Case Studies
Consulting Case Studies
#1 – Design and Manufacturing
METHODS: Designed Experiment with Predictive Models, Multi-Response Optimization, Statistical Process Control
COST: Professional fees typically vary from $12,000 – $20,000 for these types of projects. Most projects are completed within 1 – 4 weeks.
ESTIMATED SAVINGS: $1,200,000 annually
OUTCOME: Identified interactions causing variation in torque. Needed to modify specification limits in two components in order to resolve issue. Completely eliminated the re-work the client had been doing as a result of the excessive variation.
#2 – Design and Manufacturing
PROJECT OBJECTIVE: Reduce variation in battery performance. Customers and Consumer Reports indicated that the lifetimes of batteries varied noticeably, so the manufacturer wanted to produce batteries with consistent lifetimes.
METHODS: Proper Statistical Process Control, Regression Models, Reliability Analysis
COST: Professional fees typically vary from $12,000 – $20,000 for these types of projects. Most projects are completed within 1 – 4 weeks.
ESTIMATED SAVINGS: $700,000 annually
OUTCOME: 50% reduction in variation within 2 Months.
#3 – Manufacturing
PROJECT OBJECTIVE: Identify the causes of porosity in castings—and remove porosity from critical areas. The porosity was causing leaks after component was machined.
METHODS: Designed Experiment with Predictive Models
COST: Professional fees typically vary from $12,000 – $20,000 for these types of projects. Most projects are completed within 1 – 4 weeks.
ESTIMATED SAVINGS: $2,400,000 annually to supplier and no more leaks at customer site.
OUTCOME: No more problems resulting from porosity – successfully removed from critical areas and delighted customer.
#4 – Manufacturing
PROJECT OBJECTIVE: Identify the causes of shrinkage in injected molded components, achieve target shrinkage, and minimize variation in shrinkage.
METHODS: Designed Experiment with Predictive Models, Regression Models, Statistical Process Control, Statistical Comparisons/Hypothesis Testing, Multi-Response Optimization
COST: Professional fees typically vary from $12,000 – $20,000 for these types of projects. Most projects are completed within 1 – 4 weeks.
ESTIMATED SAVINGS: $300,000 annually
OUTCOME: Identified interactions causing variation in shrinkage, achieved target shrinkage, and reduced variation in shrinkage by 80%.
#5 – Product Design
PROJECT OBJECTIVE: Assess and improve automotive engine reliability.
METHODS: Reliability test planning, reliability analysis and modeling, Designed Experimentation with Predictive Models, Multi-Response Optimization
COST: Professional fees typically vary from $12,000 – $20,000 for these types of projects. Most projects are completed within 1 – 4 weeks.
ESTIMATED SAVINGS: $3,000,000 annually
OUTCOME: Identified the minimal amount of testing required to achieve appropriate precision in life and reliability estimates. Estimated the times at which various percentages of the engines would fail (for a specific failure mode). Identified factors and interactions which could be modified to improve engine life.
#6 – Design and Manufacturing
PROJECT OBJECTIVE: Improve the reliability of a valve and determine which design and manufacturing factors had the most impact on the lifetime and performance of the valve.
METHODS: Designed Experiments with Predictive Models
COST: Professional fees typically vary from $12,000 – $20,000 for these types of projects. Most projects are completed within 1 – 4 weeks.
ESTIMATED SAVINGS: A significant increase in market share.
OUTCOME: The experiment identified the effects and interactions causing the variation in valve lifetimes
#7 – Manufacturing
PROJECT OBJECTIVE: Identify the causes of variation in roundness of Powdered Metal components. The manufacturer had an 80% scrap rate because it was a new component, and the parts were typically too “out-of-round.”
METHODS: Designed Experiments with Predictive Models
COST: Professional fees typically vary from $12,000 – $20,000 for these types of projects. Most projects are completed within 1 – 4 weeks.
ESTIMATED SAVINGS: $1,000,000 annually
OUTCOME: The first experiment reduced the scrap rate from 80% to 2%. A follow-up experiment eliminated the scrap altogether.
#8 – Design and Manufacturing
PROJECT OBJECTIVE: Maximize the time until the onset of corrosion of a component used in marine applications. The component was corroding prematurely, and the issue needed to be rectified quickly.
METHODS: Designed Experiments with Predictive Models
COST: Professional fees typically vary from $12,000 – $20,000 for these types of projects. Most projects are completed within 1 – 4 weeks.
ESTIMATED SAVINGS: A significant increase in market share.
OUTCOME: The experiment identified the effects and interactions causing the premature corrosion and indicated how to rectify the situation.
#9 – Design and Manufacturing
PROJECT OBJECTIVE: Minimize leak and effusion rates of an aircraft component.
METHODS: Designed Experiments with Predictive Models
COST: Professional fees typically vary from $12,000 – $20,000 for these types of projects. Most projects are completed within 1 – 4 weeks.
ESTIMATED SAVINGS: Satisfied customers and potential increases in market share.
OUTCOME: The experiment identified the effects and interactions causing the excessive effusion rate and indicated how to rectify the situation.
#10 – Design and Manufacturing
PROJECT OBJECTIVE: Maximize strength and fire retardance in construction materials.
METHODS: Designed Experiments with Predictive Models, Hypothesis Testing, Reliability Analysis
COST: Professional fees typically vary from $12,000 – $20,000 for these types of projects. Most projects are completed within 1 – 4 weeks.
ESTIMATED SAVINGS: Satisfied customers and potential increases in market share.
OUTCOME: The analysis identified the effects and interactions affecting both strength and fire retardance properties of the construction material. Plus, the materials were required to pass these tests per regulatory requirements.
#11 – Litigation
PROJECT OBJECTIVE: Identify the causes of crankshaft breaks in Prop Planes and testify before a judge and jury as to the causes of the failures.
METHODS: Reliability Analysis and Models, Regression Methods, Analysis of Variance
COST: $35,000
ESTIMATED SAVINGS: Our client was awarded $96,000,000
OUTCOME: Our client had been wrongly accused of causing crankshaft failures in prop planes. The situation was rectified, and our client was awarded $96,000,000.
#12 – Litigation
PROJECT OBJECTIVE: Identify the causes for premature corrosion in architectural materials. Forecast future failures for damages estimates.
Clearly communicate information to jurors and judges in product liability cases and other cases involving product risk (Expert Testimony). Produce high-quality statistical analyses and models that cannot be undermined by opposing experts.
METHODS: Data Analysis/Statistical Methods, Warranty Analysis, Reliability Analysis, Graphical Methods, Accelerated Life Testing.
OUTCOME: Satisfied clients.
#13 – Litigation
PROJECT OBJECTIVE: Identify when and how a company should have known that their architectural product rotted prematurely in the marketplace. Forecast future failures for damages estimates.
Clearly communicate information to attorneys, jurors and judges in product liability cases and other cases involving product risk (Expert Testimony). Produce high-quality statistical analyses and models that cannot be undermined by opposing experts.
METHODS: Data Analysis, Reliability Analysis, Warranty Analysis, Hypothesis Testing.
OUTCOME: Client achieved a very favorable settlement.
#14 – Validation
PROJECT OBJECTIVE: Compare medical device designs to minimize the risk of complications in human tissue.
METHODS: Binary and Ordinal Logistic Regression, Analysis of Variance, General Linear Modeling, Chi-Squared Tests
COST: Professional fees typically vary from $12,000 – $20,000 for these types of projects. Most projects are completed within 1 – 4 weeks.
ESTIMATED BENEFITS: Potential product liability costs. Marketing advantages.
OUTCOME: Intelligent design selections and marketing advantages for medical device manufacturers.
#15 – Warranty/Reliability Analysis
PROJECT OBJECTIVE: Forecast the warranty burden and number of future returns for corporations. Also, determine when maintenance (repairs and replacements) should be performed on products such as pipelines, machines, industrial equipment, automotive components, etc.
METHODS: Reliability Analysis, Warranty Analysis, Accelerated Life Testing, Hypothesis Testing.
COST: Professional fees typically vary from $2,000 – $20,000 for these types of projects. Many projects are completed within 1 – 2 weeks.
BENEFIT: Ability to plan for the appropriate number of returns and potentially rectify an issue if the warranty projections are beyond a tolerable rate.
OUTCOME: Realistic estimates of product performance in the marketplace.
#16 – Design and Manufacturing
PROJECT OBJECTIVE: Development of new devices, drugs, and formulations can take a very long time. Reducing the development time while minimizing risk is a common objective of our clients.
METHODS: Designed Experiments with Predictive Models, Reliability Analysis, Accelerated Life Testing, Hypothesis Testing, Regression, Mixture Experiments with Models, Multi-Response Optimization
COST: Professional fees typically vary from $12,000 – $20,000 for these types of projects. Most projects are completed within 1 – 4 weeks.
ESTIMATED SAVINGS: At least 50% of the development time plus prevention of future liability costs.
OUTCOME: Traditional methods for product and drug development are slow and don’t always ensure success when transferred to manufacturing. We typically cut development time in half (or better) while accurately assessing and minimizing product liability risk. In addition to product development, we successfully help our clients “scale-up” their formulations and products to high-volume manufacturing as well.
#17 – Training
METHODS:
- Passionate instruction from highly educated and experienced consultants
- Applications to client products and processes
- Superior communication skills
- Excellent course materials that are useful for ongoing reference
- Ongoing email & phone support at no charge
COST: Depends on location and number of participants
OUTCOME:
- Highly motivated employees who are:
- Anxious to apply knowledge
- Capable of solving complex problems and preventing problems
- Able to reduce variation
- Able to improve reliability