Possibilities and limitations of passive experiments conducted in industrial conditions

Abstract

Experimenting is one of the basic tools for design and improvement of products and manufacturing processes. Experiments conducted in industrial conditions should marginally interfere with course of a studied process. These expectations are fulfilled in the best way by so-called passive experiments, in which data is gathered using records obtained from processes conducted in their natural environment and real conditions, without any alteration of set-up parameters. However, it is difficult to control interference originating from variability of studied factors during course of such experiments. That is why use of passive experiments in practice is limited. It is probably caused by distrust regarding credibility of obtained results. Aim of the paper is to compare results obtained from passive and active experiments, conducted in comparable conditions during a process of manufacturing of a selected product and presentation of guidelines for application of passive experiments, developed on the basis of the obtained results.