Topics in the body text of this DOE FAQ Alert are headlined below (the "Expert" ones, if any, delve into statistical details):

P.S. Quote for the month: Wishful thinking deflated by Tukey.

(Page down to the end of this e-zine to enjoy the actual quote.)

1: Newsletter Alert: The new issue of the Stat-Teaser features an in-class response surface method (RSM) experiment on sound that produced surprising results

Check out the latest issue of our Stat-Teaser newsletter via this link. It features the following articles:

• “Hear Ye, Hear Ye: An In-Class Response Surface Method (RSM) Experiment on Sound Produces Surprising Results”—a fun case study by me
• “Thinking Outside the Box by Using Standard Error to Constrain Optimization”—an innovative statistical development by Consultant Pat Whitcomb.

Plus these announcements:

• “See Us at the CAMO Futures Conference, May 31–June 1, 2017 in Glasgow, Scotland”
• “Get Up-to-Speed on DOE with Our Instructor-Led Workshops”
• “Stat-Ease Webinar: Practical DOE—Tricks of the Trade”
• “Save the Date for the 7th European DOE User Meeting in Paris, France!”

Thank you for reading our newsletter. We appreciate you passing along the Stat-Teaser to your colleagues.  

2: Software alert: Version 10.0.6 of Design-Expert software is released (it is a free update for licensed users of v10)

Newly-released version 10.0.6 of Design-Expert software is posted at this download site for free trial evaluation. To update older licensed versions of 10.0, simply download the update from within the program (network users should contact their license administrator), or download the full installation and reinstall it. The release primarily provides maintenance of existing features. View the Read Me file for details on this update, installation tips, known ‘bugs,’ change history, and FAQs.

3: FAQ: How do I come up with component levels that are more conveniently rounded for weighing out the ingredients in my mixture experiment?

Original question from a Research Assistant:
“I am designing a combined experiment to study the viscosity with four components and one factor. I must convert the weight-percents specified by Design-Expert’s recipe sheet into grams to weigh out my four components. These are spelled out to 5 decimal places. However, my weigh scale only goes to the third decimal. How can I truncate the numbers from the design to be able to weight the components and still have a good experiment?”

Answer from Stat-Ease Consultant Martin Bezener:
“You can do one of two things:

• Manually round the component settings to three digits yourself.
• Rebuild this design using the Point Exchange algorithm. This will produce a nicer-looking design, and you will likely only have to round a few components. The design may not be as statistically optimal, but will probably still be reasonable.”

Control pane for custom design (optimal) with Point Exchange selected for the Search algorithm

 (Learn more about setting optimal, yet convenient, component levels by attending the computer-intensive three-day workshop Mixture and Combined Designs for Optimal Formulations. Click on the title for a complete description of this class. Link from this page to the course outline and schedule. Then, if you like, enroll online.)

4: Webinar alert: Practical DOE—Tricks of the Trade(Last notice) In two webinars given Monday June 12 at 6:30 AM Central USA Daylight Time (CDT) and, again, on June 14 at 11 AM CDT, Consultant Pat Whitcomb will reveal some new tricks for making the most from your DOE, including an innovative way to expand your search for optimal process conditions when you use response surface methods (RSM). Don’t miss this chance to sharpen up your DOE skills. Save one of these dates on your calendar and go to the Stat-Ease webinar home for the enrollment link.

5: Events alert: Charge up your DOE know-how at conferences this Summer

(Last notice) Shari Kraber will teach a short course on Advanced Design of Experiments (DOE) Tools to Achieve Optimal Formulations for the Cleveland Coating Society Sink or Swim (SOS) Symposium, June 6-7. Sign up via this link.

(Last notice) Next up is our Consultant Martin Bezener who will exhibit Stat-Ease software at the Quality and Productivity Research Conference, University of CT, Storrs, CT, June 13-15. He plans to present a talk on “Strategies for Mixture-Design Space Augmentation”. Register for the conference here.

Martin then heads off to Baltimore for the 2017 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM) July 29 through August 3, where he will provide a briefing on “Strategies for Mixture-Design Space Augmentation”. Register for JSM here.

6: Workshop alert: High season for DOE workshops in Minneapolis—Go for it!

You can do no better for quickly advancing your DOE skills than attending a Stat-Ease workshop. In these computer-intensive classes, our expert instructors provide you with a lively and extremely informative series of lectures interspersed by valuable hands-on exercises with one-on-one coaching. Enroll at least 6 weeks prior to the date so your place can be assured—plus get a 10% “early-bird” discount.

• Modern DOE for Process Optimization (MDOE)
• June 20-22, Minneapolis, Minnesota (MN)
• Mixture and Combined Designs for Optimal Formulations (MIXC)
• July 18-20, Minneapolis, Minnesota (MN)

See this web page for complete schedule and site information on all Stat-Ease workshops open to the public. To enroll, scroll down to the workshop of your choice and click on it, or call our Client Specialist Rachel Pollack, at 612-746-2030. If spots remain available, bring along several colleagues and take advantage of quantity discounts in tuition. Or, consider bringing in an expert from Stat-Ease to teach a private class at your site. Once you achieve a critical mass of about 6 students, it becomes very economical to sponsor a private workshop, which is most convenient and effective for your staff. For a quote, e-mail [email protected].

I hope you learned something from this issue. Address your general questions and comments to me at: [email protected].

Please do not send me requests to subscribe or unsubscribe—follow the instructions at the end of this message.

Sincerely,

Mark

Mark J. Anderson, PE, CQE
Principal, Stat-Ease, Inc.
2021 East Hennepin Avenue, Suite 480
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55413 USA

P.S. Quote for the month—sage advice from a friendly, neighborhood statistician:


"The combination of some data and an aching desire for an answer does not ensure that a reasonable answer can be extracted from a given body of data.”

—John Tukey (1915-2000), an American mathematician renowned as the father of modern exploratory data analysis and data.

Trademarks: Stat-Ease, Design-Ease, Design-Expert and Statistics Made Easy are registered trademarks of Stat-Ease, Inc.

Acknowledgements to contributors:
—Students of Stat-Ease training and users of Stat-Ease software
—Stat-Ease consultants Pat Whitcomb, Shari Kraber, and Martin Bezener
—Statistical advisor to Stat-Ease: Dr. Gary Oehlert
—Stat-Ease programmers Hank Anderson, Neal Vaughn, Joe Carriere and Jon Kraber
—Heidi Hansel Wolfe, Stat-Ease sales and marketing director, and all the remaining staff that provide such supreme support!

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