Dave Olson's Page

I offer consulting in Desgin of Experiments (DoE) that goes beyond simple consulting on specific problems. While I do offer that service, I also offer training in DoE that is much more than simple instruction in running software.

Approaching process development and process improvement problems with the toolset of experimental design requires a change of thinking away from paired-comparison experiments intended to "fix" a problem. Instead, the goal becomes one of creating predictive models of system behavior that allow process responses to be modeled, optimized and verified. This results not only in the ability to optimize system responses, but a real understanding of the factors that control the behavior of a process.

I offer training in this approach to experimental work that emphasizes that the DoE process is much more than just running software. I carefully work through the front end of this process that occurs before the software is ever turned on: the responses that need to be considered, the factors that need to be tested, and the range over which they will be varied. Without careful consideration of these steps in designing an experiment, the effectiveness of DoE is diminshed.

My goal is to enable effective DoE practices within small and medium sized development and manufacturing companies that don't have DoE specialists on staff. I do this through a combination of teaching and mentoring through one or more experimental projects so that the teaching is applied to real life situations.