APPLIED MATHEMATICS/MASCOS SEMINAR

Speaker: David Shteinman Managing Director - Stamen Paper Pty Ltd Industry Fellow - MASCOS

Date: Thursday, August 19
Time: 11 a.m.
Room: Red Centre 4082

Understanding a complex industrial process - successes and difficulties in model building and implementation

Stamen Paper manufactures round, oval and specially shaped paper containers
for food, cosmetics and other industries. The production process was highly
variable in its operation and output and was not robust to uncontrollable
"noise" variables such as relative humidity. There was a need to model the
basic effects and interactions of the key inputs: paper/glue/machine
settings/humidity in the various geometries of containers produced.

Design of Experiments was used to characterise two key aspects of the can
making process that were least understood: axial strength after gluing and
the effect of various paper/glue combinations on curling the container rim.
However these basic experiments did not give a full understanding of the
relative importance of various paper parameters on the response variables
(quality measures) nor the effect of the key "noise" variable- relative
humidity. A general model of the process is required for a wide range of
container sizes and types.

The seminar will consider various approaches to achieve a useful model,
including Response Surface Methodology, modern regression methods as well as
the various methods of modelling the effects of uncontrollable noise
variables. Alternatives to the statistical approach include modelling the
actual mechanics of paper/glue absorption, drying and deformation of the
container during manufacture.

We hope that our case study and future plans will stimulate discussion on
general approaches to modelling real processes.