It is said that parameter design using simulation is of ten conducted such as in the U. S. But in many cases, it is not effective because of its time consuming calculation. In this study, the feasibility of design optimization for a shaft spline projection using Taguchi methods was explored. Instead of using time consuming conventional sensitivity study, a program was made to shorten the time of calculation. From the results, it was concluded that this approach is very useful in our company to conduct parameter design using simulation.

In order to evaluate the gluing condition of a product, peeling test has been generally used. But in this study, such a test cannot be used because the resin base pate is in a film state, so its strength is weaker than the glue itself. It was therefore tried to find the possibility of using a non-destructive test by observing electric characteristic. Since the glue and resin base plate are sandwiched by a copper plate and a metallic pattern, it was considered as a condenser. Therefore, the function was defined that capacity and area must be proportional. The result of this study showed a good reproducibility on the gain. Such evaluation can be applied for the evaluation of gluing strength where destructive tests have been used.

In order to reduce the time for product development, it is important to utilize the RP(rapid prototyping)technology. Among several methods in the RP technology,stereo lithography is the most prevailing and promising method since it provides the most accurate solid models. However, there is one area to be improved for the models which are produced using stereo lithography, the distortion or deformation which occurs on relatively thin parts of a model. To improve the model accuracy, quality engineerillg was applied and the optimal condition was obtained. As the generic function, "transformability" was employed, where the objective is to transform "shape" and "dimension" programmed in the CAD model as precisely as possible into a three dimensional solid object.

In a previous issue, the author reported that MTS can be used to diagnose corporate performance. This paper reports the results of forecasting, not diagnosing,the profit for the coming year of a company. The base space and types of items to be used as factors were reviewed again. Ordinarily performed companies were selected to construct a base space. It was found that the forecasting ability can be improved by collecting the data of the past two years.

Electronic copying machines or printers use a process to fix the resin toner on the paper by heat melting. A new system was developed in order to reduce power consumption. For this purpose, heat was not applied during the idle time. Therefore, it is necessary to raise temperature quickly in a short period of time. From the result of this study, 9 db gain was obtained and a good reproducibility was confirmed.

A blower/vacuum cleaner has two functions as seen from its name. It is used for yard cleaning: either blowing out or sucking in leaves or dust, Its usage conditions vary depending on the situation of the yard, blowing mode, sucking mode or the amount of dust contained in the bag. The product requires to maintain a stable arid strong blowing function under various situations. But no products have been designed considering various usage conditions. In this report, the function of a blower/vacuum cleaner was optimized using quality engineering approach. In the experiment, energy consumption and energy transformation were studied. As a result, the air passing amount increased by 10% under the optimum condition. By using the significantly effective parameter in the design,a product better than the current one was developed.

The transfer belt drive system is an important system used for the electro-photographic systems, copying machines or printers. It is important in this system that the driving direction be robust alongside with the stable driving speed. If the driving speed and direction is unstable, the belt generates stress and causes cracking, resulting a poor image quality. But the use of a stronger belt to stabilize the speed and direction will result in cost increase. Parameter design was introduced to find the most stable driving function by varying control factor levels only, while maintaining the predetermined cost level. As a result of the parameter design, the belt driving efficiency was greatly improved. The objectives of applying parameter design is to maintain direct manufacturing cost and reducing indirect cost by the reduction of development cycle time, which was accomplished from the results of this study. The development cycle time was reduced by a fraction of ten.