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: Famous French scientist eloquently endorses experimentation.

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

1:Book alert: Formulation Simplified: Finding the Sweet Spot through Design and Analysis of Experiments with Mixtures completes the trilogy on DOE

A decade in the works, Formulation Simplified is now available for purchase here along with its companions—DOE Simplified and RSM Simplified. You will also find the Formulation Simplified book for sale at Amazon and via the CRC Press web site (a Productivity Press book under the Routledge imprint of Taylor & Francis). All three books reflect my ‘keep-it-simple and make-it-fun’ (KISMIF) approach to making statistics easy. My co-authors, Stat-Ease Consultants Pat Whitcomb and Martin Bezener, provided the tempering needed on the KISMIF to maintain rigor. After all, as I heard George Box advise, “if you are going to do something, you may as well do it right.” I feel sure you will enjoy the read and profit greatly by it. Let me know how you like it.

2: Newsletter alert: The new issue of the Stat-Teaser features articles on great new features in Design-Expert® version 11 and a heads-up on covariance plots for split-plot diagnostics

Check out the latest issue of our Stat-Teaser newsletter via this link. In addition to the feature articles noted above, this issue also provides informative pieces on:

• Stat-Ease Trainer Spotlight: Richard Williams
• The 7th European DOE User Meeting in Paris

Thank you for reading our newsletter. Please pass it along to your colleagues.

3: FAQ: What to do when some factors cannot be randomized

Question from: An Air Force Test Engineer

“What happens if you can execute a design but you cannot execute it in the order that was generated by the software? We are coming up with designs for upcoming flight tests but there is no way to execute them in a random order. What does one do? What is lost?”

Answer from: Stat-Ease Consultant Shari Kraber

“You can restrict the randomization by choosing a split-plot design, which accommodates hard-to-change (HTC) factors. This introduces some complications due to the error for HTC’s differing from those for the completely randomized factors—those that are easy to change (ETC). Design-Expert handles this for its users. It provides split-plot options for factorials, response surface methods, and combined mixture-process experiments (via the “custom designs” option).”

PS. Regarding what is lost by restricting randomization via a split plot, see my article (coauthored by Pat Whitcomb) on Employing Power to ‘Right-Size’ Design of Experiments. As detailed in a fun case study on paper helicopters, by grouping the HTC factors, experimenters lose power versus a completely-randomized design. However, in this case, the convenience of only building half the paper helicopters—16 out of the 32 required in the fully-randomized design of experiments—outweighed the loss in power, which in any case remained above the generally-acceptable level of 80%.

4: Info alert: How to Handle Hard-to-Change Factors or Components in a Designed Experiment (and other informative articles)

February’s Coatings Tech magazine features this article by me on split plots. I hope you find this briefing very beneficial for handling hard-to-change factors when experimenting on the processing of coatings or any other materials.

Also, learn how DOE improved peptide bond yields from 20 to 76 percent—perhaps leading to breakthroughs in production of drugs for cancer, diabetes and other diseases—on page 32 of the November issue of Chemical Engineering World.

5: Events alert: 7th European DOE User Meeting in Paris

Our 7th European DOE User Meeting, held every two years, will be hosted by our French representatives, RITME scientific solutions, at the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts (Le CNAM) in the heart of Paris on June 7-8. The conference will be preceded by a one-day workshop on Practical DOE “Tricks of the Trade”. Don’t miss this fun and educational conference in the City of Lights at the peak of season. Seats for the workshop and space in the conference will go fast, so sign up now via this link.

6: Workshop alert: See when and where to learn about DOE—Sign up now before classes fill

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.

• Experiment Design Made Easy (EDME)
• Apr 24–25, Minneapolis, Minnesota (MN)
• Jun 19–20, Minneapolis, Minnesota (MN)
• Modern DOE for Process Optimization (MDOE)
• Apr 24–26, Minneapolis, Minnesota (MN)
• Jun 19–21, Minneapolis, Minnesota (MN)
• Mixture and Combined Designs for Optimal Formulations (MIXC)
  • Jun 26–28, 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: Famous French scientist eloquently endorses experimentation:

"Experiment is the sole source of truth. It alone can teach us something new: it alone can give us certainty.”

—Jules Henri Poincaré

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, Martin Bezener, and Shari Kraber
—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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