17.7. DATA MINING, ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS AND VIRTUAL PROCESS MAPPING

As beneficial and productive as design of experiments can be, the process of conducting them has its drawbacks. The workplace, be it a factory, a retail establishment or an office, is designed around a routine. The routine is the "real work" that must be done to generate the sales which, in turn, produce the revenues that keep the enterprise in existence. By its very nature, experimenting means disrupting the routine. Important things are changed to determine what effect they have on various important metrics. Often, these effects are unpleasant; that's why they weren't changed in the first place! The routine was often established to steer a comfortable course that avoids ...

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