Purpose – To highlight the application and to compare the effectiveness of the Taguchi and Shainin experimental design processes as applied to aerospace structural components. Design/methodology/approach – This paper applies both the Taguchi and Shainin experimental design techniques to...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the rationale for establishing a quality management system (QMS) by obtaining ISO 9001:2000 certification in a not for profit small to medium enterprise (SME) in the UK. The rationale for choosing this approach over others to achieve...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide details of a survey conducted into 300 manufacturing SMEs from a range of different industrial sectors. The survey investigates, over a three‐year period, the attitudes towards and benefits obtained by SMEs through the adoption of Advanced...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a bearing replacement strategy which employs the Monte Carlo simulation method. In this contribution the method is used to estimate the economic impact on the selection of a particular bearing change strategy. The simulation demonstrates that...