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A robust multi response surface approach for optimization of multistage processes

Amir Moslemi (Department of Industrial Engineering, West Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran)
Mahmood Shafiee (School of Engineering and Digital Arts, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK)

International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management

ISSN: 0265-671X

Article publication date: 5 May 2020

Issue publication date: 21 January 2021

123

Abstract

Purpose

In a multistage process, the final quality in the last stage not only depends on the quality of the task performed in that stage but is also dependent on the quality of the products and services in intermediate stages as well as the design parameters in each stage. One of the most efficient statistical approaches used to model the multistage problems is the response surface method (RSM). However, it is necessary to optimize each response in all stages so to achieve the best solution for the whole problem. Robust optimization can produce very accurate solutions in this case.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to model a multistage problem, the RSM is often used by the researchers. A classical approach to estimate response surfaces is the ordinary least squares (OLS) method. However, this method is very sensitive to outliers. To overcome this drawback, some robust estimation methods have been presented in the literature. In optimization phase, the global criterion (GC) method is used to optimize the response surfaces estimated by the robust approach in a multistage problem.

Findings

The results of a numerical study show that our proposed robust optimization approach, considering both the sum of square error (SSE) index in model estimation and also GC index in optimization phase, will perform better than the classical full information maximum likelihood (FIML) estimation method.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are few papers focusing on quality-oriented designs in the multistage problem by means of RSM. Development of robust approaches for the response surface estimation and also optimization of the estimated response surfaces are the main novelties in this study. The proposed approach will produce more robust and accurate solutions for multistage problems rather than classical approaches.

Keywords

Citation

Moslemi, A. and Shafiee, M. (2021), "A robust multi response surface approach for optimization of multistage processes", International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 38 No. 1, pp. 213-228. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQRM-11-2018-0296

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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