The Taguchi Method as a Means to Verify the Satisfaction of the Information Axiom in Axiomatic Design

The paper deals with the crucial phase of identification of the problems that occur during the design process of industrial products. Designers need to identify the nature and the importance of the problems. An interesting approach to this purpose is the Axiomatic Design, which is the basis for the further application of Robust Design techniques. Among the latter the Taguchi method can be integrated with Axiomatic Design in order to discern the best values of the design parameters and also those values least affected by noises. The study of the interaction of the parameters can reveal the presence of problems, when decoupled matrices are analyzed. The discussion will be made considering the different scenarios of uncoupled and decoupled design matrices and the different reasoning the designer must use. All the information collected can then guide the designers to pursue the design of the best products.