 -0.2 2.0
12 3 480.0 10.0 0.5 200.0 1.0 -5.0 -0.2 1.0

Each run in the inner array is shown with a different block number. Within each block are the 4
runs in the outer array, where the noise factors are changed.

The sample data has been saved in a file called solder.sfx, together with the response data.

Analyzing the Data
After the results of the experimental runs have been entered, Analyze Data can be selected from
the DOE menu. A dialog box will be displayed requesting the column containing the response to
be analyzed and the performance measure to be modeled:

The performance measure specifies the type of statistic that will be calculated for each run in the
inner array. Various measures are available, including:

- Mean - calculates the mean value Y for each run in the inner array. In the current
example, 8 means would be calculated, one for each block of four runs. The analysis
would then show the effect of each of the control factors on the mean defect rate.

- Log Variance - calculates ln(s
2
) for each run in the outer array. This gives a direct
measurement of the variability at each set of conditions and shows the effect of each
control factor on the variance. The log transformation is needed to stabilize the
variability of the measure, since the standard error of a variance estimate grows as its
mean value grows.

- Signal-to-Noise Ratio - Taguchi suggested calculating

) log( 10
2
1
s SNR
T
= (1)

for situations where the goal of the experiment is to hit a particular target value, and
when the mean and variance of the process can be altered independently. This is
equivalent to the measure discussed immediately above, except that it differs in sign.
Some analysts prefer this measure since large values are preferable to small ones, in line
with normal interpretations of a signal-to-noise ratio.

- Signal-to-Noise Ratio (Target Value) - For situations where the goal is to hit a target
value but the standard deviation of the response is related to its mean, Taguchi proposed

|
|
.
|
\
|
=
2
2
log 10
2
s
Y
SNR
T
(2)

This is related to the common coefficient of variation Y s / , except it is again defined so
that larger values are preferable. In both this case and the case immediately above, the
goal is to find a tuning factor that affects the mean (so that the target value may be hit)
but has little effect on the SNR.

- Signal-to-Noise Ratio (Larger the Better) - For situations in which the response is to be
maximized, Taguchi proposed

=
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
n
i
i
L
ny
SNR
1
2
1
log 10 (3)

- Signal-to-Noise Ratio (Smaller the Better) - For situations in which the response is to
be minimized, Taguchi proposed

=
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
n
i
i
S
n
y
SNR
1
2
log 10 (4)

- Noise Factors - When selected, an analysis is performed on the noise factors only. Each
run of the inner array is treated as one replicate of the outer design, with blocking factors
allowing the means of each block to vary.

- Crossed Array - When selected, the individual measurements are analyzed as a standard
response surface design involving all of the control and noise factors.

It should be noted that for all of the signal to noise ratios, larger values correspond to preferable
conditions. Although much has been said about the utility of the ratios that Taguchi proposes,
they do provide a simple way of incorporating the mean and variance into a single performance
measure. An excellent critique of the various signal-to-noise ratios is given by Myers and
Montgomery (2002), together with a general discussion of variance minimization experiments.

Analysis Summary
When the Analyze Design dialog box is completed, STATGRAPHICS invokes one of three
procedures, depending on how the control factors were defined and what type of design was
selected:
1. If all of the control factors are continuous and there are only 2 levels of all of the factors,
the standard analysis for Screening Designs is invoked.

2. If all of the control factors are continuous but there are 3 or more levels for at least one of
the factors, the standard analysis for Response Surface Designs is invoked.

3. If any of the control factors are not continuous, the Multifactor ANOVA procedure is
invoked.

This gives the analyst the most appropriate plots and analyses for each situation.

Since the goal of the current experiment is to reduce the rate of defects, the SNR for Smaller the
Better is a natural choice. From the standardized Pareto chart, it will be noted that all but one of
the factors appears to be statistically significant:

Standardized Pareto Chart for defects (SN: smaller)
0 4 8 12 16 20 24
Standardized effect
B:speed
D:preheat temperature
C:wave height
A:temperature
E:flux density +
-

Flux density appears to have the largest effect on the defect rate. To illustrate the effects, the
Main Effects Plot is particularly effective:
Main Effects Plot for defects (SN: smaller)
-49
-47
-45
-43
-41
d
e
f
e
c
t
s

(
S
N
:

s
m
a
l
l
e
r
)
temperature
speed
wave height
preheat temperature
flux density

Low flux density and high temperature appear to yield a high SNR.

The Optimization pane will determine the optimal settings for each factor:
Optimize Response
Goal: maximize defects (SN: smaller)

Optimum value = -39.6893

Factor Low High Optimum
temperature 480.0 510.0 510.0
Speed 7.2 10.0 7.2
wave height 0.5 0.6 0.5
Preheat temperature 150.0 200.0 200.0
flux density 0.9 1.0 0.9

The rightmost column displays the best settings of the controllable factors over the experimental
region. At the indicated settings, the value of
=
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
n
i
i
S
n
y
SNR
1
2
log 10 is estimated to equal
39.7.

Interactions
By default, STATGRAPHICS chose to estimate a first-order model with only main effects. If
desired, second-order interactions can be included by selecting Analysis Options and setting
Maximum Order Effect to 2:

The Pareto chart then takes the following form:

Pareto Chart for defects (SN: smaller)
Effect
+
-
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
AC+BD
AB+CD
B:speed-CE
D:preheat temperature-AE
C:wave height-BE
A:temperature-DE
E:flux density-AD-BC

Each main effect is shown together with the confounding interactions. In addition, two additional
effects have been estimated, each consisting of the sum of 2 interactions. As indicated when the
design was constructed, neither AB nor AC is confounded with any main effect. Had the user
expected ahead of time that two interactions were likely to exist, it would have been beneficial to
assign labels to the factors so that they corresponded if possible to AB and AC.

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