Level: Beginner
Jim Lamar, Quality Manager, Saint-Gobain NorPro
Using JMP, we were able to create a predictive model that solved a problem that had been plaguing the company for decades. The result of over a year’s worth of designed experiments, both within the business and at one of our major suppliers, was two major findings: 1) the quality of their raw material was the ONLY useful factor in predicting our final product quality, and 2) the supplier’s product had two previously unknown raw material quality parameters that contributed to the problem. The interaction of these two parameters was the key to our eventual success. One of these parameters is a feature of our supplier’s raw material. They could control the other parameter with their processing. The traditional raw material specification approach is to define specific limits for each parameter independently. For our needs, the acceptable limits for parameter B depended on the value of parameter A. Breaking from tradition, we met with the supplier and generated an interactive profile that allowed them to input their raw material quality measurement A, and then control the other important factor B to whatever level was needed to ensure that their final product would make an acceptable raw material for us.
