A classification of the industrial relevance of robust design methods

The use of Robust Design Methods in industry is limited. Based on statements from industrial surveys and the authors’ experience from working with industrial design in industry, it is suggested that the barriers for industrial implementation of RDM is the lack of early-stage methods that can provide the design team with leading and quantifiable metrics in a simple and fast manner. Using this assumption, success criteria for the implementation of RDM in industry and a classification of the current body of robust design methods are presented. The presented classifications show that only a limited number of methods focus on the reduction on sensitivity to variation and that especially in early design stages, there are almost no leading and quantitative methods available. Existing methods most often rely on data from previous projects and the experience of the design team. It is concluded, that the low use of RDM in industrial practice can be explained by the lack of operational tools to fulfill the existing Robust Design principles. Consequently, a suitable framework with leading, early-stage, and quantitative methods and metrics must be developed.