Taguchi-Class Experimental Design Methods and Applications

Quality engineering is associated with Taguchi-class experimental design methods, which are based on elegant and sophisticated orthogonal arrays and the associated analysis of variance. Some mixture-type orthogonal arrays like the L12(211), L18(2137), and L36(211312) have been widely used since the 1950s, while other arrays such as the L8(27), L16(215), L9(34), L27(313), and L32(231) have been applied in industry since 1985. Currently, the 18 run L18(2137) and the 16 run L16(215) arrays are the most popular experimental design matrices of all Taguchi-class orthogonal arrays. In Dr. Genichi Taguchi's experimental design textbook (Design of Experiments, 3rd Edition, 1976; published by the Maruzen Publication Co.), 16 out of all 40 case studies were based on the L16(215) array, nine were based on the L8(27) array, seven on the L27(313) array, five on the L9(34) array, one case study was based on the L32(231), and none were based on either the L12(211) or the L18(2137).