2007 Volume 15 Issue 2 Pages 80-87
Studying the feasibility of setting up a new company is a complex proposition. Many factors affect the new company's profitability, and it is not unusual for a feasibility study to go through more than 100 trial iterations. Robust design (with two-step optimization) was therefore applied to the feasibility study process. The generic function was the cumulative profit-and-loss function over time. This function was first stabilized by use of the standard signal-to-noise ratio, then tuned to the target function. The results showed that it is possible to select the best factors by this two-step optimization process. The same method can also be usefully applied to new five-year strategic management plans for existing companies.
