Case Studies and White Papers


Design of Experiments Helps Optimize Cell Culture Bioproduction System

Published: August 2009

Invitrogen Corporation utilized response surface methods (RSM) to reveal a complicated array of multi-factor interactions involved in bioprocess development. Using advanced tools in Design-Expert, they achieved more desirable conditions in a minimal number of runs.

Publication: BioProcess International

Making Use of Mixture Design to Optimize Olive Oil - A Case Study

Published: August 2009
Authors: Mark Anderson, Patrick Whitcomb

Olive oil, an important commodity of the Mediterranean region and a main ingredient of their world-renowned diet (see sidebar), must meet stringent European guidelines to achieve the coveted status of "extra virgin." Oils made from single cultivars (a particular cultivated variety of the olive tree) will at times fall into the lower "virgin" category due to seasonal variation. Then it becomes advantageous to blend in one or more superior oils. This is a great case to become acquainted with the tools of mixture design for optimal formulation.

Publication: ASQ Chemical and Process Industries Division Newsletter

Design of Experiments Helps Improve the Robustness of Off-Highway Vehicle Coating

Published: July 2009
Author: Henkel Corp.

An agricultural equipment manufacturer asked Henkel to help optimize a tough coating application using DOE.

Publication: SAE Off-Highway Engineering

Published: June 2009
Author: Jerry Fireman

Rich Products used DOE to develop an all-natural bread dough that would met the same quality and taste standards as their popular conventional bread doughs.

Publication: Food Quality magazine

Published: June 2009
Author: Jerry Fireman

Using design of experiments, Land O'Lakes researchers set out to improve a new deli process cheese formulation, without impacting its other attributes. They achieved a significant improvement in appearance of the new without adversely affecting other characteristics.

Publication: Food Product Design (now Natural Products Insider)

Published: February 2009
Author: Jeff Falk

Via mixture design of experiments (DOE) Alberto-Culver developed a new line of scrubs that far exceeded the performance of what they thought was possible. The formulator said "We selected Design-Expert software from Stat-Ease because of its exceptional capabilities in the design and analysis of mixture experiments. The end result is that we can get products to market faster and at a lower cost than with conventional experiment designs."

Publication: Global Cosmetic Industry

Published: January 2009
Authors: Mark Anderson, Zivorad Lazic

A statistically based design of experiments (DOE) approach developed specifically for mixtures was used to formulate a blend of rayon fibers that produced maximal tampon absorbency.

Design of Experiments Demonstrates Robustness of Biopharmaceutical Process

Published: January 2009
Author: Mark Anderson

Diasorin used DOE to evaluate the robustness of its process for manufacturing an alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) assay. The results provided a considerable degree of confidence that existing in-process quality control criteria sufficed for being assured of meeting finished product requirements. This case study provides an excellent example of how DOE can reduce the time required to perform a latitude study while delivering statistical analysis that increases the degree of confidence in the study.

Published: December 2008
Author: Craig Stolarczyk

The Williamette Valley Co. (WVCO) increased manufacturing yield by designing an experiment to simultaneously measure the impact of key factors on critical responses.

Publication: Quality Magazine

Lean Six Meets Foil Stamping

Published: October 2008
Author: Reed Wahlberg

A large printing company tasked a Lean Six Sigma project team with finding a way to reduce setup time and costs in a department consisting of 33 Kluge presses. The results of the DOE led to a reduction of 5% in printing costs by moving to a less expensive foil for that job, and other knowledge gained from the experiment led to a 40% reduction in setup time over the last two years.

Publication: Graphic Arts Online