Application of Design of Experiments to an Automotive Component Helium Leak Test Process

The current global industrial landscape is highly dynamic. In an environment where characteristics such as innovation, quality, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability, adaptability, and flexibility are of paramount importance to be able to respond to constant change, only organizations that integrate and proliferate these concepts within their structure can occupy and sustain a place in the market. An industrial organization that wants to be competitive must be effective in its processes from the start of the development of the industrialization of its products, always maintaining the focus on the customer and quality. To solve problems, industrial organizations have increasingly integrated proven methodologies into their structures, such as Six Sigma, whose core method consists of a structured performance improvement five-phase cycle, also known as DMAIC. To systematically reduce variability, by analyzing which controllable factors have an impact on quality characteristics, DMAIC has in its toolbox the Design of Experiments. The objective of the development of this case study was the direct application of Design of Experiments in the improvement of a new production process, in the final phase of industrialization, to improve the operational effectiveness of the process, thus proving the enormous potential that this tool has in supporting the resolution of moderate and high-complexity problems in an industrial environment.