Product Engineering

Response Surface Operating Window Optimizer

The window can be empty — and knowing that beats an optimum that does not exist.

Factor Range Process setting
units
units
Response Models Fitted
N
N/unit
N
%
%/unit
%

Operating Window Width

— units

Feasible band satisfying both specifications; negative means none exists

Window & Optimum

Lower Bound
— units
Upper Bound
— units
Midpoint Setting
— units
Strength at Optimum
— N
Shrinkage at Optimum
— %
Tightest Margin
— %

Both responses are modelled as linear in one factor, which is a first-order approximation of a genuine response surface — real optima are usually curved and a linear fit extrapolated beyond the data that produced it is not a prediction. Fit the coefficients from a designed experiment across the range you intend to run, and treat the window as provisional until confirmed by a trial at the midpoint. A window narrower than the process can actually hold is the same as no window at all: compare the width against the standard deviation of the factor in production before believing it. A single midpoint also ignores which margin is more expensive to lose.

Response Surface Operating Window Optimizer — free, with the formula and a worked example, at Textile School.