Taguchi method is one of the most popular approaches for design optimization such that performance characteristics become robust to uncontrollable noise variables. However, most previous Taguchi method applications have addressed a single-characteristic problem. Problems with multiple characteristics are more common in practice. The multi-criteria decision making(MCDM) problem is to select the optimal one among multiple alternatives by integrating a number of criteria that may conflict with each other. Representative MCDM methods include TOPSIS(Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution), GRA(Grey Relational Analysis), PCA(Principal Component Analysis), fuzzy logic system, and so on. Therefore, numerous approaches have been conducted to deal with the multi-characteristic design problem by combining original Taguchi method and MCDM methods. In the MCDM problem, multiple criteria generally have different measurement units, which means that there may be a large difference in the physical value of the criteria and ultimately makes it difficult to integrate the measurements for the criteria. Therefore, the normalization technique is usually utilized to convert different units of criteria into one identical unit. There are four normalization techniques commonly used in MCDM problems, including vector normalization, linear scale transformation( max-min, max, or sum). However, the normalization techniques have several shortcomings and do not adequately incorporate the practical matters. For example, if certain alternative has maximum value of data for certain criterion, this alternative is considered as the solution in original process. However, if the maximum value of data does not satisfy the required degree of fulfillment of designer or customer, the alternative may not be considered as the solution. To solve this problem, this paper employs the desirability function that has been proposed in our previous research. The desirability function uses upper limit and lower limit in normalization process. The threshold points for establishing upper or lower limits let us know what degree of fulfillment of designer or customer is. This paper proposes a new design optimization technique for multi-characteristic design problem by integrating the Taguchi method and our desirability functions. Finally, the proposed technique is able to obtain the optimal solution that is robust to multi-characteristic performances.

Today, as technology advances and market competition for products intensifies, the product design to improve customer satisfaction by accurately identifying customer needs is emerging as a very important issue for company. Accordingly, the customer-oriented or customer-centered design that maximizes customer satisfaction by grasping and analyzing customer requirements is in the spotlight as an important design theory. In this study, the customer-oriented design is defined as finding the optimal value of design variable with the maximum overall customer satisfaction while minimizing the difference in individual customer satisfaction responded to various customers from multiple product quality characteristics from the perspective of robust design. Therefore, this study presents a new method for modeling the customer preference structure as the different sets of desirability functions for multiple quality characteristics and proposes a new customer-oriented design approach by applying the desirability functions to Taguchi’s robust design process to deal with multi-characteristic design problem. Finally, the proposed method is illustrated with the Kansei engineering design problem of wine glass.

현대 사회가 복잡해지고 기술이 진보하면서 하나의 제품을 설계할 때 단일 특성이 아닌 다 특성을 갖는 제품을 설계하는 것이 요구되고 있다. 다 특성 설계 최적화 문제에서는 설계 변수의 최적값이 특성별로 다르게 되는 현상이 발생하고 이에 따라 하나의 특성에 대한 결과값이 좋아지면 다른 특성에 대한 결과값이 나빠지는 경우에 대해서 trade-off가 필요하다. 따라서 다 특성을 갖는 제품 설계 시 각각의 특성에 대한 성능을 최대화할 수 있는 효율적인 설계 방법의 필요성이 중요한 문제로 떠오르고 있다. 다 특성을 갖는 제품을 설계하는 연구는 오래전부터 중요한 문제로 인식되어 왔는데, 단일 특성에 대해 성능을 최대화하며 강건한 설계를 할 수 있는 다구치 기법과 다기준/다특성 의사 결정 방법인 TOPSIS(Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution), GRA(Grey relational analysis), PCA(Principle Component Analysis), Fuzzy Logic System을 통합한 연구들이 진행되어 왔다. 하지만 기존 연구들은 각각의 설계 대안들에 대해 다 특성 결과값에 대한 점수를 통합하여 종합 점수를 비교해 최적의 설계안을 도출할 뿐 설계자의 호감도에 대한 정보는 설계에 반영하지 못한다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 다구치 기법을 기반으로 각각의 특성들에 대한 설계자의 서로 다른 호감도를 함수로써 표현하여 강건성과 함께 설계자의 호감도를 동시에 설계에 반영할 수 있는 방법을 제안한다.

한국통합물류협회의 발표에 따르면, 2021년도 국내 총 택배 물량은 33억 7천만 개로 전년대비 7.59% 증가했고 매출액은 8조 5,800억 원으로 전년대비 14.6% 증가한 것으로 나타났으며 이러한 증가추세는 향후 지속될 것으로 전망된다. 이러한 택배 물량을 처리함에 있어 작업자는 대표적인 근골격계 부담작업에 노출되어 각종 근골격계 질환 유발 및 능률 저하가 갈수록 심화되고 있는 상황이다. 이에 따라 최신 통신네트워크 기술을 기반으로 하여 작업자와 자율주행 무인 운반차(Automated Guided Vehicle, AGV) 그리고 로봇의 협업을 지원하기 위한 기술개발에 대한 관심이 고조되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 LTE / 5G와 같은 최신 통신네트워크 환경 하에서 물류센터에서 자율주행하면서 택배의 상/하차 작업을 수행하는 Horizontal Scissor Lift를 갖는 AGV를 개발하고 택배 분류작업을 수행하는 로봇이 AGV와 협업을 가능하도록 하여 물류 집하 및 분배 작업이 통합된 물류 자동화 플랫폼을 구축한다. 본 물류 자동화 플랫폼은 자율 주행하면서 택배를 상/하차 하는 Scissor Lift-type AGV, 택배 분류를 위한 로봇, 다수의 AGV의 충돌을 방지하고 작업지시 및 작업상태 확인, 작업결과 피드백 등의 실시간 모니터링을 위한 관제 시스템 등으로 구성된다. 특히, 본 논문에서는 Horizontal Scissor Lift를 갖는 AGV의 구체적인 설계 및 해석결과를 제시하고, AGV 시제품에 대해 이동속도, 긴급 제동거리 및 위치정밀도에 대한 성능 평가를 수행함으로써 개발되는 AGV 시스템의 성능을 검증한다.

Today, as technology advances and market competition for products intensifies, the design to improve product satisfaction by accurately identifying customer requirements is emerging as a very important problem for company. Accordingly, Customer-Oriented Design, that maximizes customer satisfaction by grasping and analyzing customer requirements, is in the spotlight as an important design theory. In this study, Customer- Oriented Design is defined as finding the optimal value of the design variable with the maximum overall customer satisfaction while minimizing the difference in individual customer satisfaction responded to various customers from multiple product quality characteristics from the perspective of robust design. Therefore, in this work, we present a new method for generating a Desirability Function for each quality characteristic to deal with the multi characteristic parameter design with multiple quality characteristics. And we propose a new Customer-Oriented Design methodology that applies these Desirability Functions to Taguchi’s parameter design process.

Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) is commonly used in manufacturing plant, warehouse, distribution center, and terminal. AGV is self-driven vehicle used to transport material between workstations in the shop floor without the help of an operator, and AGV includes a material transfer system located on the top and driving system at the bottom to move the vehicle as desired. For navigation, AGV mostly uses lane paths, signal paths or signal beacons. Various predominant sensors are also used in the AGV. However, in the conventional AGV, there is a problem of not turning or damaging nearby objects or AGV in a narrow space. In this paper, a new driving system is proposed to move the vehicle in a narrow space. In the proposed driving system, two sets of the combined steering-drive unit are adopted to solve the above problem. A prototype of AGV with the new driving system is developed for the comparative analysis with the conventional AGV. In addition, the experimental result shows the improved performance of the new driving system in the maximum speed, braking distance and positioning precision tests.