1 Introduction In manufacturing processe there are many proces variables that interact in a complicated nonlinear fashion.

1 Introduction

In manufacturing processe there are many proces variables that interact in a complicated nonlinear fashion. In general, these variables are classified into controllable factors x (variables which can be easily manipulated online) and noise, or uncontrollable, factors n (variables that vary randomly and are difficult to manipulate online). If y is used to denote the body response, the relationship between x n and y can be generally uttered as:

y = f (x n) (1)

For a discrete-part manufacturing proces the relationship in Equation (1) can frequently be expressed in the format of a regression pattern (Box and Draper, ...