Decisions made during the design
stage of product & process development profoundly affect product
quality and process productivity. To aid in design decision making,
a theoretical framework is advanced: the axiomatic approach
to design. Axiomatic design consists of: 1) domains in the design
world, 2) mapping between these domains, 3) characterization of
a design by a vector in each domain, 4) decomposition of the
characteristic vectors into hierarchies through a process of zigzagging
between the domains, and 5) the design axioms, viz, Independence
& Information Axioms. Statistical process control
(SE) and other methodologies to improve quality are valid only
when they are consistent with the Independence & Information Axioms.
This paper presents several criteria that govern the design
& manufacture of quality products, To be able to control the quality
of products, a design must satisfy the Independence Axiom. Based
on this axiom and some theorems, several design criteria are
derived & discussed. These criteria provide the bounds for the
validity of some of the SPC techniques being used. When there is
more than one acceptable design of a product or process, the Information
Axiom must be used to select the best design(s)
