"Japan's Taguchi is America's new quality hero." --Fortune magazine, November 25, 1998"There is no question that the Mahalanobis-Taguchi System is a profoundly important giant step in improving the productivity of evaluating and improving diagnostic and other systems based pattern recognition. Potential applications of this method abound in many industries." --John King, Ford Motor CompanyThis resource shows you how to harness the power of an amazing new pattern-recognition and forecasting method from Dr. Genichi Taguchi, a world-renowned quality genius. 15 case studies from the U.S. and Japan show how industry giants used the MTS effectively in their organizations. With this book, the first on the subject, you can achieve the same success. The Mahalanobis-Taguchi System (MTS) is a groundbreaking new philosophy that has been reshaping Japanese industry since its inception. Developed by award-winning quality engineering expert Dr. Genichi Taguchi - acknowledged as one of the most innovative thinkers in the field, and based on the work of Indian statistics giant Dr. P.C. Mahalanobis the system provides a powerful process for recognizing patterns and forecasting results.MTS goes beyond theory - it shows you exactly how international business giants have successfully put the system to work for them. The book includes 15 fascinating case studies that provide an inside look at how organizations such as Fuji, Nissan, Sharp, Xerox, and others have utilized the system effectively. MTS can be applied in patient monitoring, medical diagnosis, software, manufacturing, weather forecasting, automotive collision prevention and fire detection.Doctors, researchers, engineers, insurance experts, financial analysts, programmers, and anyone else with an interest in pattern recognition and forecasting will find this book a blueprint to improved decision-making.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknoledgements Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Lives Versus Machines 1.2 What Is MTS? 1.3 Where MTS Can Be Applied 1.4 An Important Issue Chapter 2: A Detailed Example of MTS 2.1 Clutch Disc Defects 2.2 Visual Inspection Method 2.3 Differential and Integral Characteristics 2.4 Raw Data Collection 2.5 Normalization 2.6 Matrix Construction 2.7 Mahalanobis Distance 2.8 Results of Recognition 2.9 Selection of Threshold Value 2.10 Selection of Characteristics 2.11 Confirmation Chapter 3: Business-Process Forecasting 3.1 A Problem in Business Systems 3.2 Preparation of the Database 3.3 Calculation of the Database 3.4 Mahalanobis Distance 3.5 Estimation of the Unpaid Amount and its Estimating Error by Using the SN Ratio 3.6 Rationalization of Item Selection 3.7 Design of a Business System Section One -- Health Care Chapter 4: Diagnosis of a Special Health Checking 4.1 Diagnosis of Liver Function 4.2 Selection of Characteristics 4.3 The Loss Function of Health Checkups (Determination of Threshold) Chapter 5: Application for Medical Treatment 5.1 Problems in Clinical Research 5.2 Mahalanobis Distance and Treatment Effect 5.3 The Study Using One Patient 5.4 Comparison Treatment Methods Section Two -- Mechanical Industry Chapter 6: Wafer Yield Prediction 6.1 Objective 6.2 Base Space 6.3 Relatinship Between Mahalanobis Distance and Yield 6.4 Selection of Characteristics Chapter 7: Inkject Quality Inspection 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Camera Inspection System 7.3 Mahalanobis Distance Results 7.4 Measurement System Cost Reduction 7.5 Conclusions Chapter 8: Prevention of Driving Accidents 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Measuring System 8.3 Base Space 8.4 Base Data Collection 8.5 Base Space Construction and Mahalanobis Distance Distribution 8.6 Mahalanaobis Distance Under Dangerous Situations 8.7 Evaluation of Functionality 8.8 Conclusion Section Three -- Electrical Industry Chapter 9: Solder Joint Appearance Inspection 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Data Collection and Mahalanobis Distance Calculation 9.3 Mahalanobis Distance Using Inspection-Logic Characteristics 9.4 Mahalanobis Distance Using Reflection Characteristics Chapter 10: Fire Alarm System Optimization 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Data Collection 10.3 Calculation of Mahalanobis Space 10.4 Calculation of Mahalanobis Distance 10.5 Selection of Sensors Section Four -- Chemical Industry Chapter 11: Diagnosis of Photographic Processing Solution 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Processing of Photo-Sensitive Materials 11.3 Selection of the Base Space 11.4 Mahalanobis Distance of Rejected Solutions and Their Photographic Quality 11.5 Factorial Effects 11.6 Discussions Chapter 12: Pattern Recognition for Infrared Absorption Spectrum Analysis 12.1 Introduction 12.2 Experiment 12.3 Selection of Characteristics 12.4 Results Section Five -- Space Industry Chapter 13: Fault Analysis 13.1 Introduction 13.2 Outline of the Fault Diagnosis Program (FDP) 13.3 Observer and Residual 13.4 Process of Fault Diagnosis by Using Residuals 13.5 Collection of Normal Data 13.6 The Standard Space of a Normal Group 13.7 Fault Detection by Mahalanobis Distance 13.8 Fault Identification by Mahalanobis Distance 13.9 Fault Identification by Estimation Errors Section Six -- Software Industry Chapter 14: Valuation of a Programmer's Capability 14.1 Introduction 14.2 Data Collection 14.3 The MTS Method 14.4 Analysis 14.5 Factor Reductin 14.6 Effective Factors 14.7 Results Chapter 15: Handwriting Recognition 15.1 Introduction 15.2 Extraction of Character Elements 15.3 Procedures of Character Recognition 15.4 Calculation of Mahalanobis Distance 15.5 Hand-Written Character Recognition Section Seven -- Government Chapter 16: U.S. Dollar Bill Inspection 16.1 Patterns of U.S. Dollar Bills 16.2 Characteristics of One-Dollar Bills 16.3 Differentiation of One-Dollar Bills Index