Variation risk management using modeling and simulation

Design and manufacturing firms are under significant pressure to simultaneo usly increase product complexity, reduce design cycles, decrease cost, and improve quality. A key enabler to reduce cost without sacrificing quality i s the control of variation during both design and manufacturing. The best t ime to reduce the impact of variation is in the early stages of design. Thi s paper presents a tool set used to identify, early in the design process, where variation will have significant impact on the final cost and quality of a product. It presents the design team with a graphical view of variatio n risk, enabling them to quickly identify high-risk areas. The uncertainty about process capability and risk is also quantified and presented to the u ser.