An operationalization of robust design methodology

In addition to many statistical techniques Robust Design Methodology also consists of a set of principles and practices. Thus, in order to reach the full potential in applications of the methodology, efforts towards robustness must aim to realize the underlying principles. We characterize Robust Design Methodology by three principles: awareness of variation, insensitivity to noise factors, and continuous applicability. Appreciating the quadratic loss function and developing a P-diagram are two practices contributing to awareness of variation. Practices for insensitivity to noise factors are on the one hand exploring and utilizing transfer functions and on the other hand creating concepts with inherent robustness. The third principle, continuous applicability, seems to lack related practices and thereby offers opportunities for future research.