Advanced 2-Level Factorial/Screening Design with Augment

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Advanced 2-Level Factorial Screening Design with Augment overview screenshots in SigmaXL

Example 1: Advanced 2-Level Factorial/Screening Design with Augment - Add Axial Points - Cake Bake

We will illustrate the use of an Advanced 2-Level Factorial/Screening Design with the factorial + center point portion of the response surface layer cake baking experiment given in Part D - Design and Analysis of Response Surface Experiment - Cake Bake. The response variable is Taste Score (on a scale of 1-7 where 1 is "awful" and 7 is "delicious"). Average scores for a panel of tasters have been recorded. The Continuous Factors are A: Bake Time (20 to 40 minutes) and B: Oven Temperature (350 to 400 F). The experiment goal is to find the settings that maximize taste score.

After analysis, the design will be augmented to add axial points making it a response surface design.


  1. Click SigmaXL > Design of Experiments > Advanced Design of Experiments: 2-Level Factorial/Screening > 2-Level Factorial/Screening Designs. The default dialog design is given as:

    SigmaXL 2-Level Factorial Screening Design dialog default settings

    First, we will look at the Design Power Information for the default settings. The report is given as:

    Design Power Information report for default 2-factor 4-run factorial design

    This initial 2 Factor 4 Run design has very low power to detect a large effect size of 3.0*StDev and only medium power to detect an extreme effect size of 6.0*StDev.

    Scroll down to view the full report.

    Full design power report scrolled view for 2-level factorial design in SigmaXL

    With Terms in Model as One Main Effect, Error Degrees of Freedom = 2. Typically, we want Terms in Model as All Main Effects but here that only gives Error Degrees of Freedom = 1. If Terms in Model is selected as ME + 2-Way Interactions, then Error Degrees of Freedom = 0 and power cannot be calculated.

  2. Select Number of Replicates = 2, Number of Blocks = 2, Number of Center Points per Block = 2 and Design Power Information - Terms in Model as All Main Effects.

    Design power report with 2 replicates 2 blocks and center points selected

    This design now has medium power to detect an effect size = 2.5*StDev (with error degrees of freedom = 7), so is a dramatic improvement over the single replicate case. This is the design that we will use for the cake bake example as it matches the factorial portion (plus center points) of the response surface design.

  3. Enter Factor Names and Level Settings, Response Name as shown. Uncheck Randomize Center Points, select Seed (Base) - Value with default 12. Aliasing of Effects Report - Interactions to Order has default 2 but is not relevant here as this is a full factorial design.

    Factor names level settings and response name entry for cake bake factorial design

  4. Click OK. The following Design of Experiments Worksheet is produced including the Legend, Block Generators, Aliasing of Effects and Design Power Information:

    Design of Experiments worksheet with legend block generators aliasing and power information

    Advanced 2-Level Factorial Screening Design file with Taste Score values populated

    Note that by unchecking Randomize Center Points, the center points are (approximately) equally spaced within a block. With two center points they are the first and last runs within the block. If there are 3, then first, middle and last runs are used.

    Since Randomize Runs is checked, the non-center points are randomized within the block. Note that block number is also randomized. Using the fixed seed = 12, means that the random run order will always be the same, which is useful for instructional purposes.

  5. Open the file Advanced 2-Level Factorial Example - Cake Bake.xlsx This has the design worksheet populated with Taste Score values.

    Analyze 2-Level Factorial Screening Design dialog with responses and ME plus 2-Way Interactions

  6. Click SigmaXL > Design of Experiments > Advanced Design of Experiments: 2-Level Factorial/Screening > Analyze 2-Level Factorial/Screening Design.

  7. Select Responses and Model Terms as shown with Term Generator as ME + 2-Way Interactions. Uncheck Include Center Points:

    ANOVA results showing significant error lack of fit and low R-Square values

    Include Center Points is unchecked because we want to be able to clearly see the influence of the center points in the Residual Plots. We will redo the analysis later with Include Center Points checked. Advanced Options are the same as those used in Advanced Multiple Regression. We will use the defaults.

  8. Click OK.

    Residual plots showing non-random patterns and curvature in Bake Time and Oven Temp

    Note the significant Error: Lack-of-Fit with P-Value = 0.017. Only Bake Time is significant, and the R-Square, R-Square Adjusted and R-Square Predicted are low.

  9. Click on the Residuals Taste Score sheet.

    Recall Last Dialog with Include Center Points checked for re-analysis

    The residual plots show obvious non-random, non-normal patterns, and in particular the Residuals vs Bake Time and Residuals vs Oven Temp show strong curvature.

  10. Now we will re-analyze the experiment and include center points in the model. Click Recall Last Dialog (or press F3). Check Include Center Points.

    Re-analysis results with center points included showing significant model terms and high R-Square

  11. Click OK.

    SigmaXL Augment Design dialog with Add Center Axial Points selected

    All model terms except Blocks are significant, the R-Square values are high and there is no Significant Lack of Fit (with P-Value = 0.91). The Residual Plots also show no obvious patterns.

    Note however that the Center Points term is significant so this indicates significant curvature or quadratic effects. This means that we cannot use the model as is to make predictions, we need to specify quadratic terms for Bake Time and Oven Temp. The current full-factorial + center point design does not permit these quadratic terms to be added as they would be confounded. We need to augment the design to add axial points, effectively converting this design into a response surface design.

    We could also refit the model with Include Blocks unchecked but we will not do so here.

  12. Click on sheet Cake Bake Example in Advanced 2-Level Factorial Example - Cake Bake.xlsx.

  13. Click SigmaXL > Design of Experiments > Advanced Design of Experiments: Augment 2-Level Factorial/Screening > Augment Design. The default dialog design is given as Augment Type: Foldover Design. Select Augment Type: Add Center/Axial Points.

  14. Uncheck Add Center Points since we already have center points in the original design. Use the default checked Add Axial Points No. of Replicates = 2 which matches the number of replicates in the factorial design. Select Face Centered (Alpha = 1.0) to match the original Cake Bake RSM design. Check Randomize Center/Axial, select Seed (Base) Value = 12, and check Fraction of Design Space (FDS) Plots with options selected as shown:

    Advanced Augment Add Axials settings with Face Centered alpha and FDS plot options

  15. Click OK. The worksheet augments the original factorial design with 8 new axial runs randomized within a block, i.e., 4 axial runs replicated twice.

    Augmented DOE worksheet with original factorial plus 8 new axial runs in SigmaXL

    The Fraction of Design Space (FDS) Plots and report are given as:

    Fraction of Design Space FDS plot for augmented 2-level factorial design

    FDS plot report showing Margin of Error at 95th percentile for Taste Score

    For details on FDS Plots, see the Appendix: Fraction of Design Space (FDS) Plots. See also Example 5: Evaluating Response Surface and Optimal Designs with the Fraction of Design Space (FDS) Plot.

    The Margin of Error (Interval Half-Width) at the 95th Percentile (i.e. 95% of the design space) is 1.086. We then multiply this by the estimate of the model standard deviation of 0.138 given in the factorial portion to obtain a Margin of Error for Taste Score = 1.086 * 0.138 = 0.15. Given that the Taste Score is on a 1 to 7 scale this is an acceptable margin of error for prediction.

  16. Open the file Advanced 2-Level Factorial Example - Cake Bake with Axial Augment.xlsx which has the augmented design worksheet populated with Taste Score values. Click on the sheet Cake Bake Axial Augment.

    Analyze Augmented Design dialog with ME plus 2-Way Interactions plus Quadratic terms selected

  17. Click SigmaXL > Design of Experiments > Advanced Design of Experiments: Augment 2-Level Factorial/Screening > Analyze Augmented Design.

  18. Select Responses and Model Terms as shown with Term Generator as ME + 2-Way Interactions + Quadratic. Quadratic terms can now be estimated because we augmented the factorial design with axial points. Check Display Regression Equation with Uncoded Coefficients. We will not modify Advanced Options. Leave Include Blocks unchecked.

    Multiple regression report for augmented response surface design cake bake

  19. Click OK. This gives a Multiple Regression report that is identical to the one given earlier in Analysis of Response Surface Experiment - Cake Bake with Advanced Multiple Regression (except for the report header information):

    Predicted Response Calculator with Bake Time and Oven Temp input for Taste Score prediction

    We will not review the regression report, residuals or main effects/interaction plots here as that was already done in the earlier analysis, but we will review the use of the Predicted Response Calculator, Optimize and Contour/Surface Plots.

  20. Scroll to the Predicted Response Calculator. Enter Bake Time = 23, Oven Temp = 368 to predict Taste Score with the 95% confidence interval for the long term mean and 95% prediction interval for individual values:

    Predicted Response Calculator showing 95% confidence and prediction intervals for Taste Score

    Note the formula at cell L14 is an Excel formula with uncoded coefficients and range names that are scoped to the sheet not the workbook. If coded coefficients are desired rerun the above analysis with Display Regression Equation with Uncoded Coefficients unchecked.

    The Margin of Error (Interval Half-Width) is 7.21 - 7.05 = 0.16, which is close to what we estimated using the FDS Plot. Given that the Taste Score is on a 1 to 7 scale this is an acceptable margin of error for prediction.

  21. Next, we will use SigmaXL's built in Optimizer. Scroll to view the Optimize Options:

    Optimize Options panel showing lower and upper bounds for continuous predictors

    Here we can constrain the lower and upper bounds of the continuous predictors, but we will leave the default settings as is, which are obtained from the minimum and maximum of the predictor values.

  22. Scroll back to view the Goal setting and Optimize button. Specify Goal = Maximize.

    Optimizer goal set to Maximize Taste Score in SigmaXL

    The optimizer uses Multistart Nelder-Mead Simplex to solve for the desired response goal with given bounds. For more information see the Appendix: Single Response Optimization.

  23. Click Optimize. The response solution and prompt to paste values into the Input Settings of the Predicted Response Calculator is given:

    Optimizer solution with optimal Bake Time and Oven Temp values for maximum Taste Score

  24. Click Yes to paste the values.

    Contour Surface Plot button and settings in SigmaXL augmented design analysis

  25. Next, we will create a Contour/Surface Plot. Click the Contour/Surface Plots button.

  26. A new sheet is created, Aug1 - Contour that displays the plots:

    Contour and Surface Plot for Taste Score response by Bake Time and Oven Temp

    This matches the Contour and Surface Plots given in the previous analysis.

    The table with the Hold Values, gives the values used to hold a predictor constant if it is not in the plot, so is not applicable here with only one plot based on the two continuous predictors.

    Tip: Use the contour/surface plots in conjunction with the predicted response calculator to determine optimal settings.

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