Waiting for Certainty

"Some people say, 'How can you live without knowing?' I do not know what they mean. I always live without knowing. That is easy. How you get to know is what I want to know." Richard Feynman, Nobel Prize-Winning Physicist Have you heard this before? "We can't use Design of Experiments (DOE) because we don't know the factors yet." Guess what -- you never will! In this uncertain world you will almost always be in one of these positions: You know nothing. You think you know the factors, but you don't. You know a few factors, but you are confident you are missing key factors. You know some factors, think you know some factors (but they turn out not to be factors), and you are very confident that you haven't found all of the factors. You think you've got it all figured out. Science has shown us time and again that when we think we know everything, surprises await us. Waiting for certainty before we use DOE is the same as saying, "I will never use DOE" -- or "I'll use DOE only when I think I know it all!" If you know nothing, you have to "play around" for awhile to get some idea of what is going on. As soon as you know some factors, you are ready to be more systematic. Guessing and One-Factor-At-A-Time experimentation are not superior techniques for dealing with uncertainty. DOE works extremely well in a world of uncertainty. It was designed for this world. It is a primary tool for "how you get to know." DOE will help you create products and processes that work in spite of uncertainty. Here are some ideas: Screening helps you identify which potential factors are real, and which are not. A good response surface model will help you predict the best way to make a product or run a process based on what you currently know. A good model will help you see if your current level of knowledge is "good enough" or if you will need to invest more time in research. Waiting to "know" the factors is wasting your time. Start using Design of Experiments and and you will achieve your goals sooner. ObDOE workshops will teach you to use DOE in your work. Design of Experiments is a fundamental technique for industrial experimentation. You will learn to apply DOE easily without excessive math and theory. We will help you be even more successful!